1. Well, it’s finally here, the night Heat fans never wanted to arrive. Dwyane Wade’s final home game of his career will be the happiest and saddest celebration of a season-long lovefest for him inside AmericanAirlines Arena.
It’s not just him moving on after 16 years. It’s everyone watching now realizing they’ve gotten older, too.
What to expect?
Here are 10 things I want to see:
— He starts. Simple, right? He’s come off the bench this season, but it’s his moment and that means a starting introduction as public address announcer Mike Baiamonte gives a pregame, “No. 3, DEE-WAAAAAY-ne WAAAAAAY-de!” one final time.
— A signature pump fake. After all these years, it still works, that tell-tale move where he offers the ball like he’s going up for a shot, the defender jumps and Wade draws the foul and possibly makes the shot. It’s a wonder of nature or the beauty of Wade that the defenders never caught on.
— Tears from Wade or Pat Riley or Micky Arison – maybe from everyone. In the pre-game ceremony? When the highlight video rolls? When he’s brought out of the game for his final good-bye? Come on, it just can’t be the fans in the upper deck losing some emotion.
— A blocked shot by Wade – and everyone recognizing it. Wade passed Michael Jordan for the most blocks by a guard (1,052) in March. Confession: I don’t know what the stat means — it’s not like a center having the most blocks considering that sets a tone of intimidation around the rim. But it’s a neat stat, nonetheless, and a block this final night should be duly noted.
— A “Fall Down Seven Times, Get Up Eight” sign. Or T-shirt. Or something to play a little nostalgia with those early years of his style and his first big ad campaign.
— “MVP” chants all night. A given.
— A dunk. He’s 36, and doesn’t fly like he once did. But at the right moment …
— LeBron James and/or Shaquille O’Neal sitting courtside with Chris Bosh. Neither are playing right now and it’d be a nice moment for either of them to salute a teammate who helped them win a championship.
— Sixty points, 50 shots, 42 minutes played. Well, that’s what Kobe Bryant did in his final game. It was a similarly meaningless game in the standings and so the Lakers made it all about Kobe. That’s the idea with Wade tonight.
— A jersey exchange with Udonis Haslem. Who else for this final on-court moment except the teammate who’s been with him all the way as a good friend and on-court bodyguard?
2. The Florida Panthers made a franchise-changing hire on Monday with Joel Quenneville being named coach, as I wrote in my column. Quenneville has made the playoffs 18 of 20 years as coach. The Panthers have been out of them 16 of the past 18 years. Something has to give here, right?
3. The New England Patriots have 12 draft picks overall and six in the first three rounds. The Dolphins have seven picks total and three in the first three rounds. Who’s rebuilding through the draft?
4. Here’s an amazing stat of Virginia’s run to the national title. It trailed in its final three games with under 20 seconds to play:
* Purdue 70, Virginia 67, 5 seconds left in game
* Auburn 61, Virginia 57, 17 seconds left in game.
* Texas Tech 68, Virginia 65, 12 seconds left in game
Think that will be worked into some never-give-up motivational talks?
5. Thought for Panthers promotion night: Stache night. Everyone gets a replica of Quenneville’s impressive moustache to slap on their upper lip. You have to go back to Dave Wannstedt to find a moustache this impressive in the South Florida sports lineup. Before that: Howard Schnellenberger.