Greg Cote’s Hot Button Top 10: Dolphins rare favorites at Patriots, reality awaits Coach Prime & more

GREG COTE’S HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (SEPTEMBER 17): WHAT IN SPORTS HAS GRABBED US LATELY: Our Sunday Hot Button Top 10 feature 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 major, offbeat, damnable, funny or worth needling as the sports week just past pivots to the week ahead. Welcome to the 31st edition of the new HB10:

1. DOLPHINS: Belichick aura, Pats home dominance things of the past?: Bill Belichick was the genius-G.O.A.T. Then Tom Brady left him. Bill’s had a 25-27 record since. Foxborough once was a jinx-pit for Miami; Fins lost 10 in a row there from 2009-18. It’s been 2-2 since. This new era finds Miami a small road favorite Sunday night -- once unheard-of in this AFC East rivalry. Can the defrocked-genius Belichick devise a defensive plan to limit Tua Tagovailoa-to-Tyreek Hill? Wouldn’t dismiss the possibility. Not sure I’d bet on it, though.

2. INTER MIAMI: No Messi = big mess, first loss of new era: Inter Miami had 11 wins and one draw in the 12 matches since Lionel Messi signed before Saturdays’ 5-2 spank of a loss at Atlanta United. Big asterisk: Messi did not make the trip, needed rest. Still, loss was big in MLS playoff chase. Herons lost one point’s ground and now are seven points off pace with seven league matches to play resuming Wednesday at home vs. Toronto. Expect Messi to play.

3. MARLINS: Fish solve nemesis Braves, stay in wild-card fight: Miami is 77-72 after a second straight win over nemesis Atlanta and Saturday became first NL East team to win a series vs. Braves this season. Miami, a half-game off in a fierce wild-card race, hosts Braves again today, six more at home vs. Mets and Brewers, then ends with six on the road.

4. COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Prime’s Buffs rally to win state showdown, but...: Colorado State at Coach Prime’s No. 18 Colorado was “personal” Saturday, said Deion Sanders, after State coach Jay Norvell mocked Sanders for not taking off his hat and sunglasses during interviews, saying his mother raised him better than that. Ouch. (They shook hands afterward.) Prime’s Buffs rallied to win 43-35 in double-OT but showed continuing defensive lapses. On deck for Team rime: At No. 13 Oregon and vs. No. 5 USC. Midnight nears for Cinderella in cleats. (Close calls, but bIggest Week 3 upset in CFB was No. 11 Tennessee’s 29-16 loss to Gators in The Swamp.)

5. MLB: Let the Ohtani Sweepstakes (and waiting) begin: Shohei Ohtani’s season-ending UCL (Tommy John) surgery has ended his season for the L.A. Angels, now the pending star 2-way free agent awaits the offseason, and the high bidding. He may not be able to pitch next season but the bat should be just fine. Dodgers open as 3-1 favorites to land him, but seven other teams are at 9-1 or better. Shockingly, the notoriously low-spending Miami Marlins are mid-pack, tied for 17th, with 40-1 odds. In our dreams...

6. NFL So much for that Aaron Rodgers retirement speculation: The Achilles popped and ended Aaron Rodgers’ Jets season after four snaps and one incomplete pass. Immediate chatter: At 39, did that end his career not just season? Would he retire? Seems not. On his Instagram: “The night is darkest before the dawn. And I shall rise yet again.” To Pat McAfee, Rodgers said he planned to play again, welcomed the doubters, even hinted he might play by late this season, saying his pace of recovery could “shock some people.”

7. HURRICANES: The story of UM’s ‘Full Uniform Man’ superfan: Canes are 3-0, should inch up from No. 22 in next polls,and just landed five-star defensive lineman Armondo Blount form Miami Central, the No. 4 overall recruit in 2025 class. But we like this story better: If youv’e gone to UM home games you probably are aware of the fan who shows up in a complete Canes uniform, helmet to cleats, full padding, everything. He is Shelton Douthett, whose brother, hospitalized with pneumonia, told Shelton he planned to dress in a full uniform at games when he recovered. But his brother passed away. So Shelton now dresses in a full No. 17 uni in his brother’s memory and honor.

8. BASKETBALL: Proof the FIBA world rankings are insanely dumb: The United States men’s basketball team caved and did not even medal in the recent FIBA World Cup. Now, a week later, the new FIBA world rankings have the U.S. rising from No. 2 to No. 1, overtaking Spain. The FIBA rankings system uses a Byzantine formula that factors results dating eight years previous. Sounds like a new ratings system (along with a new American team) may be in order.

9. GOLF: Tiger and Rory’s new TGL league nears January launch: Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy’s TMRW Sports Group (the acronym pronounced ‘tomorrow’) will debut its first major venture in January with the start of TGL, a new league with three-man teams of real golfers competing on a virtual course. The PGA Tour is a partner. Players will include Tiger, Rory, Jon Rahm, Justin Rose, Rickie Fowler and Justin Thomas. Investors include Steph Curry, Shaq, Dwyane Wade, Lewis Hamilton, Serena Williams, Josh Allen and Shohei Ohtani. Has the freshness and starpower to be in the Next Big Thing mix.

10. HULA-HOOPING: Woman sets record for blazing hoops: A woman named Grace Good, 30, set a Guinness World record by balancing eight hula hoops on fire. Sounds like Guinness is getting a bit carried away with its world-record categories. In an unrelated story, Sidakdeep Chahal from India set a Guinness record for “longest hair on a teenager” with a strand measuring 4 feet 3 inches.

Other most recent stuff from me: NFL Week 2 picks / Dolphins, Hurricanes hapit forve football in Miami riding tandem high not felt in nearly 25 years / Dolphins’ Tua wins Week 1 to launch Herald’s 26th year of NFL QB rankings / Tua, Tyreek put on spectacular show as Dolphins win at Chargers to open season / Hurricanes’ home rout of Texas A&M Cristobal’s biggest win as Miami coach -- and he needed it / Previous HB10 / And my latest podcast: