Even judging by fans, U.S. deserves cheers
Warren Abao had the distinction Wednesday night at the Orange Bowl of being the U.S. soccer fan most prepared for the numerical domination of yellow-clad Brazilian fans over those out-manned souls cheering for the supposed home team.
( COMMENTARY / GREG COTE, gcote@herald.com, 07/24/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

Close, but still no cigars for Dolphins
The Dolphins win the Super Bowl this season. Seriously. No, this time I mean it. This time they mean it. Just like last season, and all the times before that, too. Only more so!
( GREG COTE, gcote@herald.com, 07/20/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

Super talk is not a bunch of hot air
The Dolphins win the Super Bowl this season. Seriously. No, this time I mean it. This time they mean it. Just like last season, and all the times before that, too. Only more so!
( COMMENTARY / GREG COTE, gcote@herald.com, 07/20/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

Ballpark would pay off big for everyone
There are encouraging signs that the Marlins and city of Miami seem willing to agree on sharing the cost of a new domed or retractable-roof downtown ballpark.
( COMMENTARY / GREG COTE, gcote@herald.com, 07/20/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

Free agency a lose-lose situation for Riley
The famous coach finds himself in a situation now that might be characterized with the same words that unfortunately describe his past two Heat seasons.
( COMMENTARY / GREG COTE, gcote@herald.com, 07/17/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

Bonds ripping The Babe feels like blasphemy
Anything in the way of modesty coming from Barry Bonds would, by this time, seem startlingly false, be too much to expect. Barry and humility have not met. He doesn't do humble. He leads the majors in homers and arrogance, and there are people who think one forgives the other, as if great talent mandates preening ego.
( COMMENTARY / GREG COTE, gcote@herald.com, 07/16/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

Zo move about dollars and sense
Alonzo Mourning's controversial departure from the Heat, like his ferocious play in the paint, has been one of untempered emotion and heart more than particular grace.
( COMMENTARY / GREG COTE, gcote@herald.com, 07/14/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

Marlins have lowered the white flag
Craig Counsell running-hopping-dancing down the third-base line with a World Series championship in his back pocket on Oct. 26, 1997.
( 07/13/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

These remarks no reason for predictable outcry
Cubs manager Dusty Baker, who is black, on playing in the heat: ``It's easier for me. It's easier for most Latin guys and most minority people. Most of us come from the heat. Our skin color is more conducive to the heat than it is for light-skin people.''
( 07/13/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

Life of his rides comes full circle
Pat Valenzuela first saw Calder Race Course as a 19-year-old wunderkind in 1982. He was newly married and had a saddle on the world. Everything was right. He'd already ridden in a Kentucky Derby and won more than 600 races.
( 07/12/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

Dear owners, this advice is priceless
Free Advice on How to Spend Millions! That's what we offer today to the Marlins, Heat and Panthers as each weighs whether to unlimber the franchise wallet and go get needed players.
( COMMENTARY / GREG COTE, gcote@herald.com, 07/11/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

From notable absences to omissions, All-Star Game is tainted
Barry Bonds and Sammy Sosa, merely the two active players most associated with long ball -- only the two most feared hitters and biggest stars in baseball -- say they will not participate in the Home Run Derby connected with the All-Star Game.
( COMMENTARY / GREG COTE, gcote@herald.com, 07/09/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

All-Star snub of Willis has Baker's fingerprints
Baseball has become an easy target, a bull's-eye as big as America. But you can't blame the sport for this one. Can't blame the fans. Can't blame commissioner Bud Selig, steroids, labor strikes, crazy salaries, Wayne Huizenga, long games or Sammy Sosa's corked bat.
( COMMENTARY / GREG COTE, gcote@herald.com, 07/07/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

Original phenom recalls pressure
Klass' LPGA debut was at age 10
Pride. Regret. Dejá vu. All of those things visited with Beverly Klass on Sunday in her Boynton Beach apartment. So many old feelings dropped by while she watched on TV and saw 13-year-old golf phenom Michelle Wie play in the U.S. Women's Open.
( COMMENTARY / GREG COTE, gcote@herald.com, 07/07/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

Fan voting turns game into a star
Allowing fans of Major League Baseball their say in selecting the All-Star teams is all good. There is obvious benefit from it, and no harm in it.
( COMMENTARY / GREG COTE, gcote@herald.com, 07/06/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

