Spent a lot of time here today so this is Last Call. And it is an end to the day that truly disturbs me, disturbs me more than it should.
The Miami "Dolphins" franchise in the National Football League lost today to the world champion New England "Patriots" 43-0 at home. They lost their previous game, the first of the season, 59-10, also in Miami Gardens. That's 102-10 combined. That is really bad, disturbing, but those are not the sources of my soul demoralization tonight. Rather, it is that these results, and the remaining fourteen losses to follow are part of deliberate plan by Miami management to fix this season so that it loses every single one of its games. I swear. to. God. That is their plan and it is a plan that has been in the works all of the calendar year of 2019.
To my knowledge this is the first time in any American professional sport that one team's management has deliberately fixed all of its games in a season. There has been what is called "tanking" of particular games, even chunks of games, almost always at the end of the season, in the NBA. Troubling as that is, and NBA commissioners are vigilant, they recognize it as 1) threatening the integrity of the league 2) a potentially fatal undermining of the essence of sport, competition, which is the narcotic that draws "consumers" in and keeps them coming back for more 3) a fraud on the fans, the season ticket holders especially but the television viewing audience also which bankrolls the leagues, and that is at the end of the season! Sometimes not even. Former NBA commissioner David Stern went absolutely ape shit on the San Antonio "Spurs" and Miami "Heat" when each team announced that it was sitting its best players for a nationally televised game on Christmas Day. Stern fined the two managements as much as he could and publicly bitch-slapped them. But never, I repeat never, has a team in any professional sport intentionally fixed all of its games to lose. If this happened in the NBA David Stern or Adam Silver would have canceled the trades the "Dolphins" have made, publicly excoriated Miami management and owner Steven Ross and levied heavy fines. But then, the NFL has no David Stern, much less an Adam Silver. The NFL has an empty suit in Roger Goodell, who, if he had been in charge of the NBA, Donald Sterling would still own the Los Angeles "Clippers."
Throwing every game in an entire season to assure the number one pick in the draft was not even thought possible in the NFL and had never been done before, not even close. NFL rosters are fifty-three players. Teams do not field the same players eleven to a side who play every play. NFL teams operate with platoons of players. Eleven on offense, eleven different players on defense, a punter who only punts, a place kicker who only kicks, "special teams" for punts and kickoffs. NBA rosters, on the other hand are fifteen players and the same five players, the team's best players, play both offense and defense. The reason NBA teams sometimes tank the last few weeks of a season--after trying their darnedest to win for the previous months, is to maximize its chances of getting a transcendent player with the first overall pick in the next season's draft. One such player can completely change the trajectory of a team because he is one of a reasonable playing pool of eight to ten. In the NFL however, a transcendent player, at the most important position, quarterback, is still one of fifty-three total, one of eleven on offense, one who never plays on defense or on the other platoons. His chance of transforming an NBA team is significant, an NFL team, much less significant. In fact, it has never happened that a single player has come in and instantly transformed an NFL team. To guard against the corruption of its sport the NBA completely changed its draft selection procedure decades ago, from one that was precisely inverse to season record, to completely random, and the league has tweaked it several times since with a weighted procedure. The NBA has not eliminated tanking but it has significantly increased the cost of doing so.
"Dolphins" management is fixing its games this season in order to get the believed number one pick in next year's draft, Alabama QB Tua Tagovailoa. But Tua is only a junior and may not declare for the NFL draft; Tua is only 6'1" tall, not at all optimal height for the NFL, and Tua, although possessing stratospheric quarterback ratings of 175, and 199.4 in his first two years in college, with one national championship, did not have a great game in last year's national championship game, lost by Bama 44-16. He thrua two TD's, had two INT's. Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence threw three TD passes with no INTS, had much the better QB rating, 97.8 to 58.8 and was game MVP. Lawrence is optimal or super-optimal NFL size at 6'6". Tanking-for-Tua therefore is madness. Now, because of roster size NFL draft success does not rest solely on securing the overall number one pick and Miami, through its fire sale of its only talented players now has two first round picks in 2020, and two second round picks and I think the same two and two in the first two rounds of 2021. And there is "value" to be had in still later rounds. But Miami management would have to hit on every pick to accomplish their corrupt plan.
To me--And who am I? A casual Dolphan only, one who roots for the team, has attended only a handful of games in thirty-seven years, watched maybe three dozen on the boob tube--I am Nobody, in a word in bold, to the Miami “Dolphins”, that is who I am. But to this Nemo Miami's hypothesized success fantasy would not be worth it. In fact, that success, if it comes, would be added reason that I will never root for this franchise again, never attend or watch another game. Because the insult to the soul of this plan is so deep and so profound to me. I have never felt such sorrow over a team, never been so insulted, never been so disgusted and so thoroughly demoralized. Addition by subtraction, me to the Miami "Dolphins," to be sure, but subtraction it is. I hope they fail utterly in this sickening, corrupt project in seasons to come. I hope they are forced to relocate out of the town I live in and love.
