Joe Pa and Penn State

Look this has nothing really to do with the Dolphins.  But I have known a number of people who worked for, went to school at, or played football for Penn State over the years.

And this whole story is shocking...and sad.

Mostly because of what happened to these boys, but to a lesser degree because of what football has become there, and we can assume in other places.  It would seem that this "family" of coaches and friends protected one another and did nothing to stop what was going on, in spite of the fact that they apparently knew about it.

And it happened with a coach who was essentially revered, even if he didn't actually do anything "wrong"....it makes you wonder what else goes on at large universities, or even the NFL - hopefully nothing quite this shocking or revolting, but I could imagine that much less major scandals could be going on and getting buried as well.

Hopefully, as a society we pay more attention to what's going on, and we can stop this sort of thing by questioning the world around us...

Reggie Bush

I was going through an archive of my postings and I saw one I put out there after the USC-Texas National Championship game in 2006.

Reggie Bush was born two months after the Dolphins last went to the SuperBowl.

Wow, its been a long time.

Well there's that way I suppose

I was watching a hilight reel of the chiefs - dolphins clash and I noticed something I wanted to point out.

On many critical plays for the chiefs, the dolphins went all-out blitz. They brought 7 or 8 on most ocassions.

That is selling out. If it works, great. You get the big sack and control that series and possibly the game. And it sure looks amazing when everyone is around the qb. They appear to be swarming to the ball.

But they were lucky. If it hadn't worked, Miami would have been in a heap of trouble. The scoring would have been easy for the chiefs.

I'm not a fan of selling out to the blitz, but sometimes it works....

Dolphins Alumni Unsung Hero Award

The Miami Dolphins Alumni Association's Unsung Hero Award was established in 2004 to honor former Dolphins players who did not receive the recognition that he deserved during his playing days. In order to be nominated for the award, a retired player must have seen action in a minimum of four seasons during the allotted time period and not earn All Pro or Pro Bowl recognition.

This year, the nominees were players who saw action during the 2000-10 time period. Fans have the opportunity to select the final three nominees from the list on the attached link, with the Dolphins Alumni Association selecting the final winner.

Previous winners include quarterback Earl Morrall in 2004, running back Tony Nathan in 2005, wide receiver/tight end Jim Jensen in 2006, defensive tackle Manny Fernandez in 2007, running back Bernie Parmalee In 2008, quarterback Don Strock in 2009 and Shawn Wooden in 2010.

http://www.miamidolphins.com/team/2011-unsung-hero-award.html

Mid-season report card

Normally, at this time, in this space, I relive the season so far, and present to you the mid-season report card.  But the problem is there is so much bad, and one game of relative good.  The "best game" is obvious while the worst game is a crapshoot.

There is no MVP.  I can't talk about best at position.  There just isn't anything to draw on.

But there is a wanker of the midseason, and that has to be Vontae.  As I said in another post, the guy simply hasn't been playing - and this after saying he believed he was part of the best defensive backfield in the NFL.  He promotes himself and then grossly underperforms - that is the very definition of wanker!

But there are tons of other guys who deserve recognition: Marshall, Columbo, JT, Y Bell, and Clyde Gates top my list. 

At 1-7, they are pathetic, but I listened to maybe 5 minutes of the Dolphin-produced-and-therefore-its-totally-asinine "Finsiders" show (while the station I was listening to was at a commercial; and before I threw up), and they said it "we've been in every game, so there's hope, and no reason why they couldn't go 9-7 on the year!"  And that just makes matters worse.  I know, you have to keep fans interested, but really?

Ugh.  Sure, you only lost to the Broncos by 3, but the team imploded at the end. And that's kind of the same thing that happened against the Giants. There never was a chance against the Patriots, Jets, or Chargers.  An inept, lackluster performance against the Texans and Browns.  That's not being in every game.  I just don't see that hope, or share that optimism.

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A perspective

My middle-school aged son - the one who enjoys watching good games and his fantasy players - wanted to express his feelings about the dolphins. 

So it looks like we have a new writer. For now we will call him "bitchin junior". 

I welcome his first article and it's point of view. His writing style may need a little work, though, so I'm not quite ready to hand over the keys to the site. ;)

The Dolphins may have just won their first game, but dark skies are still ahead.  The reason being, if the Dolphins don't even win another game, the chances are the Colts get draft pick #1.  However, that isn't all.  Andrew Luck isn't everything at stake here.  It is the Dolphins coach, Tony Sparano, because if the Dolphins manage to win five games, he'll stay.

