Does this Bother you as much as it does me? | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

Does this Bother you as much as it does me?

RHoffman

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In the Miami Herald today, Dan LeBatard once again ripped Miami fans for being critical. I actually suggest you read the article, because it will get you fired up. However, when I sent Dan LeBatard the following note, read his responses.

Mr. Lebatard, I find it very interesting that you continue to criticize
Dolphins fans for continual complaining.
I thought I would clue you in on a few things:
1. Fans complain because they care.

2. It's interesting that you should claim that Miami should be satisfied with 9-7,10-6, and 11-5, since you appear to
write basically the same articles complaining about Dolphin fans over and over again. Perhaps, you could actually write an
article that would be constructive in calling for the team to get better, instead of giving them excuses to be so poor.

3. Probably most importantly, fan satisfaction is measured by expectations and progress....The current fan can expect to collapse late in the year and get knocked out of the playoffs early. Jeez, I wonder why they complain. As for progress, please don't even try and tell me that this team is better off then it was a few years ago. They are 13 million over the cap, have a few key players who will likely never player again, and have maybe 10-15 players worthy of an NFL Roster.

4. One more thing, how would you possibly know if Miami could handle a 5-11 or worse season, they haven't had one in ages. You have no basis for your opinion.

DLebatard@aol.com
Wednesday January 16, 2002 01:05 PM
To: Robert Hoffman/IIG/Prudential@Prudential
cc:
Subject: Re: Today's Article

as for #4, i know because fans are insufferable the way things are. stands to reason that if u are insufferable when your team is the only one in football making the playoffs five straight years, then fans are going to be jackasses when it gets worse. thanks for reading.

DLebatard@aol.com
Wednesday January 16, 2002 02:19 PM
To: Robert Hoffman/IIG/Prudential@Prudential
cc:
Subject: Re: Today's Article

i write for my readers. if the fans can't handle a little criticism, the
criticism they are so gleeful about when it is directed at their dolphins, then they ought to read someone else. truth stings sometimes. the fans down here are among the worst in sports, as evidenced by eight years of nfl playoffs going by and miami being the only town -- the only one -- to fail to get a blackout lifted. not once, but twice. they care only enough to complain. thanks for reading.


Which brings us to the subject of this thread:
Does this bother you? Is this someone who should be writing for city of Miami? Sounds to me as though he would rather be somewhere else...perhaps New York.

Let me know your thoughts...because I for one want to get rid of him, I know its his opinion, which he is entitled too, but I think he will only have negative impact on fans in the long run.

Sorry for the post but I am steamed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Well, he is sitting on the fence if you ask me. He wants to rip into the Dolfans, yet he says he writes for his readers. Who is reading his stuff? Jet fans?

Miami is a serious attitude adjustment away from being a real contender, but I don't know if Wannstedt is the guy to give it to them.

Bill Parcells would be the guy for that, but he is coaching the Bucs now.

Dan works for the Herold, and in my opinion the Sentinel is the only paper worth reading...so his opinion means squat to me
 
too bad.........................

shula was chased, the game may have passed him by, with all the FA's, but i think he could have adjusted. he was used to getting guys and molding them into his system. now you have em one year and they're gone the next!:(
 
I hate when those guys at the Herald bother telling us their lames opinions on BS like that. Alex Marvez from the Sentinel is the best - he just talks about facts and factual-based speculation, i.e. at least his opinions are on things like whether we can get Ricky or Edge.
 
LeBastard, is an idiot. He never has anything good to say about the Dolphins, Miami or their fans. he doesn't write for anybody but himself. I quit reading his columns long ago.
 
I hate to say it guys but Dan is right! The fans do suck down here!! I don't care if you know the DOLPHINS are gonna lose or not, you NEVER miss a playoff game! You are talking about the winningest franchise in all of sports and you can't sell out playoff games? LeBatard's criticism is well directed! We bitch when South Florida doesn't have baseball! They get baseball no one shows up!! Same with football! The Miami Dolphins are no doubt south Florida's love, but we treat them like that girlfriend that we can't break up with!!! First of all, as a fan I can't purchase a ticket in the 1st level of the stadium!!! WHY? Because the whole 1st level is for the CORPORATE sponsers only!! So you see, Pro Player Stadium is occupied by the UNINTERESTED fans in the 1st level!I have seen these fans come to the stadium, it is more of a status quo to them! They are the elite of their corporation and have the best seats in the stadium! Yes, these are the seats you see on TV that no one is in! They are still partying at their CORPORATE function out in the parking lot! I am a true Dolphin fan and it pisses me off to see these seats unoccupied. You watch Green Bay,Pittsburgh,Denver and their stadiums are ROCKING!!Pro Player Stadium is a morgue when playoff time approaches!When it was 17-3 against the Ravens, with the whole 4th quarter left, the stadium was emptied!! DOLPHIN FANS ARE A JOKE!! Dan LeBATARD is just speaking the truth!!!
 
