#considering making one for Julien too (his is a lot more simple (in terms of frames anyway) so I might end up doing that on Tuesday

[tophats-tea]

drawing fanart animation for Danganronpa: A New Generation until the First Episode comes out

Day 90: Asaro Birthday Animation WIP

Check out the fangan!

[fmdjulien]

        idolized. → the interview, featuring julien shin.

barely twelve hours have passed since julien landed in incheon after nearly twenty hours of traveling and while his body shows hints of exhaustion, there’s something about his aura that seems to make him as lively and lovely as ever. with skin kissed a golden hue from the rays of the mexican sun and cheeks tinged rosy from the wintry breeze, he looks to be completely out of place in the gold star media building like a tropical bird in the north. but as he enters the cozy room to greet both the cameraman and his manager, there's something about him that seems a bit different. "ah, hello. thank you for taking care of me tonight," julien greeted, giving a polite bow to the other two in the room. "i'll work hard to get the interview done as quickly as possible." the response he received was a simple nod of the head from the cameraman as julien shrugged off his coat and set his caffeinated drink down on the counter, soon enough moving to take a seat in front of the camera.

he's done these countless amounts of times already, enough to be able to do an interview like this in his sleep, but this particular interview does seem to be one that requires more of his attention. the idea of idolized giving the public a chance to see more of what happens behind the scenes for the idol industry is an example of companies purposely letting people in to see the less glamorous side; julien finds this to make his job a little more difficult in being able to keep a positive impression of himself while also showcasing his vulnerabilities. media workshops and refresher courses seemed like a waste of time to him, if he had to be honest, but if anything they seemed to cement the fact more to him that he needed to be extremely careful while still being comfortable. of course, it doesn't help that the dangerous mix of jet lag and lack of sleep has left julien's brain barely able to keep his synapses firing. but he pushes through with it, quickly fixing a loose strand of his hair the shade of espresso to at least look put together, despite the way his body feels. with a clearing of his throat, he smiles. "okay, shall we begin?"

what is life as an idol like? what are the hardships? what is rewarding?

"as an idol, life can be a bit crazy," julien stated, letting himself begin with that particular point. "when you're having a comeback, you'll have to begin preparations weeks, sometimes months in advance. songs need to be written and composed, and not every song that's written make it to the final product. from there, the songs need to be recorded by the idols in the studio. while recording the album, there also will be a music video that will need to be filmed for the single, as well as choreography for said single. while preparing for the comeback release, idols would need to shoot concept photos and teaser videos, which most likely requires them to change their hairstyle or appearances in some way. and when the comeback single is released, idols need to go to music shows, concerts, radio shows, and variety shows to promote their music. they'll even attend fan meetings and have schedules pop up on their calendar with barely any notice that they still will need to attend. when comebacks aren't happening, idols are either touring, keeping busy with being on different shows or having a side gig as an mc or actor, or would be prepping for things with the next comeback." pausing to take a breath, julien smiled. "it can be a bit difficult, and some hardships that idols endure include being able to function without much, or any sleep, going under strict dieting or workouts in preparation for comebacks, among other things. while we all are aware of these things when we sign up to be idols, it's still something that can take us by surprise. but despite all of the sleepless nights and the stress that may come with the career, the most rewarding thing in the world for me is to perform for my fans. nothing beats the feeling of singing your song in front of people and these people singing your songs back to you. it's such a wonderful feeling to meet people from all over who have come all this way just to see me, that the least i can do is put on the best performance i can and thank them for all of their hard work. it's a lot of hard work for this job, but the rewards far outweigh the stress."

how would you feel if your future child wanted to be an idol?

being faced with a question about children, julien's already trying to reel his mind back in before it races off at a mile a minute. it's not something he's really thought about, but his tired mind is working on its own, selecting what avenues of the question it wants to explore. before his mind starts thinking about his future children and his life as a father, julien lets out a sound of surprise. "ah, if sometime down the line when i'm older and have a family, i wouldn't be surprised if my future child would have a conversation with me about wanting to be an idol. there would at least be some sort of curiosity in their mind, i would be sure of it. but if i were to have that conversation with my child, i feel as if there would be a lot of things to consider. for starters, the idol industry is forever changing; has the industry changed for the better or no? and then there's the part where i would have a talk with them about how serious they would be about this. becoming an idol isn't easy and requires a lot of dedication and hard work, and debut may not even be guaranteed on top of that. i wouldn't want to set them up for failure, but i would want them to know what they would potentially be getting themselves into." the question itself already brought up memories of his own conversation with his parents about wanting to pursue music; oh, how disastrous that was. of course, he ended up doing it anyway, dropping out of college and flying across the pacific ocean, but what could his parents have expected? at that realization, julien let out a breath, sighing. "well, at the end of the day, though, i would want to support my child in whatever they want to do. if they want to become an idol, i would support them as much as i can, and be there as someone they can lean on or look to for advice."

do you think the words “artist” and “idol” mean the same thing?

"there has been a lot of discourse on the term used to describe performers like me and what we do; are we artists or are we idols?" pausing for dramatic effect, julien continues. "an artist, by definition, is someone skilled at a particular occupation; in this case, it'd be someone skilled at performing. an idol, however, is defined as one who is greatly admired or loved. if we go purely be definition, these terms cannot be used interchangeably, but they cannot be mutually exclusive, either. someone can be both an idol and an artist because they're skilled, but also greatly admired. the idol industry is filled with those who are skilled at performing and making music, and are also well loved. so while i say they do not mean the same thing, it does not mean that an idol must be one or the other; rather, they can be both. interesting concept, isn't it?" finishing his thought, julien remains quiet for a few seconds, realizing that his words may have been a bit like a persuasive speech, he giggles. "i'm sorry, i tend to sometimes speak out my thought process as my mind works through it."

are there sides to you your fans don’t see?

hearing the words spoken by his manager, julien tries not to snort. a trick question, of course. if you answer 'no', then the audience will already write you off as a liar and potentially not believe anything else that comes out of your mouth. if you answer 'yes', you'll have to be prepared with concrete examples or risk sacrificing your image due to viewers that get too curious at the lack of response. damned if you do, damned if you don't. letting a few seconds pass by to gather his thoughts into his best crafted answer, julien parted his lips. "i believe everyone has sides to themselves that they keep from others, and i am no different. i am human, after all. however, even though my fans don't see some sides of me, i do want to slowly show my other sides to them over time. my fans have been by my side for five years now; i have grown with them and they have grown with me. i would love to open myself up to them, but i am constantly working to improve myself and don't want to show sides of myself that needs lot of improvement. maybe i'd show the emotional side of me that curls up and cries with his cat when he's sad, or the impulsive side of me that doesn't do the smartest things like enter churro eating contests. so many sides of me i'd like to reveal, but i have to become confident in showing those sides. please anticipate seeing a new julien, yes?"

what do you hope viewers will see through the airing of this show?

"for the viewers out there watching the show, i would hope or them to see that at the end of the day we are people, just like them." as soon as julien speaks this out into the universe, he's well-aware that it'd be important to clarify exactly what he meant, leaving no room for interpretation. "everyone grows up and sees idols and grow to, well, idolize them and look up to them. but we're not really different from everyone else. viewers will be able to catch a glimpse of us off-stage and out of makeup and see that we're just like them. we wake up and go to work, just like everyone else. we have hobbies, we pursue different interests, and we go home just like them. yes, there is a slight difference in what we do professionally, but we have more similarities than differences."

what do you hope you’ll get out of the experience of the show? are there any other groups or idols you hope to get the chance to meet more through the show?

fighting back a yawn from escaping, julien took a moment to compose himself before chuckling softly. "being a part of this show is going to be a huge learning experience for me," he began, "and i hope to gain a lot from this experience, but the most important thing to me that i hope to get out of this is getting to meet and interact with so many other idols and groups that i don't normally see at schedules. speaking of..." he trails off, humming softly in thought with a finger to his chin. "you know, there are many other groups and idols that i hope to meet up with. there are some new groups and artists that i haven't been able to speak to yet, like vice or caleb. there's also groups and artists that i know but haven't spoken to for a long time, like the members of unity and WISH. and then there's even the idols that i am close with but just enjoy talking to them so much that this show will let me reunite with them more, like yuddy, element, sooah, and even members from knight and BEE. i've had the opportunity to befriend so many amazing people in this profession, that i hope to meet more or see them all again."

how do you feel about the upcoming hallyu triple fantasy concert in jeju city?

if he had to be honest, talk of the triple fantasy concert always left julien with anxiety bubbling in the pit of his stomach. the event itself was wonderful, and julien thought the idea was genius and profitable; it was more so the events that he associated with the concert that left him with a bad taste in his month. while most of his peers think of packed stadiums and performing alongside fellow artists from different companies, julien was reminded of shouting matches and tearful arguments that resulted in sleepless nights and mental exhaustion. things did not exactly turn out well during the japan trip for julien, but as much as it pains him to think about the triple fantasy concert in general, hopefully this time around he'll be able to associate it with happier thoughts. but still, he throws the thoughts to the back of his mind, opting for a wide grin. "with the hallyu triple fantasy concert happening again, i'm already extremely excited about it!" julien exclaimed, a burst of energy coming out of him. "the concert was a success in japan, and it was a really fun time to be able to have so many people under one roof. i also think it's great for our fans, because they get to see all these acts in one place instead of having to buy separate tickets for each agency or artist, you know? the triple fantasy concert brought about camaraderie because all of us got to come together and do what we love best, and i'm so excited to bring the concert back to korea. i've never been to jeju yet, believe it or not! i've always wanted to go, but timing never worked out for me. being able to go and perform in jeju and our fans for the first time is something i'm very excited about, and i also cannot wait to learn more about jeju itself while i'm there! i've heard the tangerines are delicious, and i've been wanting to see all the beautiful things in jeju, like the dol hareubang and hallasan, and the people, of course." taking a few moments to show off his knowledge, julien flashes a smile; he's always the type to do his research before an interview, and this is no different.

