Past The past can be broken down into three names: 1. Joe Robbie - really a mixed bag here though ultimately positive. The original owner of the Dolphins franchise. But, the greatest move was bringing Don Shula in. One wonders how much he really knew about Shula? Was he just lucky? If so, as they say, better lucky than good. Robbie has some negatives. Who knows what would have happened had he been able/willing to keep the trio of Csonka, Kiick & Warfield (who left after the '75 season)? The Dolphins went 10-4 the following year but really were not competitive with the Steelers or Raiders. However, the biggest negative, imo, is the stadium he built. The positive - it was built with his own money. The negative - he was thinking under the old 70's model of stadiums serving a dual role for baseball and football. That was a failed model that really was short lived. He simply did not have the fore-sight to build a football only stadium. Had he done so it would potentially have been much better suited for the team and the fans. Finally, as with other owners in that era, he did not think through the tax ramifications that would force the sale of the team and stadium to Huizenga. Many other owners today have wised up. 2. Don Shula - the only truly successful coach in Dolphins history. NFL legend. Instantly a great coach, turning a losing team into winners his first year. Two SB titles in a row. One of the greatest teams in NFL History and still the only perfect team ever. Coming up on a 40 year mark that has remained unmatched. Just an His one downfall was personnel later in his coaching career. Had he (or perhaps this is in Robbie's court as well) been able to keep Bobby Beathard on board - I think the Dolphins would have been even more competitive in the 80's and 90's (Beathard went on to have excellent success in Washington and San Diego). Nevertheless, even with insufficient personnel, he still had his teams generally as prepared to play on game day as any coach in the NFL. It was only personnel that hindered him, imo. Perhaps the one time he was truly out-coached was the '84 season SB by the genius Bill Walsh. We have to throw in some other great coaching names on the staff - Arnsparger & Schnellenberger in particular. - Under Shula, some great players in his early years emerged: Warfield, Csonka, Griese, Buoniconti, Little, Langer, Scott, Anderson, Kuechenberg, etc. 3. Dan Marino - Marked the second great Shula era. Not really many great teams (except for '84 - but the aging killer B defense was suspect). But, the Shula-Marino era was incredibly exciting and always competitive. The end of the Shula era, unbeknownst to us all, was really the end of the Dolphins as a great AFC franchise. Until that time, even in the down years, Miami was, along with the Raiders and the Steelers, in the top three franchises in terms of consistency, in AFL/AFC history. And, right there in terms of popularity, success, and prestige in the AFC. The next decade was marked by one failure after another: of the JJ era (62-7 will long be one of the most memorable features of that era), the Wanny era (in spite of a few winning seasons - led largely, though not exclusively, by JJ's defensive drafts; he ultimately never had a true contender and ended in a losing season); the fiascos of Cameron & Saban - both disasters in completely different ways. Present The Parcells/Ireland/Sparano/Ross era. Ross likely will be the only one who remains into the future (though JI may hang on briefly). This is a complete failure. Disaster. Though some fans still hold onto hope this year, it's over. 0-4 with suspect QB play and a defense that has failed terribly. The one hope is that Sparano will continue to blow it so we can get a shot at Luck. Both Huizenga and Ross are at fault here. Two ultimately failed owners. I once was thankful we weren't the Raiders. Now? The Raiders seem, in spite of a stretch of senility on the part of the once great Al Davis, to be a franchise that is at least competitive building a better D and an improved offense - they are at the least, competitive. The Dolphins? At this point, though Parcells brought some notoriety to the team - he's abandoned ship. Today, with arguably THE weakest owner in the NFL, the once proud Dolphins franchise has plummeted to the very bottom of the league in terms of prestige, notoriety and power. Even though the low points in the past decade seemed to be progressively reaching the lowest possible position (first, 62-7; then 4-12; then 1-15), the present Dolphins, right here, right now, seem to be to be the lowest point in franchise history. Even worse than 1-15. At least then, there was still a sense of tradition lingering; hope with a new coach and a wealthy Huizenga still seeming willing to overturn every stone to get the best people possible in place to run the franchise. But, this has to be the lowest of the lows. Even the once decades long hapless Lions have such a brighter future than