South Florida sports or how i learned to stop worrying and wait for our time.

I've been a fan all my life of the South Florida teams and I always will be, no matter what happens. But how much longer do fans have to wait before they get results?

Florida Panthers: Quickest team to make the Stanley Cup when they were only 3 years young and went against the powerful Colorado Avalanche. Have had some great players to grace the Bank Atlantic Center(or whatever its called now). Pavel Bure. Roberto Luongo. Olli Jokinen. John Vanbiesbrouk. These players have 5 things in common. They've all been traded. Luongo the most notable and probably the most lopsided. Luongo was an all star goaltender for the Panthers and looked to be a godsend to what the Panthers needed. What then transpired was the one of the most lopsided trades in NHL history. The Panthers traded Luongo for Todd Bertuzzi and Alex Auld. Bertuzzi would be injured early in the season and Auld was traded after one season, Luongo went on to become a contender for the Vezina Trophy and lead the Canucks to the playoffs. Oh yeah speaking of playoffs, they haven't made it since the 1999-2000 season. Mediocrity has rained over this team for years.

Florida Marlins: 2 World Series. 2 Fire Sales. After winning the World Series in 1997 against the Cleveland Indians after a walk off hit by Craig Counsell, the Marlins completed a few offseason moves. Every player that seemed to contribute to the World Series win was traded, Moises Alou, Kevin Brown, Bobby Bonilla, Gary Sheffield, and Charles Johnson just to name a few. 2003: The Marlins after having all the odds against them, defeat the mighty Yankees in a 2-0 game 6 gem by ace Josh Beckett. One of the most notable images was seeing center fielder Juan Pierre running top speed to the crowd of Marlins with the biggest smile any one can ever have. Soon enough Juan Pierre was running for the Los Angeles Dodgers.  And then went Derek Lee. Then Ivan Rodriguez. Then Luis Castillo. Then Josh Beckett. Then Mike Lowell. And then pretty much anyone else who helped the team. Over the past year, the Marlins have traded away power hitter Miguel Cabrera and the face of Florida baseball, Dontrelle Willis. The Marlins have only made the playoffs twice in 15 years and have failed to make it the past 4 years.

Miami Heat: It took 20 years, but sure enough they did it. Probably the most successful franchise in South Florida, the Heat are the most recent team to win a championship in South Florida. But man, have those memories been darkened like South Florida on a rainy day(which happens to be everyday). The season after the championship, the Heat lost by 42 points. 42 points. The day they get their rings and feel on top of the world. They lose by 42 points in front of their home crowd. It would only get worse for the Heat. They made it to the playoffs that year finishing 44-38 and getting swept by the same team that embarassed them, the Chicago Bulls. Following that season, it just went downhill. Flashy and outspoken center Shaquille O'Neal was traded and to make it even worse, talked trash about his own former teammates that he played with for 3 years. All-star and former finals MVP Dwyane Wade went down with injuries in the past 2 seasons since his NBA finals victory and the Heat finished with their worst record since 20 years back going 15-67.

Miami Dolphins: What more could be said. I mean honestly. Since the Dan Marino era where the Dolphins were always a threat, this team just spells disaster. Bad scouting, bad quarterbacks, bad coaches, bad draft picks, this team couldn't get it right. A title has not been won since the 1973 season, when they went back to back. They are the only team to go undefeated and it has been a record for nearly 40 years, but times since the 1970's have been much different. The Dolphins last tasted the super bowl in 1984 when the Dolphins were crushed by the 49ers 38-16. Marino and the Dolphins have never been back again. Since then, its just been heartbreaking letdowns and frustration. Barely missing playoffs and embarassing scores *cough 62-7 cough*, the Miami Dolphins surely is the saddest franchise to be a fan of.

It's not all bad for South Florida teams as it looks like results finally might be made. The Panthers have great young talent, the Marlins signed all star Hanley Ramirez to a lucrative contract and have plenty of young stars in the making, the Heat drafted one of the greatest players in college history in Michael Beasley and the Dolphins just might've found it's new quarterback thats going to take them somewhere in Chad Pennington. Things are looking up for South Florida. Things are going to change, and it's going to be for the better.