do you have any worries about being followed by cameras for the show?

worries? even in his barely conscious mind, julien could already think of several things off the top of his head to worry about if he were to have a camera crew following him around for the show. what if he slipped up when no one was around? what if there was a tiny flash of weakness the caught the attention of the viewers? he had already had scenarios playing in his head, things that would come up just because he wasn't careful. but before he could let himself get too immersed into the idea, the best option for julien was to simply keep his cool. smile, keep a pleasant face, act like nothing in the world is wrong... and that was exactly what he was going to do, feeling the corners of his lips turn up. "i can't help but be honest and say that even though i'm excited to show all of you a different side of me, i do have a few worries about the camera following me around," he started, letting his expression turn a little bashful as he dipped his head shyly before returning his gaze to the camera. "i mean, could you imagine if i fell asleep and you had to deal with listening to me snore? or if i ate an entire pizza out of the camera like a mukbang bj? it's definitely something i'll have to get used to, but i am looking forward to the show, so please watch and support us!"

a few seconds lapse after julien finishes his sentence before the cameraman ends the recording and gives a thumbs up. with a breath of relief exiting his lungs, julien already feels his eyelids grow heavy and his shoulders sag. his exhaustion is catching up to him, and it nearly drains him just to even stand up and trudge over to his americano sitting on the counter and waiting for him. but as tired as he is, he still remembers everything he's learned about pleasantries in the workplace. turning to the cameraman, he flashes a pleasant yet tired smile, pearly teeth showing as he bends into a bow. "thank you for filming interview, you've worked hard. please have a nice rest of your night." it's the last he says, really, as he grabs his drink and coat and exits the room with his manager, only for her to nudge him into the car parked outside the building. the second julien climbs into the car, he's already let his eyes fall close, soon enough falling into a dreamless sleep until he gets to the next place on his schedule.

word count: 2,757.

[junker-town]

How the Dolphins are tanking, in 3 steps

Dolphins quarterback Josh Rosen sacked by Ravens pass rusher Matthew Judon.

The Dolphins gutted their roster and now they are — surprise, surprise — a very bad football team.

The Miami Dolphins are awful.

That’s no surprise. They were expected to be after they mostly spent their offseason getting rid of talent rather than acquiring it. But it was still staggering to see just how bad the Dolphins were when they kicked off the 2019 season by getting destroyed by the Ravens, 59-10.

While head coach Brian Flores continues to insist the team’s not tanking, there’s no way around it at this point. The Dolphins are bottoming out in a way that’s usually only seen in the NBA.

The one-sided loss to Baltimore was, in all likelihood, the first of many butt kickings Miami will endure in 2019. That’s even apparent to Dolphins players, some of whom asked their agents to get them traded out of South Beach, according to Pro Football Talk.

“The players believe that the coaching staff, despite claiming that they intend to try to win, aren’t serious about competing and winning,” the report said.

Those players are correct. The Dolphins organization is not trying to be a contender in 2019. Its goal all year has been to load up on cap space and draft picks in lieu of wins. That’s a textbook tank job.

Dolphins players aren’t trying to lose, though. Roster spots are too hard to come by and careers are too short in the NFL. They’ll all give 100 percent on the field. Miami is just too far behind other teams in terms of skill to truly keep up and compete.

So how did the Dolphins get to this point? They followed a simple three-step process

Step 1: Gut the roster

Dec. 31, 2018: The best place to start is the day Adam Gase was fired as head coach of the Dolphins after a 7-9 season.

Miami finished the year 31st in total offense and 29th in total defense. The Dolphins were bad at everything, but by still managing seven wins, they didn’t even have a top-12 pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. Being stuck in that 6-to-8-win middle ground — somewhere the team was for most of a decade — prompted coaching and executive changes.

Along with Gase’s firing, football operations were removed from executive vice president Mike Tannenbaum’s control and given to general manager Chris Grier. Former Raiders GM Reggie McKenzie was later hired as a senior personnel executive and Patriots linebackers coach Brian Flores, a first-time head coach, replaced Gase.

March 7, 2019: The first signs of tanking didn’t come until March. It started with the Dolphins releasing veteran defensive end Andre Branch and starting offensive guard Ted Larsen. Still, neither move was too surprising considering they saved the Dolphins about $9 million in combined cap space. Branch signed with the Cardinals, but didn’t make the final roster. Larsen is now a backup for the Bears.

March 13, 2019: The Dolphins made another move on the offensive line by releasing Josh Sitton. He played just one game for the team in 2018 before a rotator cuff tear landed him on injured reserve. It saved the team $5 million in cap space and Sitton retired in April.

That was also the same day free agency began in the NFL. The Dolphins allowed offensive tackle Ja’Wuan James, defensive end Cameron Wake, wide receiver Danny Amendola, and running back Frank Gore, among others, to walk and sign elsewhere.

March 15, 2019: Quarterback Ryan Tannehill was traded to the Titans after seven years and 88 starts with the Dolphins. The two teams swapped late-round selections in 2019 and the Dolphins received a 2020 fourth-round pick.

Tannehill was due to count $26.6 million against Miam’s cap in 2019, a pricy number for a player who struggled to stay healthy or ascend into a top-tier passer. Following the trade — and an agreement to pay $5 million of his signing bonus on the Titans’ behalf — the Dolphins saved a little over $8 million and ate about $18.4 million in dead money. Tannehill will be off the books entirely in 2020.

March 18, 2019: Career journeyman Ryan Fitzpatrick was signed to a two-year contract to be the team’s new starting quarterback. The deal provided the Dolphins with a cheap stopgap solution under center. The two-year, $11 million contract given to Fitzpatrick constituted the most expensive acquisition the Dolphins made in free agency. Only the Cowboys and Rams — two Super Bowl contenders — spent less.

March 28, 2019: Pass rusher Robert Quinn, who came over in a trade from the Rams in March 2018, was sent to the Cowboys for a 2020 sixth-round pick. He led Miami in sacks during the 2018 season with 6.5. The trade saved the Dolphins close to $12 million in cap space and stuck them with only around $1.1 million in dead money.

April 25-26, 2019: Miami selected Clemson defensive tackle Christian Wilkins in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft and traded its second-round pick for quarterback Josh Rosen. Rosen, a top-10 pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, started one season for the Cardinals.

May 13, 2019: The most significant investment made by the Dolphins in the offseason was a five-year, $76.5 million extension given to cornerback Xavien Howard. He was their only Pro Bowler in 2018 and is now tied to the team through the 2024 season. DeVante Parker, Jakeem Grant, and Jesse Davis received more moderately sized extensions at other points in the offseason.

Aug. 31, 2019: A week prior to their regular season opener, the Dolphins traded starting left tackle Laremy Tunsil and wide receiver Kenny Stills to the Texans. The package of picks sent back to Miami was quite the haul:

Official terms of now completed trade: Houston receives: T Laremy Tunsil WR Kenny Stills 2020 4th round pick 2021 6th round pick Miami receives: 2020 1st round pick 2021 1st round pick 2021 2nd round pick T Julien Davenport CB Johnson Bademosi

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 31, 2019

Following the trade, Julién Davenport was slotted in as the Dolphins’ new starting right tackle. No offensive lineman in the NFL allowed more quarterback hits (14) in 2018 or drew more penalties (16) than Davenport.

He lasted just one game for the Dolphins before landing on injured reserve.

Sept. 15, 2019: Jay Glazer of Fox Sports reported the Dolphins have been calling around the league in an attempt to trade running back Kenyan Drake. He led the team in rushing in 2017 and yards from scrimmage in 2018.

Sept. 16, 2019: The Dolphins allowed 2018 first-round pick Minkah Fitzpatrick to pursue a trade after their Week 1 loss, and found a partner after Week 2. Fitzpatrick was sent to the Steelers for a 2020 first-round pick, a potentially great investment considering the Steelers’ many problems in 2019.

Oct. 28, 2019: One day ahead of the trade deadline, the Dolphins traded running back Kenyan Drake to the Cardinals for a sixth-round pick that has a chance to become a fifth-round pick if Drake reaches certain milestones.

Oct. 29, 2019: Instead of trading away any more players on the last day before the trade deadline, the Dolphins made a surprise move and acquired one. The deal was still absolutely a tank-oriented move, though. The Rams sent Aqib Talib and a fifth-round pick to Miami in exchange for a 2022 seventh-round pick. The Dolphins will essentially eat Talib’s salary on LA’s behalf for a little extra draft capital.