Miami. But, regardless of the hire - this franchise has bottomed out, and is remaining there. It is reminiscent of the present U.S. economy and stock market - trading in a range that, with all the debt built up, has numerous marks against it for any real long term growth prospects. Even the Super Bowl hosting by Miami is no longer a given, due to the severe flaws of the Stadium (ironically that lies at the feet of Joe Robbie). Future Anyone's guess, of course. But, there are so many questions: First, does Ross really have a strong financial position? Or, has the Real Estate market's weaknesses hindered him dramatically? One wonders ... Second, does Ross have the appeal as an owner to draw in good people at the President, GM and Coaching positions? That too is a big question-mark. Obviously, he could get lucky. Personally, I think the mess that has been created makes it very unappealing. And, even if he lands a Cowher - what SB winning coach has had success elsewhere? Can he alone build a culture and situation that equates to what the Steelers have had in place for decades? Does he have the patience to see that through for 5 years plus? The team has made so many gambling mistakes, and poor draft decisions (including trading picks) it's hard to know how long a rebuild will take. I don't mean a rebuild that will get them to 10-6 and a potential playoff spot. But a genuinely competitive team that can, in any given year, compete for a SB (ala the Steelers, Patriots, Ravens, Colts, in the past 5-6 seasons). Further, does Cowher have the acumen (along with the patience, etc.) to win in this NFL where offenses have been given such huge advantages - it almost looks like 8 man flag football out there... Personally, I have gone from anger to hopefulness to anger and now to capitulation. Just a deflated, rather apathetic view of events on the field and even in the front office. I remain a fan but no longer live and die on Mondays based on Sunday success or failure (It was uncanny how strongly I would be impacted by a W or L during the first couple of days of the week in the past). Any more, for sanity's sake, I've had to simply distance myself from taking any sort of strong interest in the on-the-field results this year (and even last year). I think it will take an entire franchise revamping before things are turned around, if ever. Perhaps even new ownership - or else a dramatic change in the ownership perspective of Ross - very unlikely, imo; only because people Ross' age, who've had success, have a very difficult time re-evaluating themselves; we all do; and so far Ross has proven to be a very shallow-minded owner, thinking he can bring fans in through fluff and popular names associated with the franchise. The Dolphins are going to need a system ala the Packers (who have weathered coaching changes, and a dramatic QB change, yet remain with the same offensive system that Holmgren brought in and continue to win), Steelers and a few other franchises with great leadership. THough Cowher might be able to do that - I think it would be a long shot. What the team needs is a decade long winning tradition; not just one or two hopeful seasons of improvement. I think that will require a legitimate GM candidate who can remain on board 20 years; or a great coach that is young enough to stay 10+ years along with solid GM work (ala the Patriots). Does Ross even have the ability to foresee that and find that?
Eh, let's see how things turnout this yr Da'fins. As for the present, we are still in it, don't pull the cake out of the oven half baked, wait for the wk #17 timer to ding
i think the biggest thing with the apathy for me at least is that the team seems to fail almost exactly the same ways at the same points in the game. sparano and henne win that co-award imo. i think when both are gone, we will feel better
For me, the oven could stop working on MNF. As posted before, in 08 we start 2-4, and make the playoffs. In 09, we start 2-4, get to 7-6, and are in the running before imploding the last 3 games. In 10, we start 3-3, and still have a "chance" after game #12. IF we win on Monday, I will not give up, ever though playoff chances are not VG. If not, I have to believe the oven ran out of gas very early. JMO.
One can always be wrong and I'll gladly give a hundred mea culpas and eat my words if I am ... but, this season is done. There is no way on earth this team can compete for a SB title (being competitive for such is the only way I'd define success - unless we were coming off of 1-15 and improved to 8-8 or such as that - with a young QB, new coach, and improving team). To have a "turn around" that, zenith of best-case scenarios this year, results in anywhere from 6-10 to 9-7, would bring little or no value and only extend the team's future of below average to stale mediocrity. And still require a painful rebuild. It would be the equivalent of the Fed continuing to print $$, only putting off the pain of paying off deeper debts in the future.
