This is the year Miami will...D'oh!

Wednesday, June 18, 2003
Robert Henderson

I have been a loyal Phins' fan since the commencement of the '95 season. I remember the first game clearly. It is probably one of the reasons I started watching the Dolphins. Dan Marino, Irving Fryar, O.J. McDuffie, and Bernie Parmalee all pummeled the New York Jets. The 52-14 score proved to be very satisfying. The Dolphins were expected to do big things that year as I remember. They were 4-0 and at home against the Colts. Then, the football Gods cursed Miami again. Marino went down with an injured leg. The Dolphins' 24-0 halftime lead went down the drain as did their season as they lost 27-24 in overtime, and finished the season 9-7 earning a trip to Buffalo only to get spanked. Welcome to the annual life of a Dolfan.

What can I say? Once you get hooked, you are hooked. There is no looking back, or thinking twice about what you will be doing from about June - January. It's Dolphins all the way, rain or shine.

It has been joyful and also very frustrating to watch this team through the years. Out of the eight seasons I've been watching them, they have made the playoffs six times, and have never had a losing season. There is something about these Dolphins that keeps me hooked, no matter how many seasons they fail to win it all.

Pouring my heart and my energy out to this team year after year, I've attended games, watched or listened to every game since '95, and designed and updated a whole website dedicated to them. Of the eights games I've been to, they have only lost two. Ironically they are they same two games that my father didn't attend. Also, during not one of those games did I get there late or leave early. Why? I really like this team, they are not entertainment, they are life. The end result of every game determines the mood I will be in for the rest of the week. There are thousands of others out there who will claim the same thing.

Maybe it's taken me these eight seasons of Phins' football to realize that every year somebody says that this is it, this is the year the Miami Dolphins will win the big game. Then, every year something happens. Marino gets injured, the coaches play conservative football, J.J. worked too much on the defense and not on the offense, the other team got lucky, the crowd boos its starting quarterback, Fiedler gets injured, Lucas sucks. I could go on and on with the piles of excuses that are BSed and used in order to establish reason as to why that same offseason claim can't be claimed after the season has ended.

Last offseason the Dolphins acquired Ricky Williams, Jamie Nails, Chris Chambers was coming off of an explosive rookie season, Jay Fiedler had finished off the 2001 season very strong, and the defensive line looked powerful without (back-ache) Gardener and with Larry Chester. Adewale Ogunleye had something like eight sacks in 3 pre-season games. Things were looking up. 2002 was the year Miami would win it all. Everything was going as planned when the Dolphins go to Denver and win a HUGE game in the thin air against one of the AFC's best teams. However, the next day we learned Fiedler had broken his thumb and would be out 4-6 weeks, and Gadsden had severely injured his wrist, but could still come back if he didn't opt to have a season ending surgery (which he did). Why not still be optimistic? The Phins were 5-1, and everyone wanted Ray Lucas to start anyway! Lucas loses three games while thoroughly sucking, and finishes with a 2-4 record in his 6 starts. I don't need to gripe about the result of the season, it still isn't that far gone. However, in the year the Dolphins were supposed to go the whole way and win it all, something happened and they didn't … again.

This is what is keeping me from raising my hopes too much this offseason, from expecting anything big to happen because based on history, it won't.

I am extremely excited about this season and the idea of what could happen given the success the team has had this offseason. But Miami is cursed for some reason. They tease you every year, and then fail, but manage to fail with a good enough record in order to obtain a worthless first round draft pick as sort of a cherry to top everything off.

The Dolphins are a huge part of my life, but this season, I simply cannot be a homer. I am excited about the prospects and believe they have the personnel to win the Super Bowl, but until it happens, until it is proven, I will not believe that they can do it.

If I could say something to the whole Dolphins' locker room I would tell them that they overcame the Jets' jinx last year (sort of), so this year it's their job to overcome the bigger jinx. Shove the football Gods out of the way and prove to the thousands of loyal Dolfans that you can do it. Prove it.

Well, it could have been worse. I could have been born a Jets' fan!

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