Miami kicks off the 2003 Pre-season at home against the reigning Super Bowl Champs! The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who usually find themselves facing the Dolphins during preseason, will take a short bus ride south to begin their preseason as well. The starters will probably only play for the first few drives before the coaches start filtering in other newbies and oldies who are fighting for the NFL lives.

The Dolphins offseason started off slow, but once it picked up, it produced one of the most successful offseasons in the NFL. Acquiring names such as Seau, Knight, Griese, and Zgonina will certainly improve the Dolphins chances this year.

The Buccaneers won the Super Bowl last season, so after the celebrations finished it took some real tweaking to try and improve their team. Second year coach, Jon Gruden couldn't be in a better position right now. He won the big game last year, and has kept his team together this offseason. The only glitch in their offseason has been the arrest and conviction on two assaults of starting running back, Michael Pittman. Ironically, the Bucs now have RB Thomas Jones who was supposed to do really well in Arizona last year after the departure of Michael Pittman.

Most people are probably excited to see how Brian Griese plays in his first game as a Dolphin. Acquired recently, Griese is a huge upgrade over Ray Lucas at the backup quarterback position.

So, be sure to tune in on August 8 at 7:00 PM for the Miami Dolphins and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, where the crowd is guaranteed to be larger than at a Marlins game!

Robert Henderson can be reached by e-mailing webmaster@miamidolphinsbahamas.com.

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