Special holiday video-greeting from Greg Cote's blog to you!

     Happy Christmas, Joyous Holiday, Merry Hannukah, Thrilling Kwanzaa and Funky Eid, everybody! Thanks so much for visiting our Random Evidence of a Cluttered Blog throughout the year and for badgering others to do the same. Please click on Merry Christmas From Greg Cote's Blog for an unbelievably sincere personal greeting from me (and a few familar guest stars) to you!

     One caution before you watch: I can't tell you how tough it was for the four of us to coordinate our schedules and make time to rehearse this.

Comments

[Jamison]

That's pretty funny! Thanks and Merry Christmas to all ya'll Dolfans out there.

[OC Dolphin]

Very cute. That new diet you're on really seems to be working. The Cam elf however looks a bit distraught. Could it be that pink slip that other elf just handed to him?

Anyway, I too would like to extend to you and your family my warmest wishes for a happy holiday season.

Have a good one everybody!

[tony]

Boo! Server error! I'm also disappointed that you failed to include Festivus. ;-)

In any case, happy holidays to Greg and all of the blogeratti on here.

[David Tucker]

I'm pretty sure I've been scarred for life... 8(

Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it tonight

[the shadow knows]

to all the guys,

david tucker's sentiments seconded!!!

your friend,
the shadow

[the shadow knows]

flipper72,

thanx for the greetings and wishing you and yours a great new year, including chargers over patriots in round two of the playoffs.

[Canesjunkie]

Thanks Greg...Happy Holidays!!!

[Lutz Alexander]

You're a nice person, Greg! Thanks for taking the time! We appreciate your work...

A hug from Mexico City!

[r. duke]

THE BEDBUG TOOK MY THUMBS, HE TOOK MY THUMBS!!! CHARLIE, THE BEDBUG TOOK MY THUMBS. CHARLIE!!!!!!!!OH YEAH MERRY NAVIDAD.

[dean]

merry christmas and a healthy, happy & prosperous new year to all!

r. duke

-- the pope of greenwich village is one of the greatest films of all time! the next time i see mickey rourke on south beach, i'll make sure he has a permit to be riding that vespa of his.

[Noel]

Greg,
That was funny. Happy Holidays to you too.

[Imran]

wow greg you included eid in your holiday greetings. impressive.

[John]

A very Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday to all, and may you and yours be safe, happy,and joyfull on this special day.

[ginrai]

Merry Christmas and a happy newyear to everyone!

[Noel]

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to Flipper, Tom, OC, r. duke, ginrai, shadow and everyone else who makes this blog fun.

[raoul duke]

Really starting with Armando you media guys seem really schizy in your takes on Cam. "Poor Cam deserves another chance." "Cam, not time, is the enemy." Really reassess Cam's decision making performance throughout season, irregardless of teams lack of talent. He stinks. Period. This is not brain surgery fellas. Oh yeah, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Hari Hari, Krishna Krishna.

[raoul duke]

dean glad to see someone out there got it. That was a great film. Certainly Eric Roberts finest acting hour.

[bryan in ohio]

IT'S A TUNA SURPRISE CHRISTMAS!

[raoul duke]

Ah yes Festivus for the rest of us. Doesn't it start with telling someone why they stink so bad? Well Cam where shall I begin...You see as Armando pointed out, it's not time that is the actual enemy it's you Cam. It's you. Understand?

[the shadow knows]

OC Dolphin,

no blogging while in south florida; did do a little shopping in boca and sent mrs. shadow and the daughter of our hosts to aventura to spend a few shekels: mission accomplished!!

[hey there, how's your steak?]

Happy Festivus, Greg, & and happy New Year! I still think you made Dan popular, but, that's a different story for another day ...

[Tom]

I hope everyone had a great holiday. Ours was great.

Ok so on to football. No need wasting any more time talking about Cam and Mueller - they're old news and LG. Betting line has them out of the house before the sun goes down New Year's day.

What will be interesting is what we do with the first pick in the draft. Do we draft Dorsey, Long, McFadden or trade down and maybe take Matt Ryan? We have so many holes it is almost impossible to make a mistake, unless of course your name is Cameron or Mueller. By the way, I wonder how Cam is feeling about the Ginn family these days? Abandoned?

We definitely need a QB, but if we keep that top pick I think a 15 year allpro left tackle is about as good as it gets. Then with the 32nd pick we can take DB, DL, or WR. At some point though, we are going to have to deal with the QB issue. Beck, who we will once again not get to see in a meaningless game, does not appear to be the answer. But maybe Bill will see something in him that we have not seen. Well, let's hope that's true.

Sad thing is that we still need a WR a year after using the 9th overall pick on a WR(?). Unbelievably, this time last year we had Chris Chambers and Wes Welker. When I think of the mess Cam_Mueller have made it makes me crazy. Put those two guys together with a healthy Ronnie Brown and a QB that recognizes our team colors from those of our opponents and we have the makings of a pretty good offense. Just think all we would need on the offensive side of the ball would be two OL and we'd be set. Now we need ........ oh never mind, you know, we need every position save RB. Just wondering, but does anyone really believe that Ginn will ever be a top flight WR? Does Desmond Howard ring a bell?

In any event, this offseason should be much more exciting than the season that is, mercifully, just about over. Parcells took over a 2-14 Pats team and had them in the playoffs two years later and the Super Bowl 4 years later. Here's hoping he still has the magic.

[raoul duke]

I'm just not going to be tricked into looking past the Bengals game Tom.

[Tom]

Good thing that Cam is with you raoul. Goodness knows what shape we could find ourselves in next year if we take our focus off the Bengals.

[the shadow knows]

Tom,

chris chambers a big plus in the chargers' turnaround; san diego has no outstanding wide-out but has a bunch of talentd young passcatchers. giving up wes welker one of the stupidest personnel decisions from its inception. wouldn't it be wild if chambers has a big game should the chargers get to play the patriots? let's hope

[Tom]

shadow

Who are the two luckiest guys in the NFL? Welker and Chambers have to be at the top of the list. Just looking back at what our nitwits let get away is mindboggling. Wes Welker will end up with 110 receptions this year. Even if he had half that with the Fish that would still make him by far our top WR. Worse yet, Welker went to the Pats. After Welker left, Chambers was our only real NFL WR. Interesting how great teams want what our personnel department deem expendable. I don't think we can take any more of this Cam_Mueller "rebuilding."

[the shadow knows]

Tom,

hoping you had a nice holiday and wishing you all the best in 2008.

what is the infatuation with matt ryan? height? arm strength? brains? all of the above? none of the above? this is a bumper cropof QBs, and JDB of USC may be old, but methinks he is more ready for the NFL than matt ryan. colt brennan has a rocket arm, brian brohm is strong and accurate, the guy from cincinatti is also good, and USF may have a heisman winner in their running, tough as nails #18. i like him despite not knowing his last name- matt doe.

[Flipper72]

Happy Holidays To Shadow And All...!!

I would go to battle with you guys anyday.

Here's hoping for a prosperous New Year and a return to the play-offs for our Fins, soner than later!!

[raoul duke]

Shadow the only down side of Gator QB's is they can't generally cut it in NFL though this Matt Doe(I can't think of his last name either)is big strong guy and might be exception to the rule. Maybe we could trade Porter to Pats straight up for Matt Cassel-Doe heh, heh.

[raoul duke]

Oh guess I was confusing Matt Doe with Tim Tebow-Doe. I'll be back when the ether wears off.

[naples jack,patsfan]

To TOM, THE SHADOW, RAOUL DUKE, OC.DOLPHIN FAN,MIKE1, AND FLIPPER72, ESPN just announced Pats game to be similcast on CBS. and NBC. Thought you would like to make your Sat. night plans, on this news. Good luck against the Bungles.

[Tom]

Thanks naples jack,patsfan

I have the NFL Network and already had my plans set for Saturday evening. I'll still be watching on the NFL network, even though Bryant Gumble makes me sick, because I get it in HD.

In the spirit of BB, I bought a Tom
Brady voo doo doll with some extra long pins. I'll be sticking it whenever the Giants need a little extra help. I suspect I'm going to wear myself out sticking that damn doll by the time the game is over.

Prediction: Pats 42 Giants 10

As far as the Fish and Bungles, if Cam doesn't play Beck, I'm not watching. Well maybe I'll watch a little, but not a lot. And when I watch I'll be rooting for someone to run over Cam - with a car.

[Raoul]

naples jack thanks for the tip. I'll be forced to watch up until Pats get their usual 4 TD lead. Nevertheless, I'm sure you won't be offended if I root for the Giants.

[raoul duke]

Tom why couldn't Cam have been in car with Nick Satan? WHY?!? God it's so unfair. Maybe with Big Tuna in town it won't make a difference. I can't wait to hear Cam's resignation/I've just been canned speech. Call me sentimental but I'm recording it so I can watch it again and again.

[Tom]

Reporter: We hear the you've sent your resignation to Bill Parcells. Why did you choose to resign at this point in time?

