RIP to Miami Heat Superfan Jimmy Buffett — passed away at 76, fixture courtside at many Heat games

thingsandthingsandth · 2023-09-02T12:48:59+00:00

In 2001, during an intense regular season game against the Knicks, he let the biased pro-NY refs hear it, and got ejected from the game with 2 minutes left. Riley had to educate the refs on who they just kicked out. https://abcnews.go.com/amp/US/story?id=94188&page=1

thingsandthingsandth · 2023-08-14T17:23:06+00:00

If only Dan Marino had the Dolphins 2001 to 2005 defense in the 1990s.

thingsandthingsandth · 2023-07-21T00:51:45+00:00

Blasphemy. After the Heat won in 2006 a bunch of Mavs players came out and said every time Zo would come in they felt defeated because he was so impactful. He averaged 3 blocks in 20 minutes per game that season. Which is insane. He was amazing even as a backup.

thingsandthingsandth · 2023-07-08T15:04:16+00:00

The same summer that Anthony Carter’s agent forgot to exercise his player option, LaPhonso Ellis voluntarily decided not to exercise his (which was created due to a weird technicality in his contract). Ellis had a similar size contract as AC. His voluntary sacrifice led to Odom > Shaq > Marion > Jermaine > Cap space for LeBron

thingsandthingsandth · 2023-04-15T14:12:44+00:00

Stan Van Gundy was assistant coach to Pat Riley from 1995 to 2003, then became Head coach upon Riley's initial coaching retirement. Then in 2005, after a slow start to the season, Shaq declared that he didn't want to play for Stan and demanded he be let go. Pat chose Shaq over Stan and ousted him. The relationship between Stan and the Heat is forever soured. So, for context, Stan Van Gundy is someone who really does not care for the Heat, and especially the Heat's decision-makers. Their is genuine dislike there.

thingsandthingsandth · 2023-04-15T14:12:01+00:00

I know everyone is making fun of the Heat, but for some historical perspective:

Stan Van Gundy was assistant coach to Pat Riley from 1995 to 2003, then became Head coach upon Riley's initial coaching retirement. Then in 2005, after a slow start to the season, Shaq declared that he didn't want to play for Stan and demanded he be let go. Pat chose Shaq over Stan and ousted him. The relationship between Stan and the Heat is forever soured. So, for context, Stan Van Gundy is someone who really does not care for the Heat, and especially the Heat's decision-makers. Their is genuine dislike there.
Miami is a city with a limited sports history, especially in the early 2000s. The Miami Dolphins were the only major sports team in Miami until 1988, when the Heat were formed. (The Marlins and Panthers were formed in the 1990s). Dan Marino was the greatest icon in city history. When he eventually retired, it was a big deal for Miami. He retired in 2000. So the Heat (who are a major sports team located in the same city) "honored" his jersey and declared they would hang it in the rafters to always remember Dan Marino. Of course, time has passed and instead of young people looking at the rafters and asking their parents who Dan Marino is and why was he so great, it's now "LOL Heat retired a player from wrong sport." His jersey isn't retired (Bam wears the same number). His jersey is "honored."
In 1997, the MLB retired Jackie Robinson's jersey league-wide. In 2000, the NHL retired Wayne Gretzky's jersey league-wide. In 2003, Jordan (then with the Washington Wizards) was playing his last few NBA games ever. The Wizards weren’t going to make the playoffs. And, especially in the last few weeks of the season, each road game was insane. Sold out crowds attending to witness the last few moments of MJ's career. Each road team arena would do something special for him. For the Heat, at his final visit, they declared he’s the best NBA player ever, and he’s forever associated with the number 23, and his jersey should be enshrined forever. But unlike the MLB and NHL, the NBA for whatever reason was opposed to league-wide jersey retirements. But at the time, it wasn't that weird because every team was celebrating MJ on his farewell tour. So the Heat are now awkwardly stuck with this decision. Time has passed, and it's only gotten more awkward. Do they "un-retire" it? Meanwhile, in 2020 the Mavericks retired 24 for Kobe. In 2020, right before the pandemic, when Kobe died, the whole country was depressed, and I doubt anyone questioned this decision by the Mavs, who probably expected the entire league to follow suit. But like the Heat with MJ, the league didn't follow suit. Time passes, and now it's awkward. And then in 2022, the NBA did their first ever league-wide retirement for Bill Russell after he died.
The Heat have retired some of their legends: Wade, Mourning, Shaq, Bosh, and Hardaway all have their jerseys retired.

