Miami Heat: If We Sue Them, They Will Come.

The Miami Heat is facing hard times, with sports fans unable to pony up the dough to buy tickets the way they used to:

Cash-strapped fans are buying fewer tickets, and spending less when they do go to a game. Homestead resident Bob Pozza, who works for an appliance manufacturer, and his son Joe, 15, are attending fewer Heat games this year. ``And all the extra stuff we bought has been eliminated. Now, we eat before we get here.''

The Heat and Panthers have been hard hit. The Heat is averaging 17,530 tickets distributed per game, which ranks 16th of 30 teams and is down significantly from 19,635 last season.

The Panthers are averaging 15,156 tickets distributed per game, which is below last year's 15,436 and 25th among 30 teams. But the number of people who actually attend Heat and Panthers games is lower, sometimes significantly so.

''It's going to be a tough year for discretionary spending,'' Heat owner Micky Arison predicted in October. ``I know we're going to feel it with ticket sales. We're going to struggle.''

So, being sensitive to the tough economic times and all, the Heat has come up with a novel way to make sure their biggest fans are happy -- by suing them:

The Miami Heat is putting a full-court press on premium-seat holders and sponsors it claims haven't paid up.

The Heat or affiliate Basketball Properties, which operates the AmericanAirlines Arena, have filed 16 lawsuits in the past year against companies and people they claim owe about $1.6 million -- if not more. At least a few of the cases have been resolved.

The Heat has taken the most litigious approach among South Florida sports franchises to force customers and clients to honor agreements.

In other news, the publicly-financed Marlins Stadium is sure to be a huge huge success!