Is this the golden age for South Florida sports?
MIAMI -- Lionel Messi, one of the biggest names in sports announced plans to join Inter Miami which begged the question: Is this South Florida sports' golden age?
Fans clanging pots and pans chanting 'Let's Go Heat' and wildly screaming for their team before the Miami Heat hosted Game 3 of the NBA Finals yelled louder when organizers of Starry-Miami Heat Fan Bandwagon revealed a surprise.
"You're all winners," DJ Irie, DJ for the team said.
This came as they made room in their hearts for one of soccer's all-time greats. Lionel Messi announced plans to play for Inter Miami of Major League Soccer.
"Oh I can't wait to check him out," Jennifer Ridenoure, a fan attending Wednesday night's Marlins game at Loan Depot Park. "I mean we were talking about getting tickets and worried about how much they would be."
"I'm excited about it," said Aureleo Currenti, a fan wearing his Inter Miami jersey outside Kaseya Center before the Heat's game. "I think we will win the championship with Messi."
This development came as the Miami Marlins field their own winning team led by second baseman Jose Arreaz who currently owns the best batting average in Major League Baseball.
"This is great," Ridenoure said. "(It's) a great time to be a south Floridian."
Under throwback jerseys, fans wore layers of pride. Ridenoure wore a t-shirt representing the Nova Southeastern University Sharks under her Marlins gear. She, colleagues and 100 students from Nova went to the game to share some of the support their school felt during its men's basketball national championship run earlier this year.
Between that, the University of Miami and Florida Atlantic University's Final Four runs in college basketball, the Florida Panthers playing in the Stanley Cup Final and the Heat hosting NBA championship games, fans feel more great vibes than ever.
"It gets no better," DJ Irie said. "It really is the golden age (of south Florida sports). I think you summed it up perfectly."
"It doesn't take on organization's coaches long to look at what's been built, what's been happening right here in this city and understanding that the identity and culture that's been built here from top to bottom," former Heat player Mike Miller said. "It's contagious."
"Hopefully everybody's catching on to the vibe with what's going on in south Florida right now with the Heat (and) Panthers," Todd Stricklin, a Miami sports fan who also attended the Marlin's game. "It seems the Marlins are feeding off it. We need the Dolphins to feed off of that."
The bandwagon full of Heat diehards scored wins of their own. Starry and the Heat gave all of them tickets to Wednesday's game. For Sierralta, it's a gift almost as sweet as south Florida's fleet of winning teams.
"I'm so freaking excited," she said.
