As I sat at an empty Mark Light Stadium watching the Hurricanes baseball team give up four runs in the first inning to unranked rival Virginia, I couldn’t help but think Miami has drifted to another sport.
Maybe there’s a reason people swarm to watch winning teams in an air-conditioned venue instead of having their clothes drenched in sweat under the sun while their team again fails to impress. Basketball has taken over all of Miami, and no other sport looks like it can return to the throne.
Students walking around with 2013 ACC basketball champion T-shirts just seems like a cruel joke to play on a football program that’s never won one. Suddenly the March Madness brackets and Dick Vitale seem a lot more interesting than the BCS changing to a playoff and NCAA allegations.
I can guarantee LeBron James and Dwyane Wade aren’t reserving seats for any upcoming Marlins or Dolphins games. I’m pretty sure the tide shifted when people started running to Downtown Miami to see the Heat’s championship trophy, while the biggest news of the Dolphins season was that Ochocinco head-butted his wife.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining that the successful sports teams in South Florida are not the ones that I would want. We could have no winning sports teams, or even worse we could be Cleveland. It’s sad enough that we took King James from them, but they live in below 30-degree weather, and they have to root for the Browns. Sorry Cleveland, I’m guessing it’s still too soon.
If there’s anything South Floridians love more than ragging on their own teams, it’s joining the bandwagon of teams they never root for until they win.
Chances are that your friend who doesn’t miss a second of Hurricanes basketball during March Madness, had no idea what the jersey of Miami’s basketball team looked like last season.
Maybe the fresh sunny outdoors of Miami is too mainstream, so the LED-lighted enclosed dome may be just what desperate South Florida sports fans are craving. Next time you see some guy wearing a Heat snapback and Hurricane’s basketball shoes calling everyone haters, just accept it.
Once James retires and Al Golden is leading his team to a national title, basketball will no longer rule the Sunshine State. So, we only have 15 more years to go.
Kyle Rambo is a junior majoring in education.