The Soul Of South Florida
An Op-Ed By Devon “Showtime” Daley
A Lifer
Phoenix, New York, Chicago, Denver, Detroit, Boston, Minnesota, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., North Texas, Los Angeles and the Bay Area.
The one thing they all have in common with Miami is that they all have teams in the four major American sports.
Aside from Phoenix, one thing none of them have in common with Miami is that they’ve all had “Lifers,” post-1980, who have delivered.
New York has Derek Jeter (and many others). Five-time World Series Champion.
Chicago has Walter Payton. Super Bowl XX Champion.
Denver has John Elway. Super Bowl XXXII and XXXIII Champion.
Detroit has Alan Trammell. 1984 World Series Champion.
Boston has Larry Bird (and many others). Three-time NBA Champion.
Minneapolis has Kirby Puckett. Two-time World Series Champion.
Philadelphia has Mike Schmidt. 1980 World Series Champion.
Washington, D.C. has Darrell Green. Super Bowl XXII and XXVI Champion.
Dallas has Michael Irving (and many others). Super Bowl XXVII, XXVIII and XXX Champion.
Los Angeles has Erving “Magic” Johnson. Five-time NBA champion.
The Bay Area of California has Lester Hayes/Dwight Clark (depending upon whether you live in Oakland or San Francisco). Hayes was the Super Bowl XV and XVIII Champion. Clark was the Super Bowl XVI and XIX Champion.
These regions, hardly billed as “bad sports towns,” have, at minimum, one extremely accomplished individual who fits our “Lifer” label.
Prelude
“Miami is an awful sports town.”
It’s an expression as lazy as the manner in which I checked my phone on the morning of July 11th, 2014.
Still groggy from an extremely late night of being unproductive, I reached over to open the lone new text message that had been sent to me, and didn’t need much context to understand.
It’s official. He’s gone.”
My friend Tyler and I had speculated for months about this happening. We mutually agreed that it wouldn’t be an apocalyptic event.
After all, we still had Wade and the weather was still nice. By and large, things were still decent in our world of sports, despite of the departure of LeBron Raymone James.
The news of his departure left me feeling indifferent, as South Florida sports have often followed a trend.
A Temporary Town
It’s no secret that Miami is different when it comes how it treats it’s sports.
We in South Florida are used to temporary things.
Many of our neighbors are retired elderly folks from the East Coast and parts of the Midwest. Every other co-worker and classmate can tell you that they were born, or raised, elsewhere; many of whom opt to return to their hometowns when the opportunity presents itself.
One of those co-workers/classmates is writing this article, although I’ve opted to stay (for now at least).
Watching athletes walk out of the door after making their names has been the way of life in South Florida.
A Football City
Miami Hurricanes football has a mixed reception in other parts of the country, but remains highly revered in the “state” of South Florida.
The members of the roster are often tremendous athletes, who found new homes once they made it to the pros. Ray Lewis, Warren Sapp, Sean Taylor, Ed Reed, Andre Johnson, Frank Gore, Calais Campbell, Jeremy Shockey, Santana Moss, Jim Kelly, Greg Olsen and many others have brought joy to fans in other parts of the country, after giving us a short preview.
The Miami Dolphins joined the AFL as an expansion franchise in 1965. It took owner Joe Robbie just six seasons to turn the Fins into a powerhouse club.
Don Shula, Bob Griese, Larry Csonka, Paul Warfield, and the No-Name Defense dominated the early 1970s. In 1972, Miami went 17-0, winning its first Super Bowl title against the Washington franchise 14–7; and in 1973, with a 12-2 record, it claimed its second title in a 24-7 victory over the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl VIII.
The Dolphins then muddled through several average seasons, before the South Florida community was able to turn its hopes to an Italian-American legend in a No. 13 jersey.
Dan Marino, the 27th overall pick in the 1983 NFL Draft, replaced David Woodley at the helm of the Fins offense in the third game of his rookie season.