Also, Steven Ross isn't doing enough, either.  You start to go through the Dolphins team, you see guys needed to be traded away.  Such as Jason Taylor, Reggie Bush, Brandon Marshall, Kevin Burnett, Mike Pouncey, and Jake Long.  Maybe even Cameron Wake, because the truth is the Dolphins are not good enough.

The Dolphins can get some value, maybe some draft picks, and young players.  Why?  The Dolphins need to build a team that will succeed in the future, not today.

I remember sitting on the couch with my dad the day Chad was drafted.  You can guess which Chad.  I said "If the Dolphins pick him up, they turn themselves around, toward doomed.  I used to make fun of Cleo Lemon, now I would worship him.  If the Dolphins don't switch, the next time you will see a good team will be 2046, or so it seems.  The Dolphins also need a new QB.

So the bottom line is the Dolphins suck and need to play for a team of tomorrow.  I wrote my first song and it goes like this: "Miami has the Dolphins, an awful football team.  The lose the ball and never score, and make everyone scream.  It might not be with delight, but that's why everyone knew the team, and that's why when you say Miami, you give everyone the creeps.  Miami bad sins, Miami bad sins.  Miami bad sins are the worst."

South Florida Event-comedy show

Hey everybody, I received this from short Michelle (of the 2 Michelles). Hope you will consider going and supporting a good cause!

Hi guys!

I hope everyone is doing well and actually enjoyed watching football yesterday for the first time in a long time!  :)

I wanted to reach out to you and see if you'd be interested in helping us spread the word about a charity event taking place in South Florida. It's being hosted by Anthony Fasano to raise money and awareness for an organization called Rebuilding Together, which helps to provide safe and accessible housing for all low-income veterans.

Anthony has partnered with Tracy Morgan to put on a great night of comedy on Saturday, November 26th. Since many of your readers are in South Florida, or may be there for Thanksgiving, I thought they might be interested in hearing about this.

Here's the link with all the info:
http://www.dolfansnyc.com/2011/11/07/anthony-fasano-to-host-tracy-morgan-comedy-show/

Thanks in advance for anything you can do to help spread the word. 

GO PHINS!!

-Short Michelle 

______________________________

My biggest fear...

It starts with the Dolphins getting on a quasi-roll and winning 4-5 of their remaining games.  That would put them at either 5 or 6 wins for the season.  Possible?  Sure. Likely?  Probably not.  But you never know.

And with the Bills twice, the Jets, Pats, Raiders, Redskins, Cowboys, and Eagles, its certainly theoretically possible.  Who knows with division games (and the Patriots are not that good!). The Redskins are not that great.  The Cowboys are beatable.  And the Raiders have had an up and down season.

So 5-11 or 6-10 would put them somewhere in the range of "better" teams which takes them out of the sweepstakes for most of the top-tier QBs...which would mean that the team will look elsewhere for talent.  And might draft that third team long snapper they've had their eye on!

And it also might, maybe, turn the tables on this whole firing thing.  Suppose they are "in every game" and wind up with 6 wins.  Does Tony get fired?  What about Jeff?  Will we get more of the same nonsense next year?

Both Jeff "the furious enigma" Ireland and Tony "the Bootin' Bull" Sparano must - MUST - be fired. There are no alternatives.  And whoever comes in MUST draft a QB.  End of story.

Anything less and I'm jumping ship, and I'm sure I won't be the only one.  This has gone on for too long...

wanker of the week

At this point - at week 8 - seeing Vontae only playing in 3 games or so is kind of ridiculous. And this week, he was left at home because he's not preparing as a professional or something.

Dude. You're a pro, and you're not playing!

The word I want is wanker.

so let's see - woohoo?

The way I see it, its really hard to lose all of your games. Sure its been done twice, but it's not exactly easy.

And yes, the Dolphins are probably a better team that their 0-7 record suggests.

And of course you could always turn to the adage "every dog has his day"

So the Dolphins scored 31 points, and beat the Chiefs in Kansas City. Good for them. I watched a little of the game in the second half, and what I saw was a bad Chiefs team - probably over confident, possibly still on the high from beating the Chargers Monday night.

Still - this is the NFL and a wins a win.... Its just hard to get too excited about it, because they only got to 1-7. Yipee.

I think I'm more excited that they are half way through this waste of a season.