Greg Cote’s Hot Button Top 10: Tua’s back!, Canes whip FSU, Messi, why Yankees still have hope & more

GREG COTE’S HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (OCTOBER 27): 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 79th edition of your Sunday sports-potpourri notes column, the HB10: 1. DOLPHINS: And Tua was sent from on high to save a season...: He has been out since suffering his most recent concussion on Sept. 12. He finally returned to practice this week. On Wednesday he was limited. On Thursday he practiced fully. On Friday he cleared league protocols and the club announced Tua Tagovailoa would be back at quarterback on Sunday here vs. Arizona. And the angels sang! OK I made up that last part. I mean, the angels may have sung, but I did not personally hear them, and calls to heaven seeking confirmation were not immediately returned. At any rate, with the record at 2-4, Miami has a season to save. You up for it, Tua? 2. HURRICANES: No cardiac end this time as No. 6 UM routs bad FSU: No. 6 Hurricanes clubbed a lousy Florida State team 36-7 at home Saturday night to stay unbeaten at 8-0 -- a welcome rout after three straight last-minute wins. UM hosts Duke next week. I’m still note sure Miami is a great team, but unbeaten is unbeaten. The 2017 Canes were 10-0 before a late collapse, hopefully a lesson learned in 2024? 3. MLB: Gloom, hope as Dodgers take 2-0 World Series lead on Yankees: The Dodgers are up 2-0 on the Yankees in the World Series after Saturday night’s 4-2 win followed Friday’s historic drama as Freddie Freeman hit the first game-winning walkoff grand slam in Series history for a 6-3 final in 10 innings. Shoehei Ohtani’s hurt shoulder Saturday does not appear serious. Elation for L.A. and gloom for New York: Teams up all-time in MLB best-of-7 series are 92-15 to win, or 86 percent. Hope for Yanks: One of those 15 exceptions was in 2023, when Diamondbacks overcame 2-0 hole vs Phillies to win NLCS. Ten World Series have been won by the team down 2-0, including by the Yankees in 1996 (the most recent occurrence) and 1978. 4. INTER MIAMI: Herons, Messi card historic first playoff victory: Luis Suarez and Jordi Alba scored and Lionel Messi was terrific and assisted on the winner Friday night in Inter Miami’s 2-1 home playoff win over Atlanta United to open the best-of-3 first round series. Messi had at least three goals denied by goalkeeper miracles. The run for the MLS Cup championship -- Messi’s imperative upon arrival last summer -- sees Game 2 in Atlanta Nov. 2 and Game 3 if needed back in Fort Lauderdale Nov. 9. Friday’s was the first playoff win in the club’s brief history. 5. HEAT: Did Riley dedication have hand in fiasco-result in opener?: Team’s home court is now named for president Pat Riley. That’s justified and a ceremony was called-for. But the halftime dedication at the season and home opener went on and on, took forever, and when it finally ended Orlando dominated the Heat in a 38-19 third quarter for a 116-97 final. Can’t blame the dedication with certainty, but it maybe should have been held pregame or, as it was,, been a good bit shorter. Miami rebounded in Game 2 Saturday, winning 114-106 at Charlotte as Jimmy Butler scored 26 after a 3-point stinker in the opener. Heat host Detroit Monday. A nice, short halftime is planned. 6. PANTHERS: Cats win, now welcome Barkov back as Finland trip looms: Stanley Cup-champion Florida is off to a 6-4 start after Saturday’s 6-3 comeback win at the Islanders. The Panthers visit Buffalo on Monday -- with Aleksander Barkov expected back from injury -- before embarking on a nine-hour flight to Tampere, Finland for the NHL Global Series and two games vs. Dallas on Nov. 1-2. Captain Barkov’s imminent return is great news as team heads to his native Finland. 7. NASCAR: Eight drivers chasing Championship 4 at Homestead Sunday: Homestead-Miami Speedway today and then Martinsville next Sunday will pare the NASCAR playoff field of eight drivers remaining to the Championship 4 in the Nov. 10 season-title race in Phoenix. Kyle Larson, Joey Logano, Christopher Bell land William Byron are betting faves to make the last four; also still in it are Tyler Reddick, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott. Former season winners still alive are reigning champ Blaney, Larson (2021), Elliott (2020) and Logano (2018). 8. WNBA: Miami 2.0 in league expansion? Caitlin in Unrivaled startup?: Coincidental to the Caitlin Clark-led boom in popularity but well-timed, WNBA is expanding from its current 12 teams, with Golden State and Toronto onboarding next season and Portland in ‘26. League wants to add a 16th by 2028 --and I want a second shot for Miami. Miami Sol played three seasons (2000-02) in league’s early years before folding. Philly, Nashville, Denver and “South Florida” are mentioned as expansion candidates. Meanwhile Unrivaled, the league’s offseason startup league tip;ping off in Miami in January, is assembling a monumental offer to lure Clark. 9. NBA: LeBron gets father-son moment, but Bronny’s path not clear: LeBron James, 39, got his dreamed-of father-son moment when he and Bronny, 20, shared the court for three minutes in the Lakers’ season-opening home win -- making NBA history. It was the only minutes for Bronny, who didn’t play in the second game or Saturday’s third. Bronny is expected to be with the team on its five-game road trip but then begin splitting time between L.A. and the club’s South Bay G-League affiliate. Bronny’s long-term NBA future remains in some debate. 10. OLYMPICS: Snowboarder to (alleged) drug trafficker: Ryan Wedding was a snowboarder for Canada in 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City, finishing 24th in parallel giant slalom. Like most Olympians who finish 24th, he dropped out of sight. Unlike most, he reappeared most unfortunately as the FBI issued a warrant and $50,000 for info leading to his arrest related to a drug trafficking ring that shipped cocaine from Colombia through Mexico and Southern Cal into Canada. Wedding, now 43, also is wanted for involvement in related murders. Seldom has snow turned to white powder so awfully. The Miami Sol played in the WNBA for three seasons, in 2000-02. That franchise’s top five scoring leaders in regular season total points: Notes: Sam currently is scouting manager for the Portland Trail Blazers. Just missing the top five with 366 points in two seasons: Ruth Riley (now Ruth Hunter), presently the Miami Heat’s senior director of team development. Other most recent stuff from me: No. 6 Canes stay unbeaten, whip bad FSU 36-7 in welcome home rout after three straight scares // Onus on Messi to make Miami MLS champs. Historic first playoff win a good start // NFL Week 8 picks // Heat lose opener, but night was about Pat Riley and legacy of winning, class // Updated Herald NFL Week 7 QB Rankings // Return of Tua? UM-FSU, World Series, Heat opener, Messi in playoffs -- what a week! // Dolphins, with no margin of error, give win away in loss at Indy // Previous HB10 // Poll Dance: Who best reps Heat Culture? // No. 6 Cardiacs Canes do it again, stay unbeaten with wild 52-45 shootout in Louisville // Florida Panthers celebrate Cup with opening win. But should game have been played? // Pete Rose wasn’t perfect, but MLB’s endless lack of mercy followed him to grave // Messi at 37 has missed more than half of Inter Miami games. Cherish him while you can // Book it! Miami Hurricanes will vie for ACC title, make playoff in huge return to power // Jazz trade continues Miami Marlins’ losing cycle of talent-for-prospects cost cutting // And my latest podcast: