Newsgroup: it.sport.americani
Titolo: Marino? OJ McDuffie!! (Dedicato a Mauro, che l'avrà già letto...)

Io non entro nemmeno nella discussione su Marino. Il mondo è bello
perchè e vario, e se qualcuno vuol pensare male del secondo più grande
QB di tutti i tempi, affari suoi. Io mi guardo le sue magliette col
numero 13 nell'armadio e sono contento.
Per Mauro: Caro compagno di adorazione,
ho apprezzato molto la tua difesa d'ufficio di dan, anche se Dan si
difende benissimo da solo.
Ti posto come "pensierino" un articolo che sicuramente avrai già
letto, sul nostro uomo favorito, a parte Dan e Bernie Parmalee.
Buona lettura:
McDuffie: Cast-iron battler with a soft supporting cast 
By Dave George
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
DENVER -- O.J. McDuffie had a big day against the Denver Broncos on
Saturday, nine catches for 118 yards in the AFC semifinals, which
means the rest of the Miami Dolphins' offense was infinitesimal. 
Such is the agony of being the only cast-iron link in a paper-clip
chain of Dan Marino options. When the eternal arm is constantly
searching the field for McDuffie, then the Dolphins must always be in
a third-and-long bind, which indicates the running game has run dry,
which pretty much assures that Miami is a memory. 
Paul Warfield never had to work this hard in his Dolphins glory days.
He was a shiny accessory in a Miami attack that routinely pounded its
way into the Super Bowl, one Larry Csonka pile driver at a time. Three
or four catches a game would do it for Warfield, each of them
spectacularly showcased for maximum effect. 
McDuffie, on the other hand, rarely catches a pass without catching
some major grief, too, in the form of bruises and cuts and loose
teeth. His job is to meet a hard knot of defensive backs at the
first-down stick and wrestle there for Miami's honor. 
The Dolphins, down 14-0 Saturday before Terrell Davis had even
wrinkled his jersey, had no first downs until O.J. caught a 23-yarder
on the final play of the first quarter. 
By game's end, Jimmy Johnson had conceded altogether, sending in the
scrubs to take a knee and voluntarily burn the final minute of a 38-3
playoff rout. Sure, Denver is a tough place to pull off an upset, but
the Broncos won two road games last year on their wild-card journey to
the Super Bowl title. McDuffie would blend well in a stubborn locker
room like theirs. 
Instead, he stands out in Miami, stands alongside Marino, his
hardheaded partner on an otherwise soft-shelled team. 
Does anyone out there realize McDuffie led the NFL in receptions this
season with 90? No other Dolphin ever did that. Not Warfield, the Pro
Football Hall of Famer. Not Nat Moore, the smartest and most durable
Miami receiver for more than a decade. Not even the magnificent Marks,
Clayton and Duper, who grew weary trying to think of interesting
variations on their end-zone celebration dances during the free and
easy days of Marino's youth. 
Who in the Miami locker room but McDuffie could say they finished 1998
strongly? 
He had no touchdown catches in the season's first eight games but
seven in the second half. Look, too, to the only Dolphins' scoring
drive Saturday. Miami got 45 yards and two first downs from O.J. on
the 76-yard trudge to a second-quarter field goal. If not for
McDuffie, the Dolphins would have had a shutout to add to their shame.
There is no silly celebration, however, for McDuffie, not in the way
that Lamar Thomas might prance over a short catch on a long afternoon.
O.J. is deadly serious about winning. He even sparked,
uncharacteristically, at a South Florida reporter who chuckled about
something in the general neighborhood of his locker at Mile High
Stadium on Saturday. 
Here is a man who played for Don Shula as long as he has Jimmy
Johnson, and for Joe Paterno longer than that. Should the Dolphins
decide to dump the hefty salary of offensive tackle Richmond Webb,
only Marino, Bernie Parmalee and Dwight Hollier will have been with
Miami longer than McDuffie's six seasons. 
O.J. has played in six post-season games and lost four. He has never
reached the AFC Championship Game. He knows what it takes to get
there, an obstinateness that overpowers the annoyances of injuries and
odds and sudden-death games on the road, and can only wonder if these
young Dolphins will ever join him in that commitment. 
"The Jets don't care where they go," said McDuffie, admitting his
admiration for a New York team that swept Miami in the regular season
and marches into Mile High on Sunday with legitimate Super Bowl
aspirations. "The Jets are ornery like that. They'll play anywhere and
they'll play well." 
Miami won't be that way until someone other than O.J. is the leading
receiver. The Dolphins still need, as ever, a deep threat or two, and
a monster running back, and a defense that makes turnovers happen no
matter the level of resistance. 
That would make McDuffie purely a possession receiver, the perfect
role for him on an ideal team. That would make Miami a serious threat
beyond January's opening salvos. 
And that, more than leading the league in receptions, would squeeze
from O.J. a lasting, winning smile. 
Ah, a proposito. magari qualcuno si sta chiedendo choi è per me il più
grande QB di tutti i tempi. È Joe Montana.
Ciao
Charlie Brown
G O   D O L P H I N S ! ! !
mail to: 
chNOS...@excite.com
better remove NOSPAM when replying....