The Miami "Dolphins" franchise in the National Football League lost today to the world champion New England "Patriots" 43-0 at home. They lost their previous game, the first of the season, 59-10, also in Miami Gardens. That's 102-10 combined. That is really bad, disturbing, but those are not the sources of my soul demoralization tonight. Rather, it is that these results, and the remaining fourteen losses to follow are part of deliberate plan by Miami management to fix this season so that it loses every single one of its games. I swear. to. God. That is their plan and it is a plan that has been in the works all of the calendar year of 2019.
To my knowledge this is the first time in any American professional sport that one team's management has deliberately fixed all of its games in a season. There has been what is called "tanking" of particular games, even chunks of games, almost always at the end of the season, in the NBA. Troubling as that is, and NBA commissioners are vigilant, they recognize it as 1) threatening the integrity of the league 2) a potentially fatal undermining of the essence of sport, competition, which is the narcotic that draws "consumers" in and keeps them coming back for more 3) a fraud on the fans, the season ticket holders especially but the television viewing audience also which bankrolls the leagues, and that is at the end of the season! Sometimes not even. Former NBA commissioner David Stern went absolutely ape shit on the San Antonio "Spurs" and Miami "Heat" when each team announced that it was sitting its best players for a nationally televised game on Christmas Day. Stern fined the two managements as much as he could and publicly bitch-slapped them. But never, I repeat never, has a team in any professional sport intentionally fixed all of its games to lose. If this happened in the NBA David Stern or Adam Silver would have canceled the trades the "Dolphins" have made, publicly excoriated Miami management and owner Steven Ross and levied heavy fines. But then, the NFL has no David Stern, much less an Adam Silver. The NFL has an empty suit in Roger Goodell, who, if he had been in charge of the NBA, Donald Sterling would still own the Los Angeles "Clippers."
Throwing every game in an entire season to assure the number one pick in the draft was not even thought possible in the NFL and had never been done before, not even close. NFL rosters are fifty-three players. Teams do not field the same players eleven to a side who play every play. NFL teams operate with platoons of players. Eleven on offense, eleven different players on defense, a punter who only punts, a place kicker who only kicks, "special teams" for punts and kickoffs. NBA rosters, on the other hand are fifteen players and the same five players, the team's best players, play both offense and defense. The reason NBA teams sometimes tank the last few weeks of a season--after trying their darnedest to win for the previous months, is to maximize its chances of getting a transcendent player with the first overall pick in the next season's draft. One such player can completely change the trajectory of a team because he is one of a reasonable playing pool of eight to ten. In the NFL however, a transcendent player, at the most important position, quarterback, is still one of fifty-three total, one of eleven on offense, one who never plays on defense or on the other platoons. His chance of transforming an NBA team is significant, an NFL team, much less significant. In fact, it has never happened that a single player has come in and instantly transformed an NFL team. To guard against the corruption of its sport the NBA completely changed its draft selection procedure decades ago, from one that was precisely inverse to season record, to completely random, and the league has tweaked it several times since with a weighted procedure. The NBA has not eliminated tanking but it has significantly increased the cost of doing so.
"Dolphins" management is fixing its games this season in order to get the believed number one pick in next year's draft, Alabama QB Tua Tagovailoa. But Tua is only a junior and may not declare for the NFL draft; Tua is only 6'1" tall, not at all optimal height for the NFL, and Tua, although possessing stratospheric quarterback ratings of 175, and 199.4 in his first two years in college, with one national championship, did not have a great game in last year's national championship game, lost by Bama 44-16. He thrua two TD's, had two INT's. Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence threw three TD passes with no INTS, had much the better QB rating, 97.8 to 58.8 and was game MVP. Lawrence is optimal or super-optimal NFL size at 6'6". Tanking-for-Tua therefore is madness. Now, because of roster size NFL draft success does not rest solely on securing the overall number one pick and Miami, through its fire sale of its only talented players now has two first round picks in 2020, and two second round picks and I think the same two and two in the first two rounds of 2021. And there is "value" to be had in still later rounds. But Miami management would have to hit on every pick to accomplish their corrupt plan.
To me--And who am I? A casual Dolphan only, one who roots for the team, has attended only a handful of games in thirty-seven years, watched maybe three dozen on the boob tube--I am Nobody, in a word in bold, to the Miami “Dolphins”, that is who I am. But to this Nemo Miami's hypothesized success fantasy would not be worth it. In fact, that success, if it comes, would be added reason that I will never root for this franchise again, never attend or watch another game. Because the insult to the soul of this plan is so deep and so profound to me. I have never felt such sorrow over a team, never been so insulted, never been so disgusted and so thoroughly demoralized. Addition by subtraction, me to the Miami "Dolphins," to be sure, but subtraction it is. I hope they fail utterly in this sickening, corrupt project in seasons to come. I hope they are forced to relocate out of the town I live in and love.
