Longtime Miami Herald columnist Greg Cote posted a photo over the weekend of himself with severe swelling on his face and a black eye, leading his readers and listeners to wonder what happened to the nearly 70-year-old sportswriter.
Was it an attack from his new puppy, Jumpin’ Charlie? An explosive fight with his antagonistic son, Dan Le Batard Show producer Chris Cote?
As teased in the photo’s caption, Cote recounted what led to the injury in Monday’s episode of The Greg Cote Show with Greg Cote. In his telling, Cote fainted while on his way out of a bowling alley last Wednesday night, his fourth incident passing out in the past year.
The columnist fell face-first, nosediving straight to the ground and busting up his face in multiple places. It was a very real and serious incident, even if he played it up on social media for engagement.
“I will do a lot of things for downloads and clicks,” Cote laughed on the podcast. “One of them is not planting face-first in the asphalt and looking like I’m looking right now. I promise you that I did not do it for clicks.”
Despite Cote’s recent spells of fainting with little notice, his cardiology signs are healthy, and his doctors are unsure of the cause.
“When I mentioned I had a history of fainting, they wanted to make sure that it wasn’t a neurological problem,” Cote added. “So long story short, I fell after bowling, I injured my face pretty bad. And believe me, I am lucky … I’m not complaining about the way I look, even though it’s so embarrassing.”
His son Chris, who also produces his podcast, mentioned that he was a bit behind his father on their way out of the bowling alley. So he missed the fall, and his father can’t remember it. That makes it all the more difficult for either of them to piece together exactly what happened.
A bystander happened to get Chris’ attention and waved him over to help the man, who ended up being his father.
“Thank god for that guy,” Chris Cote said on the podcast. “Because, who knows, my dad was just kind of out of it. When he faints, he doesn’t remember fainting. … I didn’t see the fall, and this is at night.”
While Cote’s health issues have been played for drama and occasional laughs on The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz in recent years, it is a serious matter. Cote got a severe cough in check several years ago but now is dealing with fainting spells that are unpredictable and dangerous.
Cote said he is staying home from Miami Heat and Florida Panthers playoff games while he recovers, which is also affecting his career.
Here’s hoping Cote heals quickly and can get to the bottom of the issue sooner rather than later.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.