Jamie Mottram's Sports Blog - www.misterirrelevant.com

The Heat win their first championship and there's so much to talk about here, which is what happens when the NBA titleist features a rising supernova, an aging and loquacious legend, an iconic coach and not one, not two, but three former All-Stars. Of course Wade, Shaq and Riley will be the ones getting the most ink, and sure we'll all remember 'Toine's floor shimmy and the Glove arguing with a ref while a pass bounded off his foot, but what stands out to me is the unbelievable intensity that Mourning played with -- 5 blocks, 6 boards and 8 points in 14 inspired minutes to capture the first title of his 13-year career. This from a guy who has truly seen the mountaintops and river beds of life and of athletics and I couldn't be happier for him. Bravo, Zo, and congratulations to the Miami Heat and their white-clad fans...

More early reactions from the NBA and sports blogospheres...

· The Mighty MJD -- "For a lot of reasons (and this Bill Simmons sentiment is dead-on-balls accurate), I’m not happy that Miami won the NBA title."

· True Hoop -- "Wow, it's over. The Mavericks failed to foul again. This feels wrong. I wanted more NBA. Dammit, why did Jason Terry have to miss all those shots?"

· The Sports Pulse -- "Chalk this as one of the biggest meltdowns in NBA finals history. Winning four straight games in a series is almost unheard of in sports today."

· Deadspin -- "The real surprise was Udonis Haslem, who seemingly was everywhere. Jason Terry missed a 3-pointer that would have tied it, and it’s worth noting that Mark Cuban was quite classy in the loss, stepping out on the court and applauding for the new champs."

· Yay Sports -- "What was the better odd celebration play - Toine's floor shimmy or Zo's floor spazmatronic shake?"

Note: Mourning's victory champagne was literally his first drink in years, since discovering he had kidney disease in '00.

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• #2 Comment from monponsett
  6/24/06 9:33 AM | Permalink

  For me, his career highlight was when he was fighting LJ while dragging Jeff Van Gundy (who was holding onto his leg) around.
• #1 Comment from puck9314
  6/22/06 4:40 PM | Permalink

  I like Deadspin.   I wanted the Heat to win ever since the Pistons got knocked out on the first round. Dwaye Wade basically dominated the finals. Anyway your blog rocks and is now my favorite since I haven't looked at it much. And my real screen name is Powergoalie14. Parental controles.
  Emily
   http://journals.aol.com/puck9314/sportsfreak14
  
  I started my blog a few weeks ago.