Cam: He and I haven't talked, strictly that. It's not that I'm not acknowledging something. It's just the fact that he and I will sit down one on one. He and I haven't talked.

Reporter: But you did resign, right?

Cam: Nothing has changed. If in fact something needs to be updated, I will update you guys.

Reporter: So let me get this straight. Are you no longer the Head Coach of the Miami Dolphins?

Cam: I think there's going to be an appropriate time to do that, because you guys know where we're at right now.

Reporter: Well, what we want to know is if you know where you're at Cam?

Cam: Got the Bengals this weekend, right? That'd do it.

Reporter: What?

Cam: Exactly!

[r. duke]

Tom. Exactly. LOL.

[Tom]

Ten rookies have caught more passes than the 27 Ginn has this season. While Ginn has contributed more kick return yards than any other rookie, he's 47th in the league when it comes to average per return. Ouch!!!
Not exactly what we were looking for with the 9th overall pick. This represents reason #1,803 that Cam and Mueller should be fired Thursday after meeting with the Tuna. Forget waiting until the season is over. We need competent leadership now so that we can get Beck in the game and start looking toward next year.

[OC Dolphin]

Tom, here we go again. Always with the negative waves.

Hope you had a good festive holiday. I read your post above and felt compelled to once more give the OTHER side of the coin. The one side you typically skirt over in your desire to dis this past draft selection. You are free to look these up yourself if you want. They appear under espn/nfl/stats......

1. Ginn is not ranked 47th. in return yards. I don't know where you got that figure, but regardless, the "return yards" as you put it, should be further broken out between - kick returns and punt returns. I think viewing these individually is more in keeping with the position don't you?

2. The stats will show that Ginn clocks in at a 23.2 yrds average returns for kick-offs. He is only fourth in total yards behind Brown's Josh Cribbs, 49r's Maurice Hicks, and the Bengal's Glenn Holt.

There are 26 guys all within 2 yards +/- of Ginn's 23.2. Not a big thing is it? 2 yards better one way or the other.

By comparison to "the gold standard," - Devin Hester, Ginn also holds a higher return rating in this category. Remember, we are talking about "kick returns" here. Devin is an ace at "punt returns."

Suffice it to state that if one looks at kick returns, there is only Josh Cribbs who holds an impressive enough leadership based on two returns for TD's.

3. Looking at punt returns. Ginn is tied 4th best in return average. These among return guys that clocked in over 20 returns. Ginn is behind the #1 guy - Hester, Seattle's Nate Burleson and Josh Cribbs.

4. All these guys ahead mind you have an average 3 years of experience. Not a rookie among them.

5. Interesting also to note that all the WR's which posted better numbers. And again, better numbers being only 4 guys in each category, NOT ONE has a better RECEIVING total average yards than does Ginn. Note below:

WR - Receptions - yrds - average
Cribbs: 3-37-12.3
Holt : 16-143-8.9
Burleson: 43-575-13.4
Ginn: 27-367-13.6

Another aspect we tend to dismiss or overlook when viewing what a rookie does, or doesn't do, consider Jamarcus Russell who was the #1 overall pic. A QB. He has completed 13 passes for a 24.6 rating. Our second pic, the #40 overall - Beck has completed 47 passes for a 53.6. Both not earth shattering numbers.

My point is just this. IT IS TOO EARLY TO TELL who pans out and who is a bust. You've got to give it at least two full years to see what you've got. But as far as Ginn goes, he shows promise. he is far, far, far better than what your claim of a 47th number represents.

[Tom]

OC

I apologize for the sloppiness of my prior post. I relied on a “reporter’s” research. I won’t make that mistake again. Nonetheless, it does not appear we got value for Ginn at the 9th overall pick.

Ginn is 23rd in the league in kickoff yds per return. Of the 22 players ahead of him on that list 19 are undrafted free agents. #2 on the list is an undrafted free agent rookie.

Ginn is 9th in return yds per punt. Did you notice that Wes Welker is 5th in return yds per punt. Oh by the way, Welker also has 101 receptions. Of the 8 guys ahead of Ginn on the avg return yds per punt, 7 were undrafted free agents. Only Hester was drafted and he was taken in the 3rd round.

Ginn is not ranked in the top 41 in the league in any receiving category, number of catches, total receiving yards, yards per game, and average yards per catch. Just looking at the average yds per catch (which seems to be fair considering Ginn did not start the entire year), there are 4 rookies on the list, Calvin Johnson, Anthony Gonzalez, James Jones (undrafted free agent), and Dwayne Bowe,

Ginn may not be a bust, but all signs are pointing toward a major disappointment for the 9th pick in the draft. The 9th pick should be an impact player. I doubt that will ever be the case. He is supposed to be a #1 WR. That is never going to happen. Hell he isn’t even a good #2 WR right now. He is being outplayed on his own team by some guy name Camarillo. As I’ve said before, using the 9th overall pick on a returner is a monumental waste of a draft pick. Sad thing is he’s not even as good a returner as the one we let get away. The bottom line is that you don’t need to spend your top pick on a returner. Just look at the rest of the league.

