There are definitely pros and cons that come with being a fan of each South Florida team. Here are a few that any true believer knows all too well.
Photo by George Martinez
The Best Part: Being a Miami Heat fan is like having invested in Apple before the iPhone came out. The Heat went from a fun little engine that could when it debuted in 1988 to a premier NBA franchise in about the same amount of time the Dolphins give a single quarterback to prove himself. People respect the Heat. It's pretty cool to know your team isn't a laughingstock and other NBA fans envy the franchise.
From the people who produce and present Heat games on TV to the people in the front office, the Heat crew is one big family. True Heat fans definitely feel like they're part of it.
The Worst Part: In 2087, ESPN's First Take will still be talking about the time 47 dumbass Heat fans couldn't wait five more minutes for the 2013 NBA Finals to end. The false narrative will still be that those fans were banging like zombies on the outside of the American Airlines Arena's windows and begging to be let back in after Ray Allen hit "The Shot" against the Spurs.
It also kind of sucks that Heat fans will almost certainly never have it better than they had it during the Big Three era. That's the peak. For the rest of eternity, Heat fans will chase a high they can't possibly ever experience again.
Photo by Morgan Coleman
The Best Part: 1972. 1973. Don Shula. Dan Marino. The throwback uniforms. Ace Ventura. Having grown so used to disappointment that your body not only no longer recognizes the emotion as bad but also spits out laughter instead.
The Worst Part: This is like asking someone to choose their favorite child, except the children are reasons to hate the Dolphins. There are lifelong fans about to graduate college who have never seen the team do anything but ultimately disappoint them.
A good Fins season these days amounts to ten wins and the right to celebrate getting bent over a park bench by an AFC North team in the playoffs. Stephen Ross' face looks like how Dolphins fans feel in their souls.
Photo by Eliot J. Schechter / NHLI via Getty Images / Courtesy of the Florida Panthers
The Best Part: Rooting for a young team full of talent and promise. Being left alone. Easy access to the games. Being pleasantly surprised whenever the team goes on a run, but never really feeling that down when it doesn't win it all because those expectations don't exist. Supporting a franchise that truly needs your support because hockey isn't exactly ragingly popular in South Florida.
The Worst Part: Panthers fans have experienced so little in the way of special sports moments compared to other teams here. If any of the Cats' young stars ever truly become world-class, the team likely won't be able to afford them anymore. Panthers fans are forever doomed to feel like outsiders in South Florida.
A snapshot of the moment just before the mascots collided and Julio the Octopus (accidentally?) broke his long losing streak.
via MLB.com
Best Part: People can say a lot of bad things about the Marlins, but only a handful of teams have two World Series titles in the past two decades. Marlins Park is fantastic place to spend a lazy summer day. That's
Worst Part: LOL. The losing? The selling off of All-Star players in their prime because ownership is only interested in making money and not in winning? Being the laughingstock of Major League Baseball?
5. Miami Hurricanes
Best Part: Five titles. You can constantly remind people Miami has won the national championship five times. Have you heard the Hurricanes won the title five times? No? Well, ask any Hurricanes fan. They'll tell you. There's also all the prominent NFL players repping the U. When the Cane are playing well in a big primetime game, there are few better tickets in town.
Worst Part: It'll be tough to ever get back to where the Hurricanes once were. Only Alabama does that sort of dominating these days. Hurricanes fans, like Heat fans, have probably seen their team's best days and will be chasing that high for the rest of their lives. When the Canes aren't playing great, the stadium is empty, which has given the fan base an undeserved bad rap.