Originally posted by Phinmaster1354
I hate to say it guys but Dan is right! The fans do suck down here!! I don't care if you know the DOLPHINS are gonna lose or not, you NEVER miss a playoff game! You are talking about the winningest franchise in all of sports and you can't sell out playoff games? LeBatard's criticism is well directed! We bitch when South Florida doesn't have baseball! They get baseball no one shows up!! Same with football! The Miami Dolphins are no doubt south Florida's love, but we treat them like that girlfriend that we can't break up with!!! First of all, as a fan I can't purchase a ticket in the 1st level of the stadium!!! WHY? Because the whole 1st level is for the CORPORATE sponsers only!! So you see, Pro Player Stadium is occupied by the UNINTERESTED fans in the 1st level!I have seen these fans come to the stadium, it is more of a status quo to them! They are the elite of their corporation and have the best seats in the stadium! Yes, these are the seats you see on TV that no one is in! They are still partying at their CORPORATE function out in the parking lot! I am a true Dolphin fan and it pisses me off to see these seats unoccupied. You watch Green Bay,Pittsburgh,Denver and their stadiums are ROCKING!!Pro Player Stadium is a morgue when playoff time approaches!When it was 17-3 against the Ravens, with the whole 4th quarter left, the stadium was emptied!! DOLPHIN FANS ARE A JOKE!! Dan LeBATARD is just speaking the truth!!!

First level is corporate only? That sucks, I was in the first level when I saw them play the Jets at the Meadowlands.
 
i kind of noticed that................

? Because the whole 1st level is for the CORPORATE sponsers only!! So you see, Pro Player Stadium is occupied by the UNINTERESTED fans in the 1st level!I have seen these fans come to the stadium, it is more of a status quo to them! They are the elite of their corporation and have the best seats in the stadium

there are alot of gung ho dolphin fans down there, but even they have to buy blocks of tickets to get a good seat, they may only need 2 or 3 but they have to buy a minimum of 4 cause the stadium caters to the big corporations. thats why you see so many empty seats!:mad:
 
I think you are missing the point...whether the fans stink
or not is not the point. Do you really think that constant articles about
how the fans stink is going to make the situation any better. If anything
the negative fans will only get more resentful in reacting to such columns.
What this will turn into is Its not a matter of LeBatard being right, what
he is being is irresponsible...and you know what else...see how much you
like his columns when you don't have a team to support at all in your area
any more. As for corporate buying up first level seats, that happens
everywhere, get used to it!!! I live in the Philadelphia area and it
happens for all of the sports. You either buck up and buy from a ticket
broker, sit in the second level, or you can watch from your t.v. I know
thats not the optimal choice, but its the state of the game not Miami.
Even at Penn State, where I do have a lower level season ticket, I had to
pay through the roof for it.

You are destroying your
own point, corporate sponsors aren't Miami fans anyway...
 
Since you didn't include a link to the article yesterday, i just gave my opinion on LeBastard himself and didn't bother to actually look at this specific article.
Well, lo and behold, I actually think he is right about this team. THIS TEAM.
He makes alot of valid points especially about being full strength against the Rams and still getting blown out. I know it could happen to any body who plays the Rams but to dismiss a 42-10 defeat as an aberration would be wrong considering this teams performance in subsequent "big games". i think that is the game that really shows how far we are from becoming an elite team.
Like he says, if we were close, a loss like that should never happen.
One of the reasons I have written so few articles for Finheaven this season is because I felt that I was writing too many negative columns. the ones i did submit were a balance of good and bad(or neg and pos). i sat down many times and started to fire off diatribes about the glass being half empty only to stop myself or risk the columns having a heavy negative bias. My reasons for doing this were out of a love for my team and not wanting to believe the bad things that i was writing. Better to play the waiting game and see if (hope that) I was wrong. Well, the season is over.This season has ended like the past 4 and the pleas for patience are falling on increasingly deaf ears. The cries of "we're close" are no longer soothing the growing base of negative fans. If you are worried that this is a bad thing then i think you are wrong. Without these negative voices growing louder and attendance falling off at games, where would the impetus for change come from? If the fans still sold out games even when they are presented with a less than good chance of victory why would the team attempt to get any better?
No, now is the time to point out our shortcomings and demand that they be addressed or we can sit around, and believe evrything we are told and be subject to the same humiliation come playoff time next year.
We are not a joke, we will not be fooled by this mirage of a team and if you keep telling us " that's it, that's all there is" then we will find something better to do with our money.
My support for this team comes from my heart not my wallet and when they stop breaking my heart i'll let them break my wallet.
 
