Pulling for Big Blue (i.e. NOT the Pats)

Living in New York, I have realized that there has been a noticeable increase of Giants garb-clad folks on the street, subways and buses over the past couple weeks. And one can only expect those numbers to increase exponentially with Giants now heading to the Superbowl. Now I am no Giants fan, nor will I be seen wearing any of their paraphernalia the next two weeks- but make no mistake: come Superbowl Sunday I will be be pulling for the Giants like they are my own.

Why? Because the Patriots must lose. I hate to be one of the bitter masses- cheering against a team, rather than just not rooting for them- but there you have it. I will say this: I always root against the Pats, as they are a rival of my lowly Dolphins, so at least I am not guilty of being a bandwagon-hater. In a season where everything has gone right for them, now would be the perfect time for things to fall apart for them. Of course, I also thought the past two weeks would have been a good time too- but who's counting? But for the Pats to fall on the grand stage that is the Superbowl, would satiate my desires. For Tom Brady to have that game that costs his team the championship, I could rest easy (darn near happened yesterday- fortunately for him he threw his three picks to a team with endzonaphobia). That's it... all I'm saying. Go Giants (sort of)!

DO-OVER!

That's Dolphins owner Wayne Huizenga who can be heard calling "do-over" in Miami. One year ago, after being rebuffed by Nick Saban for a return the college ranks, Wayne and the Dolphins conducted a hard target search for a new head coach. A search that included flights on Huizenga's jet all over the country and even down to Central America, where Wayne wooed USC head coach Pete Carroll while he was on vacation. And when the San Diego Chargers were bumped from the playoffs early, their man was made available: then Chargers' offensive coordinator Cam Cameron. Wayne's jet flew to San Diego to pick him up and bring him back to Miami. There was talk of returning the franchise to glory, of improvement, of changing the way things were done in Miami. GM Randy Mueller was retained, and even extended.

And then, the perfect storm that was the 2007 football season happened for the Dolphins.

Flash to late December 2007, as Bill Parcells is brought in by Huizenga to be the guy in charge of all things pertaining to football. Within the first couple weeks, Parcells cleans house- Mueller, Cameron, and the entire coaching staff: gone- and he replaces key positions with guys he has a recent personal history with. Case in point: Cowboys' director of scouting Jeff Ireland, who Parcells worked with in his stint in Dallas, is tabbed as the the Dolphins new GM.

Which bring us to now, nearly a year after this all began. And again another high-profile playoff team gets bounced early- this time Parcells' old club, the Cowboys- and again the Dolphins' appear to have their man: current Cowboys' assistant head coach Tony Sparano. And reports are Huizenga's jet has left for Dallas with Jeff Ireland on board to bring Sparano back to Miami with him. We are sure to hear some more of the "return to glory" stuff, with promises of greater fortune for the franchise.

It all has a sickening deja-vu feeling about it all. But Parcells has already put his stamp on this franchise, and will continue to in the next few months. And one thing is clear: the decisions made in the next few months will decide what Bill Parcells' legacy in Miami is. And another thing we can be sure of: Parcells will not be calling "do-over" this time next year.

Happy New Year from Happy A-Rod

Alex Rodriguez made a surprise appearance with Carson Daly at just few a minutes to midnight last night on NBC's New Year's coverage in Time Square. The seemingly impromptu visit by the AL MVP appeared to be an "I love New York" public-relations move from A-Rod's camp as he attempts to repair his up and down, and at best rocky relationship with the fans of New York. He showed up just short of the stroke of midnight, to the supposed surprise of Daly, in his casual best- complete with a Yankees cap on his head. He nervously chit-chatted with the host for a a few minutes, who had to interrupt A-Rod as the ball began its descent.

2007 was A-Rod's most comfortable at the plate in Pinstripes, but that comfort has never translated for A-Rod in his off-field persona. God love the guy, but he is just not comfortable in his own skin, so putting him in conversational situations like this one on live TV is not going to be a huge strong point. Some advice for A-Rod's PR machine: keep him well hidden, and have him focus on baseball. If A-Rod keeps hitting, and stays out of the newspapers for non-baseball related issues, he may just go down as one of the all-time great Yankees. His skills at the plate are definitely stuff of legend, so really all he needs to is stay out of his own way off the field.

Big Tuna starts his swim upstream in Miami

The Bill Parcells era for the Dolphins officially began December 26th. But his first big stamp on the organization came on Monday, when he arrived at for work at 8am, walked into GM Randy Mueller's office and told Mueller his services were no longer required in Miami. Parcells and Mueller hadn't sat down prior to this, and apparently never will. Sorry Randy, your term of "final word" on the roster after the Nick Saban years lasted but one season. And it can't be taken as a shock- everyone knows that Parcells is gonna get his guys into place in the front office. New York Jets' director of college scouting Joey Clinkscales, and Jeff Ireland, vice president of college and pro scouting for the Dallas Cowboys appear the early front-runners for the vacated position, with a big edge going to Ireland- having just worked with Parcells in Dallas. Word on the new GM could come as early as tonight.

Next on the packed off-season agenda is the decision on current head coach Cam Cameron. Parcells has said he wants to have his Gm in place before that decision is made, but a meeting is supposed to take place between he and Cameron today. While a decision may take a couple days, Parcells knows he has to work quick; especially if we wants to bring in who many feel would be his top choice, Cowboys' assistant Tony Sparano as a possible candidate- the Cowboys have a bye this week before starting their playoff run.

And then all that's left to do is a major roster overhaul, including making some decisions on key veterans on both sides of the ball, evaluating young players and determining their future with the team, and getting ready for the draft- where currently the Dolphins hold the first overall pick- and deciding on prospects and/or trades that may materialize.

Now Parcells is no dummy, and he knew exactly the situation he was getting into. And he has said that he is going to leave the final decisions to the people he puts in place. But he will most assuredly give himself free reign this off-season to leave his mark, setting up his regime and making the big decisions, before he steps back and lets those individuals run the show. He knows that this off-season, the decisions he makes- from the front office to the roster- will most likely dictate the direction of the franchise under his tenure.