Good Vibes In Miami
I’ve been thinking about adding a new section to the Chaometer report this season, the Vibe Check. The intention would be to see how good a team’s vibe is at the moment. Are they winning? Do they seem fun? Do things seem tense? Do things feel…hopeless?
The Dolphins vibes right now are pretty goddamn rotten. Miami might have some of the worst vibes of all. Tua has spent several years either not living up to the hype or getting violently injured. Now he’s taking up a large part of the salary cap and we still don’t know if he’s the guy. Tyreek Hill basically walked out the door to end the season and then sheepishly walked back in. The coach? Well, this was Mike McDaniel at a recent press conference.
I have never self-identified with a football coach more than I did in that moment. But that’s not good vibes!
McDaniel is honestly my dark horse pick to be the first coach fired this year. His main competition is Daboll, who has been gifted a freebie season with a new rookie QB to develop. I think Daboll makes it most of if not the entire season even if things go poorly. The other big threat is Steichen, but now that Jim Irsay is snorting crack in hell, I don’t really know what to expect of his daughter. She might take a bad season (which the Colts will most definitely have) as a good excuse to clean house and reset. But she might also be patient, maybe to simply wait for the offseason to clean up, or be genuinely patient, and let Steichen stick around. McDaniel had such a strong start and things have only gone south. His offense appears to be figured out.
The Dolphins have to get out to a good start if there is to be any hope. Something has to change. Maybe they can’t take down the Bills but they can’t let themselves be outdone by a rebuilding Jets and Patriots. They can’t hope to match the top-heavy AFC but they have to at least reach a wildcard spot. But if I was a Dolphins fan, I’m not sure I wouldn’t have checked out already. Mediocre is a depressing ceiling to hope for when you’ve spent most of the past 2 decades in exactly that position. McDaniel’s teams have never been good against genuine competition and have largely feasted on dregs. It’s a rotten place to be as a football fan, knowing there’s little hope.
Wait! There is hope! I forgot they signed Darren Waller! Nevermind the Dolphins are going to the Super Bowl.
Anyway, you are now closer to death than you were when you started reading this post. Have a great day!
Honestly I get it. There are days when the knowledge that I’m going to die someday is the only thing that gives me solace.
I wasn’t sure if I was going to get any football in this season, but my radio app I get the Dolphins Network on started working again.
After listening to that game yesterday evening, I have yet to determine whether or not that’s a good thing. It was also Dark Heresy Night, after being rescheduled from Friday due to our GM working Saturday. Maybe they knew…?
At least iHeart seemed to keep the country music down to a minimum, so there’s that I guess.
Also, my early take on McDaniel was ‘somewhere there’s a Starbucks whose resident hipster barista hasn’t turned up’. Good to have my headcanon confirmed.