Re: ESPN Grammar
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The Heat is...is correct. In American English anyway.
In British English either way is acceptable.
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Only if you're incapable of symbolic thought.
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I think you are the one lacking symbolic thought. A team has a name and becomes that thing. The group of players in Miami has become "The Heat". Whereas the group of players in detroit form "the Pistons". That is a group of pistons or a singular "heat". Using symbolic thought, using "are" or "is" should depend on which team you are refering to.
When refering to groups, it depends largely on how you refer to them. "The Smiths are coming to dinner" or "The Smith family is coming to dinner." Or even, "the board of directors say that they plan to...." or "the board says that they plan to..."
Of course, I'm no English teacher.
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