Jason Taylor slumped before his locker stall with head bowed, stripped down to his grass-stained uniform pants, the last Dolphin not in street clothes in the wake of the Sunday humiliation still raw.
The Dolphins are honoring their 1982 and '84 AFC championship teams during Sunday's game. Hmm. Unless I'm mistaken, isn't that a nice way of saying they are honoring the teams that failed -- God love 'em -- to bring home Super Bowl rings and ultimately blanketed abject disappointment across South Florida?
Old England samples New England on Sunday as the NFL's ever-increasing foray into international markets continues with the latest game in London. Brits get Patriots-Tampa Bay, meaning they'll see the best that American football has to offer, other than the Buccaneers.
Hit another Upset of the Week against the spread with Ravens covering vs. Minnesota, and also had underdog Texans and Chiefs with points. But let's not put a bow on a pig, or, for that matter, a fedora on an Upset Bird. I got beat up last week, both ways. Had complete, embarrassing misreads on Giants-Saints and Cards-Seahawks. Can't beat myself up much on Eagles-Raiders -- who saw that coming? -- but some of those other picks were roughly as successful as the Titans' pass defense against Tom Brady.
The Miami Hurricanes have a better chance than you might think to play for college football's national championship Jan. 7 in the Rose Bowl. The Miami Dolphins have a great, immediate opportunity to prove they might have a chance to reach the Super Bowl on Feb. 7 in their own stadium.
You thought talk-radio agitator Rush Limbaugh bombed in his brief stint as an NFL studio analyst for ESPN? That was Emmy-winning caliber compared with his more recent work as a prospective team owner.
I care for my overall record, sure, but how I fare against the spread is where the bread is buttered, where the rubber hits the road and [note to self: look up a third cliché]. Against the spread is what separates the men from the men whose wives won't let them gamble. This is why last week pleased me.
This might be seen as blasphemy by some, be decried as flagrantly premature by others or be plainly misinterpreted by most, so I will tread carefully.
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!'').
RSS|
My Yahoo|
Newsletters|
Widgets|
Mobile|
Alerts|
Twitter
Terms of Service| Privacy Policy| About our ads| Copyright| About The Miami Herald| About the McClatchy Company| Corrections| Contact Us| Advertise
Partners: El Nuevo Herald| Newspaper in Education| WLRN | Miami Herald News| CBS4 WFOR-TV| More
Copyright 2009 Miami Herald Media Co. All rights reserved
Previous
