Summer Storm

It's all about crazy weather this week - Hurricanes and Heat.

I'm not sure whether to don a raincoat or Bermuda shorts in celebrating two of the more unlikely pro sports champions ever.

Monday night, the Carolina Hurricanes showed they had enough puff to outlast the Edmonton Oilers in a thrilling finale to the NHL season. The Canes earned the Stanley Cup with a 3-1 Game 7 victory, against a resilient and slippery Oilers side. It's been a long time coming for Hurricane fans, who endured limited success with the team in Hartford. Remember "The Whale"?

Then there's new NBA kings the Miami Heat, the sea-sawing expansion outfit from down south, with as star-studded a history as any NBA team going round. Glen Rice, Steve Smith, Billy Owens, Tim Hardaway, Alonzo Mourning, Harold Miner, Dan Marjerle—need I go on? Winning ain't easy folks but Sherriff Pat Riley and his boys finally outgunned the wiley Dallas Mavs in Game 7. Magnificent.

And now these two champs have proven everyone wrong, showing that teamwork and determination are not just overused sports cliches. Like their rollercoaster pasts, both clubs went down before roaring back up. They may not be Cinderella stories—on account of the fact nobody seemed to want their wins—but they are fairytale finishes nonetheless.

Perhaps like Rapunzel, they can now let their hair down.