BEST and WORST DOLPHINS DRAFT PICKS

THE UNDEFEATED BACKFIELD

I feel pride in the Miami Dolphins' best draft picks and a sort of shame at the worst. You can find them on this web site. It brought back lots of memories, many I'd like to forget.

Among the great picks would be hall-of-famers Dan Marino (of course) and Bob Griese, plus Richmond Webb, Patrick Surtain, Sam Madison, second-round pick Mark Duper, eighth-round pick Mark Clayton, Mike Pouncey and Jake Scott, a seventh-round draft pick in 1970. And let's not forget hall-of-famers Jason Taylor and Zach Thomas.

One of my personal favorites was Jim Jensen, an 11th-rounder in 1981. He wasn't an all-time great, just a fan (and my) favorite.

Cornerback Xavier Howard has to be one of the best recent draft picks. Sure, the Dolphins cut him recently to save salary cap, but he had one of the best seasons in team history in 2020.

Jaylen Waddle, Jevon Holland and Jaelan Phillips, all drafted in 2021, may wind up among the team's all-time best draft picks.

That web site did leave Larry Csonka, a Hall of Famer, off the best list, though.

As for the worst picks, let's cut Dion Jordan, David Overstreet (who never lived to play for the Dolphins), Rick Norton, Charles Harris, Jason Allen, Eddie Moore and Yatil Green some slack.

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EMAIL: tgilli52@gmail.com  TWITTER: EDITORatWORK

MORE BLOG ENTRIES BY TOM GILLISPIE

• Resume for a writer and editor

• An editor's views on powerful writing

• Advice for be and would-be novelists

• Links to TG's stories online

• Favorite quotes

• What I do when I'm editing

ANECDOTES BY TOM GILLISPIE

• Wipeout at Death Valley

• Days with rainbows

• A desperate writer working in the dark

• Yer OUTTA there!

EDITOR@WORK BLOG ENTRIES

• You really DO need an editor

• Reminders for would-be novelists

• What I do when I'm editing

• What I charge (it's a deal) and what I edit

• Slogging through the Internet

• J-school: More eyes on your stories

• J-school: Go out and learn

• Rookie mistakes for magazine writers

ENTRIES FROM THE DOG BLOG

• Katie cried

• Growl and pull

• 13-plus years with my dog Lady

• ... said the spider to ...

• The Dog Diary (2014)

• YIP! YIP! The stereo-sound huskies

• What Lady and Michael Jackson had in common

BLOG ENTRIES FROM THE AUTO RACING JOURNAL

• Angel in Black: Remembering Dale Earnhardt Sr.

(a book of great stories about the Intimidator)

• Then Junior Said to Jeff...

(the book of great NASCAR stories)

• My best day as a sports writer

• Jeff Gordon's milk toast to Dale Earnhardt

• Wayne Auton: A life in racing

Snow dog

HERE'S SCOTTIE STANDING IN NEW SNOW.

Marino's record

The NY Times ran a story today on Philip Rivers' assault on Dan Marino's 1984 record of 5,048 yards. Rivers, playing for the Chargers, is on pace to finish about one yard short.

Which means he could easily break the record.

Marino's story-ending quote is revealing:

“I want it to last forever,” Marino said, laughing. “I want them to get close. I told Peyton, ‘You can get 48 touchdowns, but please don’t get 49.’

“It’s one of the only things I have left. Let me have it.”

The Series

I JUST FOUND A WEB SITE listing the World Series winners and losers. Interestingly, four teams have perfect records in the Series: the Florida Marlins and Toronto Blue Jays are both 2-0, and the Angels and Arizona Diamondbacks are both 1-0.

The Giants, who won Game 1 of the current Series, haven't won the world's championship since 1954, when they were still in New York. The Texas Rangers are making their first Series appearance.

No unbeatens

In past years, Miami Dolphins fans have suffered until the 10th, 12th or 14th game of the season for the last unbeaten to go down. In 2007, they had to wait until late in the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl for the New York Giants to rally and beat the "unbeatable" New England Patriots.


Not this year. The Indianapolis Colts conveniently beat the Kansas City Chiefs today, ending any worry that a team would match the '72 Dolphins. Now, fans just have to worry when the Dolphins will win again.

Staying or not staying on deck

I never realized there was so much to know about the on-deck circle until I read this story in the N.Y. Times. Some major leaguers stay in the on-deck circle, and others stray far from it.

I like the idea used by little leaguers; have the guy in the on-deck circle face the batter's back. Less chance of getting hurt.

I do wonder, though, how much advantage a hitter can get by moving closer to the catcher. If it weren't an advantage, they wouldn't do it.

More blog entries by Tom Gillispie

• Resume for a writer and editor

• An editor's views on powerful writing

• Advice for be and would-be novelists

• Links to TG's stories online

• Favorite quotes

• What I do when I'm editing

Anecdotes by Tom Gillispie

• Wipeout at Death Valley

• Days with rainbows

• A desperate writer working in the dark

• Yer outta there!

• Phil will wait

• Anything for a story

SpeedEditor blog entries

• You really DO need an editor

• Reminders for would-be novelists

• What I do when I'm editing

• Slogging through the Internet

• J-school: More eyes on your stories

• J-school: Go out and learn

• Rookie mistakes for magazine writers

Blog entries on The Auto Racing Journal:

• Angel in Black: Remembering Dale Earnhardt Sr.

(a book of great stories about the Intimidator)

• Then Junior Said to Jeff...

(the book of great NASCAR stories)

• My best day as a sports writer

• Jeff Gordon's milk toast to Dale Earnhardt

• Wayne Auton: A life in racing

Blog entries from The Dog Blog

• Katie cried

• Growl and pull

• 10 years with Lady

• ... said the spider to ...

• The Dog Diary (2013)

• YIP! YIP! The stereo-sound huskies

• What Lady and Michael Jackson had in common

Powerful names

I knew the well-named Lake Speed a little bit when he raced Winston Cup in the '90s, and I've met Indy-car driver Scott Speed. IRL driver Will Power (whom I never met) and drag-racing legend John Force (whom I have met) are others with powerful names.

But they'll never hold a candle to Dick Trickle, a good guy and a driver I know fairly well. The last time I talked to Dick was in 2007, when I was updating the Dale Earnhardt book.

More blog entries by Tom Gillispie

• Resume for a writer and editor

• An editor's views on powerful writing

• Advice for be and would-be novelists

• Links to TG's stories online

• Favorite quotes

• What I do when I'm editing

Anecdotes by Tom Gillispie

• Wipeout at Death Valley

• Days with rainbows

• A desperate writer working in the dark

• Yer outta there!

Editing/writing blog entries

• You really DO need an editor

• Reminders for would-be novelists

• What I do when I'm editing

• Slogging through the Internet

• J-school: More eyes on your stories

• J-school: Go out and learn

• Rookie mistakes for magazine writers

Blog entries on The Auto Racing Journal:

• Angel in Black: Remembering Dale Earnhardt Sr.

(a book of great stories about the Intimidator)

• Then Junior Said to Jeff...

(the book of great NASCAR stories)

• My best day as a sports writer

• Jeff Gordon's milk toast to Dale Earnhardt

• Wayne Auton: A life in racing