Sorry OC, no sale today. If the league were to redraft the rookie class based on performance so far this year, Ginn would not be taken in the first 3 rounds.

[raoul duke]

Man OC you must have a photographic memory. It reminds me(and I mean this as a compliment)of how Howard Cosell could pull an infinite array of facts out of thin air. I'm one of few who actually found Howard to be more entertaining than grating especially his schticks with Mohammed Ali.

[Tom]

For those of you interested in a stroll down memory lane, I suggest going back to the August 30 blog

August 31, 2007
PS4: Saints 7, Dolphins 0

This blog is for the last preseason game. You know, the one where the knucklehead gave up his head coaching job for a day. It is just before the regular season started and it is interesting to see what each of us was saying back then. Man was I ripped for suggesting Cam is an idiot. I was going to repost some of the nuggets from that blog, but there are just too damn many good ones. You need to go read them yourselves. They're great. Well they're great for me but I'm not sure some of you will enjoy what you had to say.

[OC Dolphin]

Tom,

Go back to my point - (it is too early to tell). By your argument JaMarcus Russell TODAY, would not be selected anywhere near the #1 pick based on his performance - correct?

Let me jump sports to make the point even clearer. Two years ago a young high school player was selected by the Lakers as their #1 pick. His name is Andrew Bynum. There was no shortage, no chorus small enough proclaiming him a total bust. You had small forwards under the basket pushing him out of the way. As recently as this past summer, you even had Kobe wanting him to be traded - publicly dissing him. Look at Bynum now. It took two years but the Lakers seem have what is shaping up to be one of the top centers in the league.

As for the figures, we all know that data can be positioned in such a way as to that anyone can shape it to fit their argument.

We have gone around this wheel before. The one that says - Beck was the QB of choice. Not Quinn (by the way, you'll note that Quinn is still ridding the pine). What would be the issue had the Dolphins picked Beck at the #9 and Ginn at the #40. For one thing, Ginn would not have been there.

I remain fixed with the point that there are very few instances where a "can't miss" rookie demonstrates it right off the bat. JaMarcus may yet prove to be the #1 pick. But I dare say that anyone can claim he is that now.

[raoul duke]

OC I can't believe I picked Miami to go 10-6 maybe even 11-5 but I figured at the time I might as well shoot for the stars. When you start out not knowing anything for sure you might as well believe new coach is a potential genius. Next year we make it to the SB an actually win. What the hell.

[OC Dolphin]

I hear you raoul. For sure, no one could have predicted back then, this year's outcome. The clearest insights were Tom, george and Andy D with a 4-12 and dean, Tony, Gary and Dolfnfan with 5-11.

However, there is a tomorrow.

[the shadow knows]

OC,

i checked in at 9-7 which is nowhere close to the 2-14 that looms. the guys wqho prediceted 4 or 5 wins were basically close as the dolphins had a few gamesgo the other way on plays negated by penalty. i am not in favor of sacking cam cameron; yes, he made a terrible blunder in bringing in a battered trent green. however, the collapse o the dolphins defense, especially against the run, is a major cause of this season's disaster. ginn will prove to be a good choice, beck needs to be around the practice field, as carson palmer was for afull season, anf the draft needs to bring the dolphins some help in the front seven. between brown, chatman, and lorenzo booker, the dolphinas have decent runners. parcells is a keen judge of talent and will gather up talent to fill some glaring holes in the line-up. when bill fitch coached the cavaliers, they lost an incredibl amount of games, yet the "insiders" knew that he was an excellent coach. give cam cameron another year with parcells on the scene, and the results will change.

[Tom]

OC

I will respond to each of your points that I reproduce below:

"Go back to my point - (it is too early to tell). By your argument JaMarcus Russell TODAY, would not be selected anywhere near the #1 pick based on his performance - correct?"

No. Jamarcus Russell still has the potential of a first round QB. And if the draft were held today, he would still be near the top of the board. He is very different from Beck and Ginn who have both played enough to raise serious questions about whether we got value for the draft picks it cost us to get them. Russell missed training camp and has hardly played this year. Beck is still up in the air. Ginn for the 9th pick is a bust. We did not get the impact player at the 9th spot that we expected and that is abundantly obvious to all who objectively evaluate his play.

