Marlins make moves, but it's not about salary

If you paid attention last week, the Marlins traded Andrew Miller and Cameron Maybin, the two guys Florida received for Miguel Cabrera in one of the Marlins' only up and comer swap for prospects that never panned out.

Then came a much more high profile trade, with Florida on Tuesday sending fan favorite to Dan Uggla to Atlanta for infielder Omar Infante and pitcher Mike Dunn.

Fans, accustomed to the front office treating Marlins players like Craigslist whores, are already crying foul. They're assuming it's all about salary.

So long Dan Uggla

Surprise! Dolphins have balls

Give Sparano and Co. credit for making a much needed move that everyone knew must occur, but few expected to happen: Chad Henne is heading to the bench.

Don't think that Chad Pennington will miraculously save the day. He's old, hasn't seen significant action in two years, and played above his head in his miracle season with Miami in 2008.

This is football, stop bitching about a loogie

Maybe it's the far more intriguing Miami Heat forcing my focus to shift away from the Dolphins, but it doesn't help that the Dolphins are uninspiring to watch and approaching flat out boring.

So how do the Dolphins stay in the national headlines? How about Channing Crowder accusing Baltimore's Le'Ron McClain of spitting at the Dolphins linebacker.

Honestly, who gives a shit? This is football. President Roosevelt (Teddy, not FDR) nearly banned football altogether because of numerous deaths in the 1906 season. They created helmets, life goes on, but it's still a brutal sport.

Cleveland fans respond to LeBron's commercial. Yep, they're still pissed

Packers fan despise Brett Favre for signing with the rival Vikings, but Favre -- even before he was damaged goods -- was forced out of Green Bay by management ready to usher in a new era with a young quarterback.

Other sports stars have departed small market fans for more exposure and championship opportunities. Those left behind were angry, but moved on. Even when a young and upcoming Shaq deserted Orlando for Hollywood's riches, he was somewhat discreet about. It never felt like a slap in the Magic's face in front of 10 million television viewers.

So you can feel the pain Cleveland is still suffering from LeBron's departure by watching this video. They're so sad and confused by James' exit, that they had to make a professional and well done response to LeBron's Nike commercial.

Heat lose and it's not like the World Trade Center attack

Remember, way back at Zo's Summer Groove, when Dwyane Wade stirred up some controversy by saying the media would equate every Heat loss to the World Trade Center attack? (Wade took a shellacking for that one, but I understood his point).

The loss came Friday night -- actually, the second loss of the year for Miami, but it was hard to draw up any conclusion from the season opening setback against Boston way back in late October.

Tougher opponents coming for the Heat, who thrive on quickies



Do you believe in Chris Paul stopping the Heat?


The undefeated Hornets host the Heat tonight, and I’m hoping – but not holding my breath – that the Heat will actually play a competitive game.

It’s entertaining to watch Miami blow out the rest of the NBA, and you can argue it’s exciting, but it’s not the same kind of exciting as watching a tied game with two minutes left.  

It’s the difference between a noon quickie and a passionate night of wild sex. You can’t really argue against either one, but you’ll remember and appreciate the wild night much longer.

LeBron's first win overshadowed by his ex

Leave it to the Cleveland Cavaliers, those supposed bottom-dwellers who would never recover from the nastiest of divorces, to overshadow their promiscuous ex-spouse's big night.

LeBron James participated in Miami's first win of the season (you won't be able to say LeBron led his team to victory every time the Heat win this year. On Wednesday, Dwyane Wade and James Jones led the charge. LeBron participated), but the win was so expected against such a mediocre team, it barely registered on the radar.

LeBron looks more comfortable without Wade

The obvious response after watching Boston outplay Miami in just about every facet of the game: The Celtics have years of developed chemistry, and the Heat remain a work in progress.

Miami will prosper and the optimism in South Florida shouldn't suffer. The Heat nearly made a stunning comeback, and LeBron James hasn't lost his ability to score in the bunches. 

But if I were Erik Spolestra, not only would I be looking over my shoulders even after close victories, I'd be busting out my chalkboard and crunching complex mathematical formulas to figure out how LeBron and Dwyane Wade will complement each other. 

Heat shouldn't worry about its image

David Stern must cringe when uttering the word contraction to reporters, even if he's playing a strategic bargaining game with the players union.

This comes from the commissioner who several years ago dreamed of NBA franchises in Europe, some fish and chips and wienerschnitzel to go with your overpaid admission.

Heat could compete for title with just LeBron, Bosh

When Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks said he thinks the Heat "are better without Wade," he was clearly joking. When Wade returns from his self-diagnosed two week hamstring injury, the Heat will have a trio more athletic and explosive than the league has ever seen.

But let's just say the unthinkable occurred and Wade's injury lingered, and then he fell down in his house doing pilates (sorry Boozer) and broke his arm and missed significant time. The Heat would still compete for a title, and that's how scary this team looks.

You can never take too much out of a preseason game, so forget that Miami easily defeated a bad Detroit team and a good Oklahoma City team without Wade.

