Miami Life Magazine.com

The Marlins are relevant!

Story by David Bowling

Photos by Jofi Pinate

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Chris Volstad throws a complete game

As I sat with my family on a recent “Super Saturday” at Sun Life Stadium I noticed something unusual. For the first time in a long while it was loud, really loud! And they were rooting for the home team for a change!

Our championship team from 2003 was dismantled after a disappointing 2004 and in 05 and 06 a bunch of no names became the Florida Marlins. Names such as Hanley Ramirez, Dan Uggla, and Cody Ross. We had no idea what they’d become. Team president David Sampson made it clear that they were selling a brand, not an individual. I wrote at the time how wrong they were and that it wouldn’t work. It didn’t and our attendance became the laughing stock of the league.

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DJ Petey at Rivals Waterfront Grill

Larry Beinfest as we know is a genius at picking talent. The 2003 season is proof of that. But all of those players are now stars on other teams. The Marlins brand needed name recognition.

It’s finally happened. Over half of our current team has been together at least four years and many for five. We’ve had time to get to know them. Some we love and some we hate but at least they’re ours.

We’re still a couple of players away from being a serious contender, especially in the bullpen. But we have a foundation. At least we know where we stand. And we each have our favorite player to root for.

Whether it’s 30,000 plus at Sun Life Stadium or a watch party at Rivals Waterfront Grill in Hollywood during an away game,South Florida is excited about the Marlins once again.

The Mermaids

</div>   <div xmlns:local="local" class="user area_a"> <div id="hn-headline">Harris' start has Miami flying high</div>By TIM REYNOLDS (AP) – CORAL GABLES, Fla. For the first two games, Miami's quarterback embraced the us-against-the-world philosophy, borne from a notion that the Hurricanes weren't truly considered contenders in the Atlantic Coast Conference.Those slights were his motivation."We want everybody to doubt us this year, because that's going to keep us going," Harris said. "As long as everybody keeps doubting us, we're going to keep on truckin'."Alas, there's the problem. If Harris keeps playing like this, there might not be many doubters left.There aren't many quarterbacks off to the type of start Harris is enjoying. He threw for 270 yards and three touchdowns Thursday night, lifting No. 20 Miami to a 33-17 win over No. 14 Georgia Tech, the Hurricanes' first victory over the Yellow Jackets in five years. When the new AP Top 25 poll comes out Sunday, Miami (2-0, 2-0 ACC) will likely have its best ranking since September 2006.Through two games, Harris has completed 41 of 59 passes for 656 yards and five touchdowns. He has the offense flying, too: The last time Miami exceeded 450 total yards in consecutive games was at the start of the 2003 season.Until now, that is."When you have confidence like he does, the sky's the limit," Miami coach Randy Shannon said. "It's more the team rather than Jacory. I mean, Jacory knows that his offensive line is going to protect him. ... You've got to give those guys a lot of credit up front."The proof of that? Harris' uniform pants after Thursday night's game.Other than a slight smudge on his left leg — who knows, maybe from kneeling to kill the clock at game's end — they were still as white as when he slipped them on. Harris remembered being on the ground only once, and that's when he tripped over his own feet on a pass that went for a touchdown."He played a great game," Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson said. "They pretty much moved the ball at will."Miami hasn't been known for the better part of a quarter-century as "Quarterback U" for nothing.And one of the guys who helped earn that moniker watched from the Hurricanes' sideline Thursday night, giving Harris high marks."He's got great poise," said Gino Torretta, the 1992 Heisman Trophy winner for Miami. "Good plays and bad plays, he's got poise."The bad plays, they've been rare.Harris has connected with 12 different receivers so far this season, spreading the five touchdowns to five different teammates. He's hit on three 40-yard passes — one each to Travis Benjamin, Leonard Hankerson and LaRon Byrd.Defenses know Miami will throw.They just don't know to whom."It shows how this offense is not selfish," Byrd said. "As long as we're winning, as long as we grind, as long as we're moving those chains, it doesn't matter who's catching the ball."Now 33-1 as a starting quarterback since his junior year of high school, Harris didn't even wait for a postgame shower Thursday night before turning his attention to the next challenge.That test could be a colossal one, when Miami heads to Virginia Tech next Saturday. A win would put the Hurricanes at 3-0 in the ACC. That's only happened once before: 2004, Miami's first season in the conference."We're very humble," Harris said. "We understand that we've got other teams ahead we've got to beat. And in order to stay undefeated, you've got to win the next game. So that's what we understand. We keep that in our mind."A number of Miami players, Harris among them, were predictably perturbed when none of the 87 voters in the ACC preseason poll picked Miami to win the Coastal Division. Talk that the Hurricanes could go 0-4 to open the season — unless Virginia Tech or Oklahoma stunningly drop out, Miami will be the third team since 1999 to start with four ranked opponents — fueled Harris as well.He took some of that frustration out on Florida State, some more on Georgia Tech."We still want to be considered the underdogs," Harris insisted Thursday night.At this rate, that might not happen much longer. <div><img alt="webassets/888.jpg" border="" src="sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/webassets/888.jpg" align="Left" vspace="0" hspace="0" width="300"></div> </div>     <div xmlns:local="local" class="user area_c"> <div>The last piece we're still search for.  Channing Crowder can only compete with Zach Thomas with his mouth.  Phillip Merling had a pretty good rookie season but you don't hear his name much this year.  It's nice to have Jason Taylor back and Joey Porter shines at times, but we need consistency, and that will probably come in a future draft. . </div> </div> </td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" background="http://webhosting.web.com/imagelib/sitebuilder/layout/design_0051_6.jpg" height="31" valign="middle">  <div xmlns:local="local" class="user runner">   </div> </td> </tr> <tr> <td height="1" width="780"> <img alt="" height="1" src="http://webhosting.web.com/imagelib/sitebuilder/layout/spacer.gif" width="780"></td> </tr> </table> </body> </html>