Howard summed up the state of the roster following the trade of Fitzpatrick in September:

pic.twitter.com/wLbhtqqNv5

— Xavien Howard (@Iamxavienhoward) September 17, 2019

On the bright side for Howard, the first-round pick acquired from the Fitzpatrick trade is just one of the reasons why the roster around him could be upgraded massively.

Step 2: Stockpile cap space and draft picks

Altogether, the offseason moved the Dolphins to the top spot in salary cap space for the 2020 season. The team is due to carry only $6.9 million in dead money in 2020 and none in 2021.

It also owns the following picks in the next two drafts:

2020

1st round (Dolphins)

1st round (Texans)

1st round (Steelers)

2nd round (Dolphins)

2nd round (Saints)

3rd round (Dolphins)

5th round (Steelers)

5th round (Rams)

6th round (Dolphins)

6th round (Cardinals)

6th round (Cowboys)

7th round (Dolphins)

2021

1st round (Dolphins)

1st round (Texans)

2nd round (Dolphins)

2nd round (Texans)

3rd round (Dolphins)

4th round (Dolphins)

5th round (Dolphins)

6th round (Steelers)

That draft capital and the Dolphins’ ample cap space was the point of the offseason teardown. It’ll be even better if they land the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.

It’s expected to be a good year to draft a quarterback with Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa and Oregon’s Justin Herbert among the top arms in the class. That’d likely be an appealing route for the Dolphins and — by the look of the team so far — a probable outcome.

Step 3: Lose a lot

There have only been two winless teams over the course of a 16-game schedule in NFL history: the 2008 Lions and the 2017 Browns. The Dolphins can look to both as a source of optimism.

Detroit followed its 0-16 season by drafting Matthew Stafford first overall in 2009. By 2011, the Lions were a playoff team. The Browns also tanked to acquire loads of picks, then selected Baker Mayfield at the top of the 2018 NFL Draft after their winless year. That plan seems to be paying off for Cleveland.

Anything can happen in an NFL game — like a team putting their oft-injured, lunky tight end in on defense, for instance — so it’s not a foregone conclusion that the Dolphins will finish 0-16. But whew, they’re a putrid football team. Right here, we’ll keep track of their season as it unfolds:

Week 1 — Ravens 59, Dolphins 10

There are many ways to dice up the carnage of the blowout, but here are a few stats that put in context just how absolutely terrible the Dolphins were in their opener:

Baltimore had 643 yards of total offense (the most ever allowed by Miami). The Dolphins had 200 yards. That 443-yard difference is the worst disparity in an NFL game since the Vikings trounced the Lions in 1988.

Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson joined Johnny Unitas, Joe Namath, and Drew Brees as one of only four players who has finished a game with more than 20 adjusted yards per attempt in a game with at least 20 passes thrown.

The Dolphins had a time of possession of 19:53. It was their first time having the ball for less than 20 minutes in a game in 14 years.

That’s a good ol’ fashioned steamrolling.

Week 2 — Patriots 43, Dolphins 0

Miami hung in the game longer than expected and trailed only 13-0 at halftime. The game busted open in the second half with the Patriots recording two pick-sixes in the fourth quarter.

At the end of the game, the Dolphins had 189 yards of total offense. It made them the first team since the 2010 Bills to start a season with 200 yards or less in their first two games. That team finished 4-12 with Ryan Fitzpatrick starting at quarterback for almost the entire year.

Miami won’t have to worry about a similar fate ...at least when it comes to Fitzpatrick. The veteran was benched in favor of Josh Rosen the week following that shutout home loss to New England.

Week 3 — Cowboys 31, Dolphins 6

Like the week prior, the Dolphins kept the game close early. They trailed 10-6 at halftime before the Cowboys pulled away with three touchdowns in the second half.

Miami even threatened to take its first lead of the season at the end of the second quarter, but that was ruined by a Kenyan Drake fumble.

HELLO #HOTBOYZ @Thejaylonsmith forces the fumble & @tanklawrence recovers #MIAvsDAL | #DallasCowboys pic.twitter.com/HgCpqEh1zg

— Dallas Cowboys (@dallascowboys) September 22, 2019

The Dolphins gave up 476 yards of total offense to the Cowboys and managed just 283 yards of their own.

Week 4 — Chargers 30, Dolphins 10

The Dolphins actually led a game for the first time in 2019 with an early touchdown that put them ahead of the Chargers, 7-3. It stayed close in the first half with Josh Rosen playing well early and leading the team to a 10-10 tie late in the second quarter.

Los Angeles turned on the jets in the second half, though. The Chargers scored 20 unanswered points and Rosen’s solid day of work was undermined by a baffling interception.

first career pick ✊ pic.twitter.com/INAa3IIig4

— Los Angeles Chargers (@Chargers) September 29, 2019

The Dolphins lost their first four games by a combined 137 points, the worst for any team since 1950.

Week 6 — Washington 17, Dolphins 16

The Dolphins came oh so close to getting into the win column after a Week 5 bye. Washington took a 17-3 lead into the fourth quarter, but Miami started a come back after Josh Rosen was benched and replaced by Ryan Fitzpatrick.

Fitzpatrick led the team down the field on a nine-play, 55-yard touchdown drive early in the fourth quarter and then a nine-play, 75-yard drive in the final minutes. The latter was capped with an 11-yard touchdown pass to DeVante Parker. However, a two-point conversion attempt was unsuccessful when Fitzpatrick’s screen pass to Kenyan Drake was dropped.

The Dolphins two point conversion to win, did not succeed pic.twitter.com/gXSIgdd0p0

— Vikings Blogger (@firstandskol) October 13, 2019

Drake may not have made it in even if he caught the pass. Either way, in the long run, the drop was probably a good thing for the Dolphins.

Week 7 — Bills 27, Dolphins 17

In the middle of the third quarter, the Dolphins had a 14-9 lead and were in the red zone threatening to go up two scores over Buffalo. Then Ryan Fitzpatrick threw an interception and the Bills went on a 98-yard drive that ended with a touchdown.

That was the first of three fourth quarter touchdowns for the Bills, who won despite losing in the stat books to the Dolphins.

Miami had 381 yards while Buffalo had 301. The Dolphins also won in first downs (24 to 17) and time of possession (33:31 to 26:29). Still, they fell to 0-6 with the loss.

Week 8 — Steelers 27, Dolphins 14

A 14-0 start for Miami made the possibility of a victory look attainable. Then the Steelers roared back with 27 unanswered points to win 27-14.

Pittsburgh’s comeback got jumpstarted by a 45-yard connection between Mason Rudolph and Diontae Johnson for a touchdown just before halftime. The Dolphins’ baffling decision to blitz with eight players on the play was so bad that viewers couldn’t help but wonder if there was an ulterior motive for the decision.

All I know is that if I was tanking, this is probably the defense I’d call on 3rd-and-20. pic.twitter.com/5S8ZxubyYs

— Chris Burke (@ChrisBurkeNFL) October 29, 2019

The Dolphins had a lead for more than 37 minutes during the Monday Night Football loss. That was more than double the time Miami had a lead in its first six losses.

Week 9 — Dolphins 26, Jets 18

A win!

The Dolphins fell behind 7-0 after the Jets’ opening drive of the day, but scored the next 21 points to take a commanding lead that they never gave up. Ryan Fitzpatrick led the way with 288 passing yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions to get Miami in the win column for the first time in 2019.

That’s probably not a great thing in the long run, but it’s not exactly a disaster either. The win didn’t drop out of the top five of the draft order, and the No. 1 pick is still very much a possibility.

Week 10 — Dolphins 16, Colts 12

Out of absolutely nowhere, the Dolphins found themselves on a winning streak by beating the Colts.

The upset victory came with Jacoby Brissett sitting out with a knee injury, forcing Brian Hoyer into the lineup. The replacement quarterback completed just 18 of his 39 passes and three interceptions to only one touchdown.

Another win for Miami isn’t great news for the tanking project, but the Dolphins are still in line for a top five pick.

[mfmagazine]

