SCall13
Finheaven QB
Growing up Dolphin (Nostalgia)
I remember as a kid bragging to my buddies (and any/everyone else) about being a Miami Dolphins fan. This was back before Marino came, when we had Woodley, Nathan, Duriel Harris, Baumhower, Kooch, Bokamper, etc. Then there was AJ Duhe and the Blackwood brothers. Alot of us remember "The Killer Bees" under Bill Arnsparger. Man, those were great times. We were one of the most respected teams in football.
We went to the Super Bowl against the Redskins in Super Bowl XVII in the strike-shortened season and lost a heart breaking game. That was 1982 - TEN years after our undefeated season. The Dolphins were still high on the mountain of great organizations, with a great coach.
AS a kid, you didn't appreciate the Xs and Os as much as you did the overall results, and you didn't care, or even realize, who the weak link on the team was. You still liked him because he was a Dolphin. It didn't matter if he got burnt, missed a tackle, fumbled a ball, etc. None of that mattered - Miami was still the best and they were still going to win.(Ahhhhh The innocence of youth.) We had no idea how we'd all grow to be coaches, experts, cynics, talent evaluators, critics, and analysts.
I miss the days when I was out playing alone in my yard, diving over bushes, pretending I was Tony Nathan or Andra Franklin diving into the end zone. Or throwing myself a pass, running to catch it like Nat Moore or Duriel Harris.
And then came Dan...
How could Coach Shula bench Woodley for Marino? What was he thinking? Man I was angry at first. But that turned into absolute awe very quickly. After the first game, I became Dan Marino and my buddies were the Marks brothers when I threw them the ball. Those were the times. How could you NOT be proud of being a Dolphins fan? We were unstoppable. It seemed as if we scored every time we touched the ball. We were going to win all the Super Bowls!
When we lost to the 49ers in Super Bowl 19, like Marino, I thought to myself, "well, we will win it next year." And just about every season it seemed as if we were one of the teams that had a shot. We were always contenders. We became spoiled. We knew we were always going to be in it. We always had a shot. Then we'd always taste the bitterness of disappointment. Season after season, as we grew up, we became more and more aware of our team's weaknesses. Enthusiasm began to blend in with an ominous feeling in the back of our minds. Yet, we were still excited. We still felt we had a chance. That little kid in us made us believe that, no matter what, something great would happen for Miami and we'd finally win the big one.
Then came Jimmy Johnson. The little kid in us was revived again. Jimmy was the man in Dallas, he built Dallas a Dynasty. He would do the same for us and finally get US and Dan that ring. The defense was improving. We had some youth coming in that was making a difference. But what's happening to the offense? I still remember a quote (though I don't remember who said it). It was something along these lines: "Making Marino run this style of offense is a waste. It's like making a college professor teach kindergarten."
Man was that right. We watched Marino getting older and we watched Jimmy Johnson selfishly take the game out of his best players hands and it felt as if, instead of helping the Dolphins, he stole something from us by robbing us of Marino's last couple of years. Then, to top it off, he gave us Dave Wannstedt.
What a horrible 5 years that was. It's almost like a bad dream. Any part of that youthful exuberance we all kept was drained over those 5 seasons of watching our team deteriorate into a joke. Even when we were somewhat competitive, we all knew there were just too many weaknesses to truly be a playoff contender, much less a Super Bowl contender. That championship was FAR away and so was that little boy in me. Remember the one: The kid who thought Miami could never lose?
We watched as our team collapsed into a heap of a 4-12 embarrassment and a low that none of us had ever experienced. Where do we go from here?
Nick Saban. Man that excited a lot of people. Arguable the best college coach at the time and definitely the most sought after by NFL teams. And Huizenga went and got him. He was determined to turn this franchise around and give us, the fans, a winner. There was reason to be excited. A pretty good first draft, bringing a fresh and re-inspired Ricky back and bringing in some guys who could make our offense somewhat formidable. We won our last 6 games of the season in his first year as our coach. And the wins were nice. But they were a mirage. We didn't really beat anyone of great repute in that streak. But it was good enough to give us hope going into the next season. That little boy started coming out again. I was a bit giddy, but guardedly so because I had some doubts and questions. But I WANTED THAT FEELING BACK. And I was willing to give anyone the benefit of the doubt just to have a chance to have it.
Then Nick Saban showed his colors to us all and walked out on the Miami Dolphins and left us, once again, in an embarrassing mess. How low can a franchise go? What happened to my Miami Dolphins? Will we ever be competitive again? Who will be our coach? How bad IS this team, really? How deep is this hole we're in? So many questions, so few answers.
Now we have Cam Cameron. He's an offensive guy who comes from the lineage of Air Coryell. Couple him with the defensive prowess of Dom Capers and we may get back to respectability soon. An offensive mastermind and a defensive genius? There is reason to hope right?
