TWO LOSERS

The former president of the United States was indicted on Thursday. 

On Friday your Miami Heat 🏀 lost at home (they were never in the game) and went down 3-1 in the NBA finals. 

Things are looking dim if you're a Maga Heat Fan (what an awful combo). 

Here's a few random thoughts. 

We don't like front-running-phony Miami Heat fans and their simpy white shirts paying thousands of dollars a ticket for the one game they attend all year (an NBA finals game). But we do admire their coach, their no-name gutsy undrafted players. And Jimmy Butler is as a money player as there is in the NBA. The Heat are an eighth seed and they got where they are on guts, coaching, determination, and one superstar. They have more to be proud of this season than the years they bought championships with Lebron et al. So there you have it, well earned Heat props. 

POTUS 45 is another story. He's set the record for criminal charges by an ex-president, and Georgia hasn't weighed in yet. Two criminal cases in two separate states- one fed and one state. The bar is high. And MAGA apologists are railing at the cases. In the federal case there is an admission to possessing classified material (a pentagon plan to attack a country) and showing the material  to people who have no security clearance. And the MAGA response is Hillary Clinton and Hunter Biden.  That reminds us of the client who is charged with insider trading and tells the police "why aren't you out arresting murderers and drug dealers?" 

You know what would be amazing? An offer by President Biden to give Potus 45 immunity. Or better yet, a commutation of his sentence to supervised release. 

The Heat are playing tough and have no quit in them. They don't blame others for their problems. They have grit and integrity. 

We cannot say same for that pathetic excuse of a former president.  

And yes, long time and careful readers of the blog will note what it took for us to praise the Miami Heat: Pond scum. 

THE MIAMI HEAT ARE HEADED TO THE NBA FINALS .......

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

THE MIAMI HEAT ARE HEADED TO THE NBA FINALS .....

For the seventh time in their 35-year history, the MIAMI HEAT are in the NBA FINALS. Last night, they defeated the Boston Celtics in Game Seven of the Eastern Conference Finals by a score of 103-84. The 8th-seeded Heat knocked off the Number One seeded Bucks in five; the Number Five seeded Knicks in six; and got sweet revenge in besting the Celtics in seven games. The Celtics were held to their lowest point total in their 102 games played in the 2022-23 season. Jimmy "F'ing" Butler was named the MVP of the ECF after averaging 24.7 points per game in the series.

Dear Rumpole:

As a die-hard HEAT lifer*, I have a lot to say to you, but let me begin by saying this:

Rumpole, I’ve appeared before Judge Colodny, I know Judge Colodny. Judge Yvonne Colodny is a friend of mine. Rumpole, you're no Judge Colodny. (HT: Lloyd Bentsen).

On May 29, 2022: In Miami - Jimmy Butler missed a potential game-winning shot against the Celtics in Game 7 of the ECF and said:

“Next year, we will have enough and we're gonna be right back in this same situation, and we're gonna get it done.”

On May 29, 2023: In Boston - Jimmy Butler and the Heat beat the Celtics in 7 to advance to the NBA Finals.

NUFF SAID.

GO HEAT !!!!!!!

CAPTAIN OUT .......
Captain4Justice@gmail.com

*I am a season ticket holder and have been for two decades, attend many of the games during the season and post-season, and watch every game on TV that I don’t attend (home and away).

EPIC FAIL

 No, the title of the post does not relate to the admittedly heartbreaking loss of the Miami Heat Saturday night. Although it pains us to say it, the Heat courageously battled back from multiple Celtic double-digit leads on Saturday night before a packed Biscayne Boulevard arena packed with white-shirt-wearing fans making their first showing at a Heat game this year, paying triple the price of a ticket, and pretending to be loyal fans.  

Props to J Butler who was ice with three seconds left, nailing three free throws to put your Miami Heat up by one. Alas, you have to box out under the boards, or the opposing team will scoop up a missed shot and tap it in for the win, which is just what happened. 

Game 7 is Monday. We might, just might be in Beantown with a ticket, wearing Green. 

The title of our post refers to the article making the rounds where a lawyer used ChatGBT to write a response to a motion. The bot, feeling a bit frisky, created fake case names and cites that the lawyer used in the motion. The other side, not being as lazy as the author of the brief, actually tried to pull the cases, and alerted the court they did not exist. One case centered around a fictitious 11th Circuit Court of Appeals decision, so the district judge went so far as to call the clerk of the 111th Ciruit to ask whether the case existed. It did not. 

The only defense the lawyer who wrote the bot brief had was that he apparently asked the bot if the cases he cited were real. And the bot replied that they were. Which brings us to this new maxim of law- "Never trust a bot with whom which you haven't shared your fee. "

What kind of lawyer cites cases that s/he doesn't bother to read? 

There's lots of articles on this mishap, here's one you can check out. 

 Southern District of New York Judge Kevin Castel said in an order. Lawyer Steven Schwartz claimed it was his first time using ChatGPT for a case, and he “was unaware of the possibility that its content could be false.” Schwartz, who will face a sanctions hearing next month, said in an affidavit that he “greatly regrets having utilized generative artificial intelligence to supplement the legal research” and “will never do so in the future without absolute verification.” In his affidavit, he included screenshots of ChatGPT swearing the fake cases were real and even cited real legal databases the lawsuits were supposedly stored in.

Mr. Schwartz, who has practiced law in New York for three decades, told Judge P. Kevin Castel that he had no intent to deceive the court or the airline. Mr. Schwartz said that he had never used ChatGPT, and “therefore was unaware of the possibility that its content could be false.”

He had, he told Judge Castel, even asked the program to verify that the cases were real.

It had said yes.

The NY Times covers it here. 

Rumpole notes that the bot had it's AI fingers crossed behind its back. 

WITH A WHIMPER

Let's see...what to write about? Oh yeah.......

And so it ends, not with "1, or 2, or, 3, or 4, or 5, or 6, but 7" as they so boastfully shouted at the beginning, when their world was verdant,  parties celebrating their impending championships were everywhere, and all seemed possible. But then they were beaten at home in the finals by the upstart Dallas Mavericks in 2011, and they sandwiched that loss with this current series loss to the Spurs, finishing with a yawn inducing pedestrian 2-2 record in four NBA Finals. There's nothing special about a team that wins two of four. 

The Spurs are a special team. Five titles in fourteen years, four in twelve, one every three years for a decade and a half. Numbers that the Heat boasted about, but cannot and will not achieve. The Spurs were built and rebuilt by shrewd basketball moves, not pouting superstars who couldn't win on their own. "We're a true team" said Tony Parker after he won his 4th title with Tim Duncan and Parker Ginobili, the obvious reference to the Heat unspoken and unnecessary. A draft-day trade three years ago (not a rant from a spoiled star) brought Kawhi Leonard, who now is all of 22 years old, and was named the series MVP. Boris Diaw, a journeyman reserve joined the team last year. This year he started in the finals. This is not a team of quick fixes where the inmates run the asylum (Carmelo Anthony anyone?). This is a team built on fundamentals and this is a team built to last. With 5 titles in 14 years, the success of the Spur's philosophy speaks for itself.  

"Not a day went by that I didn't think of game six" admitted Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, alluding to the last 30 seconds of the game that saw the championship slip from the Spur's grasp last year. So what did the Spurs do? Throw money at every free agent superstar? Let Tim Duncan draw up game plans and decide who the team would sign? No, the Spurs are a Team, and the coach coaches, the players play, and all they do is win. Five in fourteen years. Four in twelve. A dynasty built on a firm foundation. 

It remains to be seen whether Miami's "tres leeches" (don't email us, we know we spelled it wrong if tres leches is what we wanted to spell, which we didn't) will bring the promised seven titles to this City. Titles guaranteed before one got old, and another was exposed as  average, and a third was and remains a failed television reality show participant ("I've decided to bring my talents to South Beach"); a spectacle of showmanship, lacking the pride, intensity, and integrity that separates champions that endure (Duncan) from spectacles that glitter and fade (insert your heat player here). Ephemeral wisps of braggadocio, backed up by words and fist bumps and high fives, and finger pointing and outlandish celebrations, but not by deeds and titles. 

The Boston Celtics won eleven championships from 1957 to 1969. Michael Jordan led his Bulls to six- three before he retired, and three when he came back. Showtime in LA won four.  The Heat, like any so-so team that puts together a few decent seasons? Two in four. Nothing special. But then again, what did you expect from a team built without character? 

All that glitters is not gold. 

And so it ends, not with a bang, not with seven, but with a whimper, four blow-out losses in five games. A championship series in name only because it wasn't close. The 1927 Yankees versus the 1962 Mets. A champion versus a joke, a pretender exposed. A twisted ankle.  No AC. Heat, cramps, excuses.  The emperor has no clothes, and Miami doesn't have a championship basketball team. 

There will be no ring ceremony to start the 2014-2015 Miami Heat season. There won't be flashing lights, and people dancing in the aisles in the Miami arena. No parades down Biscayne Boulevard in June this year either. June 2014 is marked in Miami by an arena that emptied in the early third quarter, and scattered boos, by fans who were promised more. Lose? It's not allowed for the Heat. Why, if they can't win four of seven then make the series five of eight, or six of nine. Change the rules, do anything, just let us dance with wild abandon in our thousand dollar seats  and celebrate championships and hug strangers and stand in fetid heat on Biscayne Boulevard while our stars drive by in air conditioned limos, because anything less is not fun, and this is Fun-Town USA. 

Oh, and one more thing. 

The era of sellouts and Miami Heat tickets being tough to get is over as well. Because if there is one thing about this town, like their phony basketball team, Miami is a bunch of spoiled, bandwagon jumping fans who have as much loyalty as a Donald Sterling girlfriend. 

Just ask the Dolphins and the Marlins and the Panthers about that. 

See you in court. 

THE MAN IN THE AREA

There he is. The man in the arena. Broken but unbowed. Courageously playing a game through pain, obliviously to his discomfort, thinking only of the team. The heroics of it all! The inspiration this will provide to generations to come. One can almost hear the sergeant on some distant, foreign shore, in some future war, rallying his troops, screaming about the great one, playing through pain. 

Somebody give this man a raise! He's earned it. 

THE NUN IN THE ARENA
Speaking of great competitors, this NUN WON Italy's version of The Voice last night, singing a rousing version of "What A Feeling" from the movie Flashdance. 






Oh what a feeling, to rise above adversity. To compete, per chance to win, no matter the odds, no matter the humidity level. 
All of Miami is a better place today, because of the heroics of our hometown champs. 

If you can pull yourself off the couch in what must be a stunned stupor of admiration for that spectacle, go outside and enjoy a beautiful spring like weekend. Monday is always around the corner. 

HEAT CRUSHED LIKE CRIMEA

The losses keep getting worse for the beleaguered Miami Heat. On Friday night they were soundly beaten by the San Antonio Spurs 111-87. It was almost as if with things not going their way, they quit.  Troubling, but not unexpected. 

James, who ditched the protective mask he was wearing early in the first half, was hounded by Leonard into shooting 6 for 18.

"I'm not making any excuses, but I'm not a big fan of the jerseys," James said. "So I have to figure something out next time I have to wear the short-sleeve jerseys. Every time I shoot, it feels like it's just pulling right up underneath my arm. I already don't have much room for error on my jump shot anyways, so it's definitely not a good thing."

One thing we've learned in our career: when people use stock phrases like "I'm not making any excuses..." they are making excuses. 

Joe Klock, a fixture around the REGJB for the last decade or so, after expanding from an exclusively civil practice, had a heart issue at the end of the week. After a scare, it appears he is improving.  

While you were asleep: 
Russia annexed Crimea and a small portion of Western Canada. 

We've pulled out our well read 1939 edition of  "While England Slept" by Winston Churchill for some weekend reading. 

Have a good weekend comrade. 

Dosvedanya. 

HEAT LOSE AGAIN

Your Miami Heat lost again last night to the Houston Rockets 106-103.


Just wondering how long until the front running Miami fans abandon the Heat like they  have the Marlins and the Dolphins?


Before you know it there will be a lone Miami Judge sitting all by her lonesome at home games.




DOM has all the inside scoop on the ABA White Collar Conference beginning at the Eden Roc today.


Rumpole's tip: the parties are better than the boring lectures.

IF YOU CAN'T STAND THE HEAT

Join the club and hop on our bandwagon. It's full of people who have no respect for gutless carpetbaggers. 

First we'll give the Heat their due. They repeated against a very very worthy opponent. They played well and their play shows they deserved to win. Congrats. 

Now the ugly truth: the Heat are populated, starting with their GM Pat Riley, with gutless carpetbaggers who stand for one and only one proposition: if we can't win, we don't want to play. 

Lebron James is the best player of his generation. But don't use the word "great", because that's reserved for Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Willis Reed, John Havlicek, Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlin; basketball players who all elevated their teams to championships. James had the chance to be great, then he left Cleveland, losing whatever claim he may have ever had to the appellation of "great". 

