GO IGGLES!

Earlier, I was wondering what, if anything, to do about the upcoming Super Bowl. Well, I gave it some more thought and in light of Steve's excellent post on the subject the other day, decided not to just sit this one out but to actively take sides.

You see, I was one of those kids Steve talked about who developed his football allegiance based on who looked hot and cool at the time he really started to become conscious of the game, not because of any particular regional loyalty. For me, that was the Dolphins of the early 70's. (We lived in Texas at the time. My brother was always a Cowboys fan.)

I still remember the heady days of Griese, Csonka, Kiick, Mercury Morris and Paul Warfield. I remember big Larry Little and my sudden understanding of the way he worked with Csonka on those sweeps around the right end. I remember Jake Scott and Tim Foley on defense and little Garo Yepremian. I am pretty sure I had a complete set of team trading cards back in the day and I also had my No. 12 and No. 39 jerseys.

And so it went. I followed the team through its ups and downs - the aging of Griese, the rise of the Killer B defense in the early 80's, the great hope of Dan Marino and the belief among fans after we got spanked by San Francisco and Joe Montana in the '85 Super Bowl that it was okay because we'd assuredly be back the next year, the retirement of Coach Shula and the question of who would take over, the brief tease that Jimmy Johnson might bring about big things....And on and on, right through this year's utter disaster.

Well, all of that is by way of saying that I am a loyal Dolphins fan. Always have been, always will be. Which means I automatically hate the Patriots. Which means that when they're going for the big one, it is incumbent on me to root for the other team.

The fact that the Iggles are going to get their collective clocks cleaned isn't even important. This is a matter of principle. Go Iggles!

UPDATE: For all you other Dolphans out there troubled by talk of a Pats' Dynasty, I give you these words. (I think the man was a demagogue and a rabble-rouser, but that doesn't mean I can't pinch his stuff.)