"Two years ago a young high school player ... "

Neither Ginn or Beck are young high school players. This is not the same thing. With respect to Beck, he is almost old enough to have a high school age child. Bad analogy.

"Not Quinn (by the way, you'll note that Quinn is still ridding the pine)."

Come on OC you know that's nonsense. Anderson is having a pro bowl year. This is the Drew Brees/Philip Rivers situation all over again. I'll bet you anthing the Browns end up with Quinn as their QB. The other canard you threw out about Quinn is if he's so good why did he not go until the 22nd pick? Two reasons. First, we have two idiots making our personnel decisions. Second, the teams that followed us did not need a QB (I've presented the list previously). But think about the real implications of falling to the 22nd pick. It means nothing. I do recall that one Dan Marino was the 27th pick in 1983.

"What would be the issue had the Dolphins picked Beck at the #9 and Ginn at the #40. For one thing, Ginn would not have been there."

And that would have been a good thing because we would have picked a REAL WR not a returner who also plays WR. Ginn is not primarily a WR. You can hope he is all you want, but he's not. The day he goes over the middle to catch a ball (ala T.O. or Moss or Chris Chambers or Wes Welker, the two real WRs we let get away) will be the first time he's ever gone over the middle. You can't be an impact WR catching balls only on the outside of the field. The idiots should have taken Quinn and a real WR or OL with the first pick of the 2nd round. Fact is OC if Cam and Mueller had drafted Quinn and any other WR, Parcells would still be working for ESPN and both of them would be looking forward to next year. The lunacy of that draft is what is costing both of them their jobs.

You are right that there are distributions around every rookie. The distributions around Ginn and Beck were just much wider than other players available. Sorry OC, I will never be convinced that Ginn and Beck are the real deal until I see them prove it on the field. Ginn has turned out exactly as I predicted before the season. An ok returner and not much of a WR. Beck is not as good as I thought. I actually thought he would do much better than he did. That is unfortunate for us because his poor play means we will probably have to draft a QB, trade for a QB, or sign a free agent QB. Don't be surprised to hear the Dolphins explore a trade with the Browns for Quinn or Anderson.

Time will tell which of us is right. But if I were the Dolphins GM and was offered a 3rd rounder or higher for Ginn or Beck, I'd take it in a heart beat.

[Tom]

Shadow

You are just too damn nice to be real. Give Cam another year? Are you trying to give me a heart attack? Thankfully, it's not going to happen. Cam is toast as is Mueller. Parcells will want to live or die with his guys not those chosen for him. Put yourself in his shoes. If your legacy was at stake would you leave it in the hands of someone you didn't who has no record of success as a head coach? Hell no!!! I'm certain Parcells will get a coach who does not lose games with his game management. Those mistakes are inexcusable at this level. The notion of learning simple game management on the job in the NFL is ludicrous. These guys are paid $2 million plus because they are supposed to be experts at football, not novices requiring training.

[the shadow knows]

Tom,

there is no arguing that these guys are not paid to be apprentices when hired as head coaches; i know that cam cameron spun a few heads around with some ( probably a lot)of his decision making. if parcells ousts him, okay. but the feeling here is that he will get another chance with better talent; marty s. and bill cowher are proven winners, but a clash of personalities wouldloom with former opponents of parcells now working for him. the ability to think on your feet during a game is something that comes with experience; kirk frerentz is highly thought of but if you go back to the end of the first half of iowa-usc n the orange bowl theguy would seem unhirable!!
cameron is probably out-let us see who gets the call; i think a former coach in the NFL is not gonna be parcells'choice- he will look for an assistant or co-ordinator to elevate.

[Tom]

shadow

my suggestion is anyone but Cam. so OC, you, raoul duke, blue, Flipper72, Noel, Andy D,or any of the other regulars on this blog would do at least as well as Cam. even naples jack,patsfan or Kurt would be better than Cam. And they would do it at one-tenth the cost.

seriously I think you're right that he will pick a young coordinator as his head coach. garrett comes to mind. personally i think jim mora jr would be an excellent choice. Wayne should have hired him last year. mora is a defense oriented coach with head coaching experience. he took a relatively untalented atlanta team to the nfc championship game just 3 years ago. on top of that he is still very young.

well, i'm off. I'm sitting here watching my sun devils getting their asses kicked by texas. Hopefully they'll turn it around here.

[OC Dolphin]

Actually Tom, I must fire my agent Kim Kimirin for giving you the impression that I would coach for anywhere near 1/10th the bucks.