Bleak season disappoints Dolphin fans

MIAMI -- They are the ones who suffer, only partly because their stud running back ditched the team before the first game of the season, their coaching situation for 2005 remains muddled, and their club, as of yesterday, had won only two games.

At approximately 6 last night, the temperature was 57 degrees with an 8 mile-per-hour wind blowing from the north, and shivering Dolphin fans throughout the Pro Player Stadium parking lot were holding their gloved hands close to their assorted gas burners and charcoal grills.

"It's freezing," said Jack DeLoach, a Boynton Beach resident who has lived in Florida for 30 years but is a Michigan native.

Last night's relatively cool temperature accentuated a season of chills for Dolphin fans, who never dreamed their club would boast a two-win record after 13 games.

"It's a disappointment," said Bill Janotta of Miami. "It's a big disappointment. We thought they'd do a lot better than they've been. Prior to the beginning of the season, we didn't realize how bad things were."

Janotta divides the season in two: BR (Before Ricky), and the aftermath of Ricky Williams's departure. Soon after Williams left the team, the offensive line started to crumble, the quarterback rotation of A.J. Feeley and Jay Fiedler fizzled, and coach Dave Wannstedt took the fall for the lost season.

But one person doesn't make a team, said Blane Kohr, a Palm Beach resident. He blamed the Dolphins' demise on their injuries and multiple offensive shortcomings. Kohr said that one positive, however, will be Miami's plum pick in the 2005 draft. Kohr and Janotta thought the Dolphins should select an offensive lineman or, perhaps, a quarterback.

DeLoach, who was at the game with his son, Scott, agreed that the Dolphins need help on their offensive line, but said Miami might be better off trading the high pick for a handful of lower-round choices to fill its many holes. DeLoach also was interested to see how Nick Saban, Miami's top choice for coach, would adapt to the pro game next year if the Dolphins hire the Louisiana State University boss.

While DeLoach called the 2004 season "horrible," he thought Miami easily could have a better record, and that the only laugher this season was the Dolphins' 41-14 loss to the New York Jets Nov. 1, also a Monday night game. The DeLoaches, who have owned their season tickets for three seasons, were still merry last night as they grilled shrimp and lobster tails on their gas burner and sipped on bottles of Sam Adams Winter Lager. For each pregame meal, the DeLoaches dine on traditional dishes of the opponents' regions; before Miami's 42-32 loss to the Buffalo Bills earlier this month, they ate buffalo wings and a dinner of sausage and potatoes.

Janotta and Kohr, who were grilling chicken from the bed of a Ford F-250 pickup truck, flashed smiles despite their team's poor record and the brisk temperature.

"If you're a real fan," Janotta said, "this is what it's all about."