Joe Slaughter

Article by Lauren Weigle

Photo by Michael Dar

Watch out for Slaughterhouse!  No, it’s not a gory butcher shop or a new horror movie.  It’s Joe Slaughter, star of dance flick Step Up 3D.   Though Slaughter plays nasty bad boy Julien in the film, he is not at all like his character in real life, apart from his amazing dance moves.  He is charismatic, fun, and believes in living each day to its fullest.  He’s danced all over the world, performed with some of his favorite artists, and even has his own production company in the works. His hungers in life are for the arts, culture, special moments with the ones he considers close, alone time every once in a while, and even more stamps in his passport.  As a lover of life, Slaughter finds enjoyment in all the little quirks and oddities that surround us on a daily basis, taking pleasure in the simple things.  This is, perhaps, just a small part of his allure, his charm.  Or, is it his goofy sense of humor, his delightfully unexpected “dork streak”?  In any case, he is definitely a rising star to keep your eye on.  I know I will… So, Slaughter, give me a little background on your life before “steppin’ up”. Well, I’m from Chicago.  I grew up in a little town.  I basically am the youngest of four kids in my family.  When I was really little, I started dancing and taking ballet classes.  From that point on, I just grew up, kept doing dance, and then I got into other things like cars and a variety of other interests.  As I went through high school, I started competing in dance.  Then, I competed until I was about 21 and I started to make the move out to LA.   Was that a difficult transition for you, moving to LA from Chicago? Um, yes and no.  I had never really lived anywhere else.  Well, that’s not true.  I actually lived in Wisconsin for a few months with a racing team.  I was a mechanic on a racing team and I had to keep an apartment out there for a few months.  After that, I came back and kept dancing.   When I finished my last year of competition, I decided to give it a whirl because I had basically been taking class since I was little and I didn’t really have anything I wanted to go to college for because my heart was passionate for dance.  So, I just wanted to pursue that and try my luck. Well, who inspired you to “try your luck” with dance in general? My biggest inspiration with my career and everything right now is my family.  I’m very close with them.  I love them all very much.  I mean, I grew up in a family where we didn’t have a lot of money.  We were definitely lower-middle class.  We basically never got the new things.  I always had hand-me-downs, never got the big box of crayons for school. I always had to get the little one.  Little things like that… we always had the financial thing looming over our heads and one of the big goals for me when I came out here was to reach a higher financial status so I could take that burden off my parents, to be there for my family.   Other than that, of course Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire and all those old school dance movies.  And, of course, Michael Jackson was a huge influence for me.  I guess I just kind of take it anywhere I can get it. (He laughs.) Ha, well it seems like you got it with Step Up 3D.   Yeah! Well, I play the role of Julien.  Julien is the bad boy, the guy that causes all the trouble and drama that surrounds the movie and that’s involved in the plot.  I’m kind of like the thickening agent of all the elements in the movie that bring them all together.  I like to be a really big jerk in the movie! Is that a reflection of the real you?  Are you a Julien?  (I joke.) Ha ha. Well….no.  I’m very nice.  I mean, everyone’s got their moments I guess, but I think I tapped into that character because I grew up with two older brothers.  They were very sarcastic and not very nice sometimes.  They busted my balls sometimes, so I got a whole lot of influence from that, which seemed to work very well. I’m sure they love hearing that.  (I kid.)  So, what kind of preparation in terms of the physical aspects went into getting ready for the role? Well, we went out to New York at the beginning of production and it was really more of a dance rehearsal than anything for the dance battles.   We did that for a couple of weeks actually.  Then, we shot all the other scenes.  We came back in July and spent two weeks shooting the final battle. So, most of the shooting was done in New York? Yeah. All the shooting was done in New York.  I mean, we had a couple pick-ups out here in LA going towards post-production, but the vast majority of it was shot in New York.   Cool, so other than the movie, what else is going on with you right now? Actually, this role has kind of given me insight into what I want to do as far as acting goes.  I really do have a passion for acting as well.  I studied it in high school and got into some theatre stuff.  I just love the arts.  So, actually, I’ve just been lying low, taking some intense classes, sticking with my dancing, and stuff like that so that when doors open from this movie, I’ll be ready for them. Well, doors have already opened for you as a model.  How did you get into that? That’s funny because I didn’t come out here to model at all.  I just wanted to dance and I was dancing in a fashion show one day when a modeling agent approached me.  For me, modeling was something I did when I was younger.  My dad’s a photographer, so I grew up just assisting him and learning about lighting, how a shoot’s shot, etc.  So, I had a really good sense of photography going into it and when it came up, it was an easy transition for me.  I’m just very comfortable in front of a camera, both film and stills.  I have a lot of fun with it.  I love modeling, going from one end of the spectrum to the other So you do print and runway, right? Right, and commercial work. Oh ok, so which do you prefer out of the three? Well, the commercial work’s the best because those national commercials can be good to you, but print work is probably the most fun for me.  They all have their different aspects of what makes them fun and different.   When things are different, it kind of keeps my life interesting and occupied so that I’m not just sitting here bored. Ok, let’s flip the switch and get into personal mode.  When it comes to your friends and people around you, how would they describe you? It depends which friends you asked.  (He snickers.)  I mean, I’m very passionate about things that I do, so sometimes it’s good and sometimes it’s bad.  Sometimes people will be talking to me and I just won’t listen because I’m so intent on doing other tasks on my mind.  But, other than that, I’m very light-hearted.  I don’t like to take life too seriously because there’s enough stress as it is.  I do like to have a lot of fun and I kind of have a goofy quality about myself.  As coordinated as I may be as a dancer, sometimes I just don’t know how to walk or get through doors.  I don’t know where I got it, but I just have a dorky quality.  I’m not really ashamed of it anymore, but it’s definitely legit.  If I said I was a cool bad ass who always had it together, I’d be lying through my teeth.  I like it though.  It keeps me in check.  But, yeah, I’m good to my friends and I have a few close friends that I really, really care about.  I really only need that in my life.   Well in addition to your klutzy tendencies, what else makes you smile? Um, honesty makes me smile.  Funny people make me smile.  I make myself smile because I like to laugh at my own jokes.  That’s something my friends will definitely tell you.  I think my jokes are funnier than anybody else does.  (He confesses.)  I’m terrible at telling jokes and stories.  I always ruin the punch-line or I can never get it out right…referring back to my dork quality.  One thing I love is watching people.  They don’t realize the little mannerisms, habits, or things that they do when they’re out and about, doing their own thing.  It can be so funny because it’s so candid and genuine.  When you find those moments, to me, that’s the funniest thing.  Little funny things keep me motivated.  I’m a very positive person, so I try to take the best out of all situations, which, essentially makes me smile.  I like going to dinners.  I’m not big on the whole club scene thing because I’ve done it so much that I get sick of it.  It’s always just so loud and I’d rather just chill with my friends, go see a movie, or have a get-together at the house.  I enjoy things more laid-back, not so crazy and “in your face” because I feel like my life is so crazy anyway with my work.

[imzenagirl-blog]

Does Tinder Work? A Personal Inquiry

Last week, I was asked the question, “What habit do you have that conflicts with your values?” on a Burning Man app.  It’s tough to clearly see my own faults, so I asked Sam since he’s the sort of friend who knows all about my bullshit and calls me out on it.   “Well, I’d say that you’re someone who places a high value on meaningful connection and relationships.  But you continue to use Tinder even though it’s unlikely to find that on the apps.” Ouch. I quickly became defensive, “Oh c’mon, you can find awesome people on the apps!  Think about the girl you’re super good friends with right now through Tinder.  Or all of the relationships I’ve been in.” “Yeah, sure, you can find meaningful relationships on Tinder, but that’s not the usual, it’s a fluke.  I’d be curious to know how much success you’ve actually found.” 💡 Luckily for me, I am a crazy person who keeps a list of every person I’ve met from Tinder.  Don’t judge me for it!  It’s useful for self-reflection, noticing patterns, remembering good stories, and knowing if anyone I’ve met becomes super famous one day.  I keep tons of lists, I’m a list person.

I’ve used all the apps; Tinder, Bumble, Hinge, Feeld, FetLife, The League, CMB.  At the end of the day, Tinder is by far my favorite because I find the others to be a bit elitist.  Tinder is a classic.

I’ve met a lot of people on Tinder.  88 dates to be exact.  Did your jaw drop? *(actually I’ve met 92 because I’ve met a few couples). That’s a lot of people to be meeting and time spent meeting them.  In some periods of my life I would consider meeting people to be a bizarre hobby of mine.  But how many of those meetups were “successful”?  How can I even quantify that?  Should I measure it by length of time spent together?  How comfortable I felt sharing things about myself with that person?  How frequently we hung out?  Did we hold hands? Did we spend the night?  Did I meet their friends? How can I possibly measure the success of a relationship?  This is not a black or white decision.

Out of the 88, 50 were a one-time thing.  At first glance I thought, oh, then those dates must’ve been unsuccessful.  But looking through my list, that couldn’t possibly be the case.  Only a handful of dates I’ve gone on have been “bad.” (But even then, everyone loves a horrifying first date story!)  A single date was a worthwhile use of my time on plenty of occasions: -Learned about what I do/don’t like in potential partners -Acted out my kink of crying to strangers -Listened to many fascinating stories -Learned about how other people work -Listened to new music that was shared with me -Went on an 8 mile run through Manhattan w/Ryan -Spoke with Eric, a former high-end escort, about his lifestyle for hours -A rich french man named Julien bit a mole off my back -Went to super cool or exclusive bars I could’ve never otherwise afforded -Attended concerts for free or received drugs -Convinced someone who superliked me to go to the Mermaid Parade for 6 hours after only 3 messages back and forth -Went on a date with the sole purpose of seeing how long I could get this guy to walk with me for.  We walked for almost 6 hours -Met my longtime online pen pal Troy after we matched on his bike ride across the country -Threw a party and thought it would be a good idea to invite two guys from Tinder.  It was nerve-racking when they started becoming friends with each other, but in the end it’s a half-decent story to tell -Tried dating the manager at my favorite pizza place because it was my favorite pizza place (Neopapalis by the way).  Things didn’t work out, but it was worth the try.

I’ve gained valuable experiences through people I’ve met via Tinder: Tinder helped me discover myself.  As some of you may know, I spent a period of my life truly believing that I was gay.  I was able to get over my fears and meet women, date them, and have sex with them.  I learned that, hey, pussy ain’t for me.  But I’m so happy that I know for sure instead of having to question my sexual identity any longer.

