1. This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Learn More.

Why I'm (Mostly) Skipping the Dolphins' Offseason This Year

Discussion in 'Miami Dolphins Forum' started by Galant, Feb 4, 2016.

  1. Galant

    Galant Love - Unity - Sacrifice - Eternity

    19,127
    11,058
    113
    Apr 22, 2014
    Disclaimer - This is my view, a self-expression if you will, this should not be taken as me telling anyone else what to do.

    So last year I followed the Dolphins' off-season closely. More closely than any other year of being a Dolphins fan. I followed Tweets, monitored sports news sites, blogs etc. I've no idea just how much time I spent following the news and checking in on forum posts and contributing from time to time but it was a good chunk of time. For the most part I enjoyed it, it intrigued me, and kept me hooked.

    It was also a colossal waste of time that I won't be repeating this year.

    Don't get me wrong, I'll keep one eye on any big news, particularly looking for definite moves, concrete reality, but as for the rest of it - the draft boards, the rookie class analysis, the mock drafts, the articles on what the Dolphins need to do, what they should do etc. and especially ALL the press releases and interviews from the Dolphins themselves about "This team that", and "This team the other", what Dan Marino thinks, what Don Shula thinks, what Flipper's second-cousin-twice-removed thinks - I'm skipping it.

    It's not that last season was a disappointment. Had they made the playoffs I suspect this would still be true and I'd still be skipping the off-season. It's more the realisation that from the end of one season to the start of the next it's a mixture of useless noise, empty opinion, and frustrating hype, plus the fact that I have realised that, despite the enjoyment I did get from last year's close focus on the off-season, none of that is what I really enjoy about football or the Dolphins, that's not why I'm a fan.

    What I enjoy about the Dolphins is the football. It's the reality of the team, seeing them go out, whoever is wearing the jerseys, and playing the games in that Florida sun. Seeing the Aqua, Orange and White fighting through the season, making plays, and just being a football team. There are players on this team I love, none that I hate, others I'm apathetic about, and during the season I enjoy keeping up with the news. hearing player interviews, and watching the games. And although ownership and management are a huge part of football, that side of things gives me less enjoyment, or sometimes, especially with the Dolphins of late, just frustration. I've realised the obvious, that that part of the game is something I can't control, can't even watch, really. Sure, it affects the team and the game in a big way, but at the end of the day the team that takes the field is the team that takes the field, and that's what I enjoy, the football. Sometimes it might not be that enjoyable, and I can choose to turn off the game if I can't take any more, but I think that my enjoyment of the Dolphins might actually be enhanced by following the hype-train and the analysis less, and just focusing in on the games. There are still some sources of analysis I respect and I'll be following them as they help me deepen my understanding of the game and the league, but at the end of the day I'll either enjoy watching the football or I won't, and I suspect that cutting out the nay-saying or the hype-train might well help with that. I'll be giving it a go next season.

    Either way, the off-season is one thing I'll be skipping. I realise the sports journalists need to make a living all year round. I realise there's massive growing interest in all sorts of analysis and statistics and trying to pick and guess on the college prospects to the extent the draft is a bigger and bigger event each year. I get it. I even get the pleasure one can find in it all. But at what cost? Boom or bust - sure, have a guess, but what will be will be. Dolphins need a linebacker...oh look, they picked a CB, oh no wait, crap, they drafted a kicker in the first round! - The squad will be what it will be. The boys that put on that uniform and step on the field will be the ones playing Dolphins football. The analysis is fine, but I'm not really interested in being able to predict the future of Dolphins football. Why set expectations or even hope for how the future will be - especially when I can't control it at all, and especially when that analysis takes so much time and all ends up a coin toss anyway? Nah. There's wisdom in the notion of taking one day at a time, and I've decided that with football, with the Dolphins, my enjoyment is best cultivated and experienced by taking it a season at a time, and trying to appreciate each game for what it is. No predictions. No expectations. Just the Dolphins playing hard, trying to compete, a striving for glory. The stats and the analysts and the mocks and the even the managers can do their thing. It doesn't matter. For me, the grass, the pads, the pigskin, the weather, the hits, the runs and the throws. That's where my enjoyment lies. That's what I love about football. That's what I'll be watching next season when I cheer on the Aqua and Orange. That's why I'll be skipping the off season.
     