But James is the perfect star player for this town, because the fans of this town live his ethic: if they can't win, we won't come.

Need proof? Games six.
 The Heat down by five with 23 seconds left. The arena emptied. Tens of thousands of televisions were turned off or the channel was changed. The Miami fans were not willing to support their team, win or lose, just like their star player was not willing to support his home team win or lose. And Cleveland isn't just some team that happened to draft James. James was born in Cleveland. He was raised in the inner city of Cleveland. It's his home town. And then James stabbed his home town in the back because he wasn't great enough to lift his team to win an NBA championship. James disappeared in the one series in which the Cavaliers made it to the finals, and then he just disappeared from town. 

And it's not just Riley and James who don't have the heart to win unless the deck is stacked. Ray Allen played for the Celtics last year and slugged it out with the Heat and lost. And then Allen, in true Miami Heat fashion decided that if he you can't beat em, join em. He belongs on this team and in this town if anyone ever did. 

The Heat will never know the greatness of being an underdog and coming together as a team to win. All they will ever know is being the best team money can buy. Good for them. You can have them. The Heat will never be the 1960 Pirates beating the mighty Yankees in a walk off game 7 home-run; they'll never be the 1969 Miracle Mets- going from worst to first. The Heat will never understand the guts it took for the Hurricanes in 1986 to beat the mighty Oklahoma Sooners in the Orange Bowl, and the Heat will certainly never understand the character, strength and integrity of the 1980 Mens Olympic hockey team beating the invincible Russians and then the technically superior Finnish team in the gold medal game after being down 2-1 at the end of the second period. 

The Heat will always be the right team for this city. A group of fans that flees when all hope seems lost. A group of players that doesn't want to play unless they can be guaranteed a win. 

You love the Heat? 
You can have them. They disgust us. They're everything that is wrong with sports. 

OPEN YOUR MOUTH WIDE AND SAY Ahhhhh

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

OPEN YOUR MOUTH WIDE AND SAY AHHHH ......

Because our humble lead scribe Horace Rumpole is in parts unknown and cannot manage to garner broadband service, we post today the latest in the erosion of our beloved Fourth Amendment from SCOTUS.

To be fair, our fellow blogger, DOM, has the post up on the new case and you can go read his post at http://sdfla.blogspot.com/.  It includes a link to the case, but if you're lazy then go here: http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/12pdf/12-207_d18e.pdf

The case is Maryland v. King, and it was decided by a decidedly split 5-4 vote.  But, the five and the four are not whom you thought they might be.  Justice Kennedy wrote the opinion and Justice Scalia wrote the Dissent, and boy what a Dissent it was.  Certainly one worth reading.  Of note, Justice Thomas and Justice Scalia did not vote on the same side here. 

From NACDL:

Washington, DC (June 3, 2013) – Today, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Maryland v. King (12-207) that “When officers make an arrest supported by probable cause to hold for a serious offense and they bring the suspect to the station to be detained in custody, taking and analyzing a cheek swab of the arrestee’s DNA is, like fingerprinting and photographing, a legitimate police booking procedure that is reasonable under the Fourth Amendment.” (at 28) The 5-4 majority opinion of the Court was delivered by Justice Kennedy and joined by Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Thomas, Alito and Breyer. Justice Scalia filed a dissenting opinion joined by Justices Ginsburg, Sotomayor and Kagan.

In his dissent, Scalia wrote:

"The most regrettable aspect of the suspicionless search that occurred here is that it proved to be quite unnecessary. All parties concede that it would have been entirely permissible, as far as the Fourth Amendment is concerned, for Maryland to take a sample of King’s DNA as a consequence of his conviction for second-degree assault. So the ironic result of the Court’s error is this: The only arrestees to whom the outcome here will ever make a difference are those who have been acquitted of the crime of arrest (so that their DNA could not have been taken upon conviction). In other words, this Act manages to burden uniquely the sole group for whom the Fourth Amendment’s protections ought to be most jealously guarded: people who are innocent of the State’s accusations."

And he concluded:

 “ ... I doubt that the proud men who wrote the charter of our liberties would have been so eager to open their mouths for royal inspection. I therefore dissent, and hope that today’s incursion upon the Fourth Amendment, like an earlier one, will some day be repudiated.”

