Where Have You Gone Dan Marino? Has It Really Been 25 Years?

As a boy growing up in the late 1960s and 1970s in Florida, there was only one thing in life you could count upon. Fall Sundays meant the Dolphins were going to be on TV beating the daylights out of somebody.

Back then, that's all there was. You went to school Monday through Friday. You suffered with another mediocre Gator's team on Saturday. But Sunday, that was when it was all made better. Sunday, the Dolphins were playing.

By the 1984 season, the year of Super Bowl 19, Miami played in five of them. Since '84 was Dan Marino's second year, and he only threw for a mere 48 Touchdowns that year, there was no reason to believe the 'Fins weren't going to continue that trend for the next 15-20 years.

After all, they were building a fancy new stadium in a better neighborhood. Marino was young. His receivers were young. What could stop them?

Well here we are 25 years later, TWENTY FIVE YEARS? Yes 25 years later, and the Dolphins have not been back. When Joe Montana and the 49ers carved them up in Super Bowl 19, it was a dark day. But what made it better was the thought that there would be more days. Had we known there would not be more days, what a devastating blow that would have been.

Here we are 25 years later. The 'Fins have just been officially eliminated again. There is no relief in sight.

What happened to the once mighty 'Fins? I don't know. Here is what I do know. In 1985, the Chicago Bears were dominant. They had a defense that makes the Ravens and Ray Lewis look like Swiss Cheese.

The one team that kept them from perfection that year was Dan Marino and the Dolphins. In one of the greatest regular season games ever played, Miami dazzled the Bears D and caused the '72 Dolphins to pop open the champagne.

Fast forward to the Conference title games later that season. The Bears walloped the Niners. The Dolphins were hosting the Patriots. It was the final game the 'Fins would play in the Orange Bowl. The OB was a house of horrors for New England. In fact, before that game, the last time the Pats had won there they were called the Boston Patriots.

A Bears-Dolphins Super Bowl was in the bag right? No. The Pats sent the Orange Bowl out with a thud. Then, they went on to get destroyed by the Bears. Since then, the Pats have been to the Super Bowl six times. They now own the AFC East.

To put this in perspective, by 1985 Miami had been to five Super Bowls. The Gators still had not won the SEC. The 'Canes had only just won their first National Title the year before. Bobby Bowden had only been at FSU long enough to start putting the 'Noles on the map. They had still not begun their 14 year run in the top five.

There was no Marlins. There was no Heat. There were no Panthers, Magic, Lightning, Jaguars, or Rays. The Gators basketball team had never even appeared in a NCAA Tournament game. The U didn't even play basketball. The Bucs were still the Yucs. They were still wearing creamsicle Volunteer Orange.

Think about all that has happened in this state since the Dolphins last played in the Super Bowl. The 'Canes have won four more National Titles. The Gators have won three in football and two in basketball. The 'Noles have won two. The Bucs have won a Super Bowl, the Lightning a Stanley Cup. The Heat has won a NBA Title. The Magic has two Finals appearances.

The Marlins have won two World Series and the Rays have played in one. The Panthers have been to a Stanley Cup Finals and the Jags have been to two AFC Title games. The Dolphins have also been to a couple of AFC Title Games as well. But that's little consolation for a team who played in five of the first 19 Super Bowls. Has it really been 25 years? Where have you gone Don Shula?