Hello all, I grew up a SF 49ers season ticket holder. When the team announced they were leaving San Francisco I telephoned the Raiders , and for the past 6 years have been an Oakland Raiders season ticket holder. Yesterday the Raiders received approval to move to Las Vegas. Only one team owner voted against the move, and that was Stephen Ross of the Dolphins. Mr. Ross voted no because he did not believe the Raiders did all they could to remain within their home market. And he was correct about that. He was the only owner to do the right thing. I respect him for this. Consequently, the Miami Dolphins are now the only NFL team I will root for, and I look forward to it. My earliest recollections of the Dolphins were watching on t.v. Don Shula, Bob Griese, Larry Csonka etc... These days I think the Dolphins have a competent head coach and some talented players. Glad to be here.
Welcome. And sorry about your team(s). I'm not sure what I'd do if the Dolphins moved away from Miami, but I know for sure that it would be tough to get over.
Thank you for the welcome. Several years ago I think the NFL made a mistake allowing/approving the 49ers move out of SF to Santa Clara. That deal was nothing but a short sighted money grab by the 49ers owners (York family), and has resulted in a horrible "new stadium" which nobody (I know of) likes. Santa Clara's Levis Stadium has no convenient parking or tailgating, seats with little leg room, extreme sun exposure making half the seat locations essentially uninhabitable etc... And yesterday, the NFL owners approving the Raiders relocation makes little sense. Las Vegas may or may not prove to be a successful NFL home team market, that remains to be seen. But to leave the high population , high income demographic SF Bay Area market to only the dysfunctional 49ers seems to me to be a bad decision by the League. Regardless, I am moving on and embracing the Miami Dolphins, my new team. I ordered a Dolphins hat today and will wear it proudly around my home city of SF. And I will spend time here this forum getting familiar with the Dolphins current roster, draft prospects etc... Glad to be here.
Welcome. I can't understand the swapping of teams. I'd struggle with that, and I'm miles and miles away from my team. For you to do it twice in a span of a few years, damn. I get it though in the sense that they've abandoned the fanbase, and you were local to it, so I guess I do understand the boycott of both teams now, so good for you. I'm sure it hasn't been easy. I'd think too, if Miami moved, depending on where they'd move to I'm not sure I'd hang around, I may switch to Detroit as painful as that would be since they're so close to my home. The thought of that makes me sick though! Welcome to Dolphins fandom though! Pretty cool reason to jump aboard! Hopefully you're getting on board at the right time, things are looking up around here, so, welcome!!
Long story, short; One of the first football games I watched as a kid growing up featured the Dolphins/Jets, and Marino. As a kid I also like Dolphins. It was like it was meant to be. My dad was a vikings fan and hated the Lions even though theyre so close to us, so no way in hell could I be a fan of them as a kid. My brother at the time was a Jets fan and we always fought as kids, so it just seemed natural to go against him too. He's now more of a Bears fan too as he got more into football and its history he became more attached to Ditka, that 85 team, Walter Payton, etc. etc.
Let me add my welcome. While I live in Ohio now, I first moved to Florida in 1966. My Dad took me to see the first ever practice of the Miami Dolphins. I have been a fan ever since. Twice the owner of the Dolphins put their own money into a stadium for the team. The Phins moved out of the community owned Orange Bowl stadium when Joe Robbie took his own bucks and built the basics of what is now Hard Rock stadium. More recently Ross put a half billion into the place to renovate it and bring it up to state of the art. He asked for public money and didn't get it but then put together his private deal. It is the model of how things should be. Welfare for billionaires is a travesty. The Phins do seem to be an ascending team again with a coach who had an impressive first season, a still growing QB and a handful of pro bowlers on both sides of the ball. It is a good time to be a Phins fan. Again, welcome aboard.
Wow, "first ever practice of the Miami Dolphins". That's cool ! Any particular memories of that day ? Was the practice at an existing high school or college football field ?
The Dolphins were trying to get a statewide following so they did the early portion of camp, the part I saw, at the then brand new Boca Ciega High School in St. Petersburg. They were spreading things around. My family was on vacation on St. Pete Beach while our house was being finished up in New Port Richey. The team was staying about a 1000 yards north up the beach. I was drooling as I watched these professional athletes up close. It was a blur. Funny details though, the field had just been put in and instead of good clean dirt it had lots of crushed shells and guys had little cuts all over exposed areas. Also the incredibly beautiful women in what was then the skimpiest bikinis I had seen to that date wandering the beach trying to meet the players. Those gals even made my Dad stammer!
