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Miami parties, has parade — can we ban complaining?

 

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Today: Miami’s all-time champions in the Big Four professional sports, in reverse chronology:

Season Team/Title Defeated
2012-13Heat/NBA Spurs, 4-3
2011-12Heat/NBA Thunder, 4-1
2005-06Heat/NBA Mavericks, 4-2
2003Marlins/World SeriesYankees, 4-2
1997Marlins/World SeriesIndians, 4-3
1973Dolphins/Super BowlVikings, 24-7
1972Dolphins/Super BowlRedskins, 14-7

Note: Miami’s season runner-ups have been the Dolphins in 1971, 1982 and 1984; Panthers in 1995-96; and Heat in 2010-11.


What South Florida sports fans are talking about:

1. HEAT

LeBron James leads Game 7 defeat of Spurs for repeat championship: LeBron showed why he is a back-to-back league MVP by scoring 37 points Thursday as the Heat won a second consecutive NBA title. Remember two years ago when critics said LeBron wasn’t clutch and the Big 3 wouldn’t work? Those critics have laryngitis now.

2. PARADE

Miami celebrates Heat on Monday with downtown coronation: Tens of thousands of jubilant South Floridians are expected to jam downtown Miami early Monday for the latest victory parade. I wouldn’t worry about the crowd issues getting out of there, though. I’d imagine many Heat fans will be leaving the parade early to beat the traffic.

3. DOLPHINS

Free agent fullback Vonta Leach a big catch if team can land him: You know how Miami lost left tackle Jake Long? Signing Leach, a three-time Pro Bowler let go by Ravens, would be like adding a lineman to backfield. Surprised the main beneficiaries, Ryan Tannehill and his running backs, haven’t chipped in to up the ante and sign this guy.

4. MARLINS

Is a forgotten team ready for increased local spotlight? The Marlins had a winning record in June (10-8) entering Saturday. “We’re not embarrassing ourselves,” pitcher Ryan Webb said. (Hey, you gotta start somewhere!) Now, post-Heat and pre-Dolphins, the Marlins own the local stage. Be a good time to continue the non-embarrassment.

5. HOCKEY

Boston-Chicago Stanley Cup Finals looking like a classic: Perhaps inspired by Heat-Spurs, the Bruins and Blackhawks were tied at two games apiece, with three overtime games entering Game5 late Saturday night. Because that’s how confident he is, LeBron James is learning how to skate between now and Game 7.

gcote@miamiherald.com

A Monday in June will be blessed with a Heat championship parade for a second consecutive year, an occasion of utter joyful celebration and great civic pride and — because this is Miami — plenty of griping and whining as well.

You might recall that a year ago, there were complaints the parade was too short, too brief, and that it was too hot out. This year, we might expect all of that plus flummoxed outrage over the city’s backpack ban or the arena ceremony being restricted to season-ticket holders.

Hmm. I’m not sure what says “spoiled fans” more: leaving an NBA Finals Game 6 thriller early and missing the big finish in overtime or nitpicking a championship parade.

Don’t sweat the small stuff, people. Relax and party like the Heat did after winning Game 7 on Thursday. They reportedly ran up a $100,000 liquor bill at Story in South Beach, including 100 bottles of Dom Perignon champagne, a bar tab picked up by the nightclub.

Make like a Heat player Monday and bring a $5,000, three-liter bottle of Jeroboam champagne to the parade. Just don’t try to put it in a backpack!

Monday’s parade will be the crescendo of a scintillating championship run by LeBron James and company. And then? What’s next? What can possibly replace this adrenaline rush the Heat has given us?

Well, um, the Marlins are back home Tuesday playing the Twins.

Sort of like falling off a cliff, isn’t it?

• The city of Miami is banning backpacks from being carried by fans attending Monday’s Heat parade after the Boston Marathon bombings. Good. Backpacks were intended for kids at school. Nobody older than 20 should ride a skateboard or carry a backpack.

Linda Holubec, the estranged mother of the Heat’s Chris “Birdman” Andersen, gave an interview revealing that she too is covered with many tattoos: #toomuchinformation.

• Its hearing with Miami over, the NCAA will now spend several weeks deliberating further punishment against UM in the Nevin Shapiro case. An unnamed source said sanctions would be minor. However, another unnamed source said the first unnamed source was “full of [bleep].”

• The Marlins’ Giancarlo Stanton became only the ninth player to reach 100 home runs in his first 400 career games. The question isn’t whether he’ll reach 200, but, sadly, whose uniform he’ll be wearing then.

Jonathan Huberdeau became the Panthers’ first NHL Rookie of the Year. A franchise that last won a playoff series in 1996 takes the good news where it can.

•  Justin Rose won last week’s U.S. Open as poor Phil Mickelson faltered to his record sixth runner-up finish in a major he has never won. It’s so sad when Mickelson fans at a U.S. Open hold up giant foam hands making a peace sign and chant “We’re No. 2!” as he’s trying to putt.

• The NBA Draft is Thursday, and three Miami-tied players — ex-Cane Shane Larkin and the sons of former Heat stars Tim Hardaway and Glen Rice — all could be first-round picks. Then again, since the Heat has no pick, it’s like the draft isn’t even happening.

• The Panthers have the No. 2 overall pick in the NHL Draft next Sunday. Any of three or four players could be the Florida pick, according to ESPN draft analyst Pierre Kiper Jr.

Read more Greg Cote stories from the Miami Herald

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Alex Rodriguez #13 of the New York Yankees poses for a portrait during the New York Yankees Photo Day on February 27, 2012 in Tampa, Florida.

    In my opinion

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In this Jan. 25, 2013, file photo, Los Angeles Lakers center Dwight Howard dunks during the first half against the Utah Jazz in Los Angeles.

    IN MY OPINION

    Greg Cote: Dwight Howard made right move despite loyalty questions

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  •  

MIAMI, FL - JUNE 14:  Jose Fernandez #16 of the Miami Marlins throws a pitch during the first inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Marlins Park on June 14, 2013 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Steve Mitchell/Getty Images)

    IN MY OPINION

    Greg Cote: Andy Murray, Marlins’ Jose Fernandez strike a blow for the good guys

    Sports became a game of good vs. evil, somewhere along the line. Maybe it was around the time player arrests began to feel like an official statistical category, or when “PEDs” entered the lexicon as an acronym for cheating. Whatever it meant to be an athlete got tarnished and tangled in morality. What used to be our escape from real life — sports — became just a reflection of it, and one that too often made us want to look away.

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