A look back at the sports moments that made headlines in South Florida in 2023.
It's been perhaps the greatest year for South Florida sports fans in more than a decade.
It might sound like an exaggeration but consider these facts:
- The Miami Heat had one of the most historic runs all the way to the finals
- One of the biggest, if not THE biggest, soccer superstar, Lionel Messi, chose South Florida as his new home
- The Dolphins are finally relevant, and playoff bound after an insane season which featured Tyreek Hill's run for the 2,000-yard receiving mark
- The Men's March Madness run for the University of Miami and the Florida Atlantic Owls making it to the final four
- The Marlins making the playoffs
- And the Florida Panthers in the finals of the NHL as a Number 8 seed.
Sure, most of those teams lost when it really mattered and failed to deliver a title and Inter Miami's League Cup trophy isn't the same as hoisting the MLS Cup, but it was still a better year for sports in South Florida since the Miami Heat won a championship in 2013.
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The Dolphins started last season with a bang, going 8-3, but then lost 5 in a row, and needed a win against the New York Jets in January --in the last game of the season mind you -- to make the playoffs.
After a close fought battle, the Dolphins were able to beat the Jets and head to the NFL Playoffs as a wildcard and face the Buffalo Bills.
Missing both Tua Tagovailoa and second-string quarterback Teddy Bridgewater due to injuries, the 'Fins' relied on third-string quarterback Skylar Thompson to deliver the goods. Unfortunately, they fell short and lost a close game 34-31.
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The Final Four
Then later in March, two schools made a deep run in the NCAA's Men's March Madness and reached the Final Four: The University of Miami Hurricanes and the Florida Atlantic University Owls.
Miami started the tournament with a win over Duke, then rallied to an 85-69 win over the Indiana Hoosiers.
The Canes would later upset the No.1 seed Houston in the Sweet 16 and then had a comeback win over the No 2. seed Texas in the Elite Eight.
The Owls had a harder road to the Final Four as they were almost eliminated in the first round against Memphis with a last second layup to win the game 66-65. FAU would then go to play against Farleigh Dickinson, Tennessee, and the mighty Kansas State to advance to their first ever Final Four.
The 'Cats' shock the NHL
Luckily, sports fans in South Florida didn't have time to lick their wounds as the Florida Panthers made an unexpected appearance in the NHL Playoffs as an 8th seed, going all the way to the finals against the Las Vegas Golden Knights.
Bring up the HEAT
Another 8th seed that made an unexpected deep run in the playoffs was the Miami Heat, who had a topsy-turvy season, barely making it into the playoffs all together but a scrappy win in the play-in tournament against the Chicago Bulls in a win-or-go-home scenario secured the Heat's place in the NBA playoffs.
The road to glory wasn't easy, but yet the Heat -- again, as the 8th seed -- knocked the No1 seed the Milwaukee Bucks and their MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo in just 5 games, with Jimmy Butler scoring 56 points in a crucial Game 4.
The Heat then defeated historic rivals the New York Knicks in 6 games, then met their Eastern Conference rivals the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals for an incredible series that saw Miami go 3-0 before the Celtics rallied back the next two games to leave the series at 3-2 for Game 6.
The Celtics and the Heat played one of the most memorable games going back-and-forth for the 48 minutes before Boston would win it with a tip-in from Derrick White at the sound of the buzzer, forcing a take-it-or-leave-it Game 7.
The Heat didn't like that very much and swiftly defeated Boston in Game 7 to head to the NBA Finals as the second ever 8th-seed to do so.
The Finals for the Heat proved too difficult and could not find an answer to the Denver Nuggets and their big man Nikola Jokic.
Soccer royalty
The summer looked like a quiet time for sports fans, until Lionel Messi surprised the world and joined Inter Miami halfway through the MLS season.
While it was too late for Inter to fix their poor start in the season -- sitting dead last in the mid-point -- Messi was able to make an immediate impact by winning the Leagues Cup and give the young MLS team their first taste of silverware.
Marlins are back
Later in fall, the Marlins played incredible baseball, enough to make the playoffs for the first time since 2020, but the Philadelphia Phillies proved too much to handle and were knocked out in the first round.
Miami's got the Dolphins
And finally, the start of the new NFL season brought lots of joy down Dolphins fans across the nation as Mike McDaniel's team became the talk of the town for their exciting style of play and Tyreek Hill's run for the 2,000-yard receiving mark.
The Dolphins are currently in the lead position to win the AFC East title, with games against the Baltimore Ravens and the Buffalo Bills still on the schedule.
While the title may still be up for grabs, it's certain the Miami Dolphins will be making another appearance in the playoffs with a great outlook toward the future.
2023 proved to be a great year for sports in South Florida, but the most exciting part is knowing that these teams have finally been set up for consistent success, after so many barren years.