Tinder empowered me to embrace my sexuality.  The second person I ever met from Tinder was in a polyamorous relationship.  We were never romantic because I felt a bit weird seeing someone with a girlfriend, but we became good friends.  His name was John and he loved kink and he loved drugs.  I learned all about this taboo world I had always been so curious about from him until I felt comfortable enough to venture into it on my own.  I’m not sure if I would’ve otherwise been introduced, or had the courage to find myself, these two forbidden topics.  He was the first person I met who openly talked about his depression.  I would run my hands over the cuts up and down his arms and finally felt like I was a normal person.

I lost my virginity through Tinder.  Yup, you heard it here folks.  After experiencing sexual assault, the idea of having a positive experience with consensual sex seemed out of reach.  I matched with someone I had known for awhile, finally signaling my sexual attraction to him.  Well aware that I was a virgin, he treated me well during our several interactions.  It was a great day and changed the trajectory of my thoughts toward sexuality and men.  He has a girlfriend, but some days I think about writing him a letter to thank him for helping me feel comfortable in my body.  

I met the craziest person I know, Prince.  Otherwise known as The Prince Hot Jordan 11 (because he is the one again).  As a model/recording artist, Prince lived an insane lifestyle.  We hung out in the nicest house I’ve ever seen in the West Village.  We went on a triple tinder date.  A body guard hung around us for a reason I do not know.  He sent me outlandish sexts that I’ve posted on my finsta.  Overall, he’s an absolute madlad that I would love to cross paths with one day again.

I went to Burning Man.  I met a man for lunch at a Thai restaurant and went back to his apartment to see the lightshow he had built for this years event.  After only one conversation, he offered me a ride to Black Rock City.  We met one more time for ice cream to finalize our plans, but a week later I flew to SLC and went on a road trip with him to BM.  We went to Great Basin National Park and did a lot of other neat stuff.  We were from two different worlds, he was 35 and had a totally different perspective on life.  Either way, he patiently listened to me talk for hours about my life and my feelings.  After months of not feeling ok in NYC, I felt content in the middle of nowhere with him.  He was a good person, I hope he finds someone.

I’ve had several positive relationships through Tinder.  We never fell in love, nor was that perhaps ever the intention, but I cared deeply for each one of them.  

Smitty was the first boy I really liked who liked me back.  We matched on Tinder, but had never exchanged messages with each other.  A couple of weeks later, he sat next to me in class and had the courage to ask me out.  He would play music on his record player and teach me all about it.  I smoked weed for the first time with him.  We went to parties, he met my mom over ice cream.  I slept over at his house almost every night over the winter since it was cozier.  I had stronger feelings for other people throughout our time together and I feel bad about that.  I cared for him and he’s now an incredible photographer in California.

Koerner was a special soul.  We met at my apartment when I had first moved in and my only piece of furniture was a mattress on the floor.  That’s where we talked for hours, until my friend Atkinson (who I had invited to come over before making plans with Koerner) showed up.  Koerner wasn’t weirded out by the invitation of my friend to our Tinder date.  He was a great cook and would make us dinner.  We had many intense philosophical conversations, he was a good listener when I cried.  He had great stories about starting a non-profit in Somalia and living on a ranch in the Sierra Nevada mountains.  Later on, I dated Joe and they actually became close friends in an odd twist of fate.  We’re still friends.

I met Arlo on the same day of a serious breakup.  He listened to my feelings.  He was there as a relief, someone to talk to.  We loved to play loud music and dance when we were together.  We would trip on acid and go swimming in the lake.  We went jogging in the park.  He became friends with my friends and we hungout at porch parties all summer.  I had been sleeping with a guy named Spencer in a poly relationship and in bizarre coming together, we all became good friends.  We had a foursome even.  I’m still very close with Spencer’s ex gf, too.  It’s my favorite story of how I met a good friend.  At the end of the summer, he left to go back to school.  We don’t talk anymore, but that’s ok.  

I met a boy on an apartment staircase on my way to an Odesza concert.  I was on a lot of drugs and thought that he had a weird lisp.  Later, we matched on Tinder and I learned that he was from London and not just talking funny.  We hungout at his place and he made a move while we were watching Vine compilations.  I had recently broken up with my boyfriend and wasn’t ready for any more pain, but spending time with him was so easy and simple.  We would go to the gym together in the morning.  I went to fraternity parties for the first time with him.  He became friends with my ex boyfriend, which was weird, but also oddly endearing.  Now he’s in love and he deserves it.  

Finally, the fluke outcome.  Out of 88 people, I fell in love with one.  Joseph from Tinder.  Joe was number 8.  We met at a men’s rowing party and I took him home to have the most awkward sexual encounter of my life.  We didn’t speak all fall semester until I accidentally sat next to him in the front row of Econ 401 during winter term.  In a 400 person class, he was the only one unafraid to raise his hand to answer questions and he was always right.  Nothing happened between us.  Over the summer, I was on a Tinder date with Juan, who offered me LSD.  In my altered state, I decided to text dozens of people to come join us in the park.  Joe came and we eventually ditched Juan and went back to his apartment.  He told me crazy stories and for the first time ever, I became attracted to Joe.  We became friends and started dating months later.  Long story short, we grew up together, he helped make me who I am.  Things didn’t work out, but I will always love Joe, the boy I met on Tinder.

So, what’s the takeaway from all of this?  Does Tinder work?  Truth is, there’s no simple, black and white answer.  You can read my stories and determine for yourself.  From my point of view, I’d meet all 88 people again.  But I never found exactly what I was looking for in a single one - everything good came by accident.  Tinder provided me with short term bursts of happiness and connectivity, but any long term happiness was a rare outcome.  My suggestion, if you want to find people different from you and have no expectations from them, then go ahead and use Tinder.  It’s fun.  If you want to find love or friendship, get out into the world and open your eyes to the people around you.  

[andrewdburton]

GRS Insider #92: Racism is not a political issue. Racism is a MORAL issue.

Yesterday, as I do most Fridays, I sent the GRS Insider to folks who subscribe to the Get Rich Slowly email list.

The email was unusual. It was more like a blog post than a simple summary of recent articles. I've had several people request a version they can share with other people, so — this one time only — I've created a stand-alone web version.

Parts of this have been edited slightly to account for the transition from email to web.

If you've been reading me for any length of time — or if you know me in person — you know that I hate conflict. I hate hate hate it. Some people seem to thrive on it. Not me. I shirk from it.

This is one reason I've steadfastly kept my financial writing politically neutral. I don't want conflict.

It helps that I'm neither liberal nor conservative. I'm some strange mix of the two. But mostly it's because I think financial advice is important for everyone regardless of political persuasion. It's rare that I take a stand on something political.

Because of who I am and what I believe, Get Rich Slowly will never become a political platform. (It'll touch on politics occasionally, but politics will never be a driving force at the site.)

That said, I'm mad as hell about not only the recent bout of racism in the U.S., but also the long history of racism that underpins our society. Something's gotta give. The current protests are 100% justified and they're not acts of terrorism. They're a call for action. What sort of action? I have no idea. I don't have solutions. But the problem is plain as day and it must be addressed. We, as a nation, must — at long last — deal with our history instead of sweeping it under the rug.

On May 15th, I saw video of the Ahmaud Arbery killing. I was mortified. I was livid. How could this happen in our country in 2020? Now, as more details of his execution are coming to light, the crime is even more heinous than I could have imagined. How can you read this and not be sickened?

On May 25th, I saw video of Amy Cooper, a white woman, calling the police about Christian Cooper, a black man who had asked her to put her dog on a leash. Amy blatantly lied, claiming that Christian was threatening her. All he wanted to do was watch birds in peace, and this woman was willing to ruin his life because he made a polite request. W. T. F.?

And the very next morning, I saw video of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on the neck of George Floyd for 8 minutes, 46 seconds. We all know that story by now, and we all know what's come of it.

Look, I'm a 51-year-old white guy who lives in one of the whitest neighborhoods of one of the whitest states in the union. I live in a bubble. No joke: I can go weeks (months?) without ever seeing a black person. I am the definition of white privilege, and I know it.

But it's time for me to stop hiding behind that privilege — and to stop bristling at the term. It's time that I stopped using my conflict-avoidant tendencies as an excuse to never talk about controversial subjects. And, really, why is racism even controversial? Why is it considered a political issue? Racial equality and racial justice aren't political problems — they're moral problems. But they're moral problems that we must address, in part, at a political level.

This week, I wanted to use Get Rich Slowly to address this subject, but I couldn't see a way for me to do it effectively. First, as I said, I'm an old white guy. Second, I don't have the education yet to discuss these topics effectively. (More on how I'm trying to educate myself in a moment.)

So, I asked two of my friends if they'd help.

The ebullient Michelle Jackson shared a candid conversation about race in America. — “What you do when I'm not in the room when people are making jokes and comments says a lot about YOU…Will you say nothing and be complicit because it's hard to stand up for people who aren't in the room? Basically, will you take the easy way out or do the heavy lifting which is hard? Which means you may lose friends and family.”

And the eloquent Lynnette Khalfani-Cox offered a lesson in economic violence. — “Imagine being born in 1866 as a ‘free' Black person. For generations, your ancestors worked for others and received nothing for their labor…And you, born in 1866 as a ‘free' Black person, start with nothing while a White child born at the same time enjoys the fruits of your ancestors' labor. Would that depress you? Anger you? Motivate you?” [This is very similar to what I want to write once I'm better educated.]

As you know, I generally spend a lot of my free time reading about money. (I'm a nerd like that.) This week, though, I read very little about money. I read about race. Here are some of the most interesting pieces I found.

How you can help close racial wealth gaps. [Smart Money Mamas] — “The racial wealth gap we see in our country today is part of the foundation of our nation. It started when we built an economic powerhouse of a country on the back of slave labor. And then, when we finally abolished slavery (mostly for economic reasons), we transferred essentially zero wealth to those who created that economic prosperity.” [Related: How big is the racial wealth gap?]

A sociologist examines the “white fragility” that prevents white Americans from confronting racism. [The New Yorker] — “DiAngelo addresses her book mostly to white people, and she reserves her harshest criticism for white liberals like herself…Not only do these people fail to see their complicity, but they take a self-serving approach to ongoing anti-racism efforts: ‘To the degree that white progressives think we have arrived, we will put our energy into making sure that others see us as having arrived.'”

Unpacking the power of privileged neighborhoods. [CityLab] — “Research has shown that where children grow up affects how they fare academically, economically, and physically; it also predicts how they interact with the criminal justice system. This study confirms that neighborhoods do matter, but gives a new, surprising answer to questions like ‘for whom?’ and ‘how much?'” [Related: “My white privilege.”]

This week, I've also watched far more video than usual.

I watched Dave Ramsey talk about racism.

I watched how black parents teach their children to deal with the police.

And I watched an hour-long Google Talk about the “black tax”, about the high cost of being black in America.

But for me — for who I am — the most important video I watched was this ten-minute presentation from my colleague Julien Saunders. It's all about embracing conflict.

From the talk: “When you run from conflict, you give up an opportunity to change your life before you even start. When you embrace conflict…you come out the other side a better version of yourself.”

God, I hate conflict.

And I'm especially going to hate the conflict that comes from publishing this article. But you know what? The time is long past for me to stop prioritizing my personal comfort over the safety (and equality) of others. If one week of articles about the evils of racism is enough to make you leave Get Rich Slowly, so be it.

But I hope that most GRS readers are just as angry as I am.

Finally, in an effort to educate myself and address my own issues — because let's be clear, I have plenty of implicit racial bias — I've begun reading more about this subject. Here are a few of the books I've picked up (all of which were recommended by readers and colleagues). Note that these are not affiliate links.

White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism

Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City

How to Be an Anti-Racist

Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America (I'm starting with this)

The Hate U Give

Here's the bottom line: As much as I hate conflict, I hate hate even more. One of the things that drew me to Kim as a partner is that she embodies LOVE. She loves everyone. I can't say that I love everyone. But I try. And I wish that others would try too.

One of my friends recently said something profound in a group conversation, something I agree with 100%:

It's an amazing thing to work from the premise that everyone is basically good, that everyone is unique and has something important to say. Life is more interesting when you give other people the benefit of the doubt, when you assume the best in them instead of the worst. Working from this premise makes the world a glowing, wonderful place, a place packed with superstars. I wish more people could see that.

True story: When I was in college in the 1980s, Maya Angelou came to speak on our campus. I was charged with giving her a tour of the grounds for an hour or two before her presentation. I had no idea who she was. And I didn't go hear her speak. I had a pleasant time showing her the library, the botanical garden, and the theater, but I never asked her about herself and her life. (Same thing with Studs Terkel, who has become one of my personal heroes.) Ah, missed opportunities…

from Finance https://www.getrichslowly.org/racism/ via http://www.rssmix.com/

[maciaslucymua-blog1]

Is Using Conventional Medicine Child Abuse?

New Post has been published on http://www.healthgoesfemale.com/is-using-conventional-medicine-child-abuse/

Is Using Conventional Medicine Child Abuse?

I know, I know.

I’m actually not a fan of people calling everything they don’t like, disagree with, or wouldn’t choose “child abuse.”  I think it’s an insult to actual child abuse, like starving, beating, or molesting children.  (There are other ways to abuse children too…but treating a cold with ginger instead of Triaminic isn’t one of them.)

However, there are people who legitimately believe that choosing alternative medicine for children is actually child abuse.  They cite a tiny handful of cases where a child died or was permanently damaged because their parents chose to use alternative remedies.  Like the Stephans’ case right now, which is at trial in Canada.  I’ve been following that closely, and no, they didn’t kill their son, nor “fail to provide the necessities of life.”  Citing silly CBC articles (the company that owns CBC is the one prosecuting them, by the way, so not exactly unbiased) is not going to change that.

Anyway, this isn’t about that.

In a broad sense, alternative medicine isn’t child abuse.  Ever.  Even if a child dies.  (Yes, I really just said that.)  To understand this, we need to take several steps back.

What is Child Abuse?

Let’s just start here.

What is child abuse, anyway?

These days, people try to define anything they don’t like as child abuse.  They try to define any time a child gets hurt or sick as child abuse.  Kid fell out of a tree he was climbing and broke his leg?  Child abuse, you shouldn’t have let him climb that tree!  Kid ran out of the house and into the road naked, with parent chasing behind?  Child abuse, you should have been watching more closely so they couldn’t have gotten out in the first place!

It’s not really a good definition to look what what society considers “abuse” these days, because most of it is pure junk.

Instead, let’s say that abuse is:

Failing to provide basic necessities of life (clothing, food, water)

Physically harming a child (hitting, kicking, shoving, etc. etc. repeatedly or with intent to harm — physical discipline is iffy)

Sexually using the child or allowing them to be used sexually by others

Constant verbal assaults that make it difficult for a child to function (berating, insulting, causing a child to be fearful or depressed)

  Okay.  So.  Causing direct harm to your children is abuse.  Failing to feed them at all is abuse.  I think we’d all agree on that.

Is it abuse if you get into a car accident and your child dies?  No.  That is an accident.

Is it abuse if your child sneaks out the door and drowns in a pool?  No.  That is an accident.

Is it abuse if your child becomes ill, and dies, despite attempts at treatment (conventional or alternative)?  No.  That is a tragedy.

Parents who mean well and who are doing their best to care for their children are not abusing them…regardless of the outcome of the situation.  Accidents do happen.  Things don’t always turn out well.  If we start to define “abuse” as “when the outcome is bad,” then we’re going to have a serious problem.

Some are going to say right now, “But if a parent uses alternative medicine and the child dies, that is child abuse!  They should have used conventional medicine when they knew it was serious!”

I’m going to have to disagree on that.

Is Using Conventional Medicine Child Abuse?

To answer this question, we need to know what we’re looking at.

First, we need to be looking at likely or common outcomes.  What usually happens when parents use conventional medicine?  (What usually happens when parents use alternative medicine?)  We’ll look at main effects, side effects, and long-term effects, if any.

Second, we’ll look at what the worst case outcomes are, and how common these actually are.

Conventional Medicine in Common Situations

Right now, antibiotic use is high — and problematic.  One study found that about half of all prescriptions (around 11 million per year) are unnnecessary.  On average, people have about 1 antibiotic per year.  (But we don’t know how many have none and how many have several, it will vary.)

(Common) Side effects of antibiotic use include:

Nausea

Vomiting

Diarrhea

Stomach pain

Yeast infections

Rash

Swollen, black, or “hairy” tongue

  Other side effects include:

Colitis

Seizures

Hives

Jaundice

  Yeast infections and pathogenic bacterial infections (like C. diff) are common after antibiotic use, because antibiotics wipe out all the good gut flora along with the bad stuff.  This can and does lead to repeated courses of antibiotics.  The more courses you have, the more likely that C. diff and other serious effects become.

This might all be worth it, if we were facing serious, life-threatening illnesses, or illnesses that could not be treated in other ways.

However, most people are getting antibiotics for ear infections, sinus infections, UTIs, and other “simple” stuff.  The vast majority of the time, antibiotics are not needed for ear infections.  They’re almost never necessary for a sinus infection, either.  (Decongestants and pain relievers not only don’t usually help, they often delay recovery time.)  Antibiotics are almost never needed for bronchitis, either.

And UTIs?  They might need antibiotics, but one study found that in recurrent UTIs, probiotics along with antibiotics reduced the risk of additional infections.

Using antibiotics in a child’s first six months of life can lead to increased risk of allergies, asthma, and eczema.  I don’t need to tell you that these are generally permanent conditions, not acute like ear infections.  That’s a big deal.

None of this even addresses all the prescriptions that doctors write because patients ask for them, without a proper diagnosis.  When patients come in and ask for a specific drug, doctors are between twice as likely and twenty times as likely to write a prescription for it!  Another study shows that about 100 million antibiotic prescriptions are written annually (half of which are unnecessary and prescribed for viral infections on patient request), which leads to almost 150,000 emergency room visits due to medication issues.

Not to mention that “superbugs” now exist, causing approximately 2 million illnesses and 23,000 deaths annually!

One doctor says, “Everyone feels awful when they are sick and just wants to feel better,” Julien said. “For some reason, faith in the body’s natural ability to heal itself has waned, and everyone believes that an antibiotic is the only possible cure that could help.”

I wonder why that could be, hmm?

To sum it up, we’re writing prescriptions we don’t need, for conditions that typically clear up with no treatment or supportive care, that cause serious side effects, and tens of thousands of allergic and other reactions per year.

