We Need the Miami Heat

The horrific stories about Penn State and Wilson Ramos have overshadowed the latest meetings between NBA players and owners.

While this is deservedly so, as Miami sports fan who recently watched the Dolphins take a big step back in the Andrew Luck sweepstakes, I can't help but stayed glued to any news regarding the lockout.

I need the NBA.

My starting quarterback is Matt Moore.

I need the Miami Heat in my life.

My baseball team is about to reveal jerseys that look like this.

Its been a while but do you remember what last NBA season felt like?

It was a supercharged sprint of thoroughbreds up to the NBA Finals.

The Heat started 7-8 and everyone counted them out. Then, they went on an amazing winter tear and showed flashes of dominance. They came into the playoffs strong grabbing the two seed.

And the Celtics series! Do you remember the Celtics series? Big, bad, Boston, a team's team. They won with defense and teamwork. They won with chemistry and experience. They won with practice and toughness.

And then Miami's young legs ran roughshod over them in five games.

The media buzz was incredible. Miami fans watched sportswriters jump from team to team every time the Heat advanced in the playoffs. Every series the media said "Sure you beat Boston, but no way you get past Chicago."

Oh, Chicago. Poor poor Derrick Rose. Everyone jumped on their bandwagon in the playoffs. The media used the "standings" argument anytime someone suggested the Heat had a chance. Heat critics would scoff and point to Rose's MVP trophy as if that was the end of the discussion.

It didn't matter. LeBron swarmed him the entire series, leading Rose to admit that he just couldn't overcome LeBron's defense. Almost flat out saying LeBron was better than him.

Do you remember that game five comeback? LeBron and Wade led a furious 4th quarter charge on Dirk-esque one legged three pointers. The people at Pines Ale House almost rioted.

Even the Finals were great. Miami was embracing the villain image. It was good versus evil. I remember watching the Heat alley oop over Dallas throughout the 4th quarter and thinking to myself this could be a sweep.

Granted that was premature. Things mysteriously fell apart. The killer that LeBron had been the past few rounds all but disappeared. It became harder and harder for even a staunch LeBron defender like myself to argue that he wasn't shrinking in the Finals. Miami fans pinned their hopes on knee jerk lineup changes from Erik Spoelstra and hoping that Eddie House could go 30/30 from beyond the arc.

We still don't know what happened. My secondhand sources suggest that the locker room was toxic and maybe LeBron quit on the team. I could see that. The way Wade was going around sticking his chest out talking about how he had "been there before" after game three. Spite isn't an unreasonable reaction.

Man. I miss Wade-LeBron talk. Even after it saturated the media for six months.

I say all of that to point out how great last season was.

Last NBA season contained one of the biggest fan disappointments of my life, (second only to Tebow's last SEC title game versus Alabama) and I still remember it fondly. Imagine what the rest of America thinks.

This season could have been the most popular NBA season in years. It would have featured a retooled, experienced, bitter Miami Heat team out for vengeance and a more experienced Chicago Bulls team with a better Derrick Rose.

We would all be asking questions like: Do the Celtics and Lakers have another year of excellence in them? Can the Thunder make the leap to get to the NBA Finals? Are the Spurs still good enough to make the playoffs? How much money can Mark Cuban actually spend on former all stars? And how many white players can the Utah Jazz and Indiana Pacers start while still trying to compete in the NBA?

We might never know these answers.

This season was crucial. It would have been our season.

The Heat would have come out angry, avoided the early season adjustment period they went through last year, and been the consistent winner that we saw in December.

Call me crazy, the Heat would have challenged the 72 wins record.

One year of familiarity and almost reaching the championship combined with improvements in LeBron's game, with the possible addition of a center, full seasons from a healthy Mike Miller and Udonis Haslem and the emergence of Mario Chalmers as a professional basketball player would have made this the greatest Heat team ever. With apologies to Earl Barron.

Now, the window on the Heat's dynasty looks like it is closing quickly. Yes, they all signed 6 year contracts but they have 3 year opt outs. Which means we are one bad Kobe-Shaq diva fight from Pat Riley having to blow up the team at the end of this year.

That scares me.

That, and Wade is only getting older and I don't know if he has been developing his outside shot like he should, but regardless he will have to change as a player. His legs don't have that many years left. The lockout has given the players so much time that Wade and LeBron are courting Eddy Curry thinking that he could be an important player on a championship team next season. Eddy Curry!

This was supposed to be the year where the Big 3 were all in their primes, at the peaks of their career, ready to break records and obliterate the league. LeBron was going to win his first ring, the coronation of the King, and Bosh was going to be the first NBA champion from the Paleozoic era. It was going to be great.

Now, David Stern has taken this from me.