He was a luxury. Never before had someone of his talent entrenched themselves in our sports scene. The nine-time Pro Bowler led the league in passing yards on five different occasions (1984–1986, 1988, 1992), in addition to leading the league in passing touchdowns on three (1984-1986). His constant presence was a change to what South Floridians were used to, both at and away from Pro Player Stadium.
Marino has long been held on a high pedestal due to his longevity, talent and the position he played. But in South Florida, he was the first accomplished “Lifer” we had the pleasure of experiencing in the post 1980 era.
Unfortunately, despite throwing for 61,361 yards and 420 touchdowns, Marino made just one Super Bowl appearance in a 38-16 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XIX, which followed the 1984 regular season.
The Marino era came to end prior to the 2000 season, and, once again, the Miami Dolphins were back to being an average-at-best team.
There were some solid homegrown players who fans rallied around, like Jason Taylor, Zach Thomas, Sam Madison, Patrick Surtain, Chris Chambers, Randy McMichael, Ronnie Brown and Wes Welker, but Miami has shown little in the way of loyalty, as none of the aforementioned players spent their entire careers in South Florida.
The Marlins: Loyal-less Success
Another expansion franchise came to town in 1993, in the form of a baseball team helmed by the late Wayne Huizenga.
It took the Florida Marlins just four seasons to make their mark in the Majors, as manager Jim Leyland and Cuban-born RHP Liván Hernández helped the team shock the powerhouse Cleveland Indians in a Game 7 extra-innings thriller, in 1997.
The first championship in South Florida since the Dolphins Super Bowl VIII victory had things looking up for the sports scene.
In the 1997 off-season, however, the Marlins had the biggest fire sale in the history of sports. Nearly every player from the ’97 championship team was sent packing. To say the team struggled in 1998 is something of an understatement. The Marlins 54-108 record was the worst in team history, as well as the worst in MLB history for a defending World Series champ.
Not long after the huge roster turnover, Huizenga decided to sell the team to a commodities trader named John Henry, but in the 2001 off-season, Henry sold the team to Montreal Expos owner Jeffery Loria.
Loria wasted little time bringing a winner back to South Florida. He added talent to the roster and clubhouse, luring 72-year-old Jack McKeon to manage the team.
The balance of youth (Miguel Cabrera, Juan Pierre, Dontrelle Willis and Josh Beckett) and experience (Mike Lowell, Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez, Jeff Conine and Ugueth Urbina) helped the Marlins secure a playoff spot.
In a twist of irony, the Marlins dismantling of their previous young and exciting nucleus was quickly forgotten. The baseball franchise had delivered the last championship to the city, and despite going through more roster overhauls than the other pro teams in the area, they were about to deliver the next one as well.
October 25, 2003 was the day the Marlins secured their second and final World Series victory to date, in a six-game series against the powerful New York Yankees.
The future, once again, was looking bright for baseball in South Florida, but in retrospect, baseball in Dade County would never be celebrated again, as much as it was in the wake of the Marlins title.
It didn’t take long for the new owner to do exactly what a previous owner had done, and in the years following the 2003 season, the homegrown talent on the roster was auctioned off again.
Brad Penny was dealt to the Dodgers at the 2004 trade deadline.
Josh Beckett was traded to Boston on Thanksgiving Day of 2005.
Luis Castillo (the only player who played for the Marlins during both of their World Series’ seasons) was shipped to Minnesota on December 2, 2005.
A.J. Burnett signed with Toronto on December 7, 2005.
Alex Gonzalez joined Beckett in Boston in February of 2006.
And Willis and Cabrera were packaged to Detroit after the 2007 season.
With the help of team president David Samson, Loria convinced the city of Miami to build a new ballpark for the club prior to the 2009 season. The stadium, funded almost exclusively by the taxpayers, would be finished by Opening Day of 2012. Florida built up its roster in preparation for the move to the new stadium, where it would be renamed the Miami Marlins.
