GREG COTE'S HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (SEPTEMBER 15): WHAT IN SPORTS HAS GRABBED US THIS WEEK: Our Sunday Hot Button Top 10 notes column brings you what's on our minds, locally and nationally, but from a Miami perspective and accentuating stuff that's big, weird, damnable, funny or otherwise worth needling as the sports week just past pivots to the week ahead. Welcome to the 73rd edition of your Sunday sports-potpourri notes column, the HB10:
1. DOLPHINS: Tua not retiring, but his concussion-absence has bettors bailing on Miami: NFL Network's Ian Rapaport reported this morning Tua Tagovailoa's recurrence of his concussion issue will not cause the QB to retire. He never said since Thursday's injury that he might, and nobody around the Dolphins thought he would, but of course Your Friend The Media is treating Rapaport saying the fairly obvious as big news. Ha! Meantime, coupled with the 31-10 home loss to rival Buffalo, Tua being out indefinitely has more than doubled Miami's Super Bowl odds, from +2000 to +5000 (per DraftKings), sent Fins' AFC East title odds from +205 to +500, and plummeted Tua's MVP odds from +1600 to +5000. Fill-in QB Skylar Thompson tries to prove the doubters wrong starting next Sunday at Seattle.
2. INTER MIAMI: Messi makes glorious comeback to lead win: Lionel Messi scored twice Saturday in his first game in more than three months to lead in Inter Miami's 3-1 home MLS win over the Philadelphia Union. Messi tallied in the 26th and 30th minutes as the Herons improved to a league-best 19-4-5. Luis Suarez added the third goal late ff a Messi pass. Messi last played for IM June 1 when injuring an ankle in the Copa America final. Miami enjoys a 10-point lead for the MLS East crown and is seven up for the Supporters' Shield with six game left in a regular season resuming Wednesday in Atlanta.
3. HURRICANES: Puffcakes done, now schedule will test No. 10 UM: The exhilarating opening win over Florida was followed by a 56-9 rout of Florida A&M and Saturday's 62-0 romp over Ball State. Now the No. 10-ranked Canes face five straight games that comprise their real test starting next Saturday in prime at South Florida, which is 2-1, it's only loss to Alabama. Then it's vs. Virginia Tech, at Cal, at No. 10 Louisville and vs. Florida State. Can they emerge 8-0? Is 7-1 realistic? The real challenge begins for a Miami team that has enjoyed a dream start to its season.
4. PANTHERS: Champs near preseason, but not favored to repeat: NHL champ Florida Panthers open the preseason September 22, with regular play starting at home October 8 vs. Boston. Cats seek back-to-back Stanley Cups but are not favored to do so. Across eight major sportsbooks the team Florida beat in the Final -- Edmonton -- is betting pick to win it all in all eight. Florida is second in five books and tied for second in three. NHL repeat crowns are unusual but not rare. There have been seven since 1980, most recently Tampa Bay in 2020-21 and Pittsburgh in 2016-17.
5. SOCCER: New USMNT coach Pocchettino won't face judgment for 21 months: The honeymoon will last almost two years. U.S. Soccer formally (and finally) intro'd Mauricio Pochettino as its new national team head coach. "A monumental day," federation president Cindy Parlow Cone called it. Pochettino has led Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain, and Tottenham, and takes over the American team roughly 21 months before the 2026 FIFA World Cup is played in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. "We need to believe we can win and not just win a game, but to win the World Cup," said Pochettino. How close they get, with a home bump, is how Pochettino will be judged. The U.S. is No. 16 in latest FIFA World Ranking.
6. DOLPHINS: Owner Ross looks to private equity as he seeks piece of club: No secret Stephen Ross, at age 84, wants to sell the Miami Dolphins and capitalize on the NFL's eighth-most valued team, at $7.1 billion. (In April, a possible sale to hedge-fund billionaire Ken Griffin for $7.5B fell through.) Now reports are Ross seeks still seeks to sell a share of the club and that the Dolphins are of one of four teams -- with the Bills, Chargers and Eagles -- exploring private equity deals as the league recently allowed.
7. NFL: South Florida well-repped as top pipeline to pro football: Miami is identified as the hometown by 17 NFL players on opening day rosters -- the most of any one city in the league. Broward County's Plantation has 12 players, the ninth-most of any city -- with 10 of them from the city's American Heritage. That was the second most of any one high school. Fort Lauderdale's St. Thomas Aquinas (eight players) and Miami Northwestern (six) also were among national pipeline leaders.
8. MARLINS: Good news! (No, seriously.) A bright spot in sad season: I'm tough on the Fish. They lose. They don't spend money. The trade top players for prospects to cut costs. Rinse, repeat. But in a 2022 trade they landed a prospect who this season has begun to look like a future star in shortstop Xavier Edwards, 25. He is batting leadoff and hitting .329 with 26 stolen bases in 58 games, and he'd be vying for MLB batting title if he had enough at-bats. As Marlins open season's final homestand vs. Dodgers and Braves beginning Tuesday, will Edwards be a guy they start building around ... or will they trade him too when he gets too good and too pricey?
9. DUMBASS ATHLETES: Say goodbye to baseball, Derek: The Minnesota Twins released minor leaguer Derek Bender after the Single-A catcher tipped pitches to opposing hitters, reported USA Today Sports. According to ESPN, Bender, of the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels, told multiple hitters on the Lakeland Flying Tigers what kind of pitches were coming from the starting pitcher. Lakeland won to clinch a Florida State League division title and eliminate Fort Myers from playoff contention. Lakeland coaches told Fort Myers of Bender's cheating after the game. They should-a done it during the game when first detected. Still, say goodbye to your sports career, Derek (The Blatant Rules) Bender.
10. A.I. IN SPORTS: Dolphins an unfortunate ally in pushing AI on fans: Artificial Intelligence will be an unstoppable force if allowed. AI is doing the work for students and enabling the further dumbing-down of America. It is replacing human beings in the workforce. It will only get worse. So it is discouraging to see the Miami Dolphins this season introduce a stadium Jumbotron bit called "Fintastic AI," in which players and fans are depicted on-screen in cartoonish versions of themselves. With sports a culprit-partner, the mass mainstreaming of AI signals growing doom for us all. Hey, happy Sunday, everybody!