Monday, December 19, 2011

The Psychology of Dolphins

Hello.

Oh, it's been a while my friendly readers...been rather busy as of late. Handling booking for a sweet-ass Northampton live music and arts hot-spot, among other things. Check it out: http://musicattheelevens.blogspot.com/

Anyway...



Yesterday, on a Sunday that brought the grim awareness of what now is known to me as "my most hated commercial of all time" -the one where the family hums Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train" while driving in their SUV ... On a Sunday that I witnessed the Packers losing their first game of the season and the Colts winning their first of the season..A Sunday that saw me turn two Pick 4 sheets into drink coasters before the 4:00 games even started...a day when I watched in horror as Drew Brees ended my relevancy in Fantasy Football 2011, showing me the door with his 54 point display-at-my-expense. Yes dear reader, on a Sunday that brought me another Miami Dolphins victory in a lost season and another AFC East title from the New England Patriots, unfortunately...I realized something. Why, even a new Iron Chef was crowned yesterday! Congrats to Iron Chef Geoffrey Zakarian (aka Bad Mother Fucker) --no that's not what I realized...t'was a good day indeed.

And I finally was able to express in words, my Psychology of the Miami Dolphins. That IS what I realized.

I think that watching the Dolphins crush the Bills yesterday, earning their fifth victory in their last seven games, combined with all the buzz about them searching for a head coach who could be "The Next Don Shula", forced a clarity into my soul pertaining to the plight of The Miami Dolphins. This new-found clarity made me believe that I could now express this to someone dear to me.

It started in 83'. Th Dolphins had a hot-shot rookie Quarterback named Dan Marino who stepped into the starting role after six games and never looked back. They made the playoffs that year but got beat by the Seattle Seahawks (now in the NFC). In 84' Marino went on to break six NFL Passing records including twirling 48 Touchdown passes and passing for 5,084 yards (as of this writing, that record still stands). Marino is named NFL MVP and the Dolphins make it to the Super Bowl only to lose to Joe Montana and the San Fransisco 49ers. In 85' Marino led the Dolphins to the AFC Championship game. En route to this achievement they defeated the Chicago Bears. This is notable because the Chicago Bear only lost that game all season. Miami remained as the only team to go undefeated through an entire season (includes Super bowl). Unfortunately, Miami was defeated in the AFC Championship game by the upstart New England Patriots (before they were a dynasty team) and their season was over. They surely could have handled the now-legendary Chicago Bears team of 85' than the Patriots did in the Super Bowl, and I can't help but wonder how things would have gone if they ever gave Marino a premier Running Back and a stout defense? If they faced the Bears that year rather than the fucking Patriots?? If Dan Marino won that Super Bowl, how many more could he have won now that he would have tasted that sweet Super Bowl victory???

More about Marino, from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Marino

Either way, Dan Marino never did win his Super Bowl and when Hall of Fame Head Coach Don Shula retired, he was replaced by the legendary head coach Jimmy Johnson. Johnson had led the Dallas Cowboys to three Super Bowl victories in the early 90's and was a system-building disciplinarian. Things were looking good! With a quarterback like Marino and a proven winner and system-builder for a coach we couldn't lose. But while Jimmy inherited a powerful offense, albeit with no real running game, he also inherited a very lackluster defense. Eventually through high-level drafting and vision, he was able to establish the effective running game and strong defense that would compliment Marino, and could also win Super Bowls.

But this was "Marino's" team. Not Johnson's team, as it should have been.

Team philosophies were designed for Marino. The playbook had to cater to his lore and skill set before anything else...how could a visionary like Jimmy Johnson create his winning team when he was pressured to cater to Marino's vision for the offense??? Inevitably through years of mediocrity that would follow, and the pressure of a deteriorating relationship between Johnson and Marino, Johnson retired and Marino did also retire shortly afterwards.

Here's more about Jimmy Johnson, from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Johnson_(American_football_coach)

Then, Dave Wannnstedt took the reigns of the Dolphins and here's basically how it's gone since:

Shit!
softie coach
shit
ass
sHiT..
dung..
SHit
weak attempt at getting a good QB
shit
lame QB's
more dull coaches...
crap
poop!
Sh*t
guess what, more bad QB's and head coaches
shit poopie crap
&^%^%##@!!&&^%
shit
some good players on board..
shit QB
bad defense
shit RB's..
ass
##%$!!^@!+##
poop!
dullard QB
shit sHIt
ShiT
poopie shit crap....$#%$@^@#$#@!!!

But now, things are buzzing again and they're looking for a leader. Not just anyone...they already found a leader for the playing field. One who just needed an opportunity to shine and did so. Mr. Matt Moore. I hope they let him continue with it. Yes lovely reader I feel that now, they want to be great again.


At least I'm still hoping...and things are buzzing all around.



~ZFJ

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