This was billed as the start of something big and special, the rivalry within the rivalry, a duel that will play out over the next decade-plus and come to redefine what Dolphins vs. Jets means.
The hardest part is finding the faith again. It isn't easy locating something that has been missing for so long.
Dolphins and Jets line up here Monday night to renew a bitter, division rivalry on a national stage, and things figure to get very physical. Intense. Brutal. Words will be flying. There might be taunting. Bad blood. Would anyone be surprised if there were shoving or punches, even ejections? Yes, it could get very ugly.
NFL regular seasons, like games, are divided into four neat chunks, meaning it's time for our King Sport First-Quarter Awards:
OK, I need to admit that predicting the Dolphins to lose at home to Buffalo last week ranks among my most regrettable picks in recent memory, and that's from an unfortunate slew of contenders.
I like Tony Sparano a lot. I think in him the Dolphins have the best, most focused coach they have had in more than 20 years -- since Don Shula still was seen at the top of his game. I also admire that Sparano seems refreshingly honest, detailed, direct and informative in the way he responds to questions.
Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez is being evaluated as we speak by Jeffrey Loria and his lieutenants at the club owner's New York digs. It seems only fair that Loria might also be under evaluation -- preferably by doctors probing whether he is mentally fit to run a major-league ballclub in light of apparent new evidence to the contrary.
We are desperate to know everything right away, but we cannot. We want to know from one victory -- one as impressive as the Dolphins' was here Sunday -- that Miami can still be a playoff team this season. We want to know from one start -- the first of quarterback Chad Henne's budding NFL career -- that Miami has discovered its long-term solution at that most important position.
For better or worse, Chad Pennington's season-ending, possibly career-threatening shoulder injury pushes the fast-forward button on the Dolphins' quarterback situation.
For the benefit of national television, the BCS national championship trophy was being shown off in a corner of the stadium here Saturday night, the coveted crystal football guarded by two security men and sparkling under the lights so tantalizingly close to the Miami Hurricanes' sideline.
One of the saddest sights I have ever seen in a lifetime of sports, as fan or writer, was battered Dan Marino hobbling off a field in Jacksonville after a humiliating 62-7 Dolphins defeat in the 1999 playoffs -- hurt, hearing calls of derision and never to play in a football game again.
The Upset Bird is preening insufferably. Amazing he can take wing at all wearing that ridiculous crown. Hey, in this business you gotta brag when the chance is there. Plenty of weeks knock me flat, so when I return the punch, I'm-a let you know. Did great both ways last week, including another Upset of the Week bull's-eye with Lions over Redskins. (``Detraawwk!'') Get on the bandwagon and expect a wild ride. I'm driving the football version of the bus in the movie Speed. (``Sandra Bullaawwk!'').
Good or bad, the Chad Henne Era will commence Sunday
It has been brought to my attention that this is a pretty big weekend for Miami football, with the Hurricanes trying to stay undefeated Saturday at Virginia Tech and plant a national championship contender flag, and with the winless Dolphins in San Diego on Sunday afternoon trying to keep their season from falling off a cliff.
Peyton Manning vs. Kurt Warner this week marks a first. Never before has there been a duel of NFL quarterbacks who have been multiple league MVP winners and Super Bowl MVPs. That's our launch-point to rank teams based on overall quarterbacking. We factor in the starter's current performance level, age, injury history, and who his backups are.
Bull's-eyed our Upset of the Week ``Bird call'' last week with Jets over Patriots ``Aaawwwk!'' and also nailed two other outright upset picks with Raiders winning at K.C. and Ravens winning at San Diego. Peyton Manning, Dallas Clark and Miami's pass defense also kept me a perfect 2-0 straight-up/2-0 vs. spread on Dolphin games. I'd tell you about the bad stuff now, but (oops) I ran out of space.
Tony Sparano entered his Tuesday news conference softly whistling, although you'd be hard-pressed to call it a happy tune. You notice people whistling, because so few do. It's a lost art. Sort of like what winning has become for the Dolphins lately.
The "orange carpet" overflowed with celebrity part-owners and special guests at the Dolphins' sold-out home opener Monday night, and not a bit of it mattered. Jimmy Buffett. Gloria and Emilio Estefan. Serena and Venus Williams. Marc Anthony and J-Lo. Dwyane Wade and Tiger Woods. Star power everywhere you looked, and all of it reduced to a superfluous sideshow.
The Dolphins are desperate to make sure the ``event'' of Monday night's home opener on the national stage includes, in addition to all the pomp and celebrities, a victory -- knowing that an 0-2 start and the tough schedule to follow would all but realistically doom the season.
We present our annual (well, I think we did it last year) Sweet 16 list of the best current NFL players from the University of Miami.
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