The Miami Herald
Gulp up the java Miami Heat fans ? today?s a day for celebrating, and chest-thumping.
And coming soon...a parade!
The Heat?s championship glow hovered over a bleary-eyed South Florida on Friday, as fans descended upon sporting goods stores to snatch up commemorative T-shirts and hats. The stop-and-go morning commute was spiced up by sports radio blaring Queen?s ?We Are The Champions.?
Victory parade festivities are set to begin at 9 a.m. Monday, with the actual parade starting at 11 a.m. and ending at Noon. At 12:30 p.m., the team will go inside AmericanAirlines Arena for an additional private celebration reserved for season-ticket holders.
Here?s the parade route: it begins at the corner of S.E. 8th Street and 2nd Avenue, heading east on 8th Street, then north on Brickell Avenue across the bridge, and north on Biscayne Boulevard to the arena.
For Heat fan Gerardo Rodriguez, the Finals triumph erased the ghosts of last year, when the Heat lost the Finals in 6 games to the Dallas Mavericks. Rodriguez lives in Dallas, and as Heat Nation sulked after last year?s outcome, Rodriguez had to endure the further indignity of being surrounded by the enemy. He was even forced to watch the Dallas victory parade, which passed right by the restaurant where he worked.
?It was tough,? Rodriguez said. ?I wouldn?t say it felt like a nightmare, but it was pretty close.?
This year, though, Rodriguez is planning his first-ever visit to Miami so he can watch the Heat?s victory parade.
?I even converted my girlfriend into a Heat fan,? Rodriguez said. ?She loves D-Wade.?
Heat star Dwyane Wade began the morning with this Tweet: ?WOW..God is good..congrats to the city of Miami... yall deserve this moment...WORLD CHAMPION..#TeamNoSleep I love you guys..?
Later in the day, Finals MVP LeBron James tweeted: ?OMFG I think it just hit me, I?m a CHAMPION!! I AM a CHAMPION!!?
Elsewhere in the Twitterverse, global trending topics included ?Bird Road? ? an homage to the street?s reputation as Miami?s post-game street celebration headquarters.
The night before, Game 5?s lopsided score made the outcome a foregone conclusion, but at the Clevelander in South Beach, they counted down the game?s final seconds like it was New Year?s Eve nonetheless.
When the clock hit all zeroes, the pool bar exploded with screams, hugs and high-fives.
Miami Heat, NBA champions. Drink it up and soak it in.
?All I do is win,? DJ Khaled?s tune blared out over the PA, and never did it seem more apt.
?LeBron [James] did it,? said Jeff Hall, a Heat fan from Washington who traveled to South Florida for the NBA Finals. ?They said he couldn?t do it, but he came to Miami and he brought home a ring. This is incredible.?
The thunderous celebration echoed across South Florida. In households, sidewalks and street corners from coast to swamp, how did fans celebrate the second title in franchise history?
With pots, pans, baking sheets, ladles, spoons and any kind of kitchen utensil that made noise. Lots and lots of noise.
As a Heat win became inevitable, the sidewalks of West 49th Street in Hialeah swelled with fans in Heat jerseys, chanting and cheering, ?Let?s go Heat!?
Cars added to the calamity, laying on their horns as they crept by. A man on a motorcycle revved his engine.
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