If northern teams don't like it, petition the league for a realignment. Old rivalries don't mean jack, you can always make new ones against new teams. Miami should be in a south division...nothing else makes sense.
Exactly. I've argued this for decades, including numerous times here. There should be a geographical realignment with Miami relocated to a division with Tampa Bay, Jacksonville and either Atlanta, Carolina or New Orleans.
That set up would quickly stand out as vastly more interesting and college-like than the patchwork division we're in now. Driving back and forth within the same state totally changes the dynamic of those road games and the pride factor. There were already glimpses of that way back into original NASL, when the Ft. Lauderdale vs. Tampa Bay rivalry was so intense that Rick Weaver on WIOD would become louder and more emotional during those broadcasts than at any point during Dolphin games. Weaver conceded one time that he was so furious he stood up and nearly fell out of the booth when Rodney Marsh of the Rowdies suckered the referees into yet another pivotal penalty kick by intentionally tripping himself in the box by wrapping his right foot inside and around his left ankle.
Heck, there was also a huge regional rivalry with Miami Jai-Alai and other major frontons like Dania and Ft. Pierce and Tampa, during the heyday of that sport. Fans would venture from one city to another during the annual (?) competitions between the best players at each fronton, battling for the title as champion fronton in the state. That was so big the sports talk shows covered it along with extensive articles in the Miami News.
I've just never understood how the regional aspect is downplayed in favor of preserving the AFL heritage, especially since I'm old enough to remember the 1970s and the Colts as by far our biggest rival. Not many people prefer to acknowledge that now. They joined the AFC as result of the merger and immediately overwhelmed the Jets, Bills and Patriots as our biggest rival. That's how quickly things can change. There was tremendous animosity from Colts fans based on Shula departing. They felt vindicated when Don McCafferty quickly won a title, after Shula had failed twice in championship games. That entire decade was Colts as easily our biggest rival, except briefly during 1973 and 1974 when the Colts declined simultaneous with the upsurge of Buffalo and O.J. Simpson.
This topic goes back a long way. I'll tell you why the Dolphins organization opposed it. Tampa Bay during the early years of its franchise took every game against the Dolphins as like a pride factor civil war. Those games were incredibly intense and physical even during preseason. In 1978 Bob Griese suffered a serious knee injury during a preseason game at Tampa. Joe Robbie was livid. Griese was toward the end of his career but had the breakthrough 1977 season while wearing glasses. Miami had high expectations entering 1978, given the Delvin Williams trade, etc., then Robbie thought everything was jeopardized via that preseason injury to Griese, who missed part of the season.
Robbie made it known at that point he would oppose geographical realignment.