Greg Cote’s Hot Button Top 10: Hurricanes’ epic gaffe, Messi/Miami honeymoon over with thud & more

GREG COTE’S HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (OCTOBER 8): WHAT IN SPORTS HAS GRABBED US LATELY: Our Sunday Hot Button Top 10 -- back after a week off -- had been blog-only, but since 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 33rd edition of the new HB10:

1. HURRICANES: Miami suffers worse loss in history of sports, mankind: “We should’ve taken a knee.” With those five words Mario Cristobal wrote his own epitaph should this whole bring-The U-back experiment not work out for him. He was sailing at 4-0 and ranked No. 17 in his second season. Then Saturday night happened, a 23-20 home loss to three-TD underdog Georgia Tech when UM ran instead of kneeling, fumbled in the last minute then gave up a last-second 44-yard scoring pass. A stunning embarrassment. Now No. 14 North Carolina and nemesis Clemson are up next as a season teeters on collapse. [Column: Mario Cristobal late gaffe costs Hurricanes in stunning home loss to Georgia Tech]

2. INTER MIAMI: Messi/Miami honeymoon hits a rough patch: As the new Beckham docuseries is out on Netflix, shining yet more spotlight on David Beckham and Inter Miami, the team lost at home 1-0 to Cincinnati Saturday and was eliminated from the MLS playoff race. Lionel Messi was back,off the bench, after missing five of previous six IM matches with an injury sustained during World Cup qualifying for Argentina. Failing to make the playoffs due significantly to Messi’s unavailability came as the club announced an outrageous hike in ticket prices for 2024 season -- the Messi effect. Aside to club: Messi won’t be here long. Don’t betray the goodwill of your most loyal fans, which you’ll dearly need when he’s gone.

3. DOLPHINS: Miami out to continue Giants’ miserable downfall: From the historic 70-20 victory over Denver to the thud of that 48-20 loss in Buffalo, the Dolphins have had quite the eventful past two games. Sunday should be more routine as Miami takes the home field a big 12-point favorite over the reeling New York Giants in only Big Blue’s fourth trip to South Florida since 1996. Sustainable winning means handling lesser foes regularly and without drama. The Fins are on that path but still proving themselves in the task.

4. PANTHERS: Bettors say Cats were Cinderella and are about to disappear: Florida reached the Stanley Cup Final last year. Remember? Bettors don’t seem to. After a 4-4preseason ended Saturday the Panthers open with three on the road starting this coming Thursday --and nobody beyond their own fan base is expecting much. We scanned eight prominent sportsbooks and only one (DraftKings) had Florida even as high as ninth-best title odds at +1600. Ouch. Matthew Tkachuk and Aleksander Barkov, the Disrespect Card is yours to play!

5. MLB: Marlins out of postseason fast ... now Orioles are America’s Team: The Marlins made the playoffs. But if you blinked you missed it. Now the postseason is down to the final eight teams and we are celebrating ... the O’s! Baltimore last won a World Series in 1983, longest drought of any of the last eight other than Texas, which has never won. Atlanta, Houston and the L.A. Dodgers all won in last few years. Philly won in 2008, Arizona in ‘01 and Minnesota in 1991. Not shocking then that Baltimore has the rooting interest of the most states -- 14 -- of any remaining team, based on geo-tagged Twitter data via BetOnline.ag. It’s 11 states for the Braves, 10 for the Dodgers, seven for the Twins, three each for the Phils and Astros, and only their home states for the unloved Rangers and Diamondbacks.

6. HEAT: NBA Finals to playoff scramble? No Lillard = low expectations: Preseason starts Tuesday and Miami fans need a pickaxe and miner’s helmet to locate any realistic hope of getting back to NBA Finals -- despite Jimmy (Emo) Butler predicting a championship. It all turned when Heat failed to land the superstar who wanted them and Portland traded Damian Lillard to Milwaukee instead. Now Miami is tied for seventh in the East in predicted wins at 42.7 as the Celtics, Bucks, 76ers and even Cavaliers rise to rule the conference.

7. NFL: Kelce fires back at Rodgers’ dig over vaccines: Chiefs’ Travis Kelce used to be content being the NFL’s best tight end for its championship team. Then Taylor Swift made him a beyond-football star -- so big that sidelined Jet Aaron Rodgers called him “Mr. Pfizer,” making fun of Kelce’s new TV ads for flu and COVID vaccines. Said Kelce: “I got it because of keeping myself safe, keeping my family safe, the people in this building, so yeah I stand by it 1000%. Fully comfortable with him calling me Mr. Pfizer.” Quick aside: Aaron’s team is owned by Woody Johnson. Of the Johnson & Johnson empire. Which also made COVID vaccines. Does that make Aaron “Mr. Johnson”?

8. GYMNASTICS: Queen Simone reclaims her sport: ANTWERP, Belgium -- Two years away from the sport and three months into her comeback,Simone Biles is as great as ever at the ancient-for-a-gymnast age of 26. She won the individual all-around title at the world championships in Belgium for the sixth time in becoming the most decorated gymnast ever. It was Biles’ 27th world championship medal (and 21st gold) in leading the U.S. women to the team crown. Her 34 medals across the world championships and Olympics are the most ever -- male or female.

9. NFL: League pushing back on Brady ownership bid: Tom Brady of course is King Emeritus of the NFL. But it isn’t buying him much slack in his now six-months-old-bid to buy an ownership piece of the Las Vegas Raiders. The Washington Post reports that the NFL finance committee is pushing back at the discount price Brady is being offered by owner Mark Davis. Brady reportedly is being offered 70 percent off on a 10 percent buy -- a saving of about $435 million. Owners on the finance committee are playing hardball because they want no discounts, no letup on accelerating franchise values.

10. MEDIA: Broadcast legend Al Michaels has never eaten a vegetable: Al Michaels in an interview with Chris Wallace on Max revealed he has never, to his knowledge, eaten a single vegetable in his life. (That’s a lot of life; Al is 78.) l“I was born when my parents were 18,” Michaels said. “So [my mother] just let me have the run of the course. And I always pushed the vegetables away. To this day, no.” Do you believe in miracles? Yeah. But in broccoli. Oh hell no!

Other most recent stuff from me: Mario Cristobal late gaffe costs Hurricanes in stunning home loss to Georgia Tech / NFL Week 5 picks / Miami out of MLB playoffs fast, but season a huge, unexpected success for Marlins / Herald NFL Week 4 QB rankings / Dolphins’ 48-20 loss in Buffalo, defensive collapse a reality check / Lillard trade to Bucks a collosal defeat for Heat, Pat Riley / Previous HB10 / And my latest podcast: