Miami Heat Vs. Orlando Magic: Super Team Was Super Fine, Heat Fans "Fan'd Up"

After an atrocious start to the season in Boston, followed by a very pedestrian effort against the Sixers, a lot rode on the Heat's home opener against their Southeastern Division rivals the Orlando Magic.

The questions asked early were about how they'd handle Dwight Howard and Jameer Nelson, since they play Center and Point Guard respectively, which are Miami's two main weaknesses.

The Heat's response? A 96-70 blowout in front of a crowd of 19,600 at the Triple-A.

Dwight Howard? Good news and bad news. I'll start with the bad, he scored 19 points. Now the good, he only pulled down seven rebounds while fouling out with little more than five minutes left in the game. That's how you take care of Dwight Howard.

Jameer Nelson? A no-show. Nelson only went for 10 points and one assist while shooting 3-for-11.

Wade logged the most minutes for the Heat at 34, but they were an effective 34 minutes, scoring 26 points with six rebounds and three assists. LeBron played 30 minutes, scored only 15; however, he also had six rebounds and seven assists and looked the most relaxed that I've seen him in years.

Chris Bosh was no slouch either, putting up a double-double, grabbing 10 rebounds to go along with 11 points. He also had a blocked shot and helped get Superman into foul trouble.

But those stats, along with the continued great play from James Jones (nine points, going 3-for-5 from downtown) and a routine double-double from Udonis Haslem (11 points and 11 boards) weren't what impressed me the most, nor was it the season-low (for now) 12 total turnovers that impressed me.

It was the atmosphere.

Miami isn't a sports town. Glitz and glamour rule the day in this city. Miami gets criticized for it constantly, and sometimes its true. From the Dolphins and their celebrity co-owners to "Jersey Shore," the glitz and glamour culture is what Miami is, and had been a central theme in the atmosphere at the American Airlines Arena since it opened in 2000.

But not tonight.

Instead tonight was all about Miami taking its baby steps into actually appreciating basketball for the sake of, basketball. Does having two of the league's best players (despite what many other writers on Bleacher Report would have you believe) contribute to that? Definitely. But it also served as quite the opposite of the celebration (if you live outside of Miami) or Welcome Party (what it really was) held during the summer.

The Golden Oldies were there of course, but limited to one performance, in the second half. While normally you'd see the Heat cheerleaders come out two sometimes three times per half, they only showed up once in the first half, and again in the second half.

Then there are the player introductions.

Usually they're prolonged, with Heat Public Address Announcer Michael Biamonte screaming out the names as they walk by to the latest hip hop hit accompanied by some pyrotechnics and a slickly produced video.

This time? A low key introduction by Michael Biamonte (looking a little bit like former ECW play by play man Joey Styles) where he didn't scream anyone's name and just announced their hometowns and their names, followed by a short video set to Phil Collins' "In The Air Tonight" that just showed the players.

No pyro, very little fanfare. I give it a 10.

Then there are the fans. You know the bandwagoners you heard about all summer that didn't really care about basketball? The very fans who didn't deserve a team this good? The "drug dealers, Cubans, and old people" that Miami is filled with?

I'm sorry that they disappointed you haters and cheered at the right moments, showed up on time and took interest in the game itself. 

Now granted, part of this has to do with this year's Heat marketing strategy, called "Fan Up." I'll explain the concept from the program I received when I showed up at the game (at 6:30pm by the way, for an 8pm game.)

This season, your Miami HEAT have assembled a team that any NBA fan would want to watch. People across the country are circling the date on their calendar when the HEAT come to their town. That game is not to be missed and tickets will fetch astronomical prices.

What's the story closer to home? HEAT fans, especially HEAT Season Ticket Holders, are part of an exclusive, envied group...you get to see the show 41 nights this year, and that's before the playoffs even start.

But can you hear what "they" are saying? "They" say that HEAT fans are fickle fans...that you show up late and leave early. "They" say that HEAT fans don't deserve to have a team like this. "They" say that HEAT fans are bandwagon fans.

Well, we say, "Welcome aboard the Bandwagon. Grab your seat and hold on tight! 'Cause this bandwagon is moving fast and if you're not in your seats from the start of the ride all the way til the end, you're going to miss something spectacular!"

It's time to prove the naysayers wrong. It's time to show that HEAT fans do deserve this team and this opportunity. It's time to recognize that with this new-found power also comes responsibility.

Today, it worked. The true test will come Tuesday when they take on Minnesota. After all, if you have LeBron, Wade and Bosh and can't pack the house (I don't use sell-out because there were still seats available, although only about 500 at the most) on opening night against Dwight Howard, then you don't deserve a basketball team. However, the fans definitely "fan'd up."

From the opening tip, chants of "DEFENSE" rained onto the court. When the Heat got the ball, screams of "Let's Go Heat!" would flow throughout the arena. The glitz was gone, and we weren't concerned too much without the superficial crap we'd seen at Heat games for the last few years. Instead the focus was on basketball, and the fans didn't seem to need the help.

Now I know you're saying "but I saw the game and I wasn't impressed by the fans." Well, I was at the game, and I've never seen Heat fans react like this. It didn't feel like a Heat game at the American Airlines Arena, it felt more like a Dolphins or Canes crowd at the Orange Bowl in the '70s and '80s.

The last time I remember being at a Heat game when it got that loud was on March 11, 1993. Why was it so loud that day? It was the first time in franchise history that Miami defeated the Bulls.

Unlike then when the Heat were underdogs though, they were the favorites. The thought before tonight, even from me, would be that the Heat would be a "bandwagon" team and that games at the American Airlines Arena would be more of a wine and cheese crowds.

Tonight the only whine was from Stan Van Gundy, and the only cheese was on the nachos. The crowd, especially where I was sitting, section 406 row 9 seat 5, was as rowdy as you will get. What really surprised me was the basketball sophistication from the fans.

We're not a basketball town, yet somehow we seemed to react to plays and act all game like a sophisticated basketball crowd that actually felt like it could control the game. It was unnerving, but only because it was so different. As a hoops junkie and life-long Heat fan, I was happy with it and want to see this continue.

But why? Well, I think Heat fans, much like LeBron, were also taking mental notes. Yes, I've seen the criticisms of us being too sensitive to criticisms about this team, whether the criticisms be valid ones like they don't have size in the middle and can't guard elite point guards, or the ridiculous straight up hate like "LeBron's legacy is tainted," "Those guys are punks," and of course "Miami's filled with bandwagon fans!"

So what happened? We changed, we were motivated. Miami has already taken this team in as our own after only three regular season games, defended it like over-protective soccer moms, and taken every slight against them personally. If this is what it took for Miami to take the first steps to really become a Basketball Town, then thank God for the Hate. 

So all of you, you know who you are, the usual suspects, the trolls I've attacked in the past, the haters who only read the article's title and leave the anti-Heat comments, please continue the hate. Please continue to call us bandwagon fans, please continue to slander this team. Please bring up how much you hate LeBron.

In fact, I'll give you a good idea for your next article: How about "Why LeBron James is the most overrated player in the history of the world." Lord knows we haven't seen one of those in a while. 

And please comment on this piece, because you've done something that Shaq couldn't even do, you made Miami fans wake up, you made Miami fans learn more about basketball, appreciate it, and in the process, helped us enjoy it more.

But most importantly, you motivated us, and awoken a sleeping giant. 

Heat fans, keep going to games and being loud, keep up the great work I saw and participated in tonight!

And let's keep this up into the playoffs and make the Triple-A the toughest place to play in the NBA.