    Tin Indian, Rex Deus, Bpk and 6 others like this.
  2. Fin-O

    Fin-O Initiated Club Member

    11,375
    11,392
    113
    Sep 28, 2015
    Wish 'I' had some adderall.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
  3. Itsdahumidity

    Itsdahumidity X gonna take it from ya

    2,073
    1,194
    113
    Dec 10, 2007
    Great post Galant and I hear you. It's been a non-stop cycle of stress causing BS. Enjoy your time away from this off-season and the only reason why I won't completely do the same is the draft. I'll continue to research/follow/compare the prospects for future reference. But my faith in this franchise to select the right players is gone.
     
    dolphin25 and Galant like this.
  4. Rick 1966

    Rick 1966 Professional Hipshooter

    8,565
    3,821
    113
    Nov 23, 2007
    Powell, WY
    If you REALLY want to reduce stress, you should skip their season as well. Wish I could, but it's too late for me. Save yourself!
     
    Pandarilla, Rex Deus, EverFin and 4 others like this.
  5. Galant

    Galant Love - Unity - Sacrifice - Eternity

    19,127
    11,058
    113
    Apr 22, 2014
    LOL :)

    While I have to agree with the premise, and your thoughtful advice. It would be nice to be following a team that consistently won the majority of its games and had a shot at the Superbowl every year, but the only way to pull that off is to become a dedicated band-wagon fan. Still, I do enjoy watching football and although it's difficult at times, I think there's value in learning to enjoy and appreciate games even when losing.
     
    number21 and Rick 1966 like this.
  6. Galant

    Galant Love - Unity - Sacrifice - Eternity

    19,127
    11,058
    113
    Apr 22, 2014
    If there's one thing that bothers me about the Dolphins (and maybe it's all franchises, I don't know), it that there's just too much talk right now, considering the current success level. If I could have one small wish for this team it would be someone at the top determining that the Dolphins will officially shut up until they put up. I don't mind them being mediocre but I'd rather they acknowledge that and just get on with being better and stop talking. Dan Marino says this. Ross says that. The team can be great. The team can dominate. It's OUR time. Urgh. I'd rather be a poor but humble and hardworking team than a mediocre one that runs at the mouth.

    Please someone just tell them we appreciate the interest but right now we've got jobs to do in order to get better, no further speculation permitted.
     
    DolphinGreg, dolphin25 and dgfred like this.
  7. Alex44

    Alex44 Boshosaurus Rex

    20,810
    8,965
    0
    Jan 7, 2008
    Hollywood, Florida
    I'd still follow the draft and rookie class, I'd just skip the hours and hours of analysis on each.
     
  8. Finster

    Finster Finsterious Finologist

    3,087
    2,038
    113
    Jul 27, 2013
    Maybe this is the way to go, I've never been able to do it, I've been a maniacal follower since before sunday ticket, and before it was even in bars, because it was available in bars before it was available for home use, and before the internet, in the infancy of ESPN.

    My brother and I were and still are avid followers of our teams, hungry for any news we could get, and back in those times it was paper, we both had subscriptions to the Digests, Dolphins Digest and Steelers Digest, which came with a media guide, we bought multiple newspapers daily leading up to and during the season, the USA Today was the real lifeline, except for that one year of The National, which was a failed sports newspaper, my brother and loved it though, it was a newspaper dedicated to sports only, it was awesome, but other paper companies and advertising affiliates made sure that paper failed.

    We would also buy every preview magazine every year, I remember that time of the year when we'd start checking the magazine racks every day waiting for the previews to come out, and they were crap for the most part, but the possibility that there might be SOME news forced us to buy these things every single year.

    Then there was the TV routine, watching the games that were available, Jets, Giants for the most part, but it being REALLY important for the halftime highlights, especially for the AFC channel, which was NBC at the time, CBS was NFC, Fox was a small red or gray wild canine at the time, lol, and ABC was monday night, another important halftime to catch.