Star gave proof one night that our fans are still there
They came for the explosives, no denying it. For the ones that boomed and bloomed colorfully in the air in that postgame display. But also for the ones that came first. The ones that sizzled out of that jangle of elbows and knees on the mound.
( COMMENTARY / GREG COTE, gcote@herald.com, 07/03/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

It all adds up: Zo is drawing interest
Alonzo Mourning's comeback can't be called the NBA's most unlikely. Not since Roy Tarpley arose this month like a long-dormant tumor to bid, at age 37, for reinstatement from a 1995 ''permanent ban'' for substance abuse.
( COMMENTARY / GREG COTE, gcote@herald.com, 07/02/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

Canes' decision was wise, brave, forward-looking -- and lengthy
University of Miami president Donna Shalala called it ''a bizarre, strange, goofy process'' that led UM -- finally -- to Monday's campus news conference. She was kind to not add ''litigious,'' ''infuriating'' and ``tedious.''
( COMMENTARY / GREG COTE, gcote@herald.com, 07/01/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

Grand Entrance
The Marlins' Dontrelle Willis is the first South Florida rookie since Dan Marino in 1983 to make such a strong first impression.
Dontrelle Willis happened once before down here, but forgive him for not remembering. He was still in diapers. It was 20 seasons ago. Different sport. Different arm. Same buzz. The same unmistakable feeling that we had lucked onto something beyond special.
( COMMENTARY / GREG COTE, gcote@herald.com, 06/30/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

Please, spare all of us and get this over with
Probably too late now, but there has to have been a way to somehow turn this athletic-conference wrangling over the University of Miami into a reality TV show. Considering the weeks and weeks in which the Byzantine drama has inched on, we might well have called the series, American Idle.
( 06/27/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

Expectations for LeBron: Best and worst of times
Would you want to be LeBron James right now? Certainly your inclination is to snort incredulously and cry, ''No, genius, of course not! Who in his right mind would want a hundred million bucks!?'' Your reaction and even your snarky sarcasm are understandable. It's nearly impossible to think outside the bank when the account involves that many commas.
( 06/26/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

Marlins' test: Will they trade Lowell?
Trading Mike Lowell undeniably makes easy financial sense for the Marlins. It would be a smart and defensible move if management's sole obligation was to impress a roomful of accountants, downsize-minded consultants and baseball actuaries.
( COMMENTARY / GREG COTE, gcote@herald.com, 06/24/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

Panthers pounce -- wisely
It may have been too much to expect the Panthers to acquire the long-elusive ''veteran leadership'' they need on a day here devoted to hockey players who look as if they should be pulling up to your home in a tricked-out Toyota Supra and transporting your daughter to the senior prom.
( 06/22/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

Neuheisel: victim of ill-fated timing
Successful college football coach Rick Neuheisel being fired for participating in a March Madness basketball pool is a little like being ticketed for going 43 in a 40-mph zone or for jaywalking on a desolate street.
( COMMENTARY / GREG COTE, gcote@herald.com, 06/22/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

Shifting gears to mainstream
NASCAR has become the undisputed king of American auto racing in large part by gradually rebranding itself, by shedding its moonshine past, by distancing itself from Confederate flags and Deep South ideology and growing nationwide.
( COMMENTARY / GREG COTE, gcote@herald.com, 06/18/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

Meeting Canseco: It's not priceless
You can rent José Canseco for $625 an hour. He graciously will open his South Florida home to you and be at your disposal -- for a barbecue, for a batting lesson, for relaxing quality time in the pool -- and for no added charge you will enjoy the company of José's exceptionally friendly German Weimaraner hunting dogs, Zeus and Zena.
( COMMENTARY / GREG COTE, gcote@herald.com, 06/17/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

Parties bid goodbye to Bonds' baseball
Separate farewell parties bubbled with fanfare over the weekend for the same guest of honor. The special invitee didn't say a word. Just sat there -- a motionless object of unending, stupefying fascination.
( COMMENTARY / GREG COTE, gcote@herald.com, 06/16/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

This isn't the time to chuckle
Sammy Sosa is getting what he deserves. Not more, or less. The Cubs star cheated -- whether innocently or accidentally is off-point -- and he got caught. Now, he is paying a fairly small price for a fairly small crime.
( 06/15/2003 03:01 AM EDT)