Yesterday, writers from The Daily Campus sports section engaged in a roundtable about which players and coaches had the best 2023. From Manchester City’s Erling Haaland to UConn men’s basketball head coach Dan Hurley, several individuals provided their thoughts.
When a team like the No. 1 Huskies succeeds, an athlete or a coach can be associated with a single city. For reference, two-time Super Bowl champion Patrick Mahomes has become synonymous with Kansas City, Missouri. 2022 American League MVP Aaron Judge has been hailed as one of the many kings of New York. Recently dismissed head coach Bill Belichick was a Boston staple for over two decades.
But there is one American city that had a better 2023 than anyone else. Rather than being the league’s best in the regular season, sports teams in Miami, Fl., succeeded because of the postseason.
In 2022, the Florida Panthers traded away Jonathan Huberdeau and defenseman MacKenzie Weegar for forward Matthew Tkachuk from the Calgary Flames. Florida stayed in the middle of the pack during the 2022-23 regular season, squeaking into the Stanley Cup Playoffs as the Eastern Conference’s No. 8 seed.
The Panthers’ first-round opponent, the Boston Bruins, won the most games (65) and earned the most points (135) in a single season in NHL history. Florida was expected to be the first victim in the Bruins’ Stanley Cup run. Down 3-1 in the series, that almost became a reality.
But then Tkachuk scored in overtime in Game 5 and the Panthers won Game 6 in Sunrise. Once Carter Verhaeghe buried the series clincher in Boston in Game 7, Florida completed the comeback and stunned the Bruins. Riding high after eliminating the Presidents’ Trophy champions, the Panthers marched all the way to their first Stanley Cup Finals appearance since 1996. Florida’s Stanley Cup run did not have a happy ending, however, as the Vegas Golden Knights won their first title in five games.
Like the Panthers, the Miami Heat stood on the edge of elimination early in the postseason. The Chicago Bulls led Miami by six with 7:12 remaining in a win-or-go-home scenario in the Play-In Tournament. Down three with 3:47 left, the Heat closed the contest on a 15-1 run, ended the Bulls’ season and grabbed the Eastern Conference’s eighth seed. Miami caught fire from there.
It started with a five-game upset of the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks in the first round, and come late May, the Heat became the second-ever No. 8 seed to reach the NBA Finals. Guard Tyler Herro returned after breaking his hand against the Bucks and Miami gave the Denver Nuggets their lone home loss of the playoffs in Game 2. That was the Heat’s one bright NBA Finals spot as their underdog run also ended in five games.
The Miami Marlins had not made the postseason in a 162-game season since 2003. The Marlins qualified in 2020, but the Major League season was only 60 games because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Miami was in a three-way tie for the third and final National League Wild Card spot when 2022 Cy Young winner Sandy Alcántara made his last start on Sept. 3. On Oct. 1, the Fish secured their postseason spot.
Even without Alcántara, Miami succeeded because of the Pablo López -Luis Arráez trade with the Minnesota Twins. López became the Twins’ ace and started their first postseason win since 2004. Arráez led all of baseball with a .354 batting average, leading off a lineup featuring first baseman Josh Bell and slugger Jorge Soler. Despite a breakout season from lefty Jesús Luzardo, the Marlins’ postseason stint ended after two Wild Card losses to the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizen’s Bank Park.
The Miami Dolphins’ up-and-down 2022 season also resulted in a Wild Card loss. With a healthy Tua Tagovailoa under center, however, Miami made significant offensive strides in 2023. Tagovailoa recorded his first 4,000-yard season in the air. Wide receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle each had 1,000+ yards. Running back Raheem Mostert ran for a career-high 1,012.
Despite their dynamic offense, the Dolphins went 1-6 against teams over .500. That included losses to the Baltimore Ravens and the Buffalo Bills in consecutive weeks that cost them the American Football Conference East Division title. Without Waddle for the regular season finale or the Wild Card Round and injuries plaguing their defense, Miami literally froze in a 26-7 road defeat versus the Kansas City Chiefs.
Inter Miami CF had the city’s most disappointing season as the lone team that did not make their league’s playoffs. They made up for that with a Leagues Cup championship and a US Open Cup runner-up finish. Both of those deep runs happened with World Cup champion Lionel Messi, whose signing made the David Beckham-owned club MLS’ most-followed team on Instagram by August 1.
Miami’s success went beyond professional sports. While cousins Angel Reese and Jordan Hawkins won national titles for LSU and UConn, respectively, the Miami Hurricanes took the college basketball world by storm. The fifth-seeded men’s team reached their first Final Four one year after making the Elite Eight as a double-digit seed. The eighth-seeded women’s team, meanwhile, made their first Elite Eight appearance.
Coincidentally, both Hurricanes’ basketball teams stunned a No. 1 seed. Head coach Katie Meier and the women’s team eliminated the Indiana Hoosiers on their court in Bloomington in the second round. The men’s team took down the Houston Cougars in the Sweet 16.
All in all, sports’ competitive nature fueled Miami’s triumphs. Four teams caught lightning in a bottle in the playoffs. A fifth was rewarded for playing their best baseball in a push for a postseason spot. Other than maybe the 2023 Dolphins, none of the 305’s sports teams were expected to go far.
No one knows what the future holds for 2024. Although they did not bring home a championship, 2023 was a year to remember for Miami.