I agree with 1354 and LeBatard

If you behold the right to critizise, smash and trash your beloved Dolphins you also are subject to critisism when you fail to sell out a playoff game in consecutive years to lift a blackout.

Now before I go ahead: I am a seasonticket holder and I saw every game (including pregame) and some training camp stuff....BUT I am probably as guilty as some who did not purchase 22,000 tickets. here is why...

Most seasonticket holders hold more than just one single ticket. I hold a total of 8 and share 2 more.

I did not renew 2 of them. Rather than paying for them and just trying to sell them on game day and maybe have them subjected to scalpers I decided to let those two go and give the general public a chance of two good sideline seats. There are many more like me who hold more than one ticket and did not renew some of them or all of them. Can you blame me? Noooooo....I paid for 6 already...all I did release two to the public. Can you blame my friend who holds 6 tickets (his wife and him and 4 kids) who lost his job in November and could not afford the 800 dollars before X-Mas? Nooooooo......So you may actually look at a seasonticket holder number around 10,000 who did not renew certain tickets for whatever reasons. But who can you blame?
Well I for one blame those who bought tickets after the blackout was announced. I blame those who were willing to drive to Ft Myers to watch the game on the tube (there was an article in the Sentinel and Herald about that)....those I blame. Even with an extimated 10,000 season ticket holders not buying the packages for whatever reason there was no reason not to sell out in time.

There are many fans who call themselves diehard fans and fans for 30 years (yaddah-yaddah-yaddah), live down here, bitch, complain and moan but never get their collective a$$es near the stadium. Those are the people Dan was bitching about...and yes...this bitching is well deserved.

I for one feel that Dolfans are spoiled rotten..and I include myself into that as well. When you go to the stadium and you meet fans from other teams you notice jellousy (of course not from Jets or Bills fans) because of our history. We have lost the feeling of excitement to actually capture a playoff spot. We have lost the feeling how good it feels to be in the running for a playoff spot with a few games left in the regular season. We have lost all that because we are victims of our own success. We take it for granted.

Dolfans are compromised of three different types:

.the players/coaches fan ....those never got over the fact that Shula and/or Marino is gone....
the mellow fans: I call them mellow because they are Dolfans because of the teams success.....yet constantly bitch and moan and are the first ones to jump off when we have a losing season.
the diehard: who is there every game and in their seats ontime.

The first two type of fans arrive when they feel like....which is another issue how pathetic a lot of Dolfans are.

Gates are open at 9am for a 1pm game and at 12pm for a 4pm game. Yet people still manage to be late and just walk casually to their seats while the game is in progress.

I.e. The Dolphins advised fans to be in their seats for the game against Baltimore by 4pm....while I was standing on the concourse smoking my pre-game cigarette I look towards the TP and I see lines of cars trying to get into the parking lot...that was at 3:45pm.....the stadium was half full when the teams entered the field....pathetic.

Most Dolfans are NOT diehard.....they tread the Dolphins as a property....the right to bitch and moan yet not doing their basic little share such as "be in your seat on time".

If you do not sell out a game in a population area of 3,000,000 in time to avoid a TV blackout you bet that once this team will go below .500 that most of the home games in the regular season will be missing some 20,000 people in their seats.

Yes Dolfans deserve every "crap" thrown at them right now....

*Note: those who live out of town or can really not afford to go to the game or have a work schedule not permitting them to attend or health issues not allowing them to attend are excempt from my critisism

;)
 
Re: I agree with 1354 and LeBatard

Originally posted by FFiB
*Note: those who live out of town are excempt from my critisism
thanks - but I still think his article do nothing for me. :rolleyes:
 
Re: Re: I agree with 1354 and LeBatard

Originally posted by dolphan39
thanks - but I still think his article do nothing for me. :rolleyes:

I guess the source is kinda funky (LeBatard). He has been exposed already to browse MBs and just hit into the general opinion flow anyways....
 
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