And in other news:

Big Game Seven at the AAA tonight between the Miami Heat and the Indiana Pacers.  Nothing like a Game Seven and we wish we could be there but we'll have a front row seat watching on our 60" Samsung.  I'm sure Rumpole will have something to say about the results of this game if the Pacers should manage to pull off the game seven upset.  I'm picking the Heat to win and return to a third straight Finals appearance.

UPDATE:

We received an email after the game tonight.  Here is what it said:

Summer is here so enjoy the Heat and the rain.  Look at the bright side; at least the traffic should disappear for about the next ten weeks.

CAPTAIN OUT .....
captain4justice@gmail.com

3RD DCA PCA'S TAKE TWO. (HEAT LOSE...HEAT GET BEAT.)

An excellent analysis of the recent spate of 3rd DCA PCAs caused us to re-think our prior criticism of the FIU/Kendall-Courthouse ensconced judges: 

 Anonymous said... While PCA opinions are short, if you actually read them you will learn the following: of the 29 criminal PCAs, six of them are Anders briefs (if you don't know what an Anders brief is, you should stop reading this blog and start reading the South Florida Lawyers blog); 17 of the criminal PCAs are denials of post conviction relief, 15 of which are pro se. Of the six remaining PCAs, 2 are plenary appeals from adult felony court and four are from juvenile court. Friday, May 24, 2013 3:13:00 PM 


Leaping to the defense of his former colleagues was the former CJ of the 3rd DCA:

 Juan Ramirez, Jr. said... If you think the Third District writes PCAs for such a questionable reason as to avoid Supreme Court review, you should check out Marshall v. State, 45 So. 3d 470 (Fla. 3d DCA 2010), in which the en banc court divided 6 to 4, with a concurrence and a dissent, in a developing area of the law (Crawford v. Washington). Of course, I would never suggest my former colleagues would resort to such a questionable practice. I am sure the panel had good reasons for not writing. Friday, May 24, 2013 8:17:00 AM 

 For those of you that do not know, Judge Ramirez left the bench for a much more honourable profession: blogger. His blog is here.

IF YOU CAN'T STAND THE HEAT....GO WATCH EM GET BEAT:
The Heat got beat, which makes our weekend complete. 
We watched  the Heat get Beat Friday night from a very nice box, far removed from the white shirted hoi-polloi -many of whom read this blog and have loved their precious Heat with every ounce of their being ever since the geographically challenged Lebron spit on Cleveland and decided to take his "talents" to South Beach (we just chuckle every time we imagine that carpetbagging phony finding out that the Arena was not on SOBE). 

The Heat's home court advantage disappeared as LBJ's two late turnovers (choke..choke) sealed his spoiled team's fate. 

And all you Heat fans, who are so devoted to this team (so you tell us repeatedly), can you explain to us why everyone was bolting for the exits with about 3 seconds left and your team only down by three? It's not because Miami Heat fans are bandwagon jumping front running phonies is it? 

With a hat-tip to @davidovalle305 who is enjoying the long weekend (and his non-paid furlough from the Herald) in Jamaica, here is an excellent description from an eyewitness to a shooting:

A long holiday weekend marks "di" start of summer. Have fun and "me" see you Tuesday, ready for trial. 

"WHEN THE GERMANS BOMBED PEARL HARBOR" ....

THE CAPTAIN RETORTS:

..... Quiet. Rumpole's on a roll.


POINT. COUNTERPOINT.


JANE HORACE YOU IGNORANT SLUT. http://www.hulu.com/watch/2306


When I first emailed Rumpole the other day, it was because he had removed my post on the HEAT victory Thursday evening. But, after he told me why he removed it, I challenged him to a Point. Counterpoint. After reading the comments section from the past three days, I think the readers have done a much better job than I ever could have done.

For most of the readers, this one included, we could care less what Ann Rand* would have written about Lebron James and his "decision" to take his talents to South Beach rather than stay in the "marble pits" of Cleveland with Mo Williams, J.J. Hickson, Anthony Parker, Anderson Varejao, and a 37 year old Shaq (his teammate starters in his final year with the Cavs).

It seems that the tenor of this debate has changed somewhat. What I thought this debate was supposed to be about was this:

POINT:"The Heat couldn't win a championship last year. They won't win one this year and they will implode next year, all because they are not a team and cannot handle adversity. Watch."

