Greg Cote's Hot Button Top 10: Messi on mend, Fins in PS1, Canes top-10 & more
1. INTER MIAMI: Herons, sans Messi, still sail into Leagues Cup quarters: Miami cashed a 3-1 home win over Pumas to sail into the quarterfinals of the Leagues Cup, the second-year MLS vs. Mexico tournament. Herons did it even with Lionel Messi out nursing a right thigh injury. Coach Javier Mascherano calls Messi's injury 'slight' but he should be seen as iffy to perhaps doubtful as a precaution tonight as Miami resumes MLS play at rival Orlando City. Team wants King Leo ready Aug. 19 for its Leagues Cup knockout-round game inthe quarters, opponent yet unknown.
2. DOLPHINS: Fins enrich team's 'heartbeat' as preseason opens today: First of three exhtibition games for Miami is this/Sunday afternoon in Chicago, after earlier joint pactecs with the Bears. Expect to see little of the most prominent starters, and to glean little of significance from the final outcome. What was meaningful was the Fins enriching defensive tackle Zach Sieler with a 3-year, $64 million extension. Defensive chief Anthony Weaver calls him the 'heartbeat of the defense,' and Miami will need Sieler and the front-seven to be dominant if Miami is to shed its low outside expecations in '25.
3. HURRICANES: UM cracks top-10 in Coaches Poll as opener nears: Miami is No. 10 in the initial Coaches Poll, The U's highest preseason ranking since 2018 -- while Notre Dame is No. 5 as the old rivals prepare to open the season Aug. 31 in Miami. The Canes and new QB Carson Beck play two other Top 25 teams in 16-SMU and 17-Florida. (The Associated Press preseason poll is not yet out.) UM under Mario Cristobal has won three straight season openers since last losing out the gate to No. 1 Alabama in 2021.
4. MARLINS: Can Miami's playoff hopes survive 11-game road trip?: The Marlins were swept in a doubleeader in Atanta on Saturday to fall to 57-60 after an 11-5 run. Fish are now six games back in an uphill chase for an NL wild-card spot as they try to finish above .500. But they must survive the season's longest road trip -- 11 games -- to do it. After playing Atlanta again today Miami is on to Clevland and then Boston.
5. GOLF: Fleetwood leads field in first leg of FedEx Championship: In the biggest assemblage of PGA Tour stars since Happy Gilmore 2, Tommy Fleetwood leads Justin Rose by one stroke and Scottie Scheffler by two entering today's final round of the first leg of the FedEx Championship playoffs in Memphis. The event, in its 19th year, contimues with events in Owings Mills, Md. and Atlanta. The fight for the FedEx Cup is a season-long points competition that ends with three events to crown a champ in what some see as the spirt's fifth major. Scheffler won last year.
6. SPEEDBOATS: Miami readies to host historic electric powerboat race: Miami this November will host the season finale of the E1 World Championship, an all-electric powerboat racing series -- the first event in North America for the fledgling green sport. The race will be run off Virginia Key near the historic Miami Marine Stadium, once the heart of American powerboat racing. Prominent team investors include Miami Grammy winner Marc Anthony, Will Smith and ubiquitous Tom Brady.
7. HEAT: Ex-Miami cop arrested in massive jerseys/merchandise heist: You knew it had to be an inside job. It was. A retired City of Miami police veteran, Marcos Thomas Perez, 62, was arrested and has pleaded not guilty to a federal charge of selling hundreds of stolen Miami Heat game-worn jerseys and other memorabilia valued in the millions to online brokers the past three years. In one transaction it is alleged Perez sold a LeBron James jersey worn in the NBA Finals for about $100,000 and it later sold at auction for $3.7 million. Perez had been a longtime Heat security officer.
8. MLB: Long time coming as baseball unveils first female umpire: Jen Pawol, 48, from New Jersey, became first female ump to work an MLB game in Saturday's Marlins-Braves doubleheader in Atlanta. She'll work home plate today. Pawol had worked spring training games the past two years. My take on this history finally being made? It's about damned time! MLB's awakening comes 28 years after the gender barrier was erased in the NBA and 10 years after it ended in the NFL. Still waiting on the NHL.
9. TENNIS: U.S. Open payday hike sets new standard for sport: The U.S. Open in New York starts Aug. 25 and players have more incentive than ever. Why? $$. Men's and women's champions this year will earn a record $5 million each (a 39 percent increase) from a total purse that tops $90 million (a 20% hike). Reigning champs Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka are early betting favorites to repeat, Sinner just ahead of Carlos Alcaraz and Sabalenka chased by Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff.
10. SPORTS BUSINESS: Front Office Sports grew from a U-Miami classroom: Front Office Sports, which has grown just this half-decade into a powerhouse media and news outlet covering the business of sports, was conceived and co-founded by Adam White while a student in the University of Miami's Sports Administration program. 'We started in 2017 as a class project and over the next four years it evolved into a daily news platform,' said White, currently on the FOS directory as Founder/CEO. The driving philosophy (further verified by the preceding item): 'Every sports story is a business story.'
THE LIST: MARLINS WINNING SEASONS: The Miami Marlins enter Sunday with a xx-xx record. The only eight times in 33 seasons the Fish have finished above .500:
Year Record, Pct. Manager Top player
2023 84-78, .519 Skip Schumaker Jesus Luzardo
2020 31-29, .517 Don Mattingly Brian Anderson
2009 87-75, .537 Fredi Gonzalez Hanley Ramirez
2008 84-77, .522 Fredi Gonzalez Hanley Ramirez
2005 83-79, .512 Jack McKeon Dontrelle Willis
2004 83-79, .512 Jack McKeon Carl Pavano
2003 91-71, .562 McKeon/Jeff Torborg Pudge Rodriguez
1997 92-70, .568 Jim Leyland Kevin Brown
Notes: Top player refers to team leader in WAR (wins above replacement). 2020 season was shortened because of pandemic. Won World Series in 2003 and 1997.
Other select most recent stuff from me: Asked & answered: Solving 8 biggest questions in Miami sports today // Cowboys owner Jerry Jones still chasing glory -- and attention // Previous HB10 // GCS 282 pod: Golic Jr., #1 Herb reveal // Poll Dance: What Miami team will win championship next? // This one goal for Dolphins and another for Hurricanes will define success or failure in 2025 // Why Miami staunchly remains a Football Town even as Dolphins and Canes disappoint // Strobe lights? Trajekt Arc? How Marlins' trust in youth, player-development is paying off // Jalen Ramsey, now Asante Samuel drama = Dolphins mess at cornerback // Heat getting 3-point ace Powell a pickpocket-win for Riley // Champion Panthers keep revving this summer while Heat stays quiet // Dolphins' gamble on Waller after Ramsey & Smith for Fitzpatrick was net loss // Inter Miami falls to PSG but won big to reach Club World Cup final 16 // Panthers celebrate as 1 of 4 South Florida sports dynasties -- with no end near // Major news on future of Dan Le Batard Show, Meadowlark Media, DraftKings // A tribute to Miami sports legend Jimmy Johnson as he retires from Fox TV // 15 years later, Dolphins Cancer Challenge is the life-saving legacy of Jim Mandich // And my latest podcast:
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