Hey everyone, been here for about a week, here's my introduction post. Old fart, incoming. I'm 57 years old, I was born & bred and still live in the southwest part of Georgia. I currently reside on the banks of lovely Lake Blackshear. I can easily trace my Dolphins fandom back to one gentleman who is sadly gone from this earth. He was a retired Publix executive that made his home near Lake Okeechobee, FL. His oldest daughter married my Daddy's brother and they moved in next door to us. Well, I came along to make it "us" after they'd married, to pick nits. Anyway, he would come to visit when I was a kid, I'm talking 5-6-7 years old, right in the prime years of 1971-1974. He made me a Dolphins fan and a horse racing fan, 2 obsessions I still carry to this day. More so the Dolphins bug. I barely have personal memories of the perfect season and the dominating Dolphins of Super Bowl VIII. My first real memory of watching the Dolphins was the "sea of hands" loss to the Raiders. I've suffered through the Super Bowl losses of 1982 and 1984. The frustrating losses to the Bills in the 90s. And, the struggles of the franchise since Shula and Marino departed.
I've been pretty cynical about the Dolphins and have been in big time in "prove it" mode. The start to this season has been great! My Dolphins PTSD since the 70s is starting to abate! lol Interestingly (or not)... I've been a Georgia Bulldogs fan as long as I've been a Dolphins fan. In 1982, Dan Marino broke my heart, beating the Dawgs with what would become one of his signature 4th quarter comebacks, in the Sugar Bowl. He went on to become one of my (and everyone's) most beloved Dolphin players of all time. Fast forward to 2018 and Tua Tagovailoa rips my Dawg heart out and stomps that sucker flat in the College Football Championship. Dolphins draft him. I hope he makes me love him, too. Right now, it's a friendship. We'll see...
I've collected a lot of Dolphins memorabilia over the years, my profile pic is a football card that Coach Shula autographed for me while walking off the practice field in Suwanee, GA after scrimmaging with the Falcons in late 1980-something. I attended the scrimmage during my time at GA State in Atlanta from 1985-88. Got Shula's autograph, got Marino to sign his Topps rookie card and a whole host of others signed for me that day. I was around 20-21 years old at the time and I was scrambling around that field, nervous and giddy as a 12 year old!
I've seen Dolphins games in person twice. First time, I was 15 years old, the Phins were visiting the Buzzards in
1980. Strock started the game, struggled, gave way to Griese who came in 2nd half and led the comeback. I left there walking on air. The next time in
1998 was less fun, the Falcons hit a 62 yard bomb on the first play and never looked back. Only time I got to see Marino live. He did have a 3 yard rushing TD which was rare so, I got to see that! I retire in about 15 months and I intend to get down to Miami for some games once I am free and clear of my job responsibilities.
One thing I'd like to share is a playlist on my
Youtube channel, I've got some Dolphins video clips that I converted from old VHS tapes I "collected/recorded" over the years. I'm pretty much out of material to upload, but the stuff I've uploaded is pretty cool, old stuff from the 60s up to around 2005. My whole channel is a hodgepodge of stuff but, I figure the Dolphins stuff will interest folks here. Note: I am not monetizing my channel, I do not stand to make any money from views. I just like sharing cool Dolphins stuff with like-minded fans.
So, I'm glad to be here, not sure why I've never stumbled my way in here until now but, I look forward to joining in on the fun. Phins Up!