Dolphins History's Effect on Today's Phans?

[BlueFin]

This is a subject that interest me as a life long dolphin fan. I was nine years old in 1971 when my dad got season tickets. I really didn't know much about the game. It was fun going to the OB. Itwas the longest game in history vs KC in the playoffs got me hooked. I recall watching some guy named Ed Podalack go nuts against us I think 300+ yds and all those OT. When Garo kicked the winner I was hooked. When we got crushed by Dallas I cried.

I had the privilege of going to almost of all those games between 71-74. The OB was electric we were bad asses our only real rival was the Raiders. When the big three Csonka,Kiick and Warfield left that period of dominance ended to the Raiders in the AfC title game. Shula was the driving force. In those late 70 we were average but we had Grease who became a mad bomber with glasses. Then we got back to the SB on the back of he Killer Bees. You could look at the schedule each year and count 10 12 wins every year.
Then lighting struck for us when we got Marino.
To you younger fans the best way I can sum it up for you we were the New England Patriots of the last 13 years. We had the best coach in the league the top QB in the league. We won the division every year. We expected to win every Sunday. Up until we got Marino the Dolphins were the only game in town. Every man woman child was a dye hard fan in those days. Two big things happened in the early Marino years. The Canes exploded on to the college football scene and grabbed it by the throat. Second the Dolphins moved from the OB.
The fish were good during the Marino years but never great. The Canes took over they had their run as the most dominate team in football it was great fun to be witness those two eras of dominance one at the pro level the other at the college level. Talk about a spoiled Miami football fan.
I think the Heat came on the scene in '88 but we sucked until Reily came on board in '96. That was also the year JJ replaced Shula. My dad also gave up his season tickets because we had stopped going to the games cause we liked watching it on TV and hated Joe Robbie Stadium versus the OB. The fact is the dolphins haven't won **** since we moved from the OB.

I have kids that are young adults now. They laugh at me because the dolphins have been disgraceful The last 10 years Yet I remain a hard core fan. Win or lose. It's all cyclical our time will come again. I must say that after the Atlanta and Cincinnati games last year I got so stoked because of the vibe from those victories. I know we have a lot of wood to chop I want to believe in the Fish again which is hard cause I wanted to be sold on Philbin but last year has me wondering if he is the right guy. I have been patient hell it's been 30 years since the 49ers kicked our ass.
I feel for my dad how was a pretty hard core dolphin fan he passed in 2012 ....thanks dad for making me a hard core Dolphin Fan!

All you young people out there savory what the Heat is doing. With pasage of time and the cycle of sports the appreciation of excellence on a national stage is Aweome to live through as a fan of that team. Seen it with Dolphins Canes and now the Heat.

The dolphins I hope will again some day. Reach that level again.

Good analogy....in a 14 year span we went to 5 superbowls...won back to backs.....and of course went undefeated....very similar to the Patriots run.

 

[Awsi Dooger]

This is a subject that interest me as a life long dolphin fan. I was nine years old in 1971 when my dad got season tickets. I really didn't know much about the game. It was fun going to the OB. Itwas the longest game in history vs KC in the playoffs got me hooked. I recall watching some guy named Ed Podalack go nuts against us I think 300+ yds and all those OT. When Garo kicked the winner I was hooked. When we got crushed by Dallas I cried.

I had the privilege of going to almost of all those games between 71-74. The OB was electric we were bad asses our only real rival was the Raiders. When the big three Csonka,Kiick and Warfield left that period of dominance ended to the Raiders in the AfC title game. Shula was the driving force. In those late 70 we were average but we had Grease who became a mad bomber with glasses. Then we got back to the SB on the back of he Killer Bees. You could look at the schedule each year and count 10 12 wins every year.
Then lighting struck for us when we got Marino.
To you younger fans the best way I can sum it up for you we were the New England Patriots of the last 13 years. We had the best coach in the league the top QB in the league. We won the division every year. We expected to win every Sunday. Up until we got Marino the Dolphins were the only game in town. Every man woman child was a dye hard fan in those days. Two big things happened in the early Marino years. The Canes exploded on to the college football scene and grabbed it by the throat. Second the Dolphins moved from the OB.
The fish were good during the Marino years but never great. The Canes took over they had their run as the most dominate team in football it was great fun to be witness those two eras of dominance one at the pro level the other at the college level. Talk about a spoiled Miami football fan.
I think the Heat came on the scene in '88 but we sucked until Reily came on board in '96. That was also the year JJ replaced Shula. My dad also gave up his season tickets because we had stopped going to the games cause we liked watching it on TV and hated Joe Robbie Stadium versus the OB. The fact is the dolphins haven't won **** since we moved from the OB.

