The Dolphins Make Me Cry.com - Forums

Actually, lately, most times.

Back in my media days, I covered a ton of big games.  This included a couple of the Patriots Super Bowls and all of their AFC Title games.  My relatives, who are all Pats fans, were insanely jealous.  They would always ask "doesn't a small part of you cheer for the Pats, once Miami is out of it?"  The answer was always no.  I liked the guys, I liked the staff members.  They were always nice to me.  It was fun covering the team.  I didn't root against them, but I was able to stay very unbiased. 

One of those family members went to the game yesterday, he is a season ticket holder (after years of waiting).  As he does, he started text bombing me once the game turned in the favor of the Pats.  Finally, however, he hit me with:

"Being a fan is supposed to be fun.  When was the last time you had any fun?"

That kind of hit me pretty hard.  Being a fan IS supposed to be fun.  I can't remember the last time I had fun supporting this team.  Every year ~EVERY ONE ~ is filled with the same garbage.  Maybe if they do this, maybe if they address that...well then...Miami MIGHT be a COUPLE years away from being an UP AND COMING TEAM.  It seems like Miami is always on the verge of the verge of being on the verge of the verge of "something special." 

And we stick around and buy it, every year. 

It's not any fun, though. 

I'm not having any fun.  At all.

Six or seven (if we are lucky) times a year we get something to cheer about.  That's it.  Then draft day we scratch our heads, wondering what the hell they just did.  Those musings come to life when those draft picks almost always fizzle out into nothing. 

Being a fan of this franchise, actually, sucks.

Being a fan is still fun for me. Being around other fans  who have no clue what they are talking about spout off nonsense and say idiotic things is no longer fun. Also pre and post game shows or "talking heads" shows on the all sports channels aren't fun either anymore. Everything said is said to just be a sound-byte or just said to get a reactions no matter how un-true it is.

Still enjoy the games.....starting to hate everything else around sports these days

Yes it can be frustrating to follow this team sometimes, but it's just a game and it should not be a big deal in your life.

...it's not.  Don't read / put words where they don't belong.

What does disturb me though is that I love the game of football and I expect a fair product to be put on the field.  And what we saw yesterday was not a fair product.

I think you need to have realistic expectations.  Enjoy the wins, don't get bummed about the games were you know the Fins are overmatched, and be upset about the evenly matched games that are lost.  I think the team has been moving in the right direction so I try to stay pretty positive.  Now if I thought they were moving in the wrong direction, like I did as soon as Wanny became coach and starting bringing all the losers he had at Chicago, then I just don't pay attention to the product.  I'd root for them to win, but just wouldn't get upset with the losses.

Before the game, I had no expectations. I thought the Dolphins were going to get crushed.

Going into halftime with a 2 TD lead, I thought, "hey we might pull this thing off."  It gave me hope.

Then the result - heartbreak.  They did it to me again. They raised my hope and excitement only to come out the same-old Dolphins.  Finding ways to lose...

That part, to me, is disheartening.  Had they some out and gone down 14-0 and lost 27-17, I'd have a completely different feeling about the team than I do after Sunday's game.

Yep this team is very very young....but also talented. This heartbreak now and these tough losses will pay off in the long-run. Just growing pains. Fans don't want to hear that though.

Of course not, fans want to win every year.  Everyone thinks "this is our year" and wants instant turnaround.

maybe with some cap space, next year we can shore up the o-line, retain some of the current talent.  This year is Philbin's "I want our guys" reset year.  Who's ready to do this cycle every 3 seasons.  Wanna know why we never win?  We never allow coaches to grow and improve.  We reset every 3 years.  You can't build a winner with a rookie coach every third season.  Doesn't happen.

These things take time.

Since 1995:
Johnson - lasted 4 seasons
Wannstedt - 4.5 seasons
Saban - 2 seasons
Cameron - 1 season
Sparano - 3.5 seasons
Philbin - 1.5 seasons and counting...

What other team has had 8 different head coaches in the past 18 seasons (including Bates and Bowles)?  Every time you switch, you start over at zero.  Every coach wants his players, his schemes, his assistants.

When you reset, as we have done this season, you need to build, grow, and learn.  That's what's happening now.  People need patience.  It takes TIME.



Edit to add:
Only 4 teams have had as many (or more) coaches as the Dolphins since 1995:
Bills (8 ): 3-5
Lions (8 ): 5-3
Raiders (10): 3-4
Rams (8 ): 3-5

It takes some serious stones for a Patriots fan to say that.  I would ask this family member how he managed to "have fun" for the 30 years of Patriot football prior to Tom Brady.

That being said, it's easy for any one of us to jump on the bandwagon of a winner... but what kind of enjoyment or pride would you get from that?

Isn't the quintessential sports fan experience trudging through the bad times so you can enjoy and revel in the good times?

Agree 100%!! Real fans don't bail on their team!!

I hate to be "that guy," but the more I watch this team, the less convinced I am that there is a whole lot of talent on the roster.

I disagree.  This is a team that played the Patriots AND the refs close all the way.

Aside from the o-line this team is good enough to compete for a playoff spot. There is talent. Not saying its "elite talent" by any means but talent nonetheless. Still areas that need improvement but they have young talent.

Sometimes, like this past weekend it does suck. If they were blown out, there would be no disappointment. Losing a lead, on the road, on the heels of a 3 game skid, sucks. There's no way around that for me. I'm a passenger in a car that I'm not privileged enough to drive. Nor am I wealthy enough to afford. Hard to enjoy the ride of a constantly crashing car. For 29 years I've strapped in and held on. I'm not jumping out anytime soon. But this still sucks.

Now I'm ready for Thursday.

Yeah, lifer, after reading your 782 posts (estimate) about the refs the past 3 days, I understand you're not happy about the officiating. Get over it and move along already.


Filed under "agree to disagree." I think the team has below average RBs, below average WRs, a decent but nothing special front seven and a D-backfield that has a couple of quality players and a couple who ought to be backups, rather than starters.

If only the oline wasn't so important to football.....................

If only a foundation wasn't so important to a house...

The last time I had fun was when Moore came in for Henne and we went on that winning spree.  I realize he sucked in the two minute situations, but I thought we were much better at that point than any other time in recent memory.

Of course, we fired Sparano and handed the keys to a rookie and here we are.  Sparano wasn't all too good so I understood him being fired, but I think Tannehill should have sat that first year after Moore played the way he did.

So it has been about a year and a half for me, which is why I am not in fan despiration mode.  But the arrow on my fan satisfaction score is pointing down in a big way.

The Dolphins have eliminated an entire sport for me over the past 20 years. Even the goddamn Knicks have given me more joy.

The only upside is that it has forced me to start watching soccer the past few years and Arsenal is doing well right now.

He just defined fair weather fan. I have nothing against that. I'm a fair weather fan of the Chicago White Sox and Chicago Blackhawks, but I'm a true fan of the Dolphins. There are a LOT of fair weather NE fans. They wouldn't be fans if it weren't for Brady and Belicheck and the team was irrelevant. Again, not that there's anything wrong with that, but honestly it's even BETTER when you are a true fan and the team does well. I can remember when Marino first showed up. It was an unbelievable time. I don't think it would have been like that if I was just a fair weather fan and rooted for them only because they were winning.

That's just my opinion, I could be wrong.

^^^^That's a bit of a stretch. Being a fan of the Dolphins is like being in an abusive relationship. There isn't a whole lot of give and take. Being fair weathered is all about the take. In an abusive relationship it's all about the give.

It's not a stretch at all. You are under no obligation to stay a fan. If you don't want to be a fan of the Dolphins then don't. If you are a true fan however, you realize that you have to accept them in good times and bad. Sometimes being a true fan isn't a whole lot of fun. If you don't like that, then just be a fair weather fan and only root for them when they are good. I can't tell you how many times I have told my wife I'm done with the Dolphins. She just laughs because she knows I'll be right there glued to the TV the next time they play. I can't help myself.

Preach on, brother. You give until it hurts. Then until it bleeds. Then until they start asking for limbs.

I don't get this at all. How is it being a "true fan" to stick with a team when you oppose their ideology, their moves in coaching and management, their player acquisitions and departures and their general team philosophy? What are you being a "fan" of? The logo? Team colors? Not the people, because that's a revolving door. Not the record because Miami hasn't been a winner in a long while.

In any other aspect of a person's life if they say, "I'm sticking around even though this relationship brings me consistent misery and disappointment," you're going to be labeled as unhealthy and unstable. But if you like the pretty colors and mascot, you're considered a loyal fan? Nonsense. If you allow a team's performance on Sundays to dictate your emotional well being- even for a little while- you're f*cked in the head and have very little understanding of what really matters in life, IMO. -EK

I root for laundry. 

EK, what fan doesn't have an emotional reaction to a win or loss? I'll tell you, someone who isn't a fan. Saying that you should have no reaction (which is what your statement of even for a little while equates to) just means you should not like any team at all. Watching the Bears-Packers game had no emotional response from me, because I'm not a fan of either team. Watching the Dolphins-Bengals gathered an emotional response, because I am a fan.

This does not mean that I spend an entire week sitting under the weight of a loss or riding the high of a win. But I do feel emotions.

Seeing as how you have acknowledged switching teams, I'd say you were not a true fan of the first one. You were a casual fan. Does that make it wrong, I don't think so. You have every right to be a casual fan. But I don't think anyone who can jump ship and then just start rooting for another team was a true fan.

It was pretty fun for me to jump up and down and yell in the living room last Thursday when Cam Wake sacked Dalton in the end zone to end the game.   ;D  It was less fun when I realized that I had awaken my wife and scared the hell out of my dog.  But overall, I get where the OP is coming from with his comments.  I still enjoy being a fan, but I've also lowered my expectations to where it doesn't take as much for me to have fun watching the team and rooting for the team.  Part of that is also probably because as I have grown older, sports is less and less important to me and family and career are more and more important. 

You wouldn't. You have admitted already that you are not what I would call a "true" fan. And I'm not disparaging you for that. I'm not a true fan of the Chicago White Sox or the Chicago Black Hawks. I really only watch and root for them when they are doing well. On the other hand I watch every Miami Dolphins game I can and I root for them both in good times and in bad. I can't explain why that is, I can just tell you that it is that way and there is a difference.