And now, from the, “Dewey Defeats Truman” file, we give you: “Congratulations Miami!”
In the mother — or maybe that should be “King James” — of all mistakes, the Miami Herald ran a near-full page Macy’s ad in Monday’s newspaper, announcing that Heat “championship” T-shirts and hats were going on sale.
This represents the closest LeBron James and the Heat actually will get to the title this season.
Miami lost Game 6 of the NBA finals and the series to the Dallas Mavericks Sunday night. It’s common for print publications to have two display ads ready to go after championship events. T-shirt manufacturers operate similarly (and then either destroy the shirts for the losing team or send them to charities overseas). What made this mistake unusual was the Heat trailed the series three games to two before
For those who didn't catch the historical reference.
Sunday and weren’t even in a position to clinch. So there was no reason to have the “Heat wins” ad ready.
Falcons fans should be able to relate to this. In January of 1999, the Herald ran a strip headline atop a Super Bowl special section that read: ”Denver Broncos vs. Minnesota Vikings, 6:25 P.M. Tonight.” The Falcons had upset Minnesota in the NFC title game two weeks earlier. The newspaper’s graphics department had already started to design the section and forgot to make the change.
In 2009, the Philadelphia Inquirer ran a Macy’s ad selling Phillieschampionship T-shirts. But the World Series was still going on — and of course, the Yankees went on to win the title.
The shirts pictured in the Monday’s ad show the Heat logo with the championship trophy. One says, “Champions,” and another reads, “Raise Another Banner.” The Herald posted a correction online Monday.
It’s not like most folks in South Florida haven’t been presumptuous about titles. When James and Chris Bosh signed as free agents and joined Dwyane Wade in Miami, the news was celebrated at a press conference, which was complete with lights, music and pyrotechnics. James, the guy with the, “Chosen 1″ tattoo across his back, himself promised eight championships.
Still waiting for the first.
