My Penance for Being A Spoiled Sports Fan

It doesn't take a long look at the abysmal sports cul-de-sac that is the South Florida sports landscape to know that there is something wrong with this town. The Miami Dolphins are winless (0-9 to be exact), have lost their franchise running back (who finally started to play like one) for the season, and are quickly losing their fan base. The Miami Heat (as of this entry) have only one win, their superstar on the mend and an aging hall of famer in the middle. The Miami Hurricanes have had a dismal season, punctuated by getting shutout at home (the FINAL game at the historic Orange Bowl). The Florida Marlins...well, I don't even want to get into them.

I can only think of one reason for this horrible sports season--everything is cyclical. Teams do good and it's inevitable that they have to go through a period of bad. I'm certain that it is written somewhere or at the very least understood.

I grew up in a time when the Miami Hurricanes were so dominant that they were the most hated college team (and maybe even the most hated team period) in America. Maybe second to Notre Dame but the Golden Domers at least had a higher power on their side. Da U just kept pumping out NFL-quality talent while stomping over the competition. Sure there was the occasional Vinny Testaverde flub (vs. Penn State) and the hilarious premature Lamar Thomas celebration as he gets stripped from behind (against Alabama in the Sugar Bowl if I remember) a la Leon Lett but for the most part there was the arrogance, the domination. I loved it. Folks, that run has surely ended and now we have a JV team masquerading as a college football program. Either poor recruiting or poor coaching or a combination of both. There was no greater punctuation of this than with the thorough beat down Virginia gave the Canes in the last game that will ever be played at the Orange Bowl. The decline has been evident at QB starting with Brock Berlin (who still saw SOME success) and carried through to Kyle Wright (who has thrown at least ONE interception in all but one of the games he's played in) and will continue for the foreseeable future on to Kirby Freeman. Ouch. First year coach and Can alum Randy Shannon. So I beg for forgiveness.

The Miami Heat have been pretty mediocre until Pat Riley came on board. Then there was success and the heartbreak to the Knicks. But even before the redemption in the form of a championship, Shaq, and D-Wade, I could at least say that the Heat was a good team and always won its share of games. I laughed at bottom feeders like the Clippers and Hawks. I took it for granted. Now we have an aging center (who I still will contend is serviceable at best) and no cap room for the future to help support D-Wade once he has to go at this basketball thing alone. Off to a horrible start, the Heat boo-birds started chiming in. Well, this wasn't as painful, but painful nonetheless. It's too early but things just might get corrected once D-Wade comes back.

Finally my first love...the Miami Dolphins. Spoiled by the great years of Dan Marino, the average years of Jimmy Johnson and even the non-descript tenure of Dave Wannstedt (for as much as I and others hated him, would you hate on a coach who averaged 10 wins a season?), I am now looking at a collapsing franchise thanks to the mismanagement of Wannstedt, Nick Satan and currently Cam Cameron. I am not even angry that we will possibly go 0-16. Hey, now the Dolphins can have both undefeated and winless records! But it's painful to watch a storied franchise fall into the realm of irrelevance. I've written this before...at least the other woeful teams (Rams, Cards, 49ers, the resurgent Browns) have a bright future with talent. This team is devoid of talent. Devoid until said talent realizes its...talent and plays well.

So I beg the Sports Gods for forgiveness. To spare my teams the shame and help right the ship. Ok, I get it. I took it all for granted. Will someone turn the lights on in Cam Cameron's head?

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