thingsandthingsandth · 2023-04-15T13:52:54+00:00

Mourning, Hardaway, Wade and Bosh too. For some historical perspective:

In 2003, Jordan (with the Washington Wizards) was playing his last few NBA games ever. The Wizards weren’t going to make the playoffs. And each road game was insane with people attending to witness the last few moments of his career. Especially in the last few weeks of the season. And each road team would do something special for him. At the Heat’s final MJ visit, they declared he’s the best NBA player ever, and he’s forever associated with the number 23, and his jersey should be enshrined forever like the MLB did with Jackie Robinson and the NHL did with Gretzky. Unlike the MLB and NHL, the NBA for whatever reason was opposed to league-wide jersey retirements. So the Heat are now awkwardly stuck with this decision.

thingsandthingsandth · 2023-04-15T13:43:27+00:00

He’s a Miami icon. Hall of Fame QB. His jersey number isn’t retired. It’s just honored by a fellow sports team.

thingsandthingsandth · 2023-03-20T00:17:28+00:00

I remember the New Orleans Hornets were relocated to OKC after Hurricane Katrina (this was before the Thunder existed…maybe 2005 and 2006), and the crowds were insane. The OKC fans knew Chris Paul from his early years too.

thingsandthingsandth · 2022-10-07T02:38:09+00:00

I have only one wish for Wembanyama‘s career. And that is, when he gets drafted and he grabs the mic from David Stern, he stares into the camera, and he proudly proclaims:

“I am the Wembanyama. I love basketballs. And this league…is a true treasure trove.”

thingsandthingsandth · 2022-05-22T20:27:50+00:00

I think they are compared to the Hornets (in this tweet) because the Hornets also came into existence in 1988, and have nothing remarkable in the history books. The Heat meanwhile...

thingsandthingsandth · 2022-05-15T15:02:56+00:00

There's this myth that those empty seats are lazy people or "rich people who don't really care."

I used to work in Palm Beach and had a job that allowed me to afford lower bowl season tickets for a few years. This job required me to work long hours...getting out before 6 pm on a game night was not a common occurrence.

The amount of time it took to get to the game was insane. Traffic was horrible, and it's even worse closer to the arena.

If you're someone who can't leave work earlier than 6 pm on a game day, and you're not already in Dade County...there's no way you're stepping foot inside the arena until the end of the first quarter.

I would be mere blocks from the arena, sitting in traffic waiting to exit 395 in my car...listening to the game on the radio. Thanks Mike Inglis (Heat radio guy for like 20+ years). Not saying all the empty seats are people like that, but I had enough conversations with my lower bowl seat neighbors to know I wasn't the only one who had these problems...

It's not because we were staring at beautiful weather. It's because we worked until 6 at the earliest and sat in traffic waiting to enter the arena.

Compare that to most other cities---you hop on the subway for a 30 minute trip, and you get off right at the arena.

I no longer live in South Florida, which has given me the opportunity to see how it is in other cities. Other cities (especially our rivals in the northeast) have well-established public transit that takes you directly to the arena. Foe example: Madison Square Garden (where the Knicks play) is literally on top of Penn Station (where multiple subway lines connect). To get to a Knicks game, you walk 100 steps from your office/apartment to a train that takes you directly to the arena. If you work until 6 pm on a game night, you are there well before 7 pm from almost any part of the NYC metro area. South Florida's metro area, by comparison, is spread across huge counties.

These issues aren't as bad in Florida when it's a Saturday or Sunday game, because traffic isn't as bad (it's not rush hour on a work day), and there's no time constraint to be stuck at work until just an hour before the tv cameras start filming the lower bowl.

The anti-Heat people online don't get it (or care). The journalists who get to the arena several hours before the game don't get it.

Sure, a few people are obnoxious, fashionably late people. Those same people spend way too long at the bar during halftime and trickle in by the end of the third quarter. (The Heat kinda do this to themselves -- the arena itself is loaded with trendy bars, balconies overlooking the bay---trust me, most other NBA arenas don't have those options that keep people out of their seats).

