The Dolphins Make Me Cry.com - Forums

The only time I can remember when I rooted for the Dolphins to lose was New Years' Eve, 2006.  The 6-9 Dolphins were playing the 11-4 Colts.  The Chargers and Ravens had locked up the one and two seeds, and the Patriots and Colts were vying for 3 and 4.  If the Colts won the game, they would match the Patriots 12-4 record and take the number three seed.  This is exactly what happened.

Yes.

Even worse...I've cheered against the Dolphins in a Super Bowl.

 :-*

Yeah, dozens of times. This entire season. I have always said that if winning your final 2 games to take you to 8-8 instead of 6-10 drops you 6 draft spots, what's the point? Same for this season although it's a bit different because I just want us to get the #1 pick, I didn't think winning 3 games would knock us out of the Top 5. I didn't want them to go 0-16 or 1-15 but I was prepared for that if that is what is necessary.

I have NEVER rooted for the Dolphins to lose, not once.  There have been times when I'm not upset that they lost, but I have NEVER rooted for them to lose.  Once that day comes I might as well change favorite teams.

I'm old as dirt.  Outside a few of you, maybe, one of the older ones on the board.  The team hasn't sniffed the SB since I was in HS.  There has been a lot of losing for "my team" and a lot of missed opportunity. 

This whole "you're not a real fan if you want them to lose" crap is exactly that. Crap.  They've been losing.  They haven't lost enough to make a difference. 

I could give a rat's ass about the 2019 Miami Dolphins.  There are a handful of players on the roster who are going to make it to 2020, most won't.  It's ghastly they pulled off a win against the Jets and, unlike some of the cheer leading media in South Florida, I'm not buying this "it's a good thing to get a win."  Tell me that when they can't draft the play maker the franchise needs to move forward.

I care about the franchise and the future of it.  Once, before I croak, I'd love to feel like this franchise has a chance to compete.  I have no issues sacrificing a season to do it. 

I'm with Maine on pretty much everything. I was in High School when Dan Marino and the Dolphins lost to San Francisco in the 85 Super Bowl. There's been a whole lot of nothing since then so anything that helps us get back to there is worth it IMO. I was hoping we'd lose every single game but was not upset we beat the Jets. I just hope we don't do it again and we lose out.

1000% behind this. We're not knocking down a perennial Wild Card contender to try to go for broke. This has been a bad team for a long time now who rattles off 10 win seasons once a decade. Tear it down, be the joke of the league and then come back strong. To cheer for this team to win games with a 37 year old QB after starting 0-7 is so incredibly dumb I don't know what these people are thinking.

There is virtually nothing worth the stench of 0-16.

Not a championship.
Not three championships.
Not five championships.

And it's not like the Dolphins have never won!  They have two Lombardi Trophies now.  In fact, the only thing this franchise has that distinguishes it from every other NFL team is - that's right - the Perfect Season.  And 0-16 diminishes that season in ways I can't even describe.

So now that the Dolphins have won a game, I'm perfectly fine with them losing the rest.  But under no circumstances will I ever root for the team to go 0-16.  Even if I knew the future, I wouldn't root for the team to go 0-16 in 1999 if it meant Marino's successor would be Brady.  I wouldn't root for them to go 0-16 in 1988 if it meant they would draft Barry Sanders.

Winning the Super Bowl is not that big of a deal.  By rule, a team wins the championship every year...  and some of them aren't particularly great teams!  But 0-16 is franchise-altering infamy.  So if you're asking me if going 0-16 is worth taking your place in the history books next to the the 2011 Giants, the 2013 Ravens, or the 2017 Eagles, I'm going to pass.

I've struggled with this question all season.  Obviously my rooting has no impact on the outcome, but I've struggled a lot internally about whether I "want" them to lose or not.  Spider's comments above made a lot of sense and convinced me that I'm glad they are not going to go 0 - 16.   So, I'm not going to root against the Dolphins, but yeah, I wouldn't shed any tears if they went 1 - 15.   ;D

With the exception of a blow hard like Jim Rome, I can't remember the last time I heard anyone talk about the Lions 0-16 season.  And, no.  I'm not calling you a blow hard by proxy.  I'm saying I don't think anyone cares.

I hear A LOT about the Ravens Super Bowl win.  To this day.  I can't even remember what year it was, but it's still talked about.  I hear a lot about the Steelers and their *recent* wins.  The Eagles, with their win over the Pats.  The Seahawks.  

Not to mention how it must feel - sitting in front of the TV - when YOUR team actually does that.  

I know how it feels as a Sox fan, a Bruins fan, even a Celtics fan.  As a kid growing up in the Bay area in Cali I got to watch two massively successful teams win it, over and over...while my team sputtered.  I watched the 49ers drag themselves from an "also ran" franchise to a powerhouse.  

Ever hear of the San Fran teams who went 2-14 and 2-14, back to back years?  It's true, they did.  I was nine years old and watching from 13 miles away.  NO ONE EVER, in the history of *ever* talks about those seasons.  But you hear about the 13-3 season, 1981, capped off with the historic SB win.

Al Davis had one thing right.  Just win, baby.  Nothing else will matter.

In two, three years Miami turns this around and it's a success story.  That is all it is.  

I don't know how anyone can think Superbowl wins aren't worth an 0-16 season when we haven't won a Superbowl since the early 70's. Why would 0-16 be so shameful but not winning a playoff game in almost 20 years is full of dignity?

No one even remembers when the Lions went 0-16 and no one cares. There is no pride or dignity or even common sense in wanting this team to go 4-12 and ruin the chance at drafting a franchise QB just because "I won't root for them to lose".

Yessir, I remember those seasons while I was in middle school.  I started following them back when the NFL had a 14 game schedule. My first season as a fan saw them go 4-8-2. Yep...two ties that season.

I've celebrated all five of the 49ers championships, and am still waiting for my beloved Padres and Suns to dish up a title for my enjoyment . ;)

Would you be okay with the Padres going 30-132 in 2020 if it meant a World Series win in 2022?

They could go 30-132 for two years in a row, have our owner indicted for kicking nuns and puppies...and if they win a World Series, all is forgiven.

No, not really.

I've been OK when they've lost.  And at times even been relieved about it.  But I don't watch the games and cheer against them.  That would feel weird.

I think that a lot of this draft stock talk is over-rated.  The difference between the 1 and 2 pick isn't gigantic.  And I think it can be damaging to the team culture if you're thought of as not caring and trying to win.  That can affect free agency and players willing to take less money, etc.

^I think this is important.

I'm not actively going into a Sunday and cheering against the Dolphins.  I am rooting actively against their overall success this season because it will help the on-going franchise.  I'm also not jumping up and down out of my chair when they pull off a win against the Jets.

2019 is a lost year, I've accepted that.

I have never rooted for the Dolphins to lose.  Well the Marlins *cough*  pisses me off and at time I do root for the fish to lose.  I grew up a Mets fan before the marlins arrived in 93. So I naturally went with the home team.  I still root for the Mets sometimes as well.  Both my Marlins and Mets are shit so eh.

Also, I think that I have so much deep-rooted "Fuck the Jets" mentality, that I am willing to cut off my nose to spite my face.


I just don't want to think about being happy about losing the Jets, only to draft some bum who isn't on the team in a few years, and having rooted for it. 

Any baseball fan who hasn't seen their team win the last game of the season is willing to go through pain, without measure, if it meant the ultimate glory.  I can't even tell you how much my heart was shattered in 2003 when Boone took Wakefield deep, I didn't think anything could top 1986.  I would re-live that moment five years in a row if I had known how that moment was going to make the Sox do what they did for '04.

I'm praying somewhere in the 'Phins brass is someone making those moves.  

Again, before I go I would love to ACTUALLY SEE the team win.  1973 and 1974 is great...I was three and four years old.  Wasn't exactly party time in my home in 1974 when they beat the Vikings.

I hear you on the Jets.  Except for once I have always rooted against them.  Dolphins and Bils I don't hate. 

A lot of you guys are putting an incredible amount of faith in the positive consequences of an 0-16 season.  Let's keep in mind that the Lions' 0-16 season earned them the same number of playoff wins as MIA has in the same timeframe.  And it also seems that the people who were spending last offseason shouting loud hosannahs at the 0-16 Browns for Trusting The Process have fallen silent.

0-16 doesn't guarantee success.  It only confirms failure.  I've previously explained that the trope of a miracle #1 pick that comes in and saves the franchise is a myth; an urban legend.  For every Peyton Manning, there are a dozen of:

Tim Couch
Michael Vick
David Carr
Carson Palmer
Eli Manning
Alex Smith
JaMarcus Russell
Matthew Stafford
Sam Bradford
Cam Newton
Andrew Luck
Jameis Winston

I totally hear you about the myth of the #1 pick, but a lot of those times the team took the QB at #1 because they needed a QB, not because the kid was a can't miss talent. In a down year for prospects, guys like Sam Darnold go #3. Tua and the other 2 guys would go #1 if they were draft eligible last year and they are legit prospects, not just the best of what is left.

So, that's the difference. If we had the #1 pick in 2019 and Sam Darnold was available, I would trade the pick. He isn't a franchise QB, he was just what was available for a QB needy team.

That's why I bolded Eli and Luck.  How many titles did SD get from their terrible 2003 season, with a highly-rated QB prospect in the following draft?  How about IND, with the best QB prospect in decades?

The other problem with high draft pick QB misses is they are hard to move on from.  Even at the ten spot, AZ’s decision to move on from Rosen is extremely unconventional.  Other positions it is less of an issue, draft a CB thinking he would be a shut down corner of the Revis level, if he turns out to be only a nickel back, he can still provide some benefit to the team.  He will be a disappointment  but not a bust.

Never rooted for them to lose.

Absolutely. We are putting a ton of our chips into this draft for a QB, but everything else we have done for 20 years has failed so why not gamble this one time? Hell, I wouldn't even call it gambling. Tearing it down and accumulating tons of draft picks and cap space is probably the most well thought out plan we have had in a decade.

Still, I'd rather miss on Tua because he was a bust than miss drafting a QB because we went 3-13 and they were all gone by the time we picked.

I can almost guarantee you at least one QB drafted in round 2-7 will be better than one of the top 3 QBs taken.

Same here, have been pissed off mightily about their play, but have never rotted for them to lose.  Even this year, I knew they were depleted at talent in certain positions, but still rooting for them to win, regardless of this "tanking"agenda that is going around on social media, the fans and the local Dolphins beat writers.

Flores is putting in place, players he thinks are mentally strong, get what he and his staff are doing and building from the ground up.

I root every Sunday for the Dolphins to win, regardless of what they are working with or whom they are playing. #FinsUp

Very likely, but you never know who it is and we have had our share of 2nd rounders either drafted ourselves or used in trades that turned out to be nothing. Tanny was a 1st rounder and the best QB we had since Marino. He wasn't the best but a lot of that blame has to fall on the organization. 1st round, Top 3 Pick QB is more of a sure thing than a diamond in the rough in the later rounds.

You are a bit rough on Stafford, Newton and Vick - I think they meet the definition of successful Quarterbacks as much as Luck (or for that matter Matt Ryan).

Palmer and Smith were solid and had their moments (subject to chronic injuries), Bradford less so. Winston is still TBD but the signs don't look good... Russell, Couch, Carr are the obvious bombs.

Ultimately though it really falls on your scouting and GM to pick the talent regardless of position, and just as importantly pick guys who will fit into your team. That's what was so frustrating with the Ireland era - his 'safe' picks were generally pretty solid, but a lot of those guys wound up playing their best football for other teams. His risky picks when he traded up though were disastrous, every time he did it I cringed and was unfortunately proven right...

No doubt earlier picks give you a better chance.  Problem is if you miss on the first pick overall you are stuck with the bum for a couple of years even if the GM and coach realize the mistake during the first week of training camp. If you draft a dud with a second round pick, you can try again next year.

If Ryan was a #1 pick I would have included him.  And I'd definitely agree that Stafford/Newton/Vick are as "successful" as Luck, which is to say that none of them ever won a Super Bowl; i.e. the reward that is supposed to make a terrible season worth it.

I didn't bold Eli and Luck because they were "successful"; I bolded them because they were highly-touted prospects who still brought ZERO championships to the team that drafted them.  So even if you are a terrible team and you land the #1 pick in a year with a generational prospect, that prospect might just say, "This team has an incompetent front office and I don't want to play for them."  And then instead of getting Eli Manning or John Elway, you get Philip Rivers/LaDainian Tomlinson or Chris Hinton/Ron Solt... and no championships.

Remember, the thing that's supposed to make this all worthwhile is not a "solid, competitive team."  Jimmy Johnson and Dave Wannstedt had solid, competitive teams; you don't need to gut your roster and trade away your best players to field a team that can compete for the playoffs every year.  No, the goal is championships, and that goal allegedly justifies tearing down the team to the studs and wasting a season.

And my point is, we have no reason to believe that would work.

I might be rooting for them to lose big against Buffalo because otherwise this year will enter into "What if" territory again.

I never have and I never will. LOVED yesterday's win!!!!

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