State of Miami: January 14th, 2008

If this were a State of the Union address, nobody would be standing up and clapping at the conclusion. The sad reality is that it has been a tumultuous 18 months for sports in South Florida.

Since the Heat won the title in June of 2006, seemingly nothing has gone right for any franchises or schools down here. None of our teams have made the playoffs, excluding an embarrassing sweep of the Heat by the Chicago Bulls. Most of our teams are hovering around last place not just in their respective divisions or conferences, but their entire leagues.

The Dolphins have yet to recover from the failed drafts of the Dave Wannstedt Era, and the damage done by Nick Saban and Cam Cameron have left this roster a smoldering train-wreck. The lack of talent on this team is reflected in it's 1-15 record---worst in the NFL.

However, a ray of hope has shone through with the addition of Bill Parcells and Jeff Ireland. Every day is one day closer to the NFL Draft and the beginning of the turnaround this team and this city desperately needs.

Things don't look so good (it's tough to comprehend the fact the Dolphins might have the brightest future) for our other professional franchises. The Heat are in a massive tailspin that even a Hall of Fame coach and two future Hall of Fame players can't seem to turn around. This team has lost 10 straight and are probably working on who their representative will be at the NBA Draft Lottery.

The Marlins are probably one of the saddest stories in sports. They have an excellent front office that continues to milk top prospects out of the deals they have been forced to make by the cash-strapped ownership. Every year until a stadium is built, they will field a last place, glorified AAA team. Even then, I don't trust them to spend money to field a competitive ballclub.

Once the young kids grow up and become productive, they'll be traded for newer prospects. It's tough to root for a team that has such a high turnover rate. Not one Marlin remains from that magical 2003 season. Funny how sometimes it feels like the ticker-tape parade happened just yesterday, but sometimes it feels like so long ago. We can only hope now that Loria either sticks to his word, or sells high after the stadium is built and the franchise's value goes up.

The Panthers actually are only 4 points out of the playoffs and a 3 seed at that. Thanks to a weak division, all they need is to hover around 500 and make a push in the final 2 weeks or so. However, they too haven't been the most generous team when spending money on players. The club might finally make the playoffs after long absence, but they don't have enough talent to make an impact.

The only thing anyone really has to look forward to is probably the one team that doesn't enjoy a majority following in South Florida: the Miami Hurricanes. Thanks to a bevy of transplants in the area, there are many UF, FSU and other fans down here who don't support the Canes. And those who do "root" for Miami rarely end up going to either football, basketball, or baseball games.

The basketball team is an upstart bunch that has the potential to make some noise in the postseason. This is the best team we've had in nearly a decade, so I would try to support them as much as possible. The baseball team has enormous potential as well, and should again be vying for a spot in the College World Series.

But of course, the football team is the moneymaker. After 3 consecutive years that ended in disappointment, things can only go up for the U. The incoming recruiting class is a consensus top 5 ranked class. ESPN has us 1st nationally, and there is room for even more talent.

Obviously, one has to be careful on relying on recruiting class rankings to project our future, case in point being the 2004 class I wrote about last week. However, this class has the makings of something special. Next year will be rough as well, but the rewards will come in 2009 and 2010 when these kids are ready to take the team back to the top.