 
Per un attimo ho paventato Ryan Leaf......   :-)))))))))))))))))
Ciao Charlie, grazie per la dedica!!!


numero 13 nell'armadio e sono contento.
Ancora con questa storia? Devo ripeterlo ancora? IO NON PENSO MALE DI
MARINO! PER ME MARINO E' UNO DEI MIGLIOR QB DELLA STORIA. Insomma, ho solo
detto che non č perfetto, invece di stare lě a riscrivere statistiche che si
commentano da sole ho cercato di tirare fuori qualcosa di diverso.
La prossima volta scriverň cosě e forse farň tutti contenti:
"Io amo Dan Marino. E' un QB dal braccio fenomenale, che ha lanciato 57 mila
passaggi di cui piů di 400 in meta. Rilascia la palla piů veloce di ogni
altro e in un attimo solo riesce a leggere le difese con attenzione, tanto
che raramente in carriera ha dovuto correre per chiudere un down. Nonostante
non abbia mai avuto back degni di lui, č stato autore di imprese
straordinarie ed č andato vicino a vincere il SB, cosa che avrebbe
certamente fatto se avesse giocato nei 49ers, nei Packers, nei Cowboys o nei
Broncos."
Ma avrei detto qualcosa di nuovo?
OK, me la sono cercata andando a parlare male (se voi intendete "parlare
male" l'evidenziazione magari provocatoria di un difetto) di uno che č cosě
intoccabile... Ma vi prego, non guardatemi come l'Anti-Marino (anche se
secondo me viene dopo Montana, Favre, Elway e Young: scommetto che vi ho
fatto arrabbiare di nuovo...)
Scherzando un po', saluti
Tom
Tom...@xnet.it
Alien_...@yahoo.com

 
Ciao Tom , nessun problema & nessuna polemica.
Grazie al cielo sembra che le polemiche non abitano in questo ng.
Cerca solo di calarti nei panni miei e di Charlie Brown.
Appena eliminati, abbiamo qualche nervo scoperto :-)))))
Comunque non la volevo mettere sul personale, nella maniera piu'
assoluta.
Mi diverto troppo in questo ng, scambiando opinioni fra persone
competenti.
Per me e' una risorsa pregiata e cerco il piu' possibile di usarlo come
tale.
Bye.
MC

Tom



Nema problema...
Anche le mie scritte in MAIUSCOLO non volevano essere polemiche, era solo
per evidenziare bene il concetto.
Va bene cosě!
Saluti
Tom
Tom...@xnet.it
Alien_...@yahoo.com



Di nuovo amici, Man? :-)))))))
Di nuovo? Mai smesso!
Saluti
Tom
Tom...@xnet.it
Alien_...@yahoo.com

Per un attimo ho paventato Ryan Leaf......   :-)))))))))))))))))
Particolarmente ironico oggi, eh?
Chissa' che magari un giorno non lo diventi! (Che bello sognare!;)
Saluti.
Diego
(Please remove NOSPAM to reply)