The wording on this sign makes me laugh

Do they mean it's dangerous to be a dolphins fan?

Concussions

At one point in the 4th, Henne ran the ball.  He lowered his shoulder to try and get extra yardage, and got hit on one side by a safety, but took a hit on the head from a linebacker.  Henne crumpled to the ground, and sat there for a few moments before standing up and "shaking it off."

 

 

And that's all well and good, except that the NFL has vowed to take a stronger stand on concussions and possible concussions.  By definition, the QB going down with a blow to the head should have been checked for a concussion, and if there were any symptoms, he should not have been able to return to that game - and then the protocol would need to be followed on a timetable for return.

 

 

Henne didn't leave the game.  I didn't see him get checked.  And I didn't hear any talk about it in the last day.  There certainly should be talk about it, because the object is to reduce the long-term effects on blows to the head.

Two more Sparano comments

Tony touched on some different subjects when he spoke with us on Saturday. I wanted to hilight two other topics:

A. He was talking about henne's leadership during the lockout because Chad had and knew the playbook so the players would all come to him since they couldn't come to the coaches. I'm still a bit dubious about how this might have worked. After all there was only a period of a couple of days where coaches had access to players. Maybe he could get the playbook, but I highly doubt he "learned it" without daboll doing some tutoring

And B. He talked about his relationship with Ireland and how they go about finding players: essentially he goes to Ireland with a need and Ireland finds a player or perhaps players that fit the bill and they go from there. So Tony doesn't generally get to pick the player, that's up to jeff. And if this team is lacking in the talent department, then that falls on jeff.

And then there was this game that was played....

Miami was 0-5 lifetime against the Texans.  They have been 1-11 over their last 12 home games.  The weather was unbelievable, and the Texans were in their dark blue uniforms.  Sparano wanted that homefield advantage, and it would almost seem like he got it.  And all of these things - one might think - would lead to a victory.  But you would be sorely mistaken, disappointed, and generally annoyed with the outcome.

Miami got pushed around by Mario Williams when the Fins were on offense.  And Andre Johnson - who might be the best receiver in football right now (and certainly is one of the top 5!) - just dismantled the Dolphins defense.  It was hard to watch at times, even though Miami stayed in it until very late.

The good: Really, except for 2 early drives, Miami's defense played well enough to win it.  They really kept the Fins in the game.  JT and Wake each got a sack.  Henne looked moderately confident.  Hartline and Marshall made some nice grabs. Donald Thomas had a nice day rushing.  Oh and I got a chance to meet Desmond Howard and chat with him before the game - that was pretty cool.

The bad: Miami (again) couldn't score when it still mattered.  They missed two field goals.  Offensive line play was suspect at times.  The Dolphins gave each season ticket holder a free additional seat to this game. WTF?  The stands were maybe half full.  Its hard to put all the blame on Henne for the picks (he was hit both times), but at the end of the day, he delivered the ball to the opponent.

The ugly: there were still too many penalties.  To wit: Miami got a first down + a face mask.  And they line up with 12 men in the huddle on the next play.  Then, there was this silly thing they did late: its 4th and 1 and Miami is down by a score.  They line up with the hard count, move people around, and try to draw the Texans offsides.  And then they call a timeout, and punt it.  You have a power run game that's working.  Heck use a quick count or a QB sneak.  Or even do something that catches your opponent off-guard.  Miami, naturally, allowed a score on that series to end it.  Jake Long once again was having issues.  I daresay he's not quite right.  And Vontae Davis left his second game in a row - this time with a hamstring pull.  So Nolan Carroll got picked on again.

Club LIV

Included with our ticket to the game this week was an admission to
club LIV, at any point.

Now let me back up a little. It was a freakin' hot day. The seats we
had were in the corner that stayed in the sun the longest, so we chose
to step inside the club level for nearly all of the second and third
quarters and simply watched the game on TV. What an odd way to watch
a game at the stadium. But you know what was odder? The sheer number
of people doing the same thing!

But I wanted to see club LIV, so I set out on a quest. The view is an
endzone view, but is in the shade if you elect to sit in the seats.
You can hang out at a lower, small bar, or head upstairs to the
club.....and its ENORMOUS. The club itself stretches pretty much
across the west endzone, on the second level of suites. There are
"cabanas" for hanging out (for a fee), some comfy chairs, lots of TVs,
some rails to stand at and catch part of the game, and a bar that
literally stretches across the entire space. But I noted there was
not a price listed anywhere. I suppose if you can afford it, it
doesn't matter.

There's music playing that's loud enough to be heard, but its not
overwhelming. The beat keeps going, and there are all kinds of
lighted features that blink in time with the music. But the main
attraction is the pretty people. There was a cornucopia of
exceptionally beautiful women milling about - looking to be seen. And
frankly, that was enough to make a few of us NEVER want to leave.
Ever.

So it was very much like a South Beach club. At the stadium. Which
was such a weird combination, that I can't quite get my head around
it. I mean club=good thing. Football=good thing. But their
intersection just doesn't make sense to me.

Now on the other hand, we can look at this as part of the Dolphins
exercise to maximize their profit, and certainly this can be
profitable. And giving me (and the other web guys) access to the club
does create a buzz. So I suppose their goal was reached.

But the starting price of admission is, ahem, cough, cough, $200. Per
person. Per game.

Who has that kind of money to do this regularly? Sure, maybe J Lo or
the Kardashians show up there. But that's a lot of dinero.

So....I enjoyed going in and, lets call it "people watching"....but I
won't be back (unless someone wants to send me!)

Maybe she had the right idea?

We were on the field before the game, watching warmups.

I happened to notice a young lady sitting on the field reading a book.

So the joke here is either (a) that she was doing something the dolphins need to - study the playbook.

Or (b) that we should take a cue from her and just find other things to entertain us this season. Such as reading instead of going to the game.

Interesting perspective

Saturday night, Tony Sparano spoke to a small group of us, and took a few questions.  I asked about the Wildcat - clearly with the change of OC and the loss of Ronnie, it would seem to be on hiatus.  

Sparano gave a thoughtful answer: essentially he didn't see the need for it now.  When he first rolled it out he didn't have a lot of talent, and he wanted to find a way to get both Ricky and Ronnie on the field with a chance to get the ball in their hands.  And now there's more talent, and therefore not the need.

And here's where this gets interesting.  Yes, the Dolphins are now employing a more aggressive offense, and there would generally seem to be more talent now than there was 3 years ago.  But is it better?  After today's game, I'm not sold.  There is probably more overall talent, but I am not seeing better players.  And certainly, there are some opportunities (to use a euphamism).  

Oh and by the way, they did run a wildcat-esque play today with an unbalanced line, and a pull into that line with a handoff to Thomas.  Chad was still the QB, so maybe it fits the personnel package better - but maybe they need more of that and not less of it?

At the texans game

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kHqYBI64FQ

Short. Sweet. To the point. That's the beauty Dave's iPhone.