Counterpoint:
OKC drops four straight.  HEAT wins NBA Championship.


POINT:"As to the Heat- this goes with what I have been saying all along. This is not a team. This is three spoiled stars who are now down to two stars and look what happens- they can't win. Can't make a free throw. Can't make a layup. A good team will beat these spoiled brats any day of the week in a seven game series. "

Counterpoint:
Shane Battier, Mario Chalmers, Mike Miller, Udonis Haslem, Norris Cole, Joel Anthony.


POINT:"The Heat are down 2-1 against the Pacers. Game 4 is in Indiana. Miami Superstar Dwayne Wade was 2-13 and scored 5 points in the Heat's latest shellacking. Let us take a moment to analyze this series....seriously...... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! What a bunch of spoiled babies. One player gets hurt and the whole team collapses. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Counterpoint:
LBJ 40-18-9 and DWADE 41-10-3.


POINT:
"Rumpole predicts: Celtics in six. "

Counterpoint:
HEAT in seven.


POINT:"I have extremely limited knowledge of basketball. My knowledge about strategy stopped sometime around the same time Dean Smith's four corners offense was outlawed with the college shot clock.
Put another way- I have as much knowledge about basketball as I do about case law. But what I do know is people. It's how I win cases. And it's why I am supremely confident that a well coached team will always beat a bunch of whiny prima donnas (the New England cheaters not withstanding.) "

Counterpoint:
Where do I begin.  You were right (see first red highlights).  Scott Brooks: NBA Coach of the Year in 2010; in just four years has taken his team to the NBA Finals, losing last year in the Conference Final to eventual champion Mavs.


POINT:"I am not an expert in Basketball. However, I stick to this proposition- good coaching and team work will beat a team of stars that do not play well together"

Counterpoint:
Right again.  Erik Spoelstra and his nine (James, Wade, Bosh, Battier, Chalmers, Miller, Cole, Haslem, Anthony) beat KD, Westbrook and Harden.  And they beat Garnett, Allen, Pierce and Rondo.


POINT:"For those of you who kept asking us what we say now about the Heat? Here now is our answer:
We think they're a bunch of losers with no heart. What do we think of the Heat? Give us a well coached team manned by players with heart and guts any day over this band of spoiled prima donnas."

Counterpoint:
See below.  We think the HEAT have a lot of heart and guts and they showed it best in their times of adversity.


POINT:"I think the Heat are in trouble. They are not a team. They are two stars, a third almost star and a poor supporting cast. A good team well coached will wipe the floor with them."

POINT:
"I still don't think the Heat has what it takes"

Counterpoints:

In case you have not been reading this Blog over the past fourteen months, all of the quotes above are from the man himself, Rumpole.

I think I'll end this with a quote from one of Rumpole's favourite leaders in British history. And the quote speaks volumes when you consider that most of America wrote the HEAT off at least three times during these playoffs; including most of the sportswriters and sports broadcasters; Skip Bayless, Steven A Smith, John Barry, Tim Legler, Stuart Scott, Chris Mullen, Michael Wilbon, just to name a few.

They wrote the HEAT off when the Pacers were up 2-1 in Round Two. What did the HEAT do: only win the next three games in a row, all without Chris Bosh in the lineup. And in the pivotal Game Four, Lebron James put up 40, 18 and 9.


They wrote the HEAT off again when the Celtics were up 3-2 in Round Three. What did the HEAT do: only win the next two games and take the series 4-3. And in the pivotal Game Six, Lebron James put up 45, 15, and 5.


They wrote the HEAT off again when the Thunder were up 1-0 in Round Four. What did the HEAT do: only win the next four games in a row and take the Championship series 4-1. And in the pivotal Game Two, Lebron James put up 32, 8, and 5.


For the Finals, LBJ averaged 28.6 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 7.4 assists in the five games. His closeout game was a resounding triple-double.


In the words of the late, great Winston Churchill:


"NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER GIVE UP. NEVER GIVE UP. NEVER GIVE UP. NEVER GIVE UP"
Winston Churchill, October 29, 1941, Harrow School, U.K.

*intentional


And in response to the words of the great, but fortunately for us all, not late, Horace Rumpole, when he said on Tuesday, May 1, 2012, at the beginning of these playoffs: "The Heat couldn't win a championship last year - they won't win one this year". We say:

WE ARE THE

WE ARE THE

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS .... OF THE WORLD