Were you like this before?

[inFINSible]

I have followed the Dolphins since the first time I could figure out what a football team was....okay, so I liked the Cowboys a little bit but, what do you expect, they were "America's team" for goodness sake....I was young and easily sold... .....I have followed the Dolphins as close as I could since the late 70's....I think the first season that, I personally, got the sickness was the year that Delvin Williams set the rushing record. 1978......Every year since then I had to scratch and claw for everybit of Dolphins news I could get my hands on during the offseason. I mean, there were long periods, probably around this time of year, that I actually forgot about the team. *shudder* *gasp*.....

I remember grabbing every preseason guide I could get my hands on to see where they were predicting the Dolphins to finish that year. They were usually wrong with their predictions of course, or wrong according to my predictions anyway.

Recently things have changed.....man oh man, have they ever! I have been absolutely immersed in this team for two years on this message board....before that I was ALL over the internet, I visited every fan site from the UK to Bermuda to Alaska.

For me, I like to read so, the internet has been a god send to me. I can't get enough. I love it. It has brought me closer to my team..*sniff sniff* *wipe a tear*

Has the internet changed you?... What did you do for info before the internet?.....Dolphins Digest?.....Did anybody go to camps back then?....was there Dolphin fan clubs in Miami......maybe some of the old timers could tell us about the Super Bowl days of the early seventies.....the only thing I remember about that time is that they I used to always hear the Miami Dolphins fight song on the radio in the car.

Oh, and some of you deeper thinkers, how do you think that this has affected the team with the added scrutiny? I'm sure they do things differently now but I wasn't paying close enough attention back then to see what has changed specifically.....Has there been any obvious changes?

 

[DOLPHAN1]

been hooked since '72. been deeply engaged since my first lindy's in '91. then in '94 i found " the net" while taking classes at a local jr. college. then i got my first 'puter in '97...my wife has missed me since. she is a dolphins widow and does what she can to "divert" my attention in other directions.....

...Neo....the matrix has you......follow the teal/aqua dolphin...:D

 

[fairbanksb]

The poll question is tough to answer. Since I was 16 when the Dolphins played there first game, if I can remember that far back, I think I wasn't wearing my huggies anymore. No wait. Huggies weren't invented yet.
I grew up in Miami and have always been a fin fan. I used to work at a dept. store on 27th Ave. and the Palmetto Xpressway. The fish used to practice at Miami Dade Jr. College. I used to eat at a little sandwich shop called the Lion's Share and a lot of the Phins used to go there after practice. I was sitting there eating lunch one day when in walked Dick Anderson, Jake Scott, Manny Fernandez, Howard Twilley and three of four others.
The early days were tough because they used to black out TV coverage of the games. I used to drive to W. Palm just to be able to watch on TV. But the Orange Bowl used to rock. It was exciting.
The Internet has just made it easier to get information. I joined the AF in 75 and haven't been back to Miami since, except for a quick visit, so I depend on the internet for most of the Fins info.
I live in the FL. panhandle now and they do televise at least 90% of the games here. I go to the internet, either WQAM or NFL.com to listen to the games that aren't televised.

 

[T-ROCK]

Since I can remember, probably 1970 or so... My Dad had season tickets, but growing up in South Florida you just watched the Dolphins... They were a thousand times more popular then with locals than they are now... But people outside of South Florida don't understand the demographics of the area and why the fan base sucks... People are born, live, and die in cities like Chicago and Pittsburgh... South Florida, actually much of Central Florida, is very transient... The few games I have made since moving to Orlando I have always seen a fleet of vehicles full of fans coming from the Palm Beach area...

 

[Muck]

Parents took me to games at the OB before I could remember. Just a tradition passed on from my parents.

 

[Hellion]

72' SB, I was five and my brother (17) had a few bets with his friends that the Fins would beat the Skins and go undefeated. He told me I was his good luck charm because the Lions (his team) won some games while he was watching me while my mom worked. Well the Fins won, he won $100 and a few years later when I could understand the game better I became a Dolphins fan.
Now of course when I was five it had more to do with hanging with my big brother then anything else. I was about 7 when I started to read up on them in the papers, I remember our liberary had a book about the 72 Fins I wore out, and a book about the history of the NFL that got alot of attention too.
I didn't get a PC until 98 so I relied on TV, magazines and news papers until then.

 

[mikefan22]

I grew up in up state NY so 99% of my family are Bills fans.( I didnt say they where smart!) At 8 i sat down and watched my first game (that i remember)SB fins and skins!! When it was over I didn't even know there was any other teams. I mean come on nobody else is PERFECT!!! It's been rocky but can't stop loving the FINS!!!

 

[Bobby Humphrey]

i guess i am the newest dolphin fan here. 92 was the year i saw the light.

 

[xmdc986x]

Bobby -

I have been a Dolphins fan since 95, so I am newer than you..It wasn't until around two years ago since I really started getting "obsessed" with this team.

I never really knew there were big fan sites, until I found FinHeaven....It has been great ever since. I have all the Southern Florida Newspapers bookmarked, so I can read up on the Dolphins every day. Basically, all I do on the internet is read about the NFL and the Dolphins.

 

[rafael]

My earliest memories are of watching the '72 season on TV with my dad. Since then I devoured anything football/Dolphin related. I was the geek who would compute the QB ratings and tabulate the yardage totals after each game just to see where the Fins players ranked. When the internet arrived it just upped the amount info I could get and made it easy for me to leave FL and still follow my team. (DirectTV also helps)

 

[Bobby Humphrey]

come on rafael. admitt it. you weren't a fan in the late 80's, u were too busy making cartoons and movies.

how are your 3 brothers anyways? and what is april up to now a days? did her and leonardo ever hook up?

 

[sugarcane]

Miami Dolphins football is RELIGION in my family...........:)

 

[Rebar71]

I was a Chargers fan until I was about 12 - which coincidentally enough is when I first saw Marino in '83.

C'mon - gimme a break. I grew up in San Diego.

 

[PhinPhreak]

Originally posted by Bobby Humphrey
come on rafael. admitt it. you weren't a fan in the late 80's, u were too busy making cartoons and movies.

how are your 3 brothers anyways? and what is april up to now a days? did her and leonardo ever hook up?

Besides I think the Fins games were blacked out in the sewers till Sunday Ticket came along

 

[IceStorm]

Always liked the Miami Dolphins, but I wasnt really into them until the early to mid 80's. My father is a Bears fan, not sure how he can say that in public, but he's a fan.