The 1987–88 NBA season was the 42nd season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Los Angeles Lakers winning their second straight Championship, beating the Detroit Pistons in seven hard-fought games in the NBA Finals, becoming the NBA's first repeat champions since the Boston Celtics did it in the 1968–69 NBA season.
The 2006 NBA Finals was the championship series of the 2005–06 NBA season and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. The Dallas Mavericks were favored to win the championship over the Miami Heat. Despite these odds, the Heat won the title in six games over the Mavericks, becoming the third team—after the 1969 Celtics, the 1977 Trail Blazers and later the 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers and 2021 Milwaukee Bucks—to win a championship after trailing 0–2 in the series. Dwyane Wade of the Heat was named Most Valuable Player of the series.
The 1999 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 11, 1999, and ended with the championship game on March 29 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. A total of 63 games were played. This Final Four was the first—and so far, only—to be held in a baseball-specific facility, as Tropicana Field is home to the Tampa Bay Rays.
The Florida Collegiate Summer League (FCSL) is a six-team wood bat collegiate summer baseball league located in the Central Florida region of the southeastern United States. The league was founded in the fall of 2003 and began play in the summer of 2004. It is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose mission is to "advance college players toward their futures in professional baseball." 360 players have been drafted in the first thirteen seasons including 33 in the 2016 MLB Draft. FCSL has had 16 alumni play in Major League Baseball, including New York Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom, Milwaukee Brewers catcher Jonathan Lucroy, Miami Marlins second baseman Dee Gordon, Colorado Rockies pitcher Mike McClendon, Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Jimmy Nelson, and San Francisco Giants pitcher Chris Heston. The FCSL is one of twelve leagues in the National Alliance of College Summer Baseball.
The Prospect League is a collegiate summer baseball league comprising teams of college players from North America and beyond. All players in the league must have NCAA eligibility remaining in order to participate. So as to maintain their college eligibility, players are not paid. Beginning in 2012, the league added four games to the season, making a total of 60 games per team.
Orlando, Florida has a history of major events in sports. It has had a considerable measure of success in minor league sports as well, with teams winning several minor league championships.
The Tampa Bay area is home to many sports teams and has a substantial history of sporting activity. Most of the region's professional sports franchises use the name "Tampa Bay", which is the name of a body of water, not of any city. This is to emphasize that they represent the wider metropolitan area and not a particular municipality and was a tradition started by Tampa's first major sports team, the original Tampa Bay Rowdies, when they were founded in 1975.
The Belleview Bulldogs were a wood bat collegiate summer baseball league team located in Ocala, Florida. The team was a member of the Florida Collegiate Summer League (FCSL) and played its home games at the Ocala Rotary Sportsplex. The team joined the FCSL in the 2008 season. The franchise was disbanded following its inaugural 2008 season.
The Leesburg Lightning are a wood bat collegiate summer baseball league team located in Leesburg, Florida. The team is a member of the Florida Collegiate Summer League (FCSL) and plays its home games at Pat Thomas Stadium. The team joined the FCSL in the 2007 season, and won their first championship the same year. They have won two more titles since. The Lightning are currently the only FCSL team to offer free admission to home games.
The Sanford River Rats are a wood bat collegiate summer baseball league team located in Sanford, Florida. The team is a member of the Florida Collegiate Summer League (FCSL) and plays its home games at Historic Sanford Memorial Stadium. The team is an inaugural member of the FCSL.
The Winter Park Diamond Dawgs are a wood bat collegiate summer baseball league team located in Winter Park, Florida. The team is a member of the Florida Collegiate Summer League (FCSL) and plays its home games at Alfond Stadium. The team is an inaugural member of the FCSL.
The U.S. state of Florida has three National Football League teams, two Major League Baseball teams, two National Basketball Association teams, two National Hockey League teams, two Major League Soccer teams and 13 NCAA Division I college teams.
The 2009 Florida Tuskers season was the first season for the Florida Tuskers. In the UFL's Premiere Season, the Tuskers put together a league-best, undefeated 6–0 record. In the championship game however, they lost to the Las Vegas Locomotives in overtime.
Orlando City Soccer Club was an American professional soccer team based in Orlando, Florida, United States, that was the precursor to Orlando City SC. The team played in USL Pro, the third tier of the American soccer pyramid from 2010 to 2014, until discontinuing in favor of Orlando's entry to Major League Soccer (MLS), as an expansion franchise in 2015, by the same ownership group.
The Futures Collegiate Baseball League (FCBL) is an eight-team collegiate summer baseball league. It has four franchises in Massachusetts, two in Connecticut, and one each in New Hampshire and Vermont.
The Nashua Silver Knights is a collegiate summer baseball team based in Nashua, New Hampshire. It is a charter member of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League (FCBL), a wood-bat league with a 64-game regular season comprising eight teams ranging from New Hampshire to western Connecticut. The team's home games are played at Holman Stadium in Nashua. The team is owned by John Creedon Jr, who also owns the Worcester Bravehearts.
The Cleveland Charge is an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Cleveland, Ohio, and are affiliated with the Cleveland Cavaliers. The team plays its home games at the Wolstein Center in downtown Cleveland.
The Lakeshore Chinooks are a baseball team based in Mequon, Wisconsin, United States and a member of the Northwoods League, a collegiate summer baseball league. The Chinooks play their home games at Kapco Park on the campus of Concordia University Wisconsin.
The Altamonte Springs Boom are a wood bat collegiate summer baseball league team located in Altamonte Springs, Florida. The team is a member of the Florida Collegiate Summer League (FCSL) and plays its home games at Lake Brantley High School Stadium. The club's inaugural season took place in 2015. The next season, the Boom finished with a record of 22–19, earning the league's second seed. The team then won a best-of-three playoff series against the DeLand Suns and defeated the Sanford River Rats in the title game to win their first FCSL championship, their only title to date.
Sterlin Shaw Thompson is an American baseball outfielder in the Colorado Rockies organization.
