Greg Cote’s Hot Button Top 10: World Cup panic! U.S. women are human! (PS, set your alarm for 3 a.m!)

GREG COTE’S HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (JULY 30): WHAT IN SPORTS HAS GRABBED US LATELY: Our Sunday Hot Button Top 10 feature had been blog-only, but with our blog now 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 major, offbeat, damnable, funny or worth needling as the sports week just past pivots to the week ahead. Welcome to the 25th edition of the new HB10:

1. SOCCER: World Cup panic! U.S. women are human! They don’t always win!: Reigning champion U.S. must win or draw vs. Portugal Tuesday to advance from group play to the knockout round, in a match ridiculously starting at 3 a.m. Eastern -- the peril of staging a World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. That’s after a 1-1 tie with Netherlands ended USWNT’s record 13-game WC win streak. U.S. should beat Portugal, but the offense must find its sync. Alex Morgan, 34, at times has seemed to slow the attack, and subbing her out if needed should not be off the board. Team USA in search of a third straight WC crown faces uncommon early pressure and doubts about its performance, the draw with the Dutch unleashing a comic level of hand-wringing and angst. Relax, please. Watch the U.S. assert itself vs. Portugal. (But only if you set your alarm for 3 a.m.)

2. MARLINS: Miami commemorating Cabrera is nice. Also, it hurts: Retiring Tigers superstar Miguel Cabrera has been honored by the Marlins this weekend in his final appearance in Miami, where he began his big-league career in 2003. Bittersweet occasion, to say the least, considering the Fish dealing their future Hall of Famer in 2007 ranks as the worst trade in club history -- by a lot. It would be like the Red Sox honoring Babe Ruth. Lesson learned? The current Marlins, in the playoff chase, were trade-deadline buyers, acquiring closer David Robertson from the Mets.

3. HALLS OF FAME: It’s Zach Week in Canton, with D. Wade on deck: It’s Hall Time in Miami sports. As the Marlins honor former star and future Hall of Famer Miguel Cabrera this weekend, Dolphins great Zach Thomas at last gets his long-awaited Pro Football Hall of Fame induction this coming Saturday in Canton, Ohio, with ex-coach Jimmy Johnson giving his intro speech. One week later , on August 12, Heat icon Dwyane Wade takes his place in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass., with his childhood hero Allen Iverson presenting him.

4. MLB: Angels not trading Ohtani was both admirable and stupid: L.A. is sort of in the AL wild-card chase so did not trade hit/pitch superstar Shohei Ohtani at the deadline table. Good for them not waving a white flag. Also: Very dumb. The Angels’ farm system is a mess and they’d have gotten a windfall in return. Now? LAA will get nothing but a single draft pick if Ohtani leaves in free agency, which he most probably as the Dodgers, Yankees and other apex spenders jockey to pay more than $500 million to get him.

5. DOLPHINS: Jalen Ramsey injury underlines frailty of expectations: The Pro Bowl cornerback was Miami’s biggest offseason add, but Ramsey’s knee (meniscus) injury suffered in a practice may shelve him two to three months, meaning a likely October return. A huge blow, and also a reminder how expectations are at the mercy of physical health. Dolphins fans thought the big variable to success and a playoff season was Tua Tagovailoa avoiding concussions, but this reminds us other perils are out there in the brutal NFL, and that plain, dumb luck is a major factor in any team’s fortunes.

6. HEAT: NBA scolds Lillard, agent for hardball tactics: Portland star Damian Lillard has made clear he wants to be traded only to Miami, and agent Aaron Goodwin reportedly has told other teams they’d be getting an unhappy player who’d give less than full effort. Now, the NBA has sent a memo to all 30 teams stating any player or agent who indicates he won’t “fully perform the services called for under his player contract” if traded will be subject to discipline. Superstars maneuver to get to a chosen team all the time but usually do so discreetly, not bleat into a megaphone like Lillard and Goodwin.

7. HEALTH: Should Bronny James play basketball again?: LeBron James’ son, 18, suffered cardiac arrest on the practice court at USC. Thankfully he seems to be recovering. But we wonder: Should his hoops career continue? Yahoo.com quoted Dr. Brian Sutterer, who specializes in NBA-related injuries: “[With] cardiac arrest you can find the exact cause and it still isn’t necessarily safe to return to sports because the risk is so high of having another cardiac arrest..” The Bills’ Damar Hamlin nearly died on an NFL field but is returning this season. May the family make the right decision on Bronny’s future.

8. NBA: Boston’s Jaylen Brown sets bar for pro athletes, teams, leagues: The Celtics invested $304 million to keep Brown, and he vows to invest his new wealth in the community. He has enough of a track record as an activist and in philanthropy to be believed. But it can’t just be individual athletes helping. There should be a built-in system in pro sports in which a small percentage of every athlete’s contract and every team’s total revenue go back to that community for universal causes such as aiding education and ending hunger. Even 1 percent would make a profound difference.

9. COLLEGE FOOTBALL: R.I.P. Pac-12, SEC and Big Ten reign, ACC scrambling: You thought realignment had ebbed? The tsunami may just be starting. Colorado’s jump to Big 12 continues the gradual demise of the Pac-12 (as it continues the odd infatuation with Deion Sanders). SEC and Big Ten remain lords of the Power 5 and the Pac-12 is a dying carcass, while the ACC and Big 12 are Power 5 mid-pack’ers looking to add. Geography no longer matters in the hellscape of change, so the ACC (and Miami) should push to pick the bones of the Pac-12 for schools like Oregon, Washington and Arizona.

10. SOCCER: When Rapinoe scolded Messi, and Leo listened: Four years ago, after U.S. won the Women’s World Cup again, Megan Rapinoe called out the non-activism of top men’s stars like Lionel Messi. She said, “I want to shout: Help me! These big stars do not engage in anything when there are so many problems in men’s football. Who will erase Messi from world football history for a statement against racism or sexism?” She was right. And Messi has since been more socially involved, in 2021 strongly condemning racist abuse in British soccer. Messi still is less than outspoken, but neither is he silent.

Other most recent stuff from me: Marlins honoring Miguel Cabrera is bittersweet. He’s the star they never should have traded / Messi has changed everything, instantly. Nothing impossible now for Inter Miami / ‘Dreaming with eyes wide open’: Tears, joy for Messi’s Miami debut from Section 118, Row 20 / Previous HB10 / And my latest podcast: