Greg Cote’s Hot Button Top 10: Inter Miami’s preseason tour(ment), cheering Sean Strickland loss & more

GREG COTE’S HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (JANUARY 21): WHAT IN SPORTS HAS GRABBED US LATELY: Our Sunday Hot Button Top 10 had been blog-only but when 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, weird, damnable, funny or otherwise worth needling as the sports week just past pivots to the week ahead. Welcome to the 45th edition of your Sunday sports-potpourri notes column, the new HB10:

1. INTER MIAMI: Messi and team set out on arduous preseason tour(ment): Year 2 of the Lionel Messi Era in Miami has begun with an absurdly arduous, near-25,000-mile preseason tour that opened Friday with a scoreless draw in El Salvador and goes now to Dallas, then to Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong and Japan -- seven exhibitions in five countries -- before heading home just in time for the February 21 MLS season opener. It will be great for club profits and to further grow Inter Miami as a major global brand. But is it smart for the team? Messi, Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba and now Luis Suarez form the starry hub of an aging team in win-now mode. “We understand the business and sports sides, and try to satisfy both,” said coach Tata Martino. At end of last season Martino admitted he saw “a team that was spent.” He could see that to start this one.

2. NFL: Top-seed Ravens, 49ers advance to conference championship games: Baltimore (easily over Houston) and San Francisco (narrowly over Green Bay advanced in Divisional Round playoff games on Saturday. Next Sunday, the Ravens will host today’s Buffalo-Kansas City winner in the AFC Championship Game for a ticket to the Super Bowl, and the 49ers will host today’s Tampa Bay Detroit winner for the NFC crown. Prediction: Ravens would be favored by about 3 points over Bills or Chiefs. Niners would be favored by about 5 over Lions and about 8 over Bucs.

3. HEAT: Miami masters memorializing with Haslem jersey in rafters, Wade statue next: Udonis Haslem’s No. 40 jersey rose in the arena rafters Friday night as the Heat gifted their recently retired, home-grown yeoman with a rightful honor. Later this season a statue of forever-the-face-of-the-franchise Dwyane Wade will be unveiled outside the building. Pat Riley loves this kind of stuff ... almost as much as Heat fans would love another championship parade. The club’s third and last was 11 years ago in 2013 as the LeBron James era ebbed, and it’s been 0-for-3 in Finals appearances since with little hope at the midpoint of this season. Retired jerseys and statues and what was is all great. But not as important as what’s next.

4. UFC/ESPN: Where is the condemnation of despicable Sean Strickland?: We might all agree that newly dethroned UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland is a bigoted piece of [bleep]. Wears T-shirts that say women should be in the kitchen. Went on a homophobic, anti-LGBTQ rant before Saturday’s UFC 297 when a reporter asked about his past anti-trans comments. “Ten years ago, to be trans was a mental [bleeping] illness,” he said. “Now, all of a sudden, people like you have [bleeping] weaseled your way in the world. You are an infection.” So Strickland is a certified idiot. Got it. The question: Why hasn’t UFC condemned this man and disassociated from him? Better question: Why hasn’t ESPN, in business-bed with UFC, done the same and loudly? Strickland’s level of hatred may be beyond help. But UFC and ESPN are cowards for being willing platforms for it. Humanity cheered Saturday when Strickland lost a decision and his belt to Dricus Du Plessis.

5. NFL: G.O.A.T. Belichick to Atlanta, champ Harbaugh to L.A?: Hard to envision Bill Belichick taking his six Super Bowl rings to Atlanta, but two interviews for the job in the wake of New England moving on from him suggest it’s increasingly likely. Less likely but possible: Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh ending up in L.A. with the Chargers. Word is Belichick, 71, could lure free agent QB Kirk Cousins to the Falcons. Bill is 15 wins from surpassing Don Shula for most in NFL history.

6. PANTHERS: Mountaintop to gutter as Cats fight slump: Florida has followed a season-best 9-game winning streak with a season-worst skid that hit four losses in a row Friday night at home vs. Minnesota. The Panthers still sit pretty in the NHL with their 58 points tied for second in the Eastern conference as the Cats return to the ice Monday in Nashville.

7. MEDIA: R.I.P., Sports Illustrated, 1954-2024: Sports Illustrated is dead. The iconic sports magazine that gave us great writing (once), great photography (once) and the famed and infamous “Swimsuit Issue” is flatlining, gasping for life. The staff of the once-iconic brand was further decimated by massive layoffs this week as its current owner, Arena Group, seems less and less interested in keeping it alive. Authentic Brands Group, which owns the SI name and had been licensing it to Arena, also seems to be looking for an exit strategy. An era in sports journalism expires. Sad.

8. HURRICANES: Tight end granted a ninth (!) season: Give Cam McCormick this much: He is making the most of his college football career. It began with a redshirt year at Oregon in 2016. It will end for Miami in 2024 as a 26-year-old backup tight end after the ACC and NCAA gifted him a ninth year of eligibility. Injuries and the pandemic derailed him along the journey. I don’t begrudge McCormick’s never-quit attitude, just wish the NCAA was more consistent and transparent with such decisions. Example: Portal QB Taulia Tagovailoa was just denied a sixth year of eligibility -- one that would have seen him transfer to Miami and be McCormick’s new teammate.

9. MARLINS: As new season nears, was ‘23 playoffs a mirage?: Marlins’ FanFest is next week and spring training a month away as club is coming off only the fourth playoff season in its history (albeit a wild card) and first in a full season since 2003. Or was it a mirage? Betting odds for 2024 make you wonder. Sportsbetting.ag says Miami has a 75 percent likelihood to not make the playoffs, tied for fourth least-likely in the NL. And FanDuel’s World Series odds have the Fish 21st (of 30) at plus-6500. The problem? The NL East, where Braves are among title faves, Phillies are really good, and Mets are better.

10. SOCCER: MLS’ Sporting K.C. made bad hire ... then listened to fans: MLS club Sporting Kansas City hired Gavin Wilkinson as its sporting director (de facto general manager). Eight days later they “mutually agreed” to part ways, meaning the club wanted him gone but made it seem amicable. A fan outcry led to the startling turnabout. Wilkinson is the former GM of Portland’s MLS and NWSL teams who was accused of hiding sexual allegations against a former coach. Wilkinson hired Paul Riley, who was among five NWSL coaches ousted over claims of misconduct in 2021. Power to the fans!

Other most recent stuff from me: NFL Division playoffs: Our picks for Chiefs-Bills and all four games including best upset shots // From rubble of failed Dolphins season, here’s why QB Tua has earned big-money contract extension // Dolphins’ once-promising season dies miserably in arctic cold of Kansas City // Dak wins season crown in Herald NFL QB rankings; Tua 3rd but sets Dolphins marks // R.I.P. Jim Martz: A tribute to the man who gifted me my career // Previous HB10 // And my latest podcast: