How Do You Root For The Dolphins?
By Brian Miller
Karlos Dansby told a Sun-Sentinel reporter that if you root for the team to lose or “suck for Luck” you are not a Miami Dolphins fan. Of course being a vastly over payed under performing can’t tackle linebacker who has been in Miami all of what? Two years? Gives him that right to say such a thing. What about the Miami Dolphins fan base who have been following the team for 10 years? 20 years? 30 years? Since the day the team was born? Do they not have a right to determine how they choose to root for the team?
I speak with a lot of fans, from my close friends who run other Miami Dolphins websites to answering Emails to guys standing outside an ATT store at 5 in the morning camping out for an iPhone 4s. What I can say is that every fan has passion and every fan has an opinion and every fan is exactly that….a fan.
The fact that we endure the ridicule from our non-Miami counterparts is enough. Take George up in Maine who is reminded daily that his Dolphins absolutely suck and that the Patriots are so far and above them that he should convert. The truth is we all endure, just like the fans of the Detroit Lions and the Cleveland Browns. We have become accustomed to losing and that no longer is sitting well with the fan base.
In other words, it’s not o.k. anymore. We no longer want to watch a rebuild. We’re done. And you know what Dansby? We have that right. Why? Because we were here long before you arrived and will be here win or lose long after you leave. So don’t talk to fans about being fans, worry more about earning your paycheck.
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But is it alright to root against your team? The payoff could be huge, Andrew Luck? Only the best rated QB coming out of the college ranks since Peyton Manning. That is of course if he decides to forgo his final year of eligibility and enter the draft. While he still has one year left to play if he chooses, he is scheduled to graduate this summer. Or perhaps he pulls an Eli Manning and simply says, “I will not play for the Miami Dolphins“. While it’s rare that a player forces his hand to that degree, it’s happened before with the aforementioned Manning and Hall of Fame QB John Elway who was drafted by Indianapolis.
Where do you draw the line in the proverbial sand? Do you root for the Dolphins to win, lose, or are you indifferent to the whole process?
Some believe that this season is a complete waste already so why does it matter if they win one or two when the future of the franchise could be fixed by one horrendous season of losing out. That same group of people may cite the reality that two wins could be the difference between picking number 1 overall and number 5. Another win could put the team outside the top 5 and in turn would do nothing for the future of the franchise.
Others believe that they simply can not root against the team to win. It’s a plain and simple, root for other teams to win instead. As my friend James Lancaster from Finnation.com will tell you, he is a fan of the Rams and Colts and will not root for the Dolphins to lose.
I have a different approach and some will label me a non-fan for it. I don’t advocate the “Suck for Luck” campaign. We have seen too many times the top pick bites you in the rear end and we all know the saying, “Be careful what you wish for”. I don’t root for the Dolphins to lose. I root for them to play with conviction. I root for them to want to win and play to win. Let me explain.
Last Monday night I wanted them to kill the Jets but when it became obvious that the team didn’t share my enthusiasm I realized that if we won, we won because we sucked and they sucked more. I don’t want to lose a top draft prospect because the team squeaks by a bad team after playing bad. Imagine getting two wins this season and missing out on Luck because your horrible game comes down to a fumbled snap on the opposing teams one yard line with 10 seconds to go and you kick a field goal to win 3-0. Where is that exciting and fun?
The reality is the fans of the Dolphins don’t “deserve” to see a winner, they city of Miami doesn’t “deserve” to have a winner any more than any other city who has a pro sports team. What they do “deserve” to have is a team that competes and actually acts like it matters. Not have their number 1 WR smiling at the end of a game on the sideline after he dropped a TD pass again and ran out of bounds on another. What these fans need is a team that actually plays like they want to win and not go through the motions for 60 minutes.
I won’t root for that. It became evident that after two weeks off the Dolphins were no more prepared to beat the Jets mentally or physically as they were to beat them with a sound game plan. It was very difficult to root for that team that played on Monday night. They showed not attitude to win, no drive to be anything more than mediocre. It was embarrassing to say the very least. Why root and scream and yell for that? Not when a loss puts you closer to a possible dream QB candidate.
It’s not a support of “Suck for Luck” as much as a non-support for a team that shows no desire to be supported. This team simply has given up and it’s starting to show. In 2007 the Dolphins had the worst season of their entire history. Cam Cameron was a joke but his team never quit, they didn’t quit in games and they never quit on the season. They played, as disorganized as they were, as a team. A fact that never wavered. They got their one game but you never once felt a desire to not root for them. They came so close too many times. They only a field goal here and there to have a completely different season. That is not the case with this team.
I will never root for the Dolphins to lose. Ever. This year it is increasingly difficult to root for them to win especially when their performance echoes the effort of a scrimmage game.
Where do you fall into this?