…and you’re telling me that, which is clearly causing harm to children, is not child abuse?  Or worse, that actually following the evidence and choosing no treatment or supportive care — the obviously better choice, from a scientific standpoint — is child abuse?

Just no.

Alternative Medicine in Common Situations

In contrast, alternative medicine has no such issues.

Ginger has been proven to help treat and prevent colds and other respiratory infections, and has no side effects.  Of course, ginger is also known to be excellent for its role in treating digestive disorders (nausea, bloating, diarrhea, etc.) and also has cancer protective and cancer-fighting properties.

Mullein is effective against respiratory infections, worms, and more!  No side effects and no known toxicity.

Honey is effective against coughs.

Garlic is a natural antibiotic (more evidence).

Cinnamon essential oil is a natural antibiotic — and even works against resistant bacteria (more evidence on cinnamon).

Lemon essential oil is a natural antibiotic, and is synergistic with cinnamon.

Colloidal silver is effective as a broad spectrum antibiotic.  Silver even worked in one study to kill breast cancer tumors!

I could go on.

But, it’s pretty clear here.  These natural remedies work.  And they don’t cause side effects.  They reduce the likelihood of opportunistic infections, because they’re effective against resistant bacteria.  They don’t increase the risk of asthma or allergies or any other issues.  In fact, ginger may be used to help control asthma.

When I search for “death by herbs,” the first thing that pops up is a study of how herbs cause cancer cells to die.

Deaths or any kind of serious issue from herbal remedies are nearly unheard of.  That’s an incredibly safe track record!  Herbal remedies work, and they don’t harm people.

Worst-Case Scenarios

  This is a lot tougher to look at, for many reasons.  Many die despite treatment when something is really serious.  Many turn to conventional remedies even if they otherwise wouldn’t when it’s serious.

Regardless of what people choose to do, when it’s serious — there’s a real risk of (further) complications.

Why is it if a mom uses Tylenol constantly and takes him to the doctor and he dies of meningitis, she’s told there’s nothing more she could have done and it’s too bad her baby died…but if she chooses an alternative path instead of or before going to the doctor, she “allowed” him to die?!

It’s because most people think that natural remedies are basically like “doing nothing.”

So let’s get it straight right now: if you think that, you don’t understand natural remedies.  Which is okay — stick around, and learn a few things!  Unless, of course, you’re using your poor understanding of how natural remedies work to judge other people and say they are bad parents.  Then, no, it’s not okay at all.

Worst case scenarios are just that…worst cases.  We just don’t know what will happen and there are no guarantees.

So Which is Really “Abuse?”

Neither is actually abuse, and people need to quit saying things they don’t like or don’t understand are abuse.  Seriously, grow up.

Looking at the data, though, it’s clear that as far as safety and efficacy, natural remedies win most of the time.  I’ll continue to use those, and continue to have healthy children.

If you’d like to learn more about natural remedies, please see my book, Natural Remedies for Kids.

Do you think conventional medicine is child abuse?

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[junker-town]

How the Dolphins are tanking, in 3 steps

Dolphins quarterback Josh Rosen sacked by Ravens pass rusher Matthew Judon.

The Dolphins gutted their roster and now they are — surprise, surprise — a very bad football team.

The Miami Dolphins are awful.

That’s no surprise. They were expected to be after they mostly spent their offseason getting rid of talent rather than acquiring it. But it was still staggering to see just how bad the Dolphins were when they kicked off the 2019 season by getting destroyed by the Ravens, 59-10.

While head coach Brian Flores continues to insist the team’s not tanking, there’s no way around it at this point. The Dolphins are bottoming out in a way that’s usually only seen in the NBA.

The one-sided loss to Baltimore was, in all likelihood, the first of many butt kickings Miami will endure in 2019. That’s even apparent to Dolphins players, some of whom asked their agents to get them traded out of South Beach, according to Pro Football Talk.

“The players believe that the coaching staff, despite claiming that they intend to try to win, aren’t serious about competing and winning,” the report said.

Those players are correct. The Dolphins organization is not trying to be a contender in 2019. Its goal all year has been to load up on cap space and draft picks in lieu of wins. That’s a textbook tank job.

Dolphins players aren’t trying to lose, though. Roster spots are too hard to come by and careers are too short in the NFL. They’ll all give 100 percent on the field. Miami is just too far behind other teams in terms of skill to truly keep up and compete.

So how did the Dolphins get to this point? They followed a simple three-step process

Step 1: Gut the roster

Dec. 31, 2018: The best place to start is the day Adam Gase was fired as head coach of the Dolphins after a 7-9 season.

Miami finished the year 31st in total offense and 29th in total defense. The Dolphins were bad at everything, but by still managing seven wins, they didn’t even have a top-12 pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. Being stuck in that 6-to-8-win middle ground — somewhere the team was for most of a decade — prompted coaching and executive changes.

Along with Gase’s firing, football operations were removed from executive vice president Mike Tannenbaum’s control and given to general manager Chris Grier. Former Raiders GM Reggie McKenzie was later hired as a senior personnel executive and Patriots linebackers coach Brian Flores, a first-time head coach, replaced Gase.

March 7, 2019: The first signs of tanking didn’t come until March. It started with the Dolphins releasing veteran defensive end Andre Branch and starting offensive guard Ted Larsen. Still, neither move was too surprising considering they saved the Dolphins about $9 million in combined cap space. Branch signed with the Cardinals, but didn’t make the final roster. Larsen is now a backup for the Bears.

March 13, 2019: The Dolphins made another move on the offensive line by releasing Josh Sitton. He played just one game for the team in 2018 before a rotator cuff tear landed him on injured reserve. It saved the team $5 million in cap space and Sitton retired in April.

That was also the same day free agency began in the NFL. The Dolphins allowed offensive tackle Ja’Wuan James, defensive end Cameron Wake, wide receiver Danny Amendola, and running back Frank Gore, among others, to walk and sign elsewhere.

March 15, 2019: Quarterback Ryan Tannehill was traded to the Titans after seven years and 88 starts with the Dolphins. The two teams swapped late-round selections in 2019 and the Dolphins received a 2020 fourth-round pick.

Tannehill was due to count $26.6 million against Miam’s cap in 2019, a pricy number for a player who struggled to stay healthy or ascend into a top-tier passer. Following the trade — and an agreement to pay $5 million of his signing bonus on the Titans’ behalf — the Dolphins saved a little over $8 million and ate about $18.4 million in dead money. Tannehill will be off the books entirely in 2020.

March 18, 2019: Career journeyman Ryan Fitzpatrick was signed to a two-year contract to be the team’s new starting quarterback. The deal provided the Dolphins with a cheap stopgap solution under center. The two-year, $11 million contract given to Fitzpatrick constituted the most expensive acquisition the Dolphins made in free agency. Only the Cowboys and Rams — two Super Bowl contenders — spent less.

March 28, 2019: Pass rusher Robert Quinn, who came over in a trade from the Rams in March 2018, was sent to the Cowboys for a 2020 sixth-round pick. He led Miami in sacks during the 2018 season with 6.5. The trade saved the Dolphins close to $12 million in cap space and stuck them with only around $1.1 million in dead money.

April 25-26, 2019: Miami selected Clemson defensive tackle Christian Wilkins in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft and traded its second-round pick for quarterback Josh Rosen. Rosen, a top-10 pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, started one season for the Cardinals.

May 13, 2019: The most significant investment made by the Dolphins in the offseason was a five-year, $76.5 million extension given to cornerback Xavien Howard. He was their only Pro Bowler in 2018 and is now tied to the team through the 2024 season. DeVante Parker, Jakeem Grant, and Jesse Davis received more moderately sized extensions at other points in the offseason.

Aug. 31, 2019: A week prior to their regular season opener, the Dolphins traded starting left tackle Laremy Tunsil and wide receiver Kenny Stills to the Texans. The package of picks sent back to Miami was quite the haul:

Official terms of now completed trade: Houston receives: T Laremy Tunsil WR Kenny Stills 2020 4th round pick 2021 6th round pick Miami receives: 2020 1st round pick 2021 1st round pick 2021 2nd round pick T Julien Davenport CB Johnson Bademosi

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 31, 2019

Following the trade, Julién Davenport was slotted in as the Dolphins’ new starting right tackle. No offensive lineman in the NFL allowed more quarterback hits (14) in 2018 or drew more penalties (16) than Davenport.

He lasted just one game for the Dolphins before landing on injured reserve.

Sept. 15, 2019: Jay Glazer of Fox Sports reported the Dolphins have been calling around the league in an attempt to trade running back Kenyan Drake. He led the team in rushing in 2017 and yards from scrimmage in 2018.

Sept. 16, 2019: The Dolphins allowed 2018 first-round pick Minkah Fitzpatrick to pursue a trade after their Week 1 loss, and found a partner after Week 2. Fitzpatrick was sent to the Steelers for a 2020 first-round pick, a potentially great investment considering the Steelers’ many problems in 2019.

Oct. 28, 2019: One day ahead of the trade deadline, the Dolphins traded running back Kenyan Drake to the Cardinals for a sixth-round pick that has a chance to become a fifth-round pick if Drake reaches certain milestones.