    There was also ESPN, critical to catch SC, and a few years later, NFL Primetime, which was the greatest invention since sliced bread at the time, but there was also Inside the NFL on HBO, the grand pappy of all NFL shows, it was so dang hard WAITING for that broadcast, and my brother and I used to complain that they should have been able to get that aired quicker, had to wait until wed at 10 to get a real highlight recap of the games, hard to imagine now.

    There was also the George Michael's Sports Machine, no not THAT George Michael, lol, and that show was on around midnight on sunday, not quite as good as SC, but the fact that they might show a different highlight or 2 was enough to stay up late sunday, because back then, there was no sunday night football.

    It was tough back then to follow your team, it took a lot of diligence if you lived outside your teams market like we did, to get all the possible news and highlights, seems hard to believe now, now I can go on the internet and watch hours of game tape on potential prospects, I used to literally dream about being able to do that, but it was difficult enough just getting to see highlights of NFL teams.

    So suffice it to say that I've been doing this a very long time, diligently, and I don't think I could stop if I tried, but maybe you have the right idea, take a break and recharge the batteries, because as a coping mechanism, I've become apathetic about the games, I don't miss many, and I still follow every bit I can, but I'm not emotionally "living and dying" with my team anymore, it just got too damn hard to do so, so I've emotionally checked out on the Fins games.

    The good and the bad on that, first the bad, no excitement leading up to the game, that oh so great anticipation of game time, trouble sleeping saturday night and up too early on sunday, like every sunday during the season was Christmas day, and that glorious feeling of victory when we win.

    The good, sunday comes just as fast as it does in the offseason, no trouble sleeping sat night, not up too early on sunday, and no more wretched feelings after a loss, but I do lament the temporary loss of passion for the games, however I would be miserable if I was emotionally connected right now.

    Personally though, I believe it to be management that has brought me to this sad pass, I have no faith in them, I don't see smart football moves being made by them, hopefully that changes this year, because if I had hope of the team just making sound football decisions I could get emotionally invested again, I know I haven't lost passion for football, because I do get that feeling when I watch the Steelers, not to the extent that I did with my Fins, but basically the same type feelings, just not as strong, but the passion is still there.

    I hope it works for you.
     
    DolphinGreg and Galant like this.
  9. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

    51,929
    63,006
    113
    Apr 24, 2012
    Troy, Virginia
    To each their own, and there's no wrong answer, but I enjoy the offseason as much, if not more, than I do the regular season. I love the team construction, and the talk of what may or might not come to pass. All of the build up to the draft and free agency. Its like a holiday for me.
     
    djphinfan and dgfred like this.
  10. Ohio Fanatic

    Ohio Fanatic Twuaddle or bust Club Member

    32,070
    22,827
    113
    Nov 26, 2007
    Concord, MA
    No offense, but I'll believe it when I see it. If some exciting off-season acquisition takes place, everyone will be back.
     
  11. pumpdogs

    pumpdogs Well-Known Member

    5,185
    2,907
    113
    Sep 22, 2009
    delaware
    HAha!Thats funny.
     
  12. Dol-Fan Dupree

    Dol-Fan Dupree Tank? Who is Tank? I am Guy Incognito.

    40,533
    33,035
    113
    Dec 11, 2007
    I thought about taking it easy this offseason, then I thought, "Meh, whatever."
     
    Ohio Fanatic likes this.
  13. Serpico Jones

    Serpico Jones Well-Known Member

    4,697
    1,667
    113
    Feb 1, 2012
    I did this last year and will do so again this year. It just isn't worth the stress anymore.
     
  14. dgfred

    dgfred Free Agent pickup

    642
    259
    0
    Dec 17, 2015
    N.C., USA
    I am with superlucky13... I just love it all. I am a Phillies fan in baseball... same feeling lately as far as dumb FO moves/decisions.
     
  15. djphinfan

    djphinfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

    111,650
    67,542
    113
    Dec 20, 2007
    lol...ughhh yall are funny..its just football man.
     
    Ohio Fanatic and Sceeto like this.
  16. Sceeto

    Sceeto Well-Known Member

    13,501
    6,246
    113
    Oct 13, 2008
    New York
    :lol: Right? Give it a week or so. They'll be back.
     