I have kids that are young adults now. They laugh at me because the dolphins have been disgraceful The last 10 years Yet I remain a hard core fan. Win or lose. It's all cyclical our time will come again. I must say that after the Atlanta and Cincinnati games last year I got so stoked because of the vibe from those victories. I know we have a lot of wood to chop I want to believe in the Fish again which is hard cause I wanted to be sold on Philbin but last year has me wondering if he is the right guy. I have been patient hell it's been 30 years since the 49ers kicked our ass.
I feel for my dad how was a pretty hard core dolphin fan he passed in 2012 ....thanks dad for making me a hard core Dolphin Fan!

All you young people out there savory what the Heat is doing. With pasage of time and the cycle of sports the appreciation of excellence on a national stage is Aweome to live through as a fan of that team. Seen it with Dolphins Canes and now the Heat.

The dolphins I hope will again some day. Reach that level again.

Very good post. Our stories are somewhat similar. My dad bought season tickets for the family beginning in 1972. He passed away in fall 2012. One of the last sports related things my dad did was drive to Bird Road with me to celebrate the Heat title the night they defeated Oklahoma City in game 5. I'm so happy I took some pictures and one video of dad on that night.

During the Dolphin glory era we drove to the airport and greeted the team when they arrived from Los Angeles. I've told that story previously. I grabbed my mom's hand and slowly pushed through the crowd to get closer and closer to the podium. She was embarrassed and apologizing for her aggressive son but I sensed it was a once in a lifetime situation. My mental images from that night are from yards away, not hundreds of yards.

My parents were both University of Miami alums. Once that dominant era started, it deflected virtually all of their attention from the Dolphins, other than we would attend one or two Dolphin games as a family late in the season when I visited from Las Vegas for the holidays. Dad gave up his Dolphin season tickets when the team refused his request to move from the north side to the (sun free) south side. He cursed Robbie for that decision. My dad always remembered the names and numbers of the early '70s Dolphins but couldn't name more than a handful of players from the later teams. He was fixated on the Canes, to the point he even got thrown out of a parking garage on campus one time when a security guard thought he was spying on a closed practice.

The Orange Bowl situation played a huge role. Like your family, we despised the Robbie Bowl, as my dad called it. Guaranteed we would have maintained greater allegiance to the Dolphins if they had stayed in that great old stadium, or built an approximation instead of a bland atrocity.

When the internet became prominent, lots of aspects shocked me. I had no idea the public in general was so conspiracy oriented. Sportswise, I was dumbfounded that so many Dolphin fans loved the Marino era. To me, those were sickening years, virtually an insult compared to the smart physical early '70s. Under Marino we self-inflicted to a cupcake team for more than a decade. In Las Vegas betting circles the Dolphins were a laughingstock during those years. One guy after another couldn't wait to bet against Miami. I remember when games were isolated months in advance. One of the sharpest guys in town picked Pittsburgh over the Dolphins as his play of the year. This was in May. The game was in late September or early October. He didn't care. He knew the Dolphins would be finesse weaklings. Sure enough, the Steelers were small favorites and trampled the Dolphins.

I try to restrain from mocking those Marino years on this site. It's anything but easy. I give myself quite a bit of credit for canceling at least half of my posts under that theme. The stadium...now that's another matter. We may have escaped the cupcake style but that regulating stadium siphons 2 to 2.5 points per game on average, compared to the Orange Bowl. I'm convinced the franchise will never win anything of consequence until the stadium is rubbled. Too monumental a mistake to overcome.

 

[CalDolFan10x14]

First it was the fan's fault the team doesn't win, now it's the stadium's fault.

 

[JayFin327]

Been a fan since Dan. Unfortunately the past decade or so there is not much to be a fan of unless you enjoy mediocrity. Here's to brighter days