Miami Dolphins: No Fear, No Loss

A funny thing happened on the way to the Dolphins third Super Bowl victory.

The team was earning it. Talent, hard work, hard practices and determination would bring it to the table. They yearned for the trophy and they created plenty of blood, sweat and [mostly] tears on the journey. And yet, truly, the team began to see the gap between where they were and where they needed to be. This did create a desperation and the team tried even harder, but the goal became like the Holy Grail, the further they traveled, verily, and the more they traveled, the further away the Promise Land became...

And then they were 0&6: Receivers were running out of bounds on sure touchdown plays or dropping passes that they usually catch in their sleep. The defense was not creating plays. The stockings were hung by the chimney with care in hopes that a victory soon would be there.

Okay, I think you get it. Let's look at a turnaround of mindset, shall we?

Winning begins with a feeling. It's not, necessarily, a very athletic precept: For today's practice, let's go and have every player on the team read The Secret, digest it, and come back and see what effect this has on the game.

Let me tell you something, as odd as that sounds, the Dolphins could do a lot worse than to follow this idea, or should I say that the team "couldn't" do any worse!!

This article, however, is not an advertisement for any book. For the sentiments, in books like The Secret, are echoed in various literature and practice throughout all of sports and art and— every once in a while—politics. (For the moment, let's hope that there are some politicians somewhere envisioning a greater world for all of us, but I digress....)

I dare say, and might I add, that I hope that in sports as well there are more intelligent people than myself putting these wheels into motion and that the Fin Base might improve by relishing process over product. ("Fin base," I like that! Can we save that? Can you credit me with that term, or did someone already come up with it?) Perhaps, if the team can play sixty minutes and attempt to complete the game with similar passion of a musician performing a song, perhaps then, the team might win again.

This is a different mindset which might involve, for example, more passing when the team is up late and the opposition is expecting our offense to try to run out the clock. I'm talking about confidence. A team not afraid to run it down the gut and chew up eight minutes, and score a touchdown—even when they are down, say, 14-3 in the third quarter.

The game is late. We were up 21-3. Now it is suddenly 21-17, and the opponents have the ball with two minutes left. Okay, we are in the game in the fourth quarter. Terrific!! Can we play with swagger and confidence? Can our corners get good positioning and coolly knock down a pass, or will they make a bad interference penalty because FEAR has overwhelmed them at that pressure moment?

Confidence is contagious. Coaches might even find themselves going for the first down on forth and one or forth and two, instead of attempting long distance field-goals. Here's a tip: When the opposition and the defense is breathing a sigh of relief because the other team is lining up for a field-goal, the coaches have probably erred.

Good defenses are very "Offensive" these days. They attack more than react, and they too will get burned when they are in the "wrong" defense in terms of the guessing game that is going on between coaches. So, let the fear of being in the "wrong" defense be trashed right next to the Wildcat. Today's game is one of hit or miss, feast or famine. So, go ahead and attack, attack, ATTACK!!

And most of all, whether it's Offense, Defense, Special Teams or Coaching, let the Fear Monster be damned!