No. You don't understand it, and I can't make you. Rivalries aren't just people on your schedule. The Colt-Jets "rivalry" wasn't long enough to create a rich history of hate. Think high school rivalries. Think Iron Bowl.
I understand everything you are writing here, but we'll have to agree to disagree (so that this doesn't endlessly go back-and-forth like a juncian debate) about the Patriots being a bigger rival than the Dolphins. One thing I would like to comment on, though. Many Jets fans have a problem with the 1982 AFC Championship Game. I still have not been able to find out if what Don Shula did was against the rules. If it was against the rules, then the NFL screwed the Jets by not penalizing the Dolphins in some manner. If it was not against the rules (and I lean towards thinking this was the case), then the Jets and their fans are whining losers.
The NFL doesn't have rivalry weekends. The Jets don't play the Dolphins the third weekend each November. Also, how long does it have to be? The Jets were messin' around with the Oilers and Raiders for the better part of a decade before we got to the Colts and Dolphins.
The rules are that the home team is responsible for the condition of the field. Nowhere does that say explicitly playable vs unplayable, just the condition of the field. In the mud bowl Shula watered that field until it was clearly unplayable. Players were slipping and sliding all over the place and the Jet's superior skill position players were largely nullified as a result. Was Shula in violation of the rules when he did this? No, he was in violation of the spirit of the rules though and the NFL was just very weak in it's response. Today an NFL official would be onsite shortly after the report of the over-watering and it would be stopped via ownership pressure to maintain the integrity of the competition. Note that there's nothing at all that says that anything other than normal efforts need to be made to maintain the field. Shula sabotaged the condition of the field intentionally in an effort to win.
Bradway is right about the Shula thing, I still think the guy did less with more talent than any HC in history. Shula hated the Jets because they embarrassed him and that created a rivalry. I still consider the Raiders our biggest rival.
Just as this (SB III) may have been the spark that ignited the start of our Dolphins rivalry, so too do I see the Curtis Martin acquisition as the flashpoint of our Patriots rivalry. I don't know... I'm torn now between the severity of our Dolphins rivalry and that of New England. It's a tough call because there's a lot of bad blood since the Martin thing. They never got over it and were reminded every time we ran him up their noses. And Parcells continued fueling the tit-for-tat firestorm with the Belichick "Queen for a day" fiasco. Belichick stepped in shit when Mo Lewis created the Tom Brady Era and it's been an inferno ever since. I don't know... I'm well aware of the hatred I still hold for the Doplhins, but my hatred of the Patriots is probably at that level now also, if not close to exceeding it.
Nope he did not have to "water" the field there had been torrential rain in Miami the nite before the game so because it was not tarped it became muddy. I would say that somewhere between 5/7 inches of rain fell the nite before the game on the exposed field
I'd say for the older guys the Dolphins are still right up there, but for anyone post-Marino it has to be the Pats. The Pats thing really got started when we stole Parcells off their Super Bowl appearance, the whole Kraft-Hess showdown with Bellichick named coach and Parcells named "consultant". New England wanted our #1 overall pick and we kept it, all that took place before we got Curtis Martin. In fact it set up the aquisition of Martin a year later, that only poured fuel on the fire.
Also Weeb had picked up several Colts who Shula cut one was Sample & I believe another was one of our fullbacks
I don't know.... I just kinda go with colors and what my reactions are to seeing them. If I see a guy in the parking lot wearing the navy blue and silver Patriots colors, I'll probably say to myself, "Pal, you are a real asshole and I hate your stinking guts." But if I see a guy in the parking lot wearing torquiose and orange, I have thoughts of running him over with my Chevy Tahoe. Now, there's a tough choice... running the guy over vs. knowing you'll spend the rest of your life in prison for intentional vehicular manslaughter. Hmmmm..... I don't know... I've really got to think about that one...
You may be right, but the way I've heard the story is that Shula was watering the field for days before the game. The rain was just the capper on an already soaked field.
Well today I would say it is the Pats because they are rulers of the AFCE & IF we ever get a team that can compete with them the game would be something akin to a blow hole game when DM was the QB. Right now & for the next several years we & the Dolphins are downtrodden bottom dwelling teams so who cares who wins since it would mean nothing in the overall scheme of things
I have the sneaking suspicion that Mr Bill will have that Miami ship on track in the next two years. In 2010 the Dolphins will be a team on the rise.
Yeah, I agree too, which is all the more reason why we have to pull out all the stops NOW. I do believe we have a coaching staff/FO in place that can get it done. Attracting F/A talent is going to be difficult now though, especially after the very public Pete Kendall fiasco. It's time for Tannenbaum and Tangini to prove themselves. If I don't see MASSIVE improvement and MAJOR aggressive steps this offseason, I'm going to be VERY pissed, because the thought of getting beat twice a year by the PATS and DOLPHINS (4 games) is more than I can bear.
And you're basing this profound statement on what exactly? Did you ever hear of a "hands-off" type of owner? Or are you secretly taping all of Woody's meetings with Jets officials, as you sit across the street in your stakeout van, complete with blackout curtains and listening devices?
No sorry if you cannot see it. Maybe my 31 years of observing Hess makes me an expert. You & everyone on this board has to come to grips that Woody's only concern is making the bottom line grew & grew & grew. Winning FB games just like Hess is secondary to constantly increase the value of the franschise. That is why I posted if Woody & Kraft were to swap franchises the Pats would become immediate bottom feeders
