AHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Deep breath. 1,2, 3, 4...

This is ridiculous! Have any of you (who cry hypocrisy and point fingers at Parcells & Co for signing Pennington) paid attention to Parcells career? At all?

Vinny Testeverde, for crying-out-loud, went everywhere he did.

Drew Bledsoe, who was essentially a JUGS machine at the end of his career, was staving off Tony Romo for weeks before Parcells (probably Jerry Jones) put Romo in.

In fact, I'm not surprised Keyshawn Johnson and Drew Beldsoe weren't getting into fights in the Dolphins locker room on the first day of camp.

BILL PARCELLS DOES THIS. This is what we got when he signed on. A stubborn but hihgly effective personell manager.

The youth movement is intact. Signing Chad Pennington does nothing to hurt that movement. He is simply better than the current vet they have. It's a simple issue of upgrade.

Josh McCown was a waste of money, in my opinion. He would have started too, something I've maintained for a while. Those in the John Beck fan club had better wake up to the fact that he had an extremely unfair hill to climb. He had to be much better, not just somewhat better or equal, in order to start for this team.

With Henne pushing him already and Beck's inability to blast McCown out of the water has put his career as a Dolphin in jeopardy. 

That said, here's my top reasons why signing Pennington was a brilliant, not just good, decision.

1. Josh McCown and Chad Pennington are not in the same league. McCown is injury prone, albeit not like Pennington, and is a far inferior player. McCown's best season is like Pennington's worst. End of conversation.

2. Chad Pennington is a game manager. His historically best completion percentage and substatial intellect will make him a very good tutor to Chad Henne. Josh "too country" McCown was only informing Henne about the finer points of chain saws and collard greens (which I like).

The Dolphins will be a running team. Dan Henning's offense is an extremely conservative power offense. The QB is in charge of not losing the game. That is it. The league has moved away from this era, which was exempligfied by the Super Bowl teams of the early 2000's.

3. I didn't like Chad Pennington. He was 7-1 against the Phins and more than once made me look like an idiot. I'd be explaining to my friend about how Pennington had a noodle arm and then he'd light up the Dolphins with pass after well thrown pass. See December 2006.

4. Pennington will have a presence. Henne already seems to have that "it" that good leaders have. Players already respect him for what he's done as well as his presence on the field. McCown has never had this trait. John Beck is too shook from last year (and may not be a good leader in general) to have this quality.

Chad Pennington will be able to talk in the huddle like a guy who's had success before. Players will respect him. Did I mention he's 7-1 against the Dolphins?

5. The Vets like Joey Porter, Vonnie Holliday and Will Allen will appreciate the upgrade, even if the fans do not. They want to win soon. 

6. In the style of Little Nicky's Beck Facts, here is a misconception about Pennington that seems to floating around.

He will only stand in the way of the youth movement.

Reality: He was signed for a two-year contract. He is injury prone. Chad Henne will see the field sooner than later.

7. He is a competitive guy who has been mistreated by his old franchise. A franchise that he will get a chance to upstage on game one. Do any of you remember Joey Harrington's best game as a Dolphin? Or how about Daunte Culpepper's best game as a Raider?

Vengeance is sweeter than honey.

8. Another misconception: Chad Pennington showed last year that he can't play anymore. The Jets had a terrible line last year. Absolutely terrible. They had no running game last year either.

The Dolphins have a better offensive line and running game, by far, that the Jets. Pennington should have a good season if he can stay healthy. (This improved Dolphins line is completely contingent upon David Martin's never seeing a snap again).

Mangini is an idiot and wants to pretend that he is a part of the Parcells and Belichick genius. He is not and he has never liked Pennington.

9. This one is sad. The Dolphins wide receivers are not Duper and Clayton. They have trouble catching consistently and Chad Pennington's "touch" might be a good thing.

Okay, this last one was a stretch.

In the end I think this has more to do with the John Beck fanclub. Ernest Hemingway once said that the most important thing a writer needs is a built-in *#%@ detector.

Mine starting beeping last year during the Eagles game. The alarm sounded two weeks later against the Jets.

Give Pennington a chance.

www.thephinisher.com