The team was relatively star-studded going into the 2012 season, with players like Jose Reyes, Heath Bell and Mark Buehrle, as well as new manager Ozzie Guillén, whom the team had traded for.
Things did not go well, and the Marlins finished the season 69-93. The team went through another fire sale, with the bulk of the lineup (Jose Reyes, Josh Johnson, Mark Buehrle, John Buck and Emilio Bonifacio) getting traded to the Toronto Blue Jays. Miami also sent a collection of players (Hanley Ramirez, Randy Choate for Nathan Eovaldi) to the Los Angeles Dodgers, which essentially left young slugger Giancarlo “Mike” Stanton as the lone Marlin still standing.
Giancarlo would be retained and rewarded with the biggest contract in sports history, worth $325 million over 13 years and a no-trade clause.
The Marlins rebuilt again. Things finally seemed to be on another upswing, though at this point we were used to disappointment. We weren’t prepared for what was coming.
It was September of 2016, and I planned on going to catch a Marlin’s game on a Sunday. One of my favorite childhood players, Ichiro, had been signed by the team the previous off-season, and I had yet to see him play.
I was going to be at the Marlins Park with a loved one who also had interest in seeing the Japanese legend and bats were going to be given out to a select number of fans to commemorate his 3,000 career hits. He had obtained hit No. 3,000 at Coors Field in Colorado, but this would be his time to celebrate it with the home fans.
But, at around eight in the morning on the day of the game, I received a call.
The game had been canceled. A player had died in a boating accident in the early morning hours of September 25. I was told it was a player “named Fernández.” My heart sank, but I knew it had to be someone else.
It couldn’t have been THAT Fernández.
The sun had been up for just an hour, and 24-year-old José Delfín Fernández Gómez and two of his friends (Eduardo Rivero and Emilio Jesus Macias) had taken their final breaths four hours prior.
It was a loss felt by the whole community.
Fernández had been a two-time All-Star (2013, 2016) and the NL Rookie of the Year (2013). His talent level spoke for itself, but it was what he represented as a person that made the tragedy hurt so much. Giancarlo Stanton was the main attraction in Miami, but Fernández connected to South Florida in a way that Stanton simply couldn’t.
He was a Cuban refugee in the city with the most significant Cuban population.
He was the hope, the light, the future, the fun of Miami sports. He was someone fans could relate with. He was a role model. He was an icon. He was bound to be a Lifer. He was gone, and coming to terms with that will never be possible.
El Heat: A Franchise Worth Celebrating
Less than 20 miles from Pro Player, Tim Hardaway and Alonzo Mourning provided a young Heat franchise with excitement, as well as deep playoff appearances. Their tenures ran partly concurrent with Dan Marino’s, and they were carving their own niches as local icons in the lawless party land of Dade County.
The Miami Heat were an expansion team that joined the NBA in 1987, but were nearly nonexistent until Micky Arison purchased the franchise in 1995.
Arison hired “The Godfather” Pat Riley as both team president and head coach. Riley proceeded to bring in both Mourning and Hardaway to build around.
Despite memorable seasons, which included some thrilling playoff match-ups against the Knicks and Bulls, the dynamic duo weren’t quite homegrown talents. Mourning, the second overall pick in 1992, had been a Hornet until ’95 and Hardaway had established himself as a Warrior from 1989-1996.
Miami was content with a contender, but it knew that the city was being held up by mercenaries following Marino’s retirement in 2000.
What wasn’t known at the time, was that the aforementioned mercenaries, who endeared themselves most to the home crowd, would be seeing foreigners of their own in the waning days of their South Florida tenures.
“Zo,” as he was affectionately known, noticed the retention of fluid in his legs, after capturing a gold medal with teammate Tim Hardaway in the 2000 Summer Olympics. A rare kidney ailment caused Mourning to miss close to 70 games for the 2000-01 season, and although Hardaway stepped up his production, he would be dealt to Dallas in the ensuing off-season. Due to declining health, Zo would be without a renewed contract for two more seasons.