  17. Fin D

    Fin D Sigh

    72,252
    43,684
    113
    Nov 27, 2007
    I dunno. I question the logic of it on a basic level.

    Seems to me the people that say they don't care or don't follow are angry, bitter, frustrated. You'd think if saying they don't care or are not going to follow then they wouldn't still be so upset.

    I don't think it works. You either care or you don't.
     
    djphinfan likes this.
  18. djphinfan

    djphinfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

    111,650
    67,542
    113
    Dec 20, 2007
    it's not good for the culture of the franchise for fans to lose interest, so if one day you lose your team you can say you did your part..
     
  19. DolphinGreg

    DolphinGreg Season Ticket Holder Club Member

    5,227
    6,527
    113
    Dec 7, 2014
    If you follow football in the offseason (as a fan) it's because you don't have better things to do. Seriously, be honest with yourself. Within days the season will be over. We're entering a period of the year that lasts for several months where you're lucky if you get a player interview once a week. There will be 2 or 3 highlights along the way: free agent signings, the draft, preseason, etc. But honestly, if you aren't getting into gear with other sports, you're missing out.

    I credit the guys in the Club Forum because a select group of hardcore subscribers are having serious discussions about college players and the upcoming draft but beyond that type of thing you have to learn to enjoy life. Football was never meant to be a 24/7, 365 operation.

    R-E-L-A-X and enjoy sports for what they are. They should not consume your life. You should damn sure not feel guilty about taking a break when that's what you're supposed to do! ;)
     
    Finster likes this.
  20. Finster

    Finster Finsterious Finologist

    3,087
    2,038
    113
    Jul 27, 2013
    I agree, and that is well said, but for some of us there is a passion that runs deep, and I'm not saying we're more passionate about the Fins, not at all, just that we're more passionate about info, lol, sad but true, but the offseason is a break for most of us to at least some extent, and it's much easier to keep up on info as you say, so we spend less time doing that.

    For me, watching tape of certain prospects and then watching tape of our picks(if I haven't already in my prep) is the thing that takes up time, and I have a love hate relationship with it, I hate sitting through all the BS, but I love getting all the info I get watching.

    I don't watch MLB, I no longer watch the NBA since my team left town and NHL happens at the absolute perfect time for me :yes:, the NFL buffer sport for me, it keeps me from crashing and burning after the NFL season is done, and I play pool at night all year long as my personal relief.
     
    djphinfan likes this.
  21. Galant

    Galant Love - Unity - Sacrifice - Eternity

    19,127
    11,058
    113
    Apr 22, 2014
    I did specify that I'd be watching for concrete moves. It's the speculation I'll be avoiding.
     
    number21 and DolphinGreg like this.
  22. Galant

    Galant Love - Unity - Sacrifice - Eternity

    19,127
    11,058
    113
    Apr 22, 2014
    I didn't say I don't care. I said I've decided I'm not going to give time to all the speculation and hype of the off-season, not going through a ton of what-if and 'maybe' situations that might never come to pass, or infuriating talk that puts the cart before the horse.
     
    number21, Fin-O and Finster like this.
  23. DolphinGreg

    DolphinGreg Season Ticket Holder Club Member

    5,227
    6,527
    113
    Dec 7, 2014
    Bingo. Smart decision. :)
     
  24. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

    51,929
    63,006
    113
    Apr 24, 2012
    Troy, Virginia
    I personally enjoy rumors and speculation as much as anything. Half the fun of sports is thinking of all the things that almost were, or might have been.
     
    Sceeto likes this.
  25. Shane Falco

    Shane Falco Banned

    916
    468
    0
    Nov 22, 2015
    We've won the offseason the last 2 years.

    Doesn't help. Doesn't matter.
     
  26. 2socks

    2socks Rebuilding Since 1973

    8,141
    2,103
    113
    Nov 27, 2008
    Atlanta
    Definitely something to be said about that. I remember how a lot of people were getting about the team and then in came SUH. Got to admit it was a good PR move
     
  27. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

    51,929
    63,006
    113
    Apr 24, 2012
    Troy, Virginia
    I'd counter that just because it didn't pan out immediately doesn't mean good moves weren't made. I think that most of the team's problems in 2015 were with the coaching staff and bad systems.
     
    dgfred and Shane Falco like this.
  28. Shane Falco

    Shane Falco Banned

    916
    468
    0
    Nov 22, 2015
    Agreed a million percent.
     