Instead, compare what the Heat's lineup would look like minus Wade, and to the 2007 Cleveland Cavaliers' lineup that reached the NBA Finals.

Heat stats 2010-11

I peaked into my 2015 Sports Almanac and made a PDF of the 2010-11 Heat statistics.

As usual,Wade led the team in scoring, and LeBron put up near triple-double numbers with a high shooting percentage. He narrowly beat out Wade for the team high in assists. Mike Miller led the Heat in 3-pointers.

(Click below to see the full team stats)

Miami, the city of Scarface, now ruled by the Heat

You can never take back your final conversation with a dying relative, and the last words I ever remember uttering to my nearly lifeless cancer stricken grandfather wasn’t some deep insightful realization about what he meant to me or advice on how to become a successful man with a nice suit and a hot wife.

“Poppy,” I said to the man who was so sick, he told the nurse to bring him an original Coke, with diet no longer able save him, “the Heat just traded for Jamal Mashburn. They’ve really made it.”

Poppy died, the Heat wouldn’t reach the NBA Finals for nearly a decade, but if you were a 14-year old South Florida sports junkie you felt on top of the sports world. Alonzo Mourning, Tim Hardaway and Jamal Mashburn? That’s a hell of a team that people will notice.

Miami, of course, still belonged to Gloria Estefan, Scarface, glamour, glitz, crime, cocaine, sunbathing strippers on South Beach, Spanish billboards and shiny buildings. No more.

'Canes to face Wannstedt, Dolphins second greatest coach ever?

Dave Wannstedt enters the conscious of South Florida sports fans on Thursday when the U tries to shake off the ugly loss to the Buckeyes with a much more realistic victory against Wannstedt’s Pitt Panthers.

Unless you’re in the Tom Selleck look-alike club in which Wannstedt is a full pledged card-carrying member, you haven’t thought much lately about Dave’s mediocre but respectable career with the Dolphins.

Even Obama gets more love than LeBron

Our president, whose opponents paint him as the Muslim Communist illegitimate leader, is more popular than LeBron James. Go figure.

At least Obama’s popularity tanked slowly over a year in a half. LeBron plummeted in less than two months.

Dampier would bolster Heat's depth, chemistry issues and all

It might have been the most hated hour in the history of television, but I couldn’t help but rewatch LeBron’s Decision last week during routine maintenance of my DVR.

I fast forwarded through LeBron’s snoozer, instead revisiting the stunned analysts’ take on James’ impending move to Miami.

Jon Barry, as many remember, was a hater. He looked shell shocked, unwilling to admit that a trio of James, Wade and Bosh could dominate the league. 

Marshall looks like the real deal for Miami

The Dolphins didn’t dominate in their opener, didn’t make any eye-opening statements against a below average Buffalo team.

But the most important thing to take out of Sunday’s game? Brandon Marshall is a beast, and the best target Miami has had in years. Ted Ginn’s No. 19 jersey has officially been washed, sanitized, purified, rectified. However you want to say it, the number looks a hell of a lot better on Marshall.

Thoughts from the day that wasn't for Florida football teams

We can’t vote, can’t drive, it’s too hot, it rains all summer, but we damn sure know how to play football.

There’s so much talent by the beaches, in the muck that the Top 10 should forever be loaded with the state’s Big Three, and on Saturday it looked like Florida State and Miami had a chance to rejoin the Gators in elite company.

Then came the truth. Reality: 1, Miami/FSU: 0

Remembering the All-Time best Heat players in honor of NBA Jam

Don’t fault the newly resurrected NBA Jam for giving you Rony Seikaly and Glen Rice instead of Alonzo Mourning and Tim Hardaway as your Miami legends. I cheered the bait-and-switch.

Parcells steps down with undetermined legacy in Miami

There’s a very thin line between lauding Bill Parcells for resuscitating a Dolphins team that was gasping for oxygen in a Himalayan village known as the House that Cameron built, and cursing the man who rode into town on a white horse and leaves Miami (sorry, sticks around as a consultant) a few short years later with Jeff Ireland and Tony Sparano to kick around -- nothing against Ireland and Sparano. Maybe they’ll continue to build a solid, if not impressive foundation that Parcells started to build at Sun Life Robbie Pro Stadium Park. Maybe not.

But you can’t really criticize the Big Tuna yet, because his legacy is far from determined in Miami an you have to remember what he came to fix.

Leaked documents turn Marlins from stingy to greedy

If I were a Chicago Cubs fan, and now that I'm married and somewhat domesticated my blood alcohol level isn't high enough to root for the Cubbies, I would despise the Florida Marlins. 

It's difficult to despise the Marlins – indifference comes to mind much before hate – but if there's one faction of fans who should groan at every Marlins victory, it's the rowdy bunch from the North Side.

Financial documents leaked Monday by Deadspin.com (and dissected by the Palm Beach Post) reveal that in 2008, the perennially cash-strapped Fish netted $29.5 million while spending a major-league low $29.7 million. 

Loria and Samson: Genius businessmen or thieves?