Great post, LOL at the bolded part. Yes, Shula ran the Rules Committee back then, that was a constant source of aggravation. That's why the New England snow plow thing was so great, it was long overdue and the guy blew snow all over Shula and the Dolphin sideline. Also, "late" David Woodley? Did he die?
Read here: http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...2,6185737&dq=orange-bowl+water+mud-bowl&hl=en The week after the game, Roselle called out the Dolphins about the uncovered field, so it looks like the NFL did actually care about the lack of a tarp.
Never saw that game, the first game I ever watched where I said...I'm going to root for the Jets, they lost 31-0 I believe to the Raiders. 1984? 85?. Just got crushed. But I stuck with them.
I was 14.... I think any Jets fan at that time probably started their TRUE HATRED for Miami that season...... If you're older maybe it started earlier but, when my family wasn't into sports and I knew no better when I was real young I kinda liked that fairy blue color... Once I became a man, I realized that color might as well be Pink. I'm just young enough to NEVER remember Miami winning a damn thing...
Same here, my first year watching football was 1974 and the Dolphins last won in 1973. So even though I'm 0-for-life with the Jets I have that going for me. You're probably right about this game being the first Miami hate for a lot of people. The Jets were 7-0-1 vs Miami from 1978-81, even though they were a good team and we weren't, 1982 was when it turned with them beating us three times. Shula was always a pompous ass though, always on the Rules Committee and was always a pretty hateable guy. Once 1982 happened and then they got Marino in the 1983 draft it went up a few more levels.
I'm sorry if the truth hurts. I will bet yiou I rememebr more about that game than you do about most games that were played in the last few years. I have a pretty good memory so regardless of my age at the time I know more than enough about the game. The difference is as a kid I whines and blamed the tarp too but as you grow up you being to understand those were just excuses. The better team won that day, the same team that beat us THREE times that year. More whining from the Jets, if they spent as much time preparing for that game as they did whining about the field they probably would have won. They cared so much they allowed the game to be played under those conditions. I don't care waht Rozelle says a week later, if they truly cared something would have been done at the time.
Oh yes something else. At the time that game was played there were NO tarping rules so Shula did nothing "illegal" as many in this thread have posted. The tarping rule was the after effect of what occurred in that game. :jets:
Sorry Joe at the time of the game there were NO NFL rules requiring the home team to have a tarp laid over the field. That rule took effect because of what occurred in the mud bowl game :jets:
What I remember most isn't so much the game itself, but the aftermath. I remember being disappointed, but truly optimistic that the Jets were the real deal, with a great team that would get 'em next year. Then Walt gets fired, Todd gets traded the following year and, well, you know . . . . Just such a complete and utter unravelling.
Yeah, the loss was tempered by the thought that we were set up for a good long run, which in a way we were. Despite changing coaches, QBs and stadiums over the next 18 months, we were decent for the rest of the 80s but not as good as we could have been had we kept it all intact.
Champ, You are dead wrong; note this clipping from the NY Times notes that it is in the NFL CONSTITUTION that a tarp needs to be available to cover the field. Also note in the other clipping in the same article that the reporter argues that the Dolphins had been violating the league rule since 1966. This clipping is from January 1983, just days after the game was played:
Available & covering the field is like apple & oranges. After that game the teams were REQUIRED to tarp the field but not before that game which is the reason Shula was not fined & he allowed the field to be untarped. Remember Shula was the head of the rules committee so he for sure had to be aware of what the rules were for tarping the field. Most NYJ fans bemoan the fact that that was the reason for the loss but the real reason was was Todd threw 2 INTs directly to Dolphins
Junc, You simply aren't logical. So you're Pete Roselle, it's 1983, and the season has been strike delayed and the NFL brand has been damaged. You really think that if Roselle really "cared" he would have called off the game? Have it moved? Come on. Once the field was soaked, the fix was in. The game was going to be played because - um, the Super Bowl was the following Sunday! What was Roselle supposed to do? Reschedule the game until the field was dry? When? If he "really cared" would the game been delayed until that Wed. when the field dried out and the have the Super Bowl delayed? The Dolphins fixed us good. They beat us on the field, but stop distorting facts and discarding the ones you don't like. They cheated. And I also like how you "don't care waht" Roselle says. Those pesky facts.
I didn't say to call off the game, if it was that big of a deal they would have ensured the Orange Bowl had a trap covering it during the week. The fix was in, come on. We played on the same field, they beat us TWICE that year on dry fields. Who cares what Rozelle said after the fact? That's like the refs admitting they blew a call, it doesn't change anything. If he did something at the time it would have proven to me he truly cared.
