Revenge is a dish best served caliente…

Ohio eyes are crying tonight, which will always put a smile on a Miami fan’s face in the post-Fiesta Bowl era.

Especially from a bunch that dubbed UM fans “Cryami” after our reaction to that bogus flag.

Whether it’s random revenge or simply the football gods reshuffling the order of things, South Florida just ripped an entire state’s heart out tonight when LeBron James spurned his hometown Cavaliers for the Miami Heat. Payback comes in many different forms. Tonight the state of Ohio just lost one of their own to the glitz an glam of a city that is their polar opposite.

While Cleveland isn’t Columbus, it’s still the Buckeye State and a town chock full of Ohio State alum; the same folk who trashed UM fans and ran their mouths after the 31-24 double overtime victory in January 2003. A fan base that showed little humility and zero class when a controversial flag ended a 34-game win streak and a bid at back-to-back national titles is now the one suffering and if you’re a Cane (and a Heat fan), you’re eating this up. Your turn to feel some pain, Ohio.

Ohio State got their 2002 title, but little next-level success has gone their way since.

It started with Maurice Clarett’s wheels falling off weeks after the national title game. To date, he’s still in jail and is still considered an embarrassment to the program.

The Buckeyes may have been in title contention since. They rolled the middle-of-the-road Big Ten and reached a handful of BCS games. But when finally reaching the title game in both 2006 and 2007, they were run out of town by faster, more athletic SEC squads – not just beaten, but beaten to a pulp.

The ’02 tainted title proved to be an aberration, not a trend. Without that ill-timed flag, OSU still wouldn’t have a title in recent memory; their last coming in 1968. As for a Cleveland Cavaliers title, you can now file that under “don’t hold your breath”.

Miami’s Hurricanes spent the last three years in rebuild mode, after Randy Shannon took over thanks to Larry Coker depleted the program. Had these teams faced off the last few seasons, a safe bet the Buckeyes would’ve rolled the Canes often.

Instead, the teams haven’t met since the Fiesta Bowl and will finally throw down on 9/11 this fall – with Miami on the mend and finally physically able to exact some revenge. Ohio State is the obvious favorite, but with things seemingly going the city of Miami’s way as of late – right down to LeBron’s snub – you’d be a fool to count UM out when these two square off.

The tide seems to be turning and Miami is the town finally getting some lucky bounces and breaks.

Cleveland’s loss is Miami’s gain. A perennial loser sports town just had their heart and soul ripped out by their favorite son. In that same moment, South Beach just got that much more sizzle.

What does this revamped Heat roster mean for other local sports franchises and teams? A ton. The 305 just became “the” place to be. Doesn’t seem like much on paper, but don’t discount the Heat’s star power when Hurricane recruits are in town during the off-season.

Canes cornerback DeMarcus Van Dyke even got in on the action tonight via Twitter, joking that King James will be tossing up the “U” hands this fall when the Canes take the field.

Talk to sports fans in Los Angeles who spend the first half of every year rooting on the Lakers and every fall riding that Trojans’ bandwagon. Winning is contagious and absolutely changes a culture and a city. Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and LBJ will do their thing through June and come August, it’s Hurricane season.

Not a bad way to set up your sports calendar.

South Florida’s star power just kicked up a notch, as well. Think back to the Matt Leinart / Reggie Bush era in Hollywood years back, with USC athletes as revered as the stars they were socializing with. The landscape is shifting again and Miami is primed to take over as the perennial sports city of the near future.

After some Ohio-sized misery the past few years, months and weeks, LeBron to the Heat is the icing on the cake – but that isn’t where it starts or finishes.

Months back the Canes landed the 15th-rated athlete in the nation when defensive back Latwan Anderson left Glenville, OH for Coral Gables. Word is that Buckeyes head coach Jim Tressel didn’t save a scholarship for Anderson, instead holding one back for Behemoth offensive lineman Seantrel Henderson. Anderson took it as a snub, almost would up at West Virginia but in the end became a Cane, for both the football and track programs.

The Anderson signing added a little more sizzle to the Canes’ recruiting class that many locals weren’t too stoked over and in the next few days, another big coup could come UM’s way via Minnesota.

Henderson chose Southern Cal over both Miami and Ohio State, but never signed his letter of intent. From there, the rest is history. Sanctions hit, Henderson bailed and again it looks like a warm weather climate will win out, with the lineman expected to choose Miami over Ohio State in the coming days.

Ohio State lost Anderson while waiting for Henderson. Anderson came to Miami as a result and now Henderson will most likely stiff Columbus a second time, most likely signing with The U in the coming days. King James to the Heat is just the icing on this mierda-flavored cake.

All that Cleveland talk about “home” – it’s played out and was a last ditch effort. Life is about growth and moving forward. If it was about staying “home”, no one would leave for college. No one would take a job in another city. You’d simply settle wherever you were from and that’d be your legacy.

When you’re one of the biggest names in the game, you go where you have the best chance to win … where you can grow … where you can earn … where there’s opportunity … where you can thrive. You don’t stick around somewhere where you’ll wake up one day, 31 years old, title-less and icing down your bad knees.

And that ain’t a jovial Cane talking the talk – that’s straight from the mouth of The Akron Hammer himself.

Even more intrigue now surrounds this UM/OSU “rivalry” and any bitterness between folks from South Florida and most of Ohio just got kicked up a notch. The Buckeye State stole history and the Canes title – and now Miami has stolen some prized recruits, as well as the biggest name in the NBA. Payback is a bitch … and here’s hoping the fourth and final act comes this September 11th.

Anderson, Henderson, James and a Canes win this fall might finally be enough to exact the demons of Terry Porter’s flag.

Maybe.

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