J
jack
Much has been written here recently about the Dolphin's off-season, and how it is being perceived by us fans.
Though semi-retired now, my years as a management consultant taught me about managing expectations with clients.
Bottom line is that if expectations are not set realistically, then performance may be deemed poor even if it is actually very good.
It is not the Dolphins FO job to set expectations of the fans - it is actually to the FO's advantage that goals and strategies remain unknown by the general public. Expectations seem to be set by all the media news as to what should be accomplished.
We have all heard about Brunell, Ramsey, Garcia, Henson, Rivers, Tait, Woody, etc., all of which won't happen. We lost Wade. WR options, such as Owens, Moss, seem to be non-existent since the draft is where we will get that talent. Names like Feeley, James, and Howard may be quality players, but came out of the blue and were not on many fan's radar screen. Losses like Hendricks will hurt. Fiedler went from being gone to coming back at a significant salary and competing for the starting QB job. Now McIntosh may be lame after other prospects were turned away and may be lost to other teams.
Most agree that QB, OL, and WR are the needs for this off-season.
My expectations, based on all that I could read in the media, took an initial hit during the Wanny, Rick, Dan Marino, Ron Wolf decisions.
During the player FA period my expectations have taken another big hit.
I can only hope that Wayne H. initially, and Rick/Wanny now, know 100 times more about what is going on (and I'm sure that they do) than I do, and I curse the media for making me expect that all of the above mentioned upgrades were within our reach and that many would happen.
Bottom line is that my gut feeling is that there is little to be excited about for 2004 with FA talent running out. Perhaps some enthusiasm will be generated by our upcoming 2004 draftees.
I hope that my concerns turn out to be unfounded and that several players emerge to ignite this team during the 2004 season.
Though semi-retired now, my years as a management consultant taught me about managing expectations with clients.
Bottom line is that if expectations are not set realistically, then performance may be deemed poor even if it is actually very good.
It is not the Dolphins FO job to set expectations of the fans - it is actually to the FO's advantage that goals and strategies remain unknown by the general public. Expectations seem to be set by all the media news as to what should be accomplished.
We have all heard about Brunell, Ramsey, Garcia, Henson, Rivers, Tait, Woody, etc., all of which won't happen. We lost Wade. WR options, such as Owens, Moss, seem to be non-existent since the draft is where we will get that talent. Names like Feeley, James, and Howard may be quality players, but came out of the blue and were not on many fan's radar screen. Losses like Hendricks will hurt. Fiedler went from being gone to coming back at a significant salary and competing for the starting QB job. Now McIntosh may be lame after other prospects were turned away and may be lost to other teams.
Most agree that QB, OL, and WR are the needs for this off-season.
My expectations, based on all that I could read in the media, took an initial hit during the Wanny, Rick, Dan Marino, Ron Wolf decisions.
During the player FA period my expectations have taken another big hit.
I can only hope that Wayne H. initially, and Rick/Wanny now, know 100 times more about what is going on (and I'm sure that they do) than I do, and I curse the media for making me expect that all of the above mentioned upgrades were within our reach and that many would happen.
Bottom line is that my gut feeling is that there is little to be excited about for 2004 with FA talent running out. Perhaps some enthusiasm will be generated by our upcoming 2004 draftees.
I hope that my concerns turn out to be unfounded and that several players emerge to ignite this team during the 2004 season.
but I see your point..don't worry, you guys will be more than happy with another 10-6 record, just for the sake of having a winning record...then we can all talk about how close the fins are to getting over the top again...