The era was over. But South Florida sports had no idea what was about to hit it.
Marquette star Dwyane Tyrone Wade Jr. was selected with the fifth overall pick by the Heat in the 2003 NBA Draft.
He made his debut as the Heat’s leading scorer in a loss against the Philadelphia 76ers, just three days after the Marlins World Series victory.
Udonis Haslem, who had grown up in Miami, went undrafted out of Florida in 2002, but was picked up by the Heat in 2003.
It took just three seasons for everything to come together; by 2006, Wade, Haslem and Shaquille O’Neal had turned the Heat into a powerhouse.
In a six-game series against the Dallas Mavericks, Wade averaged 7.8 RPG 3.8 APG and 34.7 PPG, earning Finals MVP honors, and cementing himself as a pillar of Miami sports history.
Despite going through low points during the 2007-08 season, in the form of injuries, poor team performance and a number of roster moves, Wade and Haslem were the last men standing through it all.
Both men entered their primes in the next two seasons.
Wade captured a scoring title, and narrowly missed receiving an MVP award.
Udonis did is job as a co-captain to provide stability to a patchwork roster consisting of career role players and aging veterans.
Together they helped the Heat qualify for the playoffs in the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons. The rosters were not primed to make the NBA Finals, evidenced by their first round exits in both years.
We felt that everything would be all right, despite the Heat’s inability to make deeper runs in the playoffs; primarily because Wade was still present and the fear of a beloved player, such as him, never winning a ring had been put to rest years prior.
Life is good when you become the king of your city in your mid-20s.
The possibility of watching Wade leave town was briefly explored in the summer of 2010, but ultimately he remained in the city that had embraced him like it had none other.
On top of retaining the hometown hero, the Heat were also able to nab All-Star Chris Bosh and, arguably the greatest player to ever play his position, LeBron James. UD also chose to re-sign with the Heat, despite being offered significantly more money to go elsewhere.
Wade’s ties to the South Florida community and past play kept him immune from the criticisms that both Bosh and James would be susceptible to at times.
The argument was justifiable:
Wade had shown Miami his worth for about a decade.
Neither Bosh nor James had.
Wade had won a championship without the other two.
Neither Bosh nor James had.
In the four seasons of the “Big 3,” there were four conference titles, four Finals appearances and two championships.
Then, Tyler’s text.
All things considered, it was easy to leave his message unanswered on that summer morning. I was more concerned with what would be done to retain Wade’s services.
This was the second of what would ultimately become a series of free agency scares involving Wade.
The impasse ended a few days after an agreement was made to bring him back on a contract which included a second year option.
In the 2016 off-season, Heat fans went from hoping to sign Kevin Durant to dismissing the chance of the legend leaving in less than a month.
Was expecting Durant to leave Russell Westbrook in order to play with Hassan Whiteside far-fetched?
Possibly.
But it wasn’t as far-fetched as Dwyane Wade leaving the city that he called home.
Right?
Both sides of the equation pointed towards egos as being the ultimate factor in the demise of the relationship.
But, the fact remained that the Chicago Bulls, who Wade grew up idolizing, were offering Wade the same contract he had to fight tooth-and-nail for in Miami for three consecutive off-seasons.
The offer was just too good to pass up at the end of the day.
On July, 15th, 2016 the “Lifer,” by the standards of this article, was gone to the Midwest.
The Darkness
I was gutted.
I honestly can’t say what happened to Miami basketball after this, as I stopped watching. The biggest star in the city’s history happened to be the one that we had here and now, and he had been allowed to walk. Unfathomable. But in the end, it’s business. Many fans understood this. Many fans held the notion that it was too good to be true.
It didn’t seem like things could have gotten any lower, and then Fernández’s tragic death plummeted the entire SoFlo sports community into a deeper state of depression.
Over a year passed, and Miami’s sports continued to settle at a low point.