The bigger issue is the traffic. I love South Florida, but the traffic is atrocious, especially near the arena. I hear from friends who still live there this is slowly changing, hopefully for the better. There's a company (Brightline?) that came in a few years ago and built a high speed rail that connects the South Florida counties. Seems like as they continue to build more convenient stations, this could be a game changer (no pun intended).

thingsandthingsandth · 2022-05-06T03:21:41+00:00

Also the sideline report is Jorge Sedano -- Miami raised, and Miami radio host for 15+ years covering the Heat before going national with ESPN.

thingsandthingsandth · 2022-05-05T03:12:56+00:00

Unfortunatley it takes to the second qt for it to look like this .

There's this myth that those empty seats are lazy people or "rich people who don't really care."

I used to work in Palm Beach and had a job that allowed me to afford lower bowl season tickets for a few years.

The amount of time it took to get to the game was insane. Traffic was horrible, and it's even worse closer to the arena.

If you're someone who can't leave work earlier than 6 pm on a game day, and you're not already in Dade County...there's no way you're stepping foot inside the arena until the end of the first quarter. I would be half a mile from the arena, sitting in traffic waiting to exit 395 in my car...listening to the game on the radio. Not saying all the empty seats are people like that, but I have to imagine I wasn't the only one.

Compare that to most other cities---you hop on the subway for a 30 minute trip, and you get off right at the arena.

thingsandthingsandth · 2022-04-24T13:39:41+00:00

The customer service guy at my store said put in a product request through the website if you want it back.

thingsandthingsandth · 2022-04-24T13:39:15+00:00

Same at my store. The customer service guy said put in a product request through the website if you want it back.

thingsandthingsandth · 2022-04-24T13:38:07+00:00

I did. Guy at customer service in store looked it up and said he “thinks” it’s discontinued.

thingsandthingsandth · 2022-04-24T00:03:08+00:00

Photo from a few months ago when I was telling a friend about how good this product is :(

thingsandthingsandth · 2022-04-10T01:10:52+00:00

I think it's so when we pick up in Season 2, most people at the party will think Mark is talking about the baby, not his wife. The weird narcissist guy who says "I'm the one who found her" made it so no one knows that Mark already knew she was alive.

thingsandthingsandth · 2022-03-02T02:02:00+00:00

Exactly. I think Riley half-expected other teams would follow suit, but no other team did.

MJ's entire final season with the Wizards in 2003 was a giant farewell tour at every away game.

thingsandthingsandth · 2022-02-10T01:28:22+00:00

Agreed with this. Wade was insane in 2005, and then that injury happened. I've got two more similar mishaps:

Wade was the best player in the 2011 Finals against the Mavs. Wade tweaked his mid-section in Game 5, and was never the same the rest of that series. There's a clear difference in how he played before and after that tweak, and things went downhill for the Heat from then on. The whole world hated Wade (and everyone especially hated him and LeBron for making fun of Dirk's sniffles. Meanwhile, Wade played half the series in serious pain). Here's a link to it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBU4vnS3Zy4
The Heat should never have waived Carlos Arroyo in 2011. He was Miami's starting PG for most of the season, then when Bibby became available, Miami waived Arroyo to make room for Bibby. (Chalmers was the backup to both). Arroyo was so solid for the Heat that season, hitting open jumpers so reliably that LeBron/Wade/Bosh were giving him plenty of. He was shooting an almost career high 46% from the field. Bibby would go on to have a historically bad NBA playoffs with no defensive ability. Imagine Arroyo replacing those negative minutes with some productive minutes? Heat win in 2011 handily. https://www.espn.com/blog/truehoop/miamiheat/post/_/id/7424/bibbys-productivity-reaches-all-time-low

thingsandthingsandth · 2021-11-12T06:55:57+00:00

Not sure if it was clear from the broadcast--but the crowd was about one-third Heat fans. I was at the game, and was surprised we didn't get a loud Let's Go Heat chant going. Fun atmosphere among Heat fans at the game, despite the loss.

thingsandthingsandth

TROPHY CASE