For the most part, old people are deranged, constantly complain about the weather, and generally smell like boiled cabbage. They're also afraid of black people and have to pee like every 2 minutes, but that's neither here nor there.
Don Shula is old. But at one time he was a strapping young man who led men to victory on the gridiron. He's the winningest coach in NFL history, the only coach to lead his team to a perfect season, coached in more Super Bowls than anyone else, and as Dolphins head coach, only experienced two losing seasons out of 26. And he did it all without the help of video tape! Because video tape hadn't been invented yet. But still. Suck on that, Bill Belichick!
Shula was recently asked to chime in on the Dolphins on some ESPN radio show. And he did what all old people do. He fell asleep. When they nudged him awake, he laid out the truth:
"All you’ve got to do
is look at the record, there’s nothing to tip-toe around. You just see
what happened, and it’s just been a downward spiral. They just haven’t
made many right moves. Hopefully now it can get turned around after the
embarrassment of last year. 1-15, and it could have very easily been
0-16."
Ka-Pow! Cockpunch, served up ice cold by Don Shula.
Inevitably, the questions turned to the Jason Taylor situation:
"He’s getting near
the end of his career. I really enjoyed watching him compete and I know
that the guy’s just a fantastic athlete. He’s been a great player for
the Dolphins, along with Zach Thomas … they’ve been great players in
the years since I left the Dolphins. I’ve followed their careers. I
just hope that Jason should be remembered for the great things he’s
done for the Dolphins."
Asked if he was ever OK with a player missing something they shouldn’t have missed:
"I
don’t remember a player not showing up when he was supposed to be
there. I don’t know what Jason has missed, what has he missed?"
Sounds like Shula is exploiting his oldness by conveniently mis-remembering. Well played, old man. No matter. Shula is King Kong around here. So he can say whatever he wants. Besides, Shula's right. Because he's Don Shula. And also because, well, he's right. The Four Horsemen of the Crapocalypse are to blame for our misery and embarrassment. When Shula was in charge, it was awesomeness all around! Champagne flowed like the Nile river! The sun shined even on the darkest day! The air smelled dewy sweet! Free hookers for all season ticket holders! It was Valhalla! Now, it's just one continuous shit pie in the face after another.
And so, just like the rest of us, Shula is left to just shake his head and mourn the sad truth about how far this team has fallen. Unlike the rest of us, he has a full day, so he has to get going. Jazzersize, a trip to the store to steal some batteries, a nap and then dinner at 5:30. The Dolphins suck, but a man's gotta live his life.