The Panthers failed to make the playoffs.
The Dolphins failed to make the playoffs.
The Heat failed to make the playoffs.
The Marlins failed to make the playoffs, were sold to a Derek Jeter led group, and went through another fire sale.
There was no comfort in our sports community… little did I know I’d soon be experiencing one of the greatest days of my life. No exaggeration.
The Return of our King
In my blind excitement I retweeted everything I could.
Wade, reunited with UD, who had never left, and was back in Miami for a 2024 second-round pick.
I knew that I finally had a reason to watch Heat basketball again.
Even the die-hard fans, who never stopped watching, were happy to embrace Wade again. The stars had aligned to allow fans to see the two beloved pieces of the ’06 championship reunited once more.
Wade’s second Miami Heat debut was highlighted by the deafening standing ovation he received upon entering the game, as well as a three pointer (his only basket of the contest) and crucial block on Eric Bledsoe in crunch time to seal a victory over Milwaukee.
A double-double in a loss to Toronto followed in his second game back in a Heat uniform.
The third time he would suit up in his second stint would be the very next night in the city that hosted his NBA debut; Philadelphia, against the 76ers.
Mending a Heartbroken Community
Shooting 30% from the field in just 22 minutes of action was likely the last thing on his mind, as a horrific story unfolded close to home.
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School is located in neighboring Broward County. Hours before the game, a cowardly attack that would claim the lives of 17 students and staff members at the school, thrust South Florida into the national spotlight.
The community was hurting, as loved ones were lost and survivors quickly mobilized to find answers.
The school remained closed, as funerals commenced for families to say goodbye to those who were taken so senselessly and far too soon.
Memorials were laid out in an attempt to express the impact that these individuals had on the mourners left in the wake. Organizing took place in and out of Parkland, Florida throughout the remainder of the month to draw attention to the need for solutions. It was next to impossible to think about anything else.
While Parkland lost the anonymity that it had previously enjoyed, the Heat resumed play after the all-star break.
Prior to Miami’s first home game in the second half of the season, the team held a brief moment of silence to honor the victims of the mass shooting.
It was none other than Dwyane Wade who delivered one of the biggest speeches of his life in the same pregame ceremony:
Tonight we honor the 17 lives that were tragically lost in Parkland. We applaud the fearless students that are fighting for their lives. We also make sure that their voices are heard around gun safety. You are our nation’s inspiration. We salute you and we support you.”
It was brief, but got the message across.
Things were far from okay, but it was nice to see Wade express concern for our community, a community that has never lost love for our hero.
Less than 24 hours after the victory against the visiting Grizzlies, it was reported that Wade had a deeper tie to the aftermath of the incident.
Joaquin Oliver, 17, was a victim of the mass shooting. On Al Punto, a Univision talk show, Joaquin’s father revealed that Oliver had been buried in a Wade jersey.
Wade’s response:
You hurt for the family and if you’re able to get an opportunity to speak to them, you just try to hope that the time where he was alive, that you were able to bring some form of joy to his life and something memorable, a story that you guys can talk about.
I don’t even know the word for it. Like I re-tweeted on Twitter, I said, ‘You’re going to make me cry.’ It’s emotional even thinking about that, that his parents felt that burying him in my jersey is something that he wanted. I take a lot of pride in what I’ve done in this state and what I’ve meant for the youth, so I appreciate that.”
He displayed, in a subtle way, why he’s considered such a class act by many.
Wade has been accused of being standoffish in settings that consist of few people. His charitable efforts and outreach to the community occur quietly and privately. It’s his way of doing things from the heart and not for the publicity.
Miami’s next home game took place less than two hours later, again against those 76ers.
Prior to the game, Wade inscribed Joaquin Oliver’s name onto his game sneakers.
Again, another classy gesture that was enough to garner admiration.
His performance that night was a fantastic tribute in its own right. It was his first time breaking the 20-point plateau since his re-arrival, and it was reminiscent of Kobe Bryant’s last game in the association.
