An0nym1ty wrote:In 1996, I sat down in my desk for the first day of my second grade class in front of the kid who would become my lifelong Jay-and-Silent Bob-style friend (until career moves drifted us apart somewhat in recent years). One of the very first things I ever remember him telling me about was this thing called basketball that these people called Heats played here in Miami.
I suppose when I went home that night, I probably asked my dad about them, because soon after that I was taken to my first ever game at the old Miami Arena with him and my grandfather to watch us lose in overtime to the Malone-Stockton Jazz team that owned the Western Conference in those days.
I've been with them ever since. I can tell you exactly where I was sitting, exactly how I felt, and exactly what went through my head the moment Allan Houston's prayer of a shot went in in '98. I remember crying, literally crying (the only time sports has made me do that), when Jamal Mashburn passed up the potential game winning shot to Clarence Weatherspoon the following season in Game 7 against the Knicks and 'Spoon missed it. I remember being in my sixth grade history classroom when somebody first told me that Alonzo Mourning had been diagnosed with a kidney disease the offseason following that and the potential Hardaway/Mourning/Eddie Jones/Brian Grant/Anthony Mason dream team would be dashed before getting off the ground. I remember the moment we drafted DWade over my initial preferred choice (Maciej Lampe...thank God nobody trusted 15 year old me with lottery picks). I remember the exact morning I read that Anthony Carter had forgotten to renew his contract in time, giving us the money to go out and force the Clippers into giving us Lamar Odom. I remember nearly hitting my aforementioned friend's ceiling in 2003 when Rafer Alston hit that three against the Mavs and I jumped higher than I ever had at that point. I remember the first time I heard the Shaq rumor. I remember being on the phone with another friend in the fourth quarter of Game 3 in 2006 and us preparing ourselves for the inevitable humiliating sweep that seemed to be at hand, only to witness a miracle. And when we came back and won that series, I was with my family in a resort in the mountains in upstate New York, but I remember running around that resort screaming like a damn fool while almost nobody else there knew what the hell had me so riled up.
I was there when Kendall Gill was forced to become our SF by default. I was there when Travis Best was our best hope. I was there when the Bulls ended our first championship team's run. And I was there for the 15 win
season that followed, even though going into that season I had seriously believed adding Ricky Davis and Mark Blount was enough to keep the rotation strong enough to contend again.
Point is, I've been here through thick and thin. Of all my teams (Marlins, Heat, Dolphins), the Heat is the one I've got the tightest bond with (although having season tickets in the blistering upper deck heat during the 1-15 Dolphins season was a bonding experience, as well). And as amazing as the Big 3 era has been, and as much as I hope and pray we keep it all together (and believe we will), if LeBron says before Game 5 that he's leaving no matter what, I will still root for this team with all my heart. Real Heat fans do exist.
Damn dude. Get out of my head! Lol reading your post I felt like I was talking to myself. My memories go back a little further but yours were great and exactly how I remember them. Shoot I remember, had to be 93, pistons weren't the title pistons but still good and it was late... Was supposed to be in bed, and Grant long hit some running hook in the lane for the win. I remember silently celebrating in my room going nuts so not to wake anyone lol.
Anyone remember watching us steal game 1 in ATL as an 8 seed in 94 against the hawks on Glen Rice's tip in? We got up 2-1 in a 5 game series but sucks, lost in 5.
I'll never get over that Anthony Carter thing. The chain of events that set off, is amazing. We're able to sign Odom, actually we max offered Brand who LA matched, then Riley knew they wouldn't resign odom. Then Odom has IMO his best season ever, was the center piece around us getting Shaq. Shaq obviously helped us get that 1st ring and add credibility to Riley when he pitched Bron and Bosh. Had he not won in 06... You're talking his last titles in the 80s.
I always wondered if we kept that young core together and ended to it, what would have happened. Wade, Caron, Odom, and Haslem.
