2009 Perspective VIII

There have been three drafts of this week's perspective, and none of them are this post.  Matty killed the first two with his first half review and second half expectations posts (they were much better coming from Matty than me, trust me on that one), and the third version, I just did not like.  So, here is version four for this week.

Something has been bothering me lately, and I am going to get up on my soapbox and preach tonight.

We are fans of the Miami Dolphins, are we not?  Fans of a team that, at least most of us feel, is the best team in the league.  A team that, although we have been having a rough go of it in the past few years, we all are excited to see starting to turn the corner and march back towards greatness.

So, what's with all the negativity?

Look, we all get it.  There are problems with the team that need to get fixed.  There are positions that the franchise needs to upgrade.  There are things that the Dolphins do not do well.  The team gets away from its bread and butter running attack too easily sometimes.

We all get it.

So, leave it alone!

I understand Ted Ginn, Jr. was drafted number 9 overall.  I get it that he drops balls that he should probably catch.  I agree, he is usually looking for a way to get away from the hit rather than fighting through it.  No one on this site is arguing with you.  Now, we all understand the situation and we all see it.  So, DROP IT! 

I know I'm not the only one who is sick and tired of the Ted Ginn, Jr. bashing going on every single week.  Unless the guy is returning two kicks for touchdowns, you would think the guy just killed the puppy of every commentor in the live game thread.

Cam Cameron picked the Ginn family at number 9.  Ted Ginn, Jr. did not force us into picking him.  Ted Ginn, Jr. did nothing other than retun kicks at Ohio State and wait for someone to say his name.  Guess what?  WE did.  That's right.  The Miami Dolphins, the team you claim to love, picked him.  So, guess what?  Now, it's up to us to support the guy.  Why?  John Beck.  John Beck got picked by this team to be our franchise quarterback.  Instead, when he started having troubles on a team that went 1&15, the fan base suddenly turned on the guy, detroyed any chance of him gaining confidence, and destroyed him.  Now, we are doing the exact same thing to Ted Ginn, Jr.

Congratulations, you recognize that Ginn is not a #1 wide receiver in the NFL.  But, at least until the end of this year, he's our wide recevier.  If you can't support the guy, good for you.  But shut up with destroying him everytime he drops a pass.  Until you give Brian Hartline, or Davone Bess (who seems to be dropping just as many passes lately), the same sort of criticsm, leave Teddy alone.

The next thing that drives me crazy is how negative we get in the game threads.  Even if the team is winning, if any small thing goes wrong, the mood of the game thread suddenly changes.  It's gotten so bad lately that I have left during games, and seriously consider each week if I want to come back or not.  I don't understand the desire to see the Dolphins fail.  If you are a fan, root for the team.

It really was not that long ago that we had to root for a team that was losing every single week.  The lone highlight was an overtime touchdown, keeping us from being the Detroit Lions before the Detroit Lions.  During that season, each and every week, I was rooting my heart out.

Now, after an 11&5 season, if we throw an interception, you would think we have just blown the Super Bowl.  Why?  Why are we as fans so fairweather that we can't even root for our team throughout a single game?

Another thing that's driving me nuts is the emergance of the fans who want us to tank the rest of the season.  Why on Earth would you ever root for your team to lose?  I can't do it.  I know most of you can't do it.  But, suddenly there are calls for us to lose out, so we can get a better draft pick.  That makes no sense to me.  I can't stand when this team loses.  Why would I want to suffer through 8 more losses, just so we can call a name of an unproven player earlier on an April Thursday night?

I do not mean to say we cannot criticize.  I do not mean to say we cannot question coach decisions or complain that a player should have made a play.  But, there's a fine line between being upset about a play or player and abusing a player just because we can.

Well, hopefully I did not upset too many of you.  I'm just frustrated by what's going on lately, and I felt I needed to vent (I doubt this will make the 50 rec's that last week's Perspective made - thank you to all of you who helped me smash all known rec records!)

Thank you to all of you for your Veteran's Day wishes.