:notworthy :arms

 

Its about time someone in media writes what many have been thinking for awhile

 

Commentary: Dolphins lead South Florida in fans, yawns

By Greg Stoda

 

Palm Beach Post Columnist

 

Thursday, August 25, 2005

 

Oh, they're popular.

 

But are they worthy of such fierce allegiance? Such above-all-else devotion?

 

The Dolphins remain ? judging from e-mails to my address, anyway ? far and away the most beloved of South Florida's four prominent professional sports franchises.

 

It's an NFL world, first and foremost, in these parts. No other entity from among the NBA's Heat, MLB's Marlins and NHL's Panthers comes particularly close to generating the kind of fan interest the Dolphins do.

 

Know what, though?

 

Maybe it's just a habit.

 

Maybe it's just a matter of the Dolphins having been around the longest.

 

Maybe it's just a first-love kind of thing that's difficult to shake.

 

Because a point worth making these days is that the Dolphins might be the least compelling of the four teams... and, no, not just because they happen to be really, really lousy right now.

 

Consider:

 

? The Heat is compelling by sheer force of the personalities involved, from Pat Riley's stewardship as president to the on-court duo of Shaquille O'Neal and Dwyane Wade.

 

Do the Dolphins have anyone with the scintillating star power to match any of the Heat's big three? And do the Dolphins have a player equal in talent to either O'Neal or Wade?

 

? The Marlins, orphans that they are playing home games in a football stadium named for ? who else?? the Dolphins, are compelling by sheer force of their success. They won the World Series in 1997 and 2003, are in the playoff race again this season and have one of the game's best players in Miguel Cabrera.

 

The Dolphins, meanwhile, have gone more than three decades without a title. And, again, is there anyone on their roster who can compare to the 22-year-old Cabrera as an emerging superstar? Or, for that matter, to pitchers Josh Beckett or A.J. Burnett or Dontrelle Willis as a singular story line?

 

? The Panthers are compelling by sheer force of the current politics of hockey. The NHL is coming off an entire season lost to labor strife, and curiousity alone ought to spike the intrigue surrounding the sport once it resumes competition. And, yet again, here at least is a franchise with a dominant player in Roberto Luongo.

 

The Dolphins, of course, counter on the lost-season front with a running back who dropped out for a year before deciding to drop back in for this one. Ricky Williams, though, will serve a four-game suspension to start the season, which leaves new head coach Nick Saban as the headliner... and Mr. Entertainment, he isn't.

 

What it amounts to these days is the Dolphins themselves have less to do with passionate fan interest than game-day atmosphere. The stadium as a gathering place is reason enough to throw tailgate parties in the parking lot. The game is increasingly inconsequential (at least in the manner the Dolphins are playing it).

 

Miami was 4-12 last season. If the Dolphins win as few as three games this season ? and that's a distinct possibility ? they would match their lowest combined victory total in consecutive years since the embryonic stage of the franchise. Miami was 3-11 in its first season and 4-10 in its second while playing a schedule shorter than today's 16-game format.

 

Oh, sure, there will be an increase in no-shows should the Dolphins flop once more. But paid attendance won't take much of a hit.

 

The Heat? It had to get O'Neal and begin a challenge for the NBA title to become a must-see team.

 

The Marlins? Nothing they accomplish seems good enough.

 

The Panthers? They might as well be wandering a desert looking for frozen water for all their drawing power.

 

But let's not confuse the Dolphins' popularity with something it isn't. They just happen to be the most fun to ignore in person.

 

As far as being compelling, though, give me the Heat and Marlins without argument. And even the Panthers circumstantially, at least for a little while.

 

You can listen to Greg Stoda on Mondays and Fridays from 4-6pm on ESPN Radio 760.

 

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/heat/content/...STODA_0825.html

Nice article. I do think that the fact that the Marlins, Heat, and Panthers are relatively new teams is a big factor. I mean the Dolphins have been around for almost 40 years, while the Heat have only been around for 17 years, The Marlins and Panthers just 12. Lots pf people have grown up with the Dolphins, while the Marlins and Panthers don't have the fans YET that have been long term fans.

another thing is that fans don't only go to dolphins games to see the game but just for the tailgate parties and since it's only on sundays it makes a big difference.

 

There are much more people that are able to spend a couple hundred dollars for a sunday party and dophins tickets than paying for tickets for every game on a 10 game homestand.

 

Another thing that help is that NFL games are on sunday and there are many more poeple free in a sunday afternoon than at a weekday night

Some people like to criticize Miami fans for being too fickle, and now we're getting attacked (sort of) for not being fickle enough. Leave us alone and GOOOOOOOO DOLPHINS!