In both instances, a legendary guard with nothing more to prove, went above and beyond his expected capabilities in a non-championship situation. Also, in both situations the 4th quarter had their name written all over it.
With 27 seconds remaining, Wade converted all 3 of his free throws to tie the game at 100. He then fouled rookie Ben Simmons on the inbound, with the Heat already in penalty, much to the confusion of quite a few people watching.
Why did Dwyane Wade foul right there?” Queried color commentator Tony “Coach” Fiorentino.
The answer would reveal itself when Simmons missed the first of two free throws.
When the ball was inbounded, Wade took it down the court with all but one teammate getting out of his way.
Once across half-court, Wade danced around the destruction caused by Hassan Whiteside’s screens for no less than 10 seconds.
After a hesitation dribble to his left, he then cast an ill-advised fade-away over Simmons, who had a six-inch height advantage.
It was a tough shot! It was a great shot,” Play-by-play announcer Eric Reid proclaimed. “1-0-2! 1-0-1! 5.9 to play!”
The Heat won.
Wade announced that the game and remainder of his season would be dedicated to the memory of Joaquin Oliver.
For a brief moment, South Florida, and the rest of the nation, were reminded why sports are so magical.
Wade’s involvement in attempting to heal the community continued a little over a week later.
The Visit
A game in the nation’s capital, that Wade put into overtime, eventually ended in a loss for the Heat past midnight.
It didn’t matter, as Wade arrived at Marjory Stoneman Douglas at around 9:00 a.m.
He hadn’t gotten back to the state until 3:00 a.m. and lives nowhere near the City of Parkland.
Additionally, the morning traffic between Dade and Broward can turn a 20-minute commute into two hours, and he arrived with no camera crew — in the typical, lowkey-Wade fashion.
Fresh off the tough overtime loss and likely exhausted, Wade spoke to the school and discussed a wide range of topics with students who were looking to make positive change.
His visit to the grieving high school coincided with a visit from Secretary of Education Betsy DeVoss. But it was Wade who unanimously left a greater impact on the school.
One student in particular, Joey Pelose, was able to secure a selfie with the local NBA legend.
Greatest moment of my life. You’re the 🐐 @DwyaneWade #HeatLifer #MSDstrong #NeverAgain pic.twitter.com/RM0IS9Hpjx
— Joey Pelose 🇮🇹 (@JPelose22) March 7, 2018
Wade has gone on to organize “Parkland 17,” an art exhibit in Miami’s Wynwood art district, to honor the victims of the mass shooting. Joaquin Oliver’s father was there painting a grand picture of his son that received lots of attention.
Wade also wore a “March For Our Lives” t-shirt, while sitting out of a game in the days following.
The March, that took place on March 24, was a student-led demonstration that advocated for tighter gun-control. Wade also donated $200,000 to help students from his hometown of Chicago attend the march.
Nearing the End
The Heat are down 3-1 to the heavily-favored 76ers, but this season is so much bigger than the playoffs, or winning another title.
As his playing days come to a close, you will likely see Wade further embrace this community, while we wait for another “Lifer” to step into his role.
He truly is a one of a kind individual, who Miami has always felt fortunate to have.
He’s only the second athlete the city has embraced to this extent in its 52-year existence as a haven for pro sports.
He’s the third if you include the non-homegrown Alonzo Mourning and the first if you only include those who have reached the mountaintop.
That’s it.
So, before you listen to another non-passionate Miami team owner, or casual sports blogger falsely flame on South Florida for being a bad place for sports, consider that there hadn’t been many fair chances to develop the figures to build the scene.
It goes beyond the perceived “Miami Vice” life that highlights strip clubs, neon lights, drug trafficking, plastic surgery and the “beach weather” that we get to enjoy for the majority of the year.
Dwyane Wade will forever be the true soul of South Florida sports, he should have been a Lifer, but we’re just glad he’s back where he belongs.
