White Hot

So I'm on my roof the other day.

Don't be surprised. Since Charley and his obnoxious buddies Ivan, Jeanne, and francis crashed the party back in the summer of '04, I've spent as much time on my roof as I have in my living room.

No hurricane this time, just spring cleaning. The massive oak trees that provide a canopy to my neighborhood in central Florida love nothing more than to fill my gutters with a dark, soggy brew of decaying leaves. Two or three times each year - or weekly, during hurricane season - I pull out the ladder, slip on the work gloves, and take brooms, rakes, and trash bags onto the flat gravel surface above my home. This weekend was a five-bagger, which is a light day, all things considered.

During a break in the action, I came down the ladder to grab a bottle of water. My wife burst through the door into the garage to announce that she had called our local cable company and ordered the Major League Baseball "Extra Innings" package, allowing us to watch up to 60 out-of-market games per week. She was bubbling because she had already found the Red Sox game, and suggested that I take a break and come watch.

Just in case anyone is wondering why I married her.

Have to admit, it was pretty cool to watch the Colorado - San Francisco game on FSN Rocky Mountain, just to see the Rockies' crowd boo Barry Bonds at every at-bat. But while Mrs. Watson is a card-carrying member of Red Sox nation, I remain a hardcore basketball guy. It was with great interest, therefore, that I watched the opening game of the Miami Heat - Chicago Bulls playoff series on Saturday night.

Seriously, does anyone do game night promotions as well as the Heat? And they step up their game in the playoffs, too. A couple of years ago, it was the "blackout," when all 20,000-plus fans at American Airlines Arena were given black t-shirts. Another year, the Heat created a "Red Zone," with red t-shirts. I have both shirts sitting on a shelf in my office. In 2006, the opener was a "white-out," complete with an accompanying website (www.whitehotheat.com), wherein Game One of the playoffs featured - you guessed it - 20,000 South Florida fans dressed in white. Corny, maybe, but way cool. Everything they do is cool. Like Miami.

Over the last few weeks, as the Heat sleepwalked through the end of the regular season to the tune of nine losses in their last 16 games, there was much wringing of hands among the South Florida faithful as to which Miami team would show up for the postseason. Would it be the team that went 20-5 in February and March, building a lead in the Southeast Division that would prove impregnable? Or the team that closed the schedule with losses to Boston, Atlanta, and Chicago - two dreck non-playoff squads and Miami's first-round opponent, respectively?

Your answer: 111-106, Heat, as seen on Sun Sports.

Will Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O'Neal be enough to carry the Heat into the second round?

30 points and 11 assists from Wade. 27 points and 16 rebounds for O'Neal. Have we learned nothing over the last couple of seasons?

Pat Riley frequently went public with his concerns that his veteran-laden team felt it could "flip a switch" come playoff time. This never sat well with Riles, who comes from the Overprepare School of coaching. Pat, baby, sit back and relax.

You've got Wade and O'Neal. That's all you need.

Mind you, Chicago will give Miami a run in this series. The Bulls are well-coached under Gritty Gutty Scotty Skiles and have one of the deepest benches in the league. They might steal game two at the Triple-A, and they'll surely win at least one game back in the Windy City. But that's it.

The Heat - in particular, O'Neal - have flipped the switch. This is why they play. More to the point, Shaq is playing for the same reason that Michael Finley signed with the Spurs, Roger Clemens entertains offers to pitch, and Brett Favre keeps stringing NFL fans along with thoughts of another season. It's winning time.

There's nothing left to prove. No more records to break. Shaq's place in history is secure. All that's left is to win, again. Time to flip the switch.

Is that enough to bring an NBA title to South Florida? Probably not. Not with Detroit, San Antonio, or Dallas looming. But it's more than enough to shed the Bulls. Game One was the opening argument.

It's winning time.