  29. dgfred

    dgfred Free Agent pickup

    642
    259
    0
    Dec 17, 2015
    N.C., USA
    Yeah, but it is a vicious circle when the bad system/coaching staff were hired by the same people making any/some/maybe good moves.
     
  30. Sceeto

    Sceeto Well-Known Member

    13,501
    6,246
    113
    Oct 13, 2008
    New York
    Regarding the future, that's all there is....
     
    Unlucky 13 likes this.
  31. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

    51,929
    63,006
    113
    Apr 24, 2012
    Troy, Virginia
    Well its not though. Other than Ross and Aponte, we've mostly cleaned house and started over.
     
  32. ATLFINFAN

    ATLFINFAN Season Ticket Holder Club Member

    5,059
    3,514
    113
    Nov 23, 2007
    What does it say about the TEAM, when a significant portion of it's fans enjoy the off season as much, or more, than the actual season?

    We have stunk for far to long.
     
  33. DolphinGreg

    DolphinGreg Season Ticket Holder Club Member

    5,227
    6,527
    113
    Dec 7, 2014
    That's what's so f'in messed up. As a fan of the Dolphins I look at the most die-hard fans and I see people whose real interest in the team has turned into an obsession with scouting and predicting the draft. It's apparent that the off-season is now just as big as the regular season for them. That's ridiculous when you think that all the off-season stuff is really supposed to happen behind the scenes. It's not meant to be a product that people consume or obsess over. If you're excited about the off-season, that means your perspective has been shifted way out of whack.

    I'm not picking on anyone either. I sort of understand why it happens. It's just a tragedy the Dolphins constantly under-achieve and make the regular season such a let-down every year. I mean, to think, there are teams who don't really even heat up until December knowing the Play-offs are a given, meanwhile Dolphins fans are like 'let's get this Play-off stuff out of the way so we can start talking draft!'

    That is not how any of this is supposed to work, lol.
     
    2socks, number21 and Finster like this.
  34. Galant

    Galant Love - Unity - Sacrifice - Eternity

    19,127
    11,058
    113
    Apr 22, 2014
    “In today’s world, if you don’t win the whole thing, whether it’s football or basketball, or this and that, people have a tendency to paint you as a loser or act like you just robbed the cookie jar. Well that’s baloney. It didn’t happen for us, but is everything going to go your way in life? You think you’re on the Earth and everything you want to happen to you is going to happen to you positively? The measure of who we are is how we react to something that doesn’t go our way.”
     
  35. WhiteIbanez

    WhiteIbanez Megamediocremaniacal

    2,155
    837
    0
    Aug 10, 2012
    I'll do this till the day I die. Seen all the Marino years.
    The Dolphins lost the SB on my 18th birthday in Palo Alto in '85. Do the math.
    Not leaving.
    Look forward to seeing you here during the draft op.
     
    Unlucky 13, djphinfan and dgfred like this.
  36. dgfred

    dgfred Free Agent pickup

    642
    259
    0
    Dec 17, 2015
    N.C., USA
    Yikes, I was in a big 2 story house full of baseball players with the whole downstairs going for the other bstards.
     
  37. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

    51,929
    63,006
    113
    Apr 24, 2012
    Troy, Virginia
    Me too, man. I was 7 when they last made it to the Super Bowl, and 15 the last time they made it to the AFC title game. They can't lose me.
     
    WhiteIbanez and dgfred like this.
  38. Tin Indian

    Tin Indian Rockin' The Bottom End Club Member

    7,929
    4,404
    113
    Feb 10, 2010
    Palm Bay Florida
    I am in full on Show Me mode. I will not get wrapped up in any of the off season hype this year like last year in particular and past seasons in general.

    I just don't have it in me to get pumped up for such dismal failure again. I will be back once the season starts.

    Peace.
     

Share This Page