The Miami Heat and the Midterm Elections

The Miami Heat, through ruthless off-season maneuvering, acquired the three top free agents, and arguably two of the best players in history: resigning Dwayne Wade and signing both Chris Bosh and Basketball Jesus LeBron James. The PR around this oscillated between the nightmarish (LeBron James' less than exciting hour-long ESPN special to publicly dump on Cleveland, which is should be remembered was filmed in front of a live audience who was silent during the obviously stunned fans) to the outlandish (the mawkish Welcoming Party that the three received in Miami). The arrogance was palpable. It was as if Miami, before the first ball was tipped-off, was claiming to the world that the won the Championship. Listen to the smug way that the three answer softball questions at the Welcome Party. The smugness is suffocating, choking out the rationality and asphyxiating history.

Does anyone remember when the Lakers, tired of losing in the playoffs, signed Karl Malone and Gary Payton to join Kobe Bryant and Shaq? It was not in the all too distant past that those four superstars, players in various stages of the career, came together in an effort to win championships. What happened? They won a decent amount of games (56-26), but lost to a team of unknown nobodies in the Championship, the Detroit Pistons, whose starting five featured Chauncey Billups, Rip Hamilton, Ben Wallace, and Teyshaun Prince. Sure, Detroit had Rasheed Wallace, but at that point in his career, who would have thought that the malcontent from Portland would ever amount to anything other than headaches, particularly with that bunch of young, untested players.

What Detroit proved that year, and what many teams immediately recognized, was that talent could not carry a team, but strong sense of team work, a good defense and solid coaching could.

Of course, when the Celtics picked up Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen and immediately started winning games, including one Championship, people sat up and started wondering about their "Big Three". Everyone wanted to have three huge names that would lead their team to a championship. Teams, like Miami, tired of losing and desperate to win back fans, gambled the future of the organization on three shoulders that already support swollen, egotistical heads.

Let's return to Miami for a second, a city that has had it's share of broken dreams. Anyone remember Harold Miner? Harold "Baby Jordan" Minor, whose outstanding ability to dunk lead the city into a fever of excitement? After leaving USC as their highest score in recorded history, Miner went on to play three unexciting low scoring seasons for Miami, and finished his career with a twelve minute scoreless appearance for the Cavs in 1996. Or remember when Miami won the Championship in 2006, only to have Wade seriously injure himself the following year? Or when they signed Shaq, and everyone figured they were a lock in the typically weak Eastern Division? Miami does. Miami clearly remembers. So when the opportunity came to sign three of the top players in the game, the hope that move generated was electric.

And what happened? They lost their first game to a much tighter Celtic team that showed they could play well together, played strong defense and were well coached. And it wasn't even close. Boston took the lead, and held it. Miami didn't come within less than five points the entire second half. Even the biggest doubters of Miami were shocked to see how easily this team rolled over to a more disciplined and cohesive team. Boston looked like Detroit in 2003 - a band of close-knit nobodies that dominated will and determination (though, it needs to be remembered that this team is not a team of nobodies, and could contend for the championship again). Even the next game's win against Philadelphia was nothing to write home about. Sure, there are only two games in the books, but these three alone should be better than 25th overall in points per game, 22nd overall in rebounds per game, and 27th overall in assists per game. The only top five stat they have is in points allowed per game, coming in 4th.

There was a noted silence among my friends on Facebook, normally pretty loud when it comes to sports matters, after Miami lost. It was hard to think of something to say in light of that entirely underwhelming performance. Again, even those that wished ill of the New York Yankees of basketball were stunned that these three could be this bad right out of the gate. Hell LeBron, on more than one occassion, has scored more than 50 points in a single game. So has Wade. What about all that hope? What about all that grandstanding and arrogance? Where was all that clout? This season might just kill a few Miami fans who are holding their breath for the hope of another championship.

But is this a fair reaction? Is Miami really under-performing or was there just too much hype to live up to? A look at the way Democrats are reacting to this Midterm election might shed light on this question.

In 2008, after Obama won the Presidential Election, there was a buzz among Democrats. I was in Carbondale, literally sitting on the edge of my couch, watching the election results come in (though it should be noted that my futon was not the most comfortable, and the edge, ironically had the most padding). Over the next few weeks, people spoke like the recently converted - excited talk about the future and its brightness. There was a fervor to young people that felt like this was the moment the country climbed out from underneath the strange and conflicted years of the Bush administration. It felt, as a young Democrat, that we could accomplish anything. The hope was overwhelming.

Now, nearly two years later, and that hope has faltered. In light of the recent bipartisan bickering, the split house sandbagging each other's attempts to get anything done, Democrats are starting to question the claims that the Obama people made. Can any change actually happen? Is it possible to do what he said he was going to do?

The highly discussed failure for a public health option, the long extraction from Iraq that was less of an extraction than expected, the continued fighting in Afghanistan, and the less than remarkable results of the economic stimulus plan which most Republicans harp on have led to some apathetic opposition from the Democrats. The Onion made a particularly pointed comment here in this satirical article which shows the Democrats hiding, running even, from their accomplishments. It might be that the Democratic politicians have lost faith in their own party. Or it might be that the Democrats have never been strong fighters, willing to tout their accomplishments and expose the weaknesses of the others. Maybe, amid all the muckraking of this midterm election following a grueling two year term, the Democrats have lost the will to fight against the willfully ignorant that see them as failures.

Maybe the Democrats and the Heat can learn something from each other. Firstly, it's never good to overhype something, as nothing ever lives up to fantastical expectations. Secondly, even though both have fallen short of their hype, that does not mean that either has been saddled with total failure. Like the Democrats, the Heat need to beef up on defense, come together as a team, and remember that they can achieve anything if the just try hard and play together.