Post Sports Staff Best Stories of 2023: FAU, Jimmy Buffett, Dolphins in Germany, Youth Baseball superstar

We say goodbye to 2023 on Sunday at midnight. Say what you will about the rest of the world, but the Florida sports sphere gave us some incredible moments and memories these past 12 months.

The Palm Beach Post sports staff was there to chronicle many of those events, including the improbable Final Four runs of Florida Atlantic and Miami, two South Florida teams coming from nowhere to make the NBA Finals (Heat) and Stanley Cup Playoffs (Panthers) and a Miami Dolphins season that actually could extend into February 2024.

Once again, we asked The Post sports staff to come up with their most memorable story/stories from the past year. True to the year in sports, they did not let us down. Sit back and enjoy.

Jimmy Buffett leaves mark on Miami Heat referee

I don’t know if this was my best piece of 2023, but it’s the most meaningful to me.

The minute I learned of Jimmy’s death, I knew I had to write a tribute. Besides seeing him in concert more than any other artist (while acting as foolish as everyone else), I encountered Jimmy twice over the years — once briefly at a Miami Heat game, where I made a rare exception and got an autograph I still have, and the other time in a professional manner, via a lengthy phone call for a story on celebs flocking to the Heat.

Both times he was pure Jimmy.

I’ll confess there were times I, like many, feared he’d drifted too far toward the corporate side, although looking back you’ve got to admire a man who sketched out the final lyrics of “Margaritaville” while stuck in traffic on the Seven Mile Bridge, then probably profited more off it than other song in history.

And so the more I reflected on Jimmy that day he passed, I realized he wasn’t really selling us hotels, T-shirts or beer. He was selling us fun. He was urging us to squeeze every bit out of life while there’s time.

If any of that rings true in my tribute to him, maybe I was wrong a minute ago.

Maybe it was my best work of ’23.

FAU, Dusty May took us on a hell of a ride

In late April, a few weeks after Florida Atlantic returned from the Final Four (yes, it still sounds surreal), I met FAU basketball coach Dusty May in Boca Raton and rode with him the 2 or so miles from his neighborhood to his office at the FAU Arena.

That bike ride gave me an opportunity to continue writing about the most inconceivable, and impressive, storyline when it comes to sports in our county's history.

My column detailing how May's life had changed since the Owls returned from Houston, one buzzer-beater away from playing for the national championship, capped a nearly monthlong journey that produced a series of columns about this fairytale season. From defeating Tennessee and Kansas State in the Elite Eight at Madison Square Garden to the most unlikely of all Final Four participants in recent history, to the heartbreaking 1-point loss to San Diego State in the national semifinal.

Nothing came close in 2023 when it came to being a part of such a remarkable story.

FAU founding fathers stunned by Owls' success

Deputy Sports Editor Eric Wallace was involved in The Post's coverage of the Owls' March Madness and he chose a story about those on the ground floor of the school's basketball program and their thoughts on the 2022-23 team.

More than three decades ago, Florida Atlantic University played its first college basketball game in Boca Raton. ... 34 years, four months and 13 days later, the Florida Atlantic Owls will compete in the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament in Houston's NRG Stadium — capacity 71,000.

Dolphins fans are everywhere — even in Frankfurt, Germany

Joe Schad went to Germany to cover the Dolphins-Chiefs game in November, the first NFL game in Frankfurt. He discovered there was a Dolphins fan club over there and chased down some of its members for a story. What he discovered about those fans is that they are quite similar to the fans who live in the 305 (and 645 and 786).

But what if we told you that the nearly 500 club members of Miami DolFans Germany that will attend Sunday's Dolphins-Chiefs game at Deutsche Bank Park can't wait to catch a glimpse of — you guessed it — Mike McDaniel.

Yes, McDaniel's immense popularity travels at least 4,832 miles.

Jacoby Ford returns to West Boca

After some deliberation, I picked this story on Jacoby Ford returning to coach at West Boca.

This is a story that encapsulates what sports are about: passion, heart, community. You have a former NFL receiver whose love for the game has translated to the role of an unexpected mentor, a match made in heaven for a local program.

And everything he said about West Boca — we need look no further than the fall sports nominations and the playoffs to see the truth in his words. The Bulls have something special brewing and it took him less than two weeks to arrive at that conclusion.

This is not a figurehead; this is a coach whose passion and experience played a definitive role in the evolution of this program.

At the turn of the new year, the Bulls can be proud that 2023 was the program’s best season yet.

Curtis Edwards III goes viral thanks to TikTok

A story about Curtis Edwards III, a Belle Glade 10-year-old who took TikTok by storm with his baseball field antics and chubby-cheeked grin, was Emilee Smarr's favorite story of the year.

From NFL Hall of Famers like Rickey Jackson to nominees like Anquan Boldin, there's no shortage of football stars born out of the Muck. Now, the small-town football factory can add a celebrity on the diamond to its resume.

Tracking Nolan Schanuel's first season in MLB

Park Vista/Florida Atlantic standout Nolan Schanuel had what you would call a pretty good 2023 and Post Sports correspondent Rick Robb was there to write about his MLB draft prospects as well as his first season with the Angels. Here is an excerpt from the latter:

After his rapid ascent in 2023, Schanuel said he is still adjusting to being a major leaguer.

"I haven't 100% gotten it through my head yet, but I'm definitely a lot more comfortable than I was the first week," he said. "I just try to remember that it's baseball. I've been playing it my whole life. It might be a little faster, guys are obviously a little better, but it's still just the game I've been playing since I was a little kid."

A half-marathon runner with a lot of guts

Some people run to stay in shape. Some people run for that high running long distances can bring. And some people run for a cause.

Then, there are those who run to celebrate a miracle. That was why Carter Viss entered the half-marathon in West Palm Beach on Dec. 15, as Post Sports correspondent Marc Berman pointed out:

The original goal was to save the two legs from amputation.

Four years later, Carter Viss’ goal is to run a 2:30 in the half-marathon event at Sunday’s Garden of Life Palm Beaches Marathon that starts in downtown West Palm Beach.

Viss would finish the half-marathon in 2 hours, 55 minutes, good for 955th place out of 1,172 who finished.

There is always a Florida angle to all major sports stories

The sports world lost a coaching legend and character when Mike Leach died in December 2022. The head football coach at Mississippi State fell victim to a heart attack at the age of 61. But Leach was more than a football coach and we quickly learned that Leach had a home in Key West and was very much at home in the Conch Republic.

So, on the first day of 2023, Leach was honored at Capt. Tony's Saloon with a special barstool — and Tom D'Angelo drove down to Key West to capture the scene and write about it.

Capt. Tony's, a legendary hangout located just feet from another famous Key West landmark, Duval Street, was Leach's favorite spot to tell stories. The 171-year-old building was a morgue, cigar factory and bordello, among other businesses, back in the day. It is where Jimmy Buffett got his start and Hemingway came to drink. It's the site of the original Sloppy Joe's and is famously known for its barstools stamped with the names of iconic people who regularly occupied them, such as Bob Dylan, Ted Kennedy, Clint Eastwood, Al Pacino, Dan Marino and, of course, Mike Leach.

Monday, with Mississippi State playing its first game since Leach died at the age of 61 after suffering a heart attack, Capt. Tony's became a place for those to do what Leach did best after walking the half-mile from his home to Capt. Tony's.

Tell stories.

We hope you enjoyed our stories in 2023 — and will stick around to keep reading in 2024. Happy New Year!

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Palm Beach Post Sportswriters pick their best stories of 2023