I want to feel like a kid again....
I remember as a kid bragging to my buddies (and any/everyone else) about being a Miami Dolphins fan. This was back before Marino came, when we had Woodley, Nathan, Duriel Harris, Baumhower, Kooch, Bokamper, etc. Then there was AJ Duhe and the Blackwood brothers. Alot of us remember "The Killer Bees" under Bill Arnsparger. Man, those were great times. We were one of the most respected teams in football.
We went to the Super Bowl against the Redskins in Super Bowl XVII in the strike-shortened season and lost a heart breaking game. That was 1982 - TEN years after our undefeated season. The Dolphins were still high on the mountain of great organizations, with a great coach.
AS a kid, you didn't appreciate the Xs and Os as much as you did the overall results, and you didn't care, or even realize, who the weak link on the team was. You still liked him because he was a Dolphin. It didn't matter if he got burnt, missed a tackle, fumbled a ball, etc. None of that mattered - Miami was still the best and they were still going to win.(Ahhhhh The innocence of youth.) We had no idea how we'd all grow to be coaches, experts, cynics, talent evaluators, critics, and analysts.
I miss the days when I was out playing alone in my yard, diving over bushes, pretending I was Tony Nathan or Andra Franklin diving into the end zone. Or throwing myself a pass, running to catch it like Nat Moore or Duriel Harris.
And then came Dan...
How could Coach Shula bench Woodley for Marino? What was he thinking? Man I was angry at first. But that turned into absolute awe very quickly. After the first game, I became Dan Marino and my buddies were the Marks brothers when I threw them the ball. Those were the times. How could you NOT be proud of being a Dolphins fan? We were unstoppable. It seemed as if we scored every time we touched the ball. We were going to win all the Super Bowls!
When we lost to the 49ers in Super Bowl 19, like Marino, I thought to myself, "well, we will win it next year." And just about every season it seemed as if we were one of the teams that had a shot. We were always contenders. We became spoiled. We knew we were always going to be in it. We always had a shot. Then we'd always taste the bitterness of disappointment. Season after season, as we grew up, we became more and more aware of our team's weaknesses. Enthusiasm began to blend in with an ominous feeling in the back of our minds. Yet, we were still excited. We still felt we had a chance. That little kid in us made us believe that, no matter what, something great would happen for Miami and we'd finally win the big one.
Then came Jimmy Johnson. The little kid in us was revived again. Jimmy was the man in Dallas, he built Dallas a Dynasty. He would do the same for us and finally get US and Dan that ring. The defense was improving. We had some youth coming in that was making a difference. But what's happening to the offense? I still remember a quote (though I don't remember who said it). It was something along these lines: "Making Marino run this style of offense is a waste. It's like making a college professor teach kindergarten."
Man was that right. We watched Marino getting older and we watched Jimmy Johnson selfishly take the game out of his best players hands and it felt as if, instead of helping the Dolphins, he stole something from us by robbing us of Marino's last couple of years. Then, to top it off, he gave us Dave Wannstedt.
What a horrible 5 years that was. It's almost like a bad dream. Any part of that youthful exuberance we all kept was drained over those 5 seasons of watching our team deteriorate into a joke. Even when we were somewhat competitive, we all knew there were just too many weaknesses to truly be a playoff contender, much less a Super Bowl contender. That championship was FAR away and so was that little boy in me. Remember the one: The kid who thought Miami could never lose?
We watched as our team collapsed into a heap of a 4-12 embarrassment and a low that none of us had ever experienced. Where do we go from here?
Nick Saban. Man that excited a lot of people. Arguable the best college coach at the time and definitely the most sought after by NFL teams. And Huizenga went and got him. He was determined to turn this franchise around and give us, the fans, a winner. There was reason to be excited. A pretty good first draft, bringing a fresh and re-inspired Ricky back and bringing in some guys who could make our offense somewhat formidable. We won our last 6 games of the season in his first year as our coach. And the wins were nice. But they were a mirage. We didn't really beat anyone of great repute in that streak. But it was good enough to give us hope going into the next season. That little boy started coming out again. I was a bit giddy, but guardedly so because I had some doubts and questions. But I WANTED THAT FEELING BACK. And I was willing to give anyone the benefit of the doubt just to have a chance to have it.
Then Nick Saban showed his colors to us all and walked out on the Miami Dolphins and left us, once again, in an embarrassing mess. How low can a franchise go? What happened to my Miami Dolphins? Will we ever be competitive again? Who will be our coach? How bad IS this team, really? How deep is this hole we're in? So many questions, so few answers.
Now we have Cam Cameron. He's an offensive guy who comes from the lineage of Air Coryell. Couple him with the defensive prowess of Dom Capers and we may get back to respectability soon. An offensive mastermind and a defensive genius? There is reason to hope right?
I want to feel like a kid again....
