It's the most significant Dolphins game since four coaches ago. The biggest game since eight quarterbacks ago. The most meaningful 60 minutes since Ricky Williams version 1.0 was still part of the program.
Sudden growth spurts can be awkward and ugly sometimes. You remember, back when you were a 'tweener.' All of a sudden your nose looked a little too big for your face. Other, even less attractive things started growing on your face. Your legs were a little longer than you were used to, making the simplest of balancing acts
In a cramped corner of a Coral Gables hotel ballroom on Thursday sat two NASCAR champions, side by side. The man on the left, the reigning series champion on the verge of a remarkable third consecutive title, is Jimmie Johnson, and he owns a Gulfstream G150 executive jet, which is effectively the Rolls Royce of private planes.
It has been more than two months since questions arose for the first time about why Randy Shannon was using a second quarterback when it appeared Robert Marve needed no relief.
The concept of sports teams being ahead of schedule seems to be catching on around these parts. The stripped-bare Dolphins are talking playoffs, the baby Hurricanes are looking at conference championship possibilities, and now the Heat is on the progress fast track.
It's one of those sports phrases that is an underhanded insult and the ultimate compliment all at once. It's a slap in the face and a pat on the back in one motion.
The Denver Nuggets and Miami Heat had a lot in common until Monday. Both teams had two maximum-salary players, one of them in the final year of his contract who didn't factor into the team's long-term future. Both teams also were considered, at best, fringe playoff teams in their respective conferences, despite featuring one of the league's elite stars. And both teams needed significant upgrades at point guard and center spots if they were going to change that perception.
DENVER -- To go 80 yards with, effectively, the game on the line when nothing about the moment says you're supposed to. To go 80 yards with, quite possibly, a successful season on the line when nothing about your offensive performance thus far says you can sustain that kind of success.
Credit a rookie head coach with strong grasp on his team. Credit a few impatient veterans who recognize the importance of early-season success.
NEW YORK -- As soon as the starting lineups were announced, all those feel-good projections that had the Heat recovering from the depths of 15 wins to a possible playoff spot vanished.
Let's play this out, shall we, Because ''How do you think the Heat will do this year?'' is the question I've heard most often over the past month, just ahead of ''How's your 401K?'' and ``Do you want to make that a combo?''
There's no way to prove this, but if Ted Ginn Jr. doesn't catch that difficult ball on the opening play, he doesn't get the opportunity to catch six more and claim his first actual breakthrough game.
Michael Beasley has conflicting dreams. One is recurring. It has been swimming in his consciousness since he was a toddler. It's the dream. The NBA dream he finally is living.
On the surface, it would appear Chad Pennington had a pretty awful day. Throwing an interception that is returned for a gift-wrapped touchdown is about the worst sin a quarterback can commit, and Pennington had his first such transgression as a Dolphin on Sunday.
GAINESVILLE -- When the Gators last walked off their Swamp, their spirit had been swatted away by a blocked extra point. They watched with disgust through tearful eyes as Ole Miss players mocked their trademark chomp.
The tandem shuffle with Vernon Carey in the end zone after his 5-yard touchdown run? That was actually Carey's idea. The left-hand-on-helmet, right-hand-flicking-football demonstration after the game-sealing first down? That was a copy of LaDanian Tomlinson's signature touchdown celebration -- a final ''Take that!'' to last year's conference finalists.
It seems every step Michael Beasley has taken since he left Kansas State has been televised in some fashion.
How do you look at this one? It might be hard to figure, because the rain that came from every conceivable direction might have gotten in your eyes.
While Jacory Harris was winning all 30 games he started at Miami Northwestern, while he was claiming state and national championships, and being named the first Mr. Football in either Dade or Broward County, it is hard to imagine he had this scenario in mind.
Four days into the real thing, and Michael Beasley is distant. Literally, Beasley is far. He's away from his scrimmaging teammates, sitting on the opposite sideline of the AmericanAirlines Arena main floor with an injured groin and a spinning mind. Figuratively, he's far -- far from being the impact player everyone expects him to be. And right now that makes his team something of a mystery.
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