marino2duper73
Active Roster
I'll try (but won't succeed) to use brevity as I give you my best brain droppings, as I have been a fan since 1977.
Every season, usually beginning around my birthday at the end of June, I start to switch gears from reviewing another painful season to feeding the seed of optimism on the upcoming year as a Fins fan. The embedded DNA that I have, has evolved with all of you over the years. The annual visit to the archives of yesteryear, when Danny and those kids just made me feel great to be in aqua and orange at my school on Mondays and Tuesdays. The memories of a Monday night game in Chicago, then even further back I travel to the greatest feeling I'd ever had watching the Dolphins lose. Yes, Rolf kicked the Chargers past the Fins 41-38, but I had never seen myself so proud of a loss as that game, albeit I was a kid. Hindsight says I should feel lucky to be part of a generation that had the privilege to watch that game live, and go through the emotional roller coaster of a football fan. That feeling, no matter the outcome of every Dolphins game I've watched, is my heroin high that fails to disappoint every time.
Fast forward to the 2000's as a fan. Marino started to show his mortality in his game, and we all remember that day versus Jacksonville when our hero became a press conference waiting to happen. It was surreal to think that after Palo Alto against Joe Cool and the 49ers, that we would never watch a Super Bowl again with Dan Marino running past the on-field pyrotechnics onto the biggest stage in sports. It was unimaginable that my childhood hero could only be remembered as the greatest quarterback to never win a Super Bowl. It couldn't happen. It wouldn't be possible. There's no way this god among men could be immortalized AND resemble Icarus in the same breath. Then as I watched his retirement presser, the uncertainty of the future of my Fins rapidly overtook my encoded confidence that I had grown complacent and comfortable with for 17 years since 1983.
The carousel of coaches. The turnstile of players. The revolving door of prospects. It was such an unfamiliar feeling and such feelings had to find a place to hide. I am a Dolphins fan. The Miami Dolphins. A franchise that had The Perfect Season. A team that, no matter the mascot, was feared in every category of the game. Why am I on this island? Why this island that boasts uncertainty, rather than multiple Lombardi trophies with Marino's fingerprints all over them? We never got the answers, but just more questions as fans.
So here we are almost 20 years since the Dolphins seemingly lost a generation of identity. Shutouts on the losing end in multiple playoff games. Multiple seasons of needing complicated scenarios just to have a chance to get to the postseason. As a fan, this can be so influential in our loyalties and perceptions about our team. Some fans might be loyal to a player more than a concept. Totally understandable, although not taken well by the hardcore puritan Dolphins fan that settles for nothing less than complete optimism or else! We have entered a new era of fandom that isn't as loyal to history, as it is more loyal to how their team makes THEM look.
Interestingly enough, many of us have grown bored with the casual fan's perspective. How can a fan that likes another team be taken as a TRUE Dolphins fan? How can a fan that has ZERO attachment to the history of this team have ANY valuable opinion about the current team? Why does it seem that any time there is a negative comment about a player, coach, or front office person, the fans that are tired of supporting a losing team are the ones who are first to point out the blame?
I can answer all of these questions with one answer:
Because being a fan(atic) means we don't want the answer. It will end our argument.
I am not pessimistic or optimistic when it comes to my Dolphins. I have simply and conclusively become like many of us. What happens will happen. I will watch my team every gameday. If they are getting shelled and are performing poorly, I will have my opinions on why the team lost. If the Fins get a big win, I will have my opinions on why we did well. It's for all of the fans that have to see the negatives in a win, and the positives in a loss, that make the rest of us who we are as fans for them to interact with.
I am a Miami Dolphins fan, and my life as one:
Constant.
Uncertainty.
Refreshes.
Hope.
Every season, usually beginning around my birthday at the end of June, I start to switch gears from reviewing another painful season to feeding the seed of optimism on the upcoming year as a Fins fan. The embedded DNA that I have, has evolved with all of you over the years. The annual visit to the archives of yesteryear, when Danny and those kids just made me feel great to be in aqua and orange at my school on Mondays and Tuesdays. The memories of a Monday night game in Chicago, then even further back I travel to the greatest feeling I'd ever had watching the Dolphins lose. Yes, Rolf kicked the Chargers past the Fins 41-38, but I had never seen myself so proud of a loss as that game, albeit I was a kid. Hindsight says I should feel lucky to be part of a generation that had the privilege to watch that game live, and go through the emotional roller coaster of a football fan. That feeling, no matter the outcome of every Dolphins game I've watched, is my heroin high that fails to disappoint every time.
Fast forward to the 2000's as a fan. Marino started to show his mortality in his game, and we all remember that day versus Jacksonville when our hero became a press conference waiting to happen. It was surreal to think that after Palo Alto against Joe Cool and the 49ers, that we would never watch a Super Bowl again with Dan Marino running past the on-field pyrotechnics onto the biggest stage in sports. It was unimaginable that my childhood hero could only be remembered as the greatest quarterback to never win a Super Bowl. It couldn't happen. It wouldn't be possible. There's no way this god among men could be immortalized AND resemble Icarus in the same breath. Then as I watched his retirement presser, the uncertainty of the future of my Fins rapidly overtook my encoded confidence that I had grown complacent and comfortable with for 17 years since 1983.
The carousel of coaches. The turnstile of players. The revolving door of prospects. It was such an unfamiliar feeling and such feelings had to find a place to hide. I am a Dolphins fan. The Miami Dolphins. A franchise that had The Perfect Season. A team that, no matter the mascot, was feared in every category of the game. Why am I on this island? Why this island that boasts uncertainty, rather than multiple Lombardi trophies with Marino's fingerprints all over them? We never got the answers, but just more questions as fans.
So here we are almost 20 years since the Dolphins seemingly lost a generation of identity. Shutouts on the losing end in multiple playoff games. Multiple seasons of needing complicated scenarios just to have a chance to get to the postseason. As a fan, this can be so influential in our loyalties and perceptions about our team. Some fans might be loyal to a player more than a concept. Totally understandable, although not taken well by the hardcore puritan Dolphins fan that settles for nothing less than complete optimism or else! We have entered a new era of fandom that isn't as loyal to history, as it is more loyal to how their team makes THEM look.
Interestingly enough, many of us have grown bored with the casual fan's perspective. How can a fan that likes another team be taken as a TRUE Dolphins fan? How can a fan that has ZERO attachment to the history of this team have ANY valuable opinion about the current team? Why does it seem that any time there is a negative comment about a player, coach, or front office person, the fans that are tired of supporting a losing team are the ones who are first to point out the blame?
I can answer all of these questions with one answer:
Because being a fan(atic) means we don't want the answer. It will end our argument.
I am not pessimistic or optimistic when it comes to my Dolphins. I have simply and conclusively become like many of us. What happens will happen. I will watch my team every gameday. If they are getting shelled and are performing poorly, I will have my opinions on why the team lost. If the Fins get a big win, I will have my opinions on why we did well. It's for all of the fans that have to see the negatives in a win, and the positives in a loss, that make the rest of us who we are as fans for them to interact with.
I am a Miami Dolphins fan, and my life as one:
Constant.
Uncertainty.
Refreshes.
Hope.
