The Miami Dolphins have lost all five of their 2011 season games, resulting in a fan base tired of watching their team lose. That fan base, hoping for a brighter future, has taken full grasp of the "Suck for Luck" campaign, actually wishing for the Dolphins to lose, so they can claim the number one overall draft pick next April, and take Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck.
Well, that atitude, and the desire to see the team lose, has started to upset some of the Dolphins players. Linebacker Karlos Dansby, on Wednesday, told Mike Berardino of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, "It pisses me off. I don't understand nothing about that. I put too many hours into this, man, put too many years into this, sacrificed too much to ask somebody to put that stipulation on me and my teammates. Because I know how much we put into this."
Dansby continued, "It's not right, bro. It's not right. We put too much into this, man, to have fans say that - period, point blank - or even promote that campaign. It's kind of sad."
But, Dansby wasn't done. "Man, we got 11 games. What are you talking about?" Dansby said. "We can't look at next season. We've got 11 games. We can win ‘em out, and then what? Then you'd be biting your tongue. Those guys that are saying that are fair-weather fans. They're not real Dolphins fans."
Dansby isn't the only one to weigh in on the Suck for Luck campaign recently. Dolphins Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino doesn't understand the desire to see Miami lose, despite the 16 starting quarterbacks the team has had since Marino's retirement.
"You got to win games," Marino said. "That's what your job is, that's the franchise. You don't go out there trying to lose games. That's just ridiculous. If that does happen, then you look at who's the best possible player.
"Usually, if you can get a franchise-type quarterback that's going to be around for 10 years, that's probably what direction you should go. But you're not going to know that for quite awhile, and you might not even know Andrew Luck, what's going to happen with him during the season."
Dansby's reaction is encouraging. It shows the team may not have quit on the season yet. And, it's understandable. Say you were an Apple employee, launching a new version of the iPhone - and the consumers were hoping for the phone to be a complete bust; everything about broken and the thing would not function. All so they could then go get the new Google phone. It may not be a perfect anaology, but it's close.
If that were you, on the inside, you should be pissed. You should be angry. You should hate every minute of it.
But, on the outside, maybe it's what is needed. If you product just doesn't measure up, maybe it's time for you to blow everything up and try again.
But, then again, maybe not.
The New York Times reported last week that Andrew Luck came out and commented on the phenomenon that is sweeping the fan bases of the bottom tier NFL teams. And, he wasn't exactly happy about the situation.
"I am aware of it," said Luck. "A couple of guys told me about it. I think it's stupid. Simply put."
When you are the consensus number one overall pick, and fan bases are clamoring for you, your statement about a campaign to purposely lose games should carry weight. And, if it doesn't, the refusal to play for a team, either by demanding a trade, or using your last year of NCAA eligibility will.
So, while the fan bases of all the teams, and in particular the Dolphins, ramp up the Suck for Luck chant, maybe it's not as good a thing as we all believe. If Andrew Luck doesn't think the Dolphins are the right fit for him, and a team losing on purpose clearly screams not a good franchise, he won't ever been in aqua and coral. And, there's no amount of sucking that can change that.