Huge Competition Down The Street

The Miami Dolphins are going to have to come up with a stellar product in the next year or they are going to really start to lose interest.  They now have huge competition down the street in the Miami Heat.  Yes, South Florida is a football town filled with die-hard fans, but the surging Miami Heat are on the rise for support.  On the Heat’s current roster they have one of the most popular athletes in Miami history, Dwayne Wade, joined by arguably the most popular athlete in the World, Lebron James. 

The Heat have shown tremendous effort to give a winning product to their fans, whereas the Dolphins remain questionable on most of their moves.  The Heat won the NBA Championship on 2006 and went to the Championship last year.  In a sport where star players are more important than anything else, the cross-town franchise has seemed to not be one to disappoint.

If the Heat continue to win and improve their franchise and the Dolphins continue to ever struggle for mediocrity, this town is going to become a basketball and Miami Heat town.  The Dolphins have a much longer history and football remains king of sports in this county, but if we are to continue to be a below average to average team and not put forth the effort to the at least attempt to compete with the big boys, people are going to start putting their money, faith and time into a sport and team that proves they want to win.

Separated by less than 15 miles, at some point the Dolphins are going to have to look over at the example being set by the Heat and take note.  Jeff Ireland should take notes from what Pat Riley has been able to do with a franchise.

Can the Dolphins find the NFL version of Lebron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh?  This not what Philadelphia tried to do unsuccessfully this season, although they at least gave their fans hope.  Hope is the start of what the fans need in Miami in order to stay loyal to a franchise that has been striking out far too much lately.

People are allowed to be fans of both the Heat and the Dolphins, but with only so much disposable income fans are going to start having to choose whether or not to renew their Dolphins season tickets or invest in Heat seats.  We are want to see both teams succeed as South Floridians, but when only one is truly showing an effort to win and please the fans there will come a time when the average fan becomes fed up and can no longer afford to.

Stephen Ross, if you are reading this, please expand you wallet and your mind, maybe with help from the Heat, and realize what it takes to get people excited for Miami Dolphins football.