It's The Beginning Of October And The Dolphins Are Right Back Where They Started

Over the past few seasons it's been exhausting being a Dolphins fan. Most recently, it was the whole Nick Satan debacle, and an offseason that saw some popular players depart and some curious draft decisions.

And now it's the beginning of October, and the Dolphins(and their fans) are in the same spot they were a number of months ago. Looking for a quarterback to lead the team.

Thanks to Trent Green's decision to block a defender in the knee with his head on Ted Ginn's reverse(You remember him right? Miami's #1 pick.), Cleo Lemon is the starter for the forseeable future. He may even be the starter for the rest of the season because this is Green's second bad concussion in as many seasons. If he can't go, then it will be up to Lemon and second round pick John Beck to try and end Miami's eight game losing streak.

Does passing on Brady Quinn after he fell into Miami's lap seem like such a great decision now, Coach Cameron? I know that Ginn's 51 yards of total receiving have made a huge impact, but seriously, passing on Quinn? [sarcasm]It's still a great idea six months later![/sarcasm]

Ted Ginn Jr. Not Having A Great Start In Miami

Second round pick quarterback John Beck signed with the Dolphins late Sunday, but Ted Ginn Jr. is still holding out and will miss the start of rookie practice.

Great.

I understand that guys who make it to the NFL want to make sure they get a decent rookie deal. However, there also has to be some humbleness and gratitude involved because they've just been presented with a chance to play in one of the best professional leagues in the world.

My problem with Ginn holding out is that I feel he should be grateful that he was drafted at #9 after many "experts" projected him as a late first(at best) or second round pick. He has to have been presented with more money than he thought he was going to make with where he was projected to go prior to Miami drafting him, but his mini-holdout(the Dolphins won't consider him "late" until Friday) isn't portraying him as a player eager to make an instant impact for the Dolphins.

And Ginn's boss, Wayne Huizenga, is probably even more displeased than me.

Owner Wayne Huizenga, displeased that the Dolphins' top picks held out in 2005 and 2006, warned in March he had no patience for a repeat.

"If you don't report, you're sitting out, baby. We're not playing you," Huizenga said then.

The following month, Miami took Ohio State receiver-returner Ginn with the ninth pick in the draft.

And with many fans already displeased with Miami drafting him at #9 this isn't helping to win them over. Hopefully his play on the field this season helps with that. Or maybe he can continue to be Miami's official jersey modeler.

The Dolphins Sure Are Doing Their Best To Screw Their Fans

With the decisions that the Miami Dolphins have made over the past few months you would think that they just went undefeated, and won another Super Bowl trophy. However, with them coming off of a 6-10 season where some newly acquired pieces never really fell into place, you have to wonder if they even want the fans to show up to Dolphin Stadium this season. Let's recap some of decisions that have upset the Dolphin faithful:

March: Trade Wes Welker to the Patriots. Welker was not only a good returner, but he had also turned out to be a pretty good receiver. In addition to that, he had become a fan favorite in South Florida. Trading him away, especially to a division rival, didn't sit well with a lot of fans.

March-June: Screw around with the Trent Green deal. Early in the offseason it became apparent that Miami was interested in Green. I fully understand that they didn't want to overpay for him, but at some point you have to realize that it's likely your two starting quarterbacks from the previous season aren't going to be with the team. The sooner he gets signed, the quicker he gets accustomed to the system and the rest of the team. If he truly is the guy that can help you win games, then bumping up the offer just a bit isn't that big of a deal.

April: Pass on Brady Quinn to draft Ted Ginn Jr. Sure, some "experts" said that Quinn's arm strength wasn't all that great, and that he seemed to disappear in "big games". However, new coach Cam Cameron could have given the Dolphins a new face for their organization by drafting Quinn after he basically fell into their lap. Here's a team that's been struggling to find a QB to build a team around for seven years. Drafting Quinn, at the very least, sends a message to the fans that you're doing everything you can to find the next Dan Marino. Drafting Ginn says that you should have kept Welker.

February-June: Losing a home game to London. On the surface, promoting the NFL to international audiences seems like a great idea. However, many Dolphins fans weren't happy that they lost a home game this season. Though, some team was going to have to be first, and it just turned out to be the Dolphins and Giants. Yet, instead of making everything as smooth as possible, Miami Dolphins' officials have announced that any season ticket holders that purchase tickets to the game in London must show their I.D. when they go to pick them up at Wembley Stadium. That might not sound like a big deal, but the fans aren't happy with it because the same policy isn't enacted for other games, such as the Super Bowl.

Here are a few quotes from Miami Dolphins season ticket holders, the core audience that Miami sells to:

"It's bad enough they're taking a home game away from us — now you've got to pick them up in person?" Mike Dean said. "Let's say I got ill when it came time to go. What if I want to give my tickets to you? I can't give them to you. I have to go on my deathbed?"

"I can win Super Bowl tickets in a lottery and sell those. They allow that," Kathy Harmon said. "For example, with the Super Bowl, we're in a lottery. A lot of people take it [and re-sell the tickets] so they can finance next year's season tickets. Why would they protect somebody for this and not for the Super Bowl?"

And I'm sure that those opinions do reflect a number of others. It's a shame that a team that had such high expectations leading into last season has led their fans to hoping that they don't screw up too badly anymore.