Miami Dolphins

Miami Dolphins | The US Trends | The Miami Dolphins are a professional american football team based in the U.S. metropolitan Miami, Florida. The team is part of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). Dolphins play home games at the stage of the life of the sun in the northern suburb of Miami Gardens, and are in training Miami Dolphins facility in Davie, Florida.

The Dolphins team was founded by Joe Robbie, and began play in the American Football League (AFL) as an expansion team in 1966 – an example of the AFL's expanding into parts of the United States that had not possessed professional american football teams (with the exception of the Miami Seahawks, who played in the AAFC in 1946 before becoming the first incarnation of the Baltimore Colts). In 1970, the Dolphins joined the NFL when the AFL–NFL merger occurred. The Dolphins are the oldest continually-operating major-league professional sports franchise in the state of Florida.

The team made its first Super Bowl appearance following the 1971 season in Super Bowl VI, but lost to the Dallas Cowboys. In 1972, the Dolphins team completed the NFL's first and only perfect season culminating in a Super Bowl win, winning all 14 of its regular-season games, both of its NFL playoff games, and also Super Bowl VII. The Dolphins thus became the first NFL team to accomplish a perfect regular season. Miami Dolphins also won Super Bowl VIII, becoming the first team to appear in three consecutive Super Bowls, and the second team (the first AFL/AFC team) to win back-to-back championships. Miami also appeared in Super Bowl XVII and Super Bowl XIX, losing both games.

For most of its debut, Miami Dolphins were coached by Don Shula, coach the most successful in the history of professional football in terms of total games won. His teams posted records Dolphins lost two of his 26 seasons as head coach of the team. Football Hall of Fame six future members played for Miami in the 1970's, including fullback Larry Csonka, Bob Griese quarterback and linebacker Nick Buoniconti. During 1980 and 1990, the Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino became the most prolific passer in NFL history, breaking several records for the passage of the league. He led the Dolphins to five division titles, 10 playoff tickets and Super Bowl XIX, before retiring after the 1999 season. -THE US TRENDS

Miami Dolphins

Donovan McNabb is traded to Vikings, Washington Redskins Agreed

Donovan McNabb is traded to Vikings, Washington Redskins Agreed | The US Trends | After some talk throughout the day of a potential deal, it looks like it is on. McNabb’s age and salary drove down the price, and according to Jay Glazer, it looks like the deal is for a 6th round pick in 2012 and possibly another 6th rounder in 2013. The deal is contingent on McNabb, who is due a large bonus, agreeing to renegotiate the deal and take less money.

Donovan McNabb still thinks of himself as an elite quarterback, so will he be willing to take less money to play in Minnesota, with a team that just spent a 12th overall pick on a quarterback? If he takes an honest assessment of his situation, he should. The market for McNabb is weak. The Redskins are going to release him if not traded, and no one is giving him the job for a 3-4 year stretch. He won’t get more on the open market after being released than the Vikings are willing to give. If he really thinks he can rebound, he should negotiate a short term deal that includes some incentives.

With the likely McNabb move to Minnesota, plus Tarvaris Jackson to Seattle, the trade market is tightening up. Orton is still out there, and Kolb better be hoping that the Cardinals opt for him, or he will be a reserve again in 2011. - The US Trends

Donovan McNabb is traded to Vikings, Washington Redskins Agreed

American Football

American Football | The US Trends | American football, known in the United States simply as football, is a competitive team sport known for its physical roughness despite being a highly strategic game. The object of the game is to score points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone, kicking a field goal, or scoring a safety by tackling an opposing team's ball-carrier in his own end zone. The ball can be advanced either by carrying it or by throwing it to a teammate. The winner is the team with the most points when the time expires and the last play ends.

American football descended from rugby football, played in the United Kingdom in the mid-nineteenth century. The first game of college football was played on November 6, 1869 between Rutgers University and Princeton University. The first modernized game was on June 4, 1875 between Harvard University and Tufts University.

Professional football developed in the mill towns of Pennsylvania and the American Midwest in the early twentieth century. The National Football League (NFL) was founded in 1920 in Canton, Ohio, and is now comprised of 32 teams. Today, football is the most popular American sport, with the day of the NFL championship—the Super Bowl—being one of the biggest occasions for social gatherings in the United States.

Outside the United States, the sport is referred to as American football to differentiate it from other football games. In Australia and New Zealand, the game is known as Gridiron, although in America the word "gridiron" refers only to the playing field. Variations of the game include Canadian football and Arena football.

American football dates from the early 1800s when teams in various colleges and secondary schools met. They usually played by kicking or batting at the ball, as in varieties of football played in the United Kingdom. In 1867, the convergence of various developments at Eastern colleges and schools led to the codification of American football. Rutgers University and Princeton University played the first recorded game of American college football on November 6, 1869 in New Brunswick, New Jersey, won by Rutgers 6-4. Today, Rutgers is popularly recognized as the "Birthplace of College Football." However, English Football Association rules were followed in this Princeton/Rutgers contest; participants were only allowed to kick the ball, not handle it; and each side had 25 men. Thus, some see the Princeton-Rutgers meeting of 1869 as the first intercollegiate game of "soccer" in America, but not American football (Smith 1988). In 1870, Rutgers invited Columbia for a game, and the popularity of intercollegiate competition in football would spread throughout the country.

Dartmouth College students played a football-like game now known as "Old Division Football," for which they published rules in 1871. In 1873, Columbia, Rutgers, Princeton, and Yale met to formulate the intercollegiate football rules for the games they played. This meeting is notable for two reasons. First, it is the first attempt at making a single set of rules for all schools to follow. Second, Harvard refused to join the meeting. - The US Trends