Greg Cote’s Hot Button Top 10: Might Canes’ close call in Tally knock FSU from CFP top four & more
GREG COTE’S HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (NOVEMBER 12): WHAT IN SPORTS HAS GRABBED US LATELY: Our Sunday Hot Button Top 10 had been blog-only but when our blog retired it moved, re-imagined, to online-only. HB10 means what’s on our minds, locally and nationally, but from a Miami perspective and accentuating stuff that’s big, offbeat, damnable, funny or otherwise worth needling as the sports week just past pivots to the week ahead. Welcome to the 37th edition of your Sunday sports-potpourri notes column, the new HB10:
1. HURRICANES: Miami falls 27-20 at FSU as Canes show fight: The No. 4 Seminoles are headed to the ACC Championship Game and the Canes are conference also-rans now 6-4, but the state rivals didn’t seem so far apart Saturday night in Tally. Though it lost UM stepped up for Mario Cristobal in its biggest game of the season. Alas, promising freshman QB Emory Williams got the start but suffered a left arm injury late so it’s probably back to error-prone Tyler Van Dyke the rest of the way.
2. COLLEGE FOOTBALL: No Harbaugh, no problem as Michigan tops Penn State: Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh missed the first of three games suspended by the Big Ten over the school’s sign-stealing scandal, but the No. 3-ranked Wolverines won for him anyway Saturday, 24-15, at No. 10 Penn State. In other results affecting the College Football Playoff’s top four: 1-Ohio State and 2-Georgia both won big and No. 4 Florida State won 27-20 over Miami. The question: Might 5-Washington, after beating ranked Utah, leapfrog FSU into the CFP top four?
3. HEAT: Depleted Miami stays hot with fourth straight win: Heat is 5-4 on a four-game win streak after Saturday’s win in Atlanta even with Tyler Herro and Jimmy Butler both out. Herro will be out at east two weeks with ankle injury; Butler missed for personal reasons. Team goes for five in a row tonight at a struggling San Antonio.
4. MARLINS: Fish hire new president; Arraez honored: Miami hired Peter Bendix as new president of baseball operations -- the hiring that led to general manager Kim Ng resigning rather than work under a new boss. Bendix, who spent the past two season as GM of the Tampa Bay Rays, has not yet said if he will hire a new GM to replace Ng. Meantime 2B Luis Arraez won an NL Silver Slugger award for his position after leading all of MLB with a .354 average. He’s the 11th Marlin to win a Silver bat and first since J.T. Realmuto in 2018.
5. INTER MIAMI: Teams, fans celebrate Messi’s latest Ballon dOr: Inter Miami celebrated captain Lionel Messi on Friday with a Noche d’Or night in honor of his record eighth Ballon d’Or trophy as international player of the year. (Inconsequentially, Miami then lost an exhibition match to fellow MLS club New York City, 2-1.) “I’ve only been here a little while but it really feels like I’ve been here a long time,” Messi told fans. “I want to thank all the people of Miami, not only the ones here at the stadium, but in the city in general, for the way you have treated not only me, but also my family these last few months. You’ve shown me a lot of love and made me feel at home. Today I have no doubt that next year is going to be a lot better.”
6. PANTHERS: Fire on ice: Cats counted out but heating up: No preseason odds or rankings had Florida reprising last season’s Stanley Cup Final year but the Panthers are 8-4-1 (5-1 at home) after a third straight Saturday, 5-2 over Carolina in an East finals rematch. And a good sign: A third goal from slow-starting Matthew Tkachuck. Cats back on ice Sunday vs. Chicago.
7. DOLPHINS: Mrs. Cheetah? Tyreek Hill uses bye to get marred: Fins star receiver Tyreek Hill made good use of his off-week, marrying long-time girlfriend Keeta Vaccaro in a small ceremony in Travis County,Texas near Austin. They’d been engaged since July 4, 2021. The bride is the younger sister of former first-round draft pick Kenny Vaccaro, a starting safety for the Saints and Titans from 2013-20. “She’s definitely got the most diamonds, man,” Hill said of the ring, to TMZ. “We made sure of that, you know what I’m saying?”
8. CANES HOOPS: Encore season underway for Miami men, women: Canes men, No. 13 after reaching Final Four, have opened 2-0 entering games this week vs. FIU and Georgia. UM women, unranked despite reaching Elite Eight, won their opener and host Fordham today. Sorry, college hoops, but we’ll start paying attention when the conference games kick in.
9. AUTO RACING: Formula One return to Vegas low on anticipation: Next Sunday’s Las Vegas Grand Prix is the first F1 race in Sin City since 1981-82, but reports are that plunging ticket and hotel prices have made it a buyer’s market. Excitement began to wane after circuit star Max Verstappen clinched the season championship in Qatar on October 7, rendering the Vegas race on a course on the Strip all but meaningless.
10. MLB: Holy s---! Virus spread aborts GMs meeting early: A mysterious virus spread during baseball’s general managers meeting this week in Scottsdale, Ariz., forcing MLB to end it one day early. The GM meetings marking the unofficial start of the offseason found participants dashing to the bathroom more than talking trades. Food poisoning was suspected, but so was a spread of norovirus, the leading cause of diarrhea and vomiting in the U.S. Take me out to the barfgame!
Other most recent stuff from me: Hurricanes fall 27-20 at FSU, but Miami shows fight, glimpse of better future / NFL Week 10 picks / Suspending Harbaugh not enough. Sign-stealing scandal should bar Michigan from CFP / Updated Herald NFL QB rankings entering Week 10 / Dolphins keep falling short to good teams, and it happened again vs. Chiefs in Germany / Previous HB10 / And my latest podcast:
