My problem with my fellow Dolphin fans

[Phishfan]

I am really sick and tired of the bipolar Dolphins fans. Now before I get accused of calling out your fanhood again (this is completely different than the Suck for Luck discussion) I am not calling you any less of a fan. I am simply saying you guys are bipolar. It seems that every single move is thought of as either the best thing to ever happen to the Dolphins or if not, it is the worst thing to ever happen to the Dolphins and the world is crumbling around you. There is not room in your world for a middle ground. There is no wait and see attitude. Guess what guys, this sport is just something to occupy your Sundays for a few month of the year. Your world isn't going to end. I wish you the best and leave this one piece of advice, just roll with it. If you don't like a decision, that is OK. Feel free to say so but to act as if the world is falling down around you is not healthy.

[EKnight]

Totally, absolutely and 100% agree and have said this numerous times. Too many extremists.... Not healthy, folks. -EK

[Dave Gray]

I think the vast majority of the people on here are not extremists.  We have a couple that cause the rest of the group to get lumped in.  There are a few people who are always uphappy and think the organization does everything wrong.  There are a few that sugarcoat every decision.

I think those that pick one side here and one side there are unfairly group with the fanatics.

[Phishfan]

I agree that the core of this site are not extremists Dave, but look at the Marshall thread more closely. There are people I don't even recognize as members as well as people who hardly post making some extreme statements.

[Spider-Dan]

It seems that every single move is thought of as either the best thing to ever happen to the Dolphins or if not, it is the worst thing to ever happen to the Dolphins and the world is crumbling around you.

I don't remember hearing those kind of statements about letting Paul Soliai hit the market, or about losing Brian Daboll, or about releasing Will Allen, or about trading Greg Camarillo.

If you're talking about moves that involve people who are or would be among the core components of the team, well, yes, you will get more excited responses.

There is not room in your world for a middle ground. There is no wait and see attitude.

Plenty of posters took a wait and see, middle ground attitude about passing on Ryan Mallett to draft Daniel Thomas.

Guess what guys, this sport is just something to occupy your Sundays for a few month of the year. Your world isn't going to end.

While this is certainly a valid point, I think that an internet message board dedicated to Miami Dolphins discussion may not be the ideal place to make it.

[Phishfan]

While this is certainly a valid point, I think that an internet message board dedicated to Miami Dolphins discussion may not be the ideal place to make it.

Well at least you have agreed with me on the validity of one thing in the history of the world.

I suppose you think a more appropriate place would be on a political message board, or any other unrelated area?

[Spider-Dan]

Let me put it another way:

If you are a Dolphins fan that wishes to express a strong opinion about a move that the team makes, the single most appropriate place to express this sentiment would seem to be a Dolphins-focused internet message board.

[Phishfan]

That is a completely different point than your first one (which was that a Dolphins' board was not a place for me to mention that football is just a game).

But I do agree with this one. A Dolphins board is the perfect place to state opinion about the teams and its moves. I just think 1-3 posts is stating an opinion while 15-16 posts almost repeating the same thing is extremism and obsessive.

[Spider-Dan]

It's the same point:  if you don't want to see people frothing at the mouth about football, you shouldn't be looking at an internet football message board, because that is the single most appropriate venue for... frothing at the mouth about football.

[MaineDolFan]

I think you're confusing people having an opinion with something as being an extremist.  Honestly, it's a little insulting. 

There are fans on this site who love the player who was traded and view the trade as an awful move.  They have a right to express their opinion as, in their eyes, this is a regression for the team they love.

There are fans on this site who never bought into Marshall and are glad he's gone.

There are people, ones like me, who like the guy...but generally think he's a distraction.  I like the new winds blowing and I'm excited to see what happens next.

...and then there are the type of people who shrug and say "I can't control it either way, so who cares?"  Apparently that would be you.  That's fine.  But what gives you that right to define yourself as better?  For all you know, those "bipolar fans" also happen to be monster fans of the player and are heartbroken at his departure.  The wonderful thing about these opinions?  Not one of them are wrong.

You're qualifications to judge those people begin with___________...what?

I think you need to look in the mirror on this one, Phish.  You can't cry "live and let live...just live the way I'm telling you to."

[Dave Gray]

I am a person who generally gives management a pass on behind the scenes decisions, because I realize that they are privvy to information I don't have.  Since I can evaluate the players during the game just like the coaches, they don't get that same leeway (fair or not).  Granted, there are situations where a QB gets blamed for an INT, where we don't know if the receiver broke off the route incorrectly, but I try to factor in those possibilities.

With something like a trade, specifically this trade, I see a player who never lived up to expectations, despite being our best options.  So, when the front office looks to trade them, they get a pass.  I assume that they have reasons that I'm not aware of for making the choice.  Marshall's legal issue is obvious, but even if it weren't that obvious, like he just didn't take direction well in practice, my decision would be the same.

The ONLY defense I will give to those calling out Ross and Ireland as idiots for making the trade is that there are previous examples of bad decision-making from this duo that would lead one to assume it's another screw-up in a long line.

[Doc-phin]

Phishfan you have to admit that this move was a big one, right?  I mean, we did lose one of the best (if not the best) player on our team in a totally out of no where move on the first day of free agency.  Plus, we don't really have any players on our team that are ready to step up into that roll.

I agree with you that many reactions on the board are extreme and can sometimes be annoying.  More than likely you just found this to be a good time to bring it up with the obvious emotion that this move has stirred up.  But I wouldn't understand it if any true fan didn't have a fairly strong feeling about this move. 

In short, this particular move is infact a big deal and justifies a polarized viewpoint.  I do agree with you on some of the others though.

[Pappy13]

On the other hand this type of stuff ALWAYS happens when you change head coaches and turnover your coaching staff. A new head coach comes in, reviews the roster, decides who are the players who are the biggest bang for the buck, who matches up with the type of system you ultimately want to employ etc and he makes some hard decisions. Some guys are let go and others stay and a lot of times it's not clear why the decision was made and perhaps sometimes the decision is made just because it's not "his" guy. Philbin didn't trade for Marshall, to him Marshall is just another piece of the puzzle. He has to make him fit somewhere in his puzzle and if he doesn't fit into his puzzle, then he discards the piece and tries to find another piece that fits better. That's what he was brought in to do.

I wasn't really shocked by this move. I'm much more interested to see what this move means. Were they simply looking for more cap room to try to sign Manning or Flynn? Have they determined they aren't going to get Manning or Flynn and would rather go into rebuild mode and start building from the draft? Or did they just think that Marshall was a distraction off the field and a little too much of a diva and they didn't want him to distract from the goal of trying to install a new system, etc. There's a million questions and we aren't gonna find out the answers to those questions right now because they don't WANT us to know those answers because if we know then the competition knows and I think we can all agree it's best if the competition is left scratching their heads.

Now, if 6 months from now, when the season has started we are all still scratching our heads and wondering why we traded Marshall, THEN I'll be right there with some of you and upset because by then we should have some answers and if we don't THEN it will be time to start questioning the decision making. Not now. Now is the time for optimism. I know it's hard to be optimistic with the way things have gone lately, but let's not hold that against Philbin. He deserves an honest chance to show us that he actually has a plan and a direction. And yes Ireland even deserves a bit of a chance too because this really hasn't been the Jeff Ireland show up till now, it's been the Tuna and his helpers show up till now. Well the Tuna is gone. Tony (the Tuna helper) Sparano is gone too. Now it's the Jeff Ireland and Joe Philbin show.

And if they screw it up, I'll be right there with ya'll blasting them.

[Spider-Dan]

On the other hand this type of stuff ALWAYS happens when you change head coaches and turnover your coaching staff. A new head coach comes in, reviews the roster, decides who are the players who are the biggest bang for the buck, who matches up with the type of system you ultimately want to employ etc and he makes some hard decisions. Some guys are let go and others stay and a lot of times it's not clear why the decision was made and perhaps sometimes the decision is made just because it's not "his" guy. Philbin didn't trade for Marshall, to him Marshall is just another piece of the puzzle. He has to make him fit somewhere in his puzzle and if he doesn't fit into his puzzle, then he discards the piece and tries to find another piece that fits better. That's what he was brought in to do.

No, Philbin was not brought in to make personnel decisions.  (As you may recall, one of the reported sticking points with Jeff Fisher was that Ross insisted that Jeff Ireland retain final say over all personnel decisions.)  Personnel decisions are Ireland's job, and Marshall was Ireland's acquisition.

[Pappy13]

No, Philbin was not brought in to make personnel decisions.  (As you may recall, one of the reported sticking points with Jeff Fisher was that Ross insisted that Jeff Ireland retain final say over all personnel decisions.)  Personnel decisions are Ireland's job, and Marshall was Ireland's acquisition.

Jeff Fisher wanted full control of personnel, meaning that Ireland would have NO say. You don't really believe that Ireland made the decision to get rid of Marshall without talking to Philbin about it do you? But even if it was Ireland's decision, he still has to make those decisions based on where the football team is headed. The GM cannot make trades in a vacuum and just ignore who the coach is, what the philosophy of the team is etc. That philosophy has changed or at least I hope it has.  Sparano was a conservative coach. Play defense. Run the ball. Don't make mistakes on offense. He didn't like risk. He didn't like taking chances. I don't get that feeling from Philbin. I get the feeling he's more willing to take some risks to be a little more explosive on the offensive side of the ball. Try to win the game with offense rather than not lose it.