Howard summed up the state of the roster following the trade of Fitzpatrick in September

pic.twitter.com/wLbhtqqNv5

— Xavien Howard (@Iamxavienhoward) September 17, 2019

On the bright side for Howard, the first-round pick acquired from the Fitzpatrick trade is just one of the reasons why the roster around him could be upgraded massively.

Step 2: Stockpile cap space and draft picks

Altogether, the offseason moved the Dolphins to the top spot in salary cap space for the 2020 season. The team is due to carry only $6.9 million in dead money in 2020 and none in 2021.

It also owns the following picks in the next two drafts:

2020

1st round (Dolphins)

1st round (Texans)

1st round (Steelers)

2nd round (Dolphins)

2nd round (Saints)

3rd round (Dolphins)

5th round (Steelers)

6th round (Dolphins)

6th round (Cardinals)

6th round (Cowboys)

7th round (Dolphins)

2021

1st round (Dolphins)

1st round (Texans)

2nd round (Dolphins)

2nd round (Texans)

3rd round (Dolphins)

4th round (Dolphins)

5th round (Dolphins)

6th round (Steelers)

That draft capital and the Dolphins’ ample cap space was the point of the offseason teardown. It’ll be even better if they land the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.

It’s expected to be a good year to draft a quarterback with Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa and Oregon’s Justin Herbert among the top arms in the class. That’d likely be an appealing route for the Dolphins and — by the look of the team so far — a probable outcome.

Step 3: Lose a lot

There have only been two winless teams over the course of a 16-game schedule in NFL history: the 2008 Lions and the 2017 Browns. The Dolphins can look to both as a source of optimism.

Detroit followed its 0-16 season by drafting Matthew Stafford first overall in 2009. By 2011, the Lions were a playoff team. The Browns also tanked to acquire loads of picks, then selected Baker Mayfield at the top of the 2018 NFL Draft after their winless year. That plan seems to be paying off for Cleveland.

Anything can happen in an NFL game — like a team putting their oft-injured, lunky tight end in on defense, for instance — so it’s not a foregone conclusion that the Dolphins will finish 0-16. But whew, they’re a putrid football team. Right here, we’ll keep track of their season as it unfolds:

Week 1 — Ravens 59, Dolphins 10

There are many ways to dice up the carnage of the blowout, but here are a few stats that put in context just how absolutely terrible the Dolphins were in their opener:

Baltimore had 643 yards of total offense (the most ever allowed by Miami). The Dolphins had 200 yards. That 443-yard difference is the worst disparity in an NFL game since the Vikings trounced the Lions in 1988.

Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson joined Johnny Unitas, Joe Namath, and Drew Brees as one of only four players who has finished a game with more than 20 adjusted yards per attempt in a game with at least 20 passes thrown.

The Dolphins had a time of possession of 19:53. It was their first time having the ball for less than 20 minutes in a game in 14 years.

That’s a good ol’ fashioned steamrolling.

Week 2 — Patriots 43, Dolphins 0

Miami hung in the game longer than expected and trailed only 13-0 at halftime. The game busted open in the second half with the Patriots recording two pick-sixes in the fourth quarter.

At the end of the game, the Dolphins had 189 yards of total offense. It made them the first team since the 2010 Bills to start a season with 200 yards or less in their first two games. That team finished 4-12 with Ryan Fitzpatrick starting at quarterback for almost the entire year.

Miami won’t have to worry about a similar fate ...at least when it comes to Fitzpatrick. The veteran was benched in favor of Josh Rosen the week following that shutout home loss to New England.

Week 3 — Cowboys 31, Dolphins 6

Like the week prior, the Dolphins kept the game close early. They trailed 10-6 at halftime before the Cowboys pulled away with three touchdowns in the second half.

Miami even threatened to take its first lead of the season at the end of the second quarter, but that was ruined by a Kenyan Drake fumble.

HELLO #HOTBOYZ @Thejaylonsmith forces the fumble & @tanklawrence recovers #MIAvsDAL | #DallasCowboys pic.twitter.com/HgCpqEh1zg

— Dallas Cowboys (@dallascowboys) September 22, 2019

The Dolphins gave up 476 yards of total offense to the Cowboys and managed just 283 yards of their own.

Week 4 — Chargers 30, Dolphins 10

The Dolphins actually led a game for the first time in 2019 with an early touchdown that put them ahead of the Chargers, 7-3. It stayed close in the first half with Josh Rosen playing well early and leading the team to a 10-10 tie late in the second quarter.

Los Angeles turned on the jets in the second half, though. The Chargers scored 20 unanswered points and Rosen’s solid day of work was undermined by a baffling interception.

first career pick ✊ pic.twitter.com/INAa3IIig4

— Los Angeles Chargers (@Chargers) September 29, 2019

The Dolphins lost their first four games by a combined 137 points, the worst for any team since 1950.

Week 6 — Washington 17, Dolphins 16

The Dolphins came oh so close to getting into the win column after a Week 5 bye. Washington took a 17-3 lead into the fourth quarter, but Miami started a come back after Josh Rosen was benched and replaced by Ryan Fitzpatrick.

Fitzpatrick led the team down the field on a nine-play, 55-yard touchdown drive early in the fourth quarter and then a nine-play, 75-yard drive in the final minutes. The latter was capped with an 11-yard touchdown pass to DeVante Parker. However, a two-point conversion attempt was unsuccessful when Fitzpatrick’s screen pass to Kenyan Drake was dropped.

The Dolphins two point conversion to win, did not succeed pic.twitter.com/gXSIgdd0p0

— Vikings Blogger (@firstandskol) October 13, 2019

Drake may not have made it in even if he caught the pass. Either way, in the long run, the drop was probably a good thing for the Dolphins.

Week 7 — Bills 27, Dolphins 17

In the middle of the third quarter, the Dolphins had a 14-9 lead and were in the red zone threatening to go up two scores over Buffalo. Then Ryan Fitzpatrick threw an interception and the Bills went on a 98-yard drive that ended with a touchdown.

That was the first of three fourth quarter touchdowns for the Bills, who won despite losing in the stat books to the Dolphins.

Miami had 381 yards while Buffalo had 301. The Dolphins also won in first downs (24 to 17) and time of possession (33:31 to 26:29). Still, they fell to 0-6 with the loss.

[junker-town]

How the Dolphins are tanking, in 3 steps

Dolphins quarterback Josh Rosen sacked by Ravens pass rusher Matthew Judon.

The Dolphins gutted their roster and now they are — surprise, surprise — a very bad football team.

The Miami Dolphins are awful.

That’s no surprise. They were expected to be after they mostly spent their offseason getting rid of talent rather than acquiring it. But it was still staggering to see just how bad the Dolphins were when they kicked off the 2019 season by getting destroyed by the Ravens, 59-10.

While head coach Brian Flores continues to insist the team’s not tanking, there’s no way around it at this point. The Dolphins are bottoming out in a way that’s usually only seen in the NBA.

The one-sided loss to Baltimore was, in all likelihood, the first of many butt kickings Miami will endure in 2019. That’s even apparent to Dolphins players, some of whom asked their agents to get them traded out of South Beach, according to Pro Football Talk.

“The players believe that the coaching staff, despite claiming that they intend to try to win, aren’t serious about competing and winning,” the report said.

Those players are correct. The Dolphins organization is not trying to be a contender in 2019. Its goal all year has been to load up on cap space and draft picks in lieu of wins. That’s a textbook tank job.

Dolphins players aren’t trying to lose, though. Roster spots are too hard to come by and careers are too short in the NFL. They’ll all give 100 percent on the field. Miami is just too far behind other teams in terms of skill to truly keep up and compete.

So how did the Dolphins get to this point? They followed a simple three-step process

Step 1: Gut the roster

Dec. 31, 2018: The best place to start is the day Adam Gase was fired as head coach of the Dolphins after a 7-9 season.

Miami finished the year 31st in total offense and 29th in total defense. The Dolphins were bad at everything, but by still managing seven wins, they didn’t even have a top-12 pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. Being stuck in that 6-to-8-win middle ground — somewhere the team was for most of a decade — prompted coaching and executive changes.

Along with Gase’s firing, football operations were removed from executive vice president Mike Tannenbaum’s control and given to general manager Chris Grier. Former Raiders GM Reggie McKenzie was later hired as a senior personnel executive and Patriots linebackers coach Brian Flores, a first-time head coach, replaced Gase.

March 7, 2019: The first signs of tanking didn’t come until March. It started with the Dolphins releasing veteran defensive end Andre Branch and starting offensive guard Ted Larsen. Still, neither move was too surprising considering they saved the Dolphins about $9 million in combined cap space. Branch signed with the Cardinals, but didn’t make the final roster. Larsen is now a backup for the Bears.

March 13, 2019: The Dolphins made another move on the offensive line by releasing Josh Sitton. He played just one game for the team in 2018 before a rotator cuff tear landed him on injured reserve. It saved the team $5 million in cap space and Sitton retired in April.

That was also the same day free agency began in the NFL. The Dolphins allowed offensive tackle Ja’Wuan James, defensive end Cameron Wake, wide receiver Danny Amendola, and running back Frank Gore, among others, to walk and sign elsewhere.

March 15, 2019: Quarterback Ryan Tannehill was traded to the Titans after seven years and 88 starts with the Dolphins. The two teams swapped late-round selections in 2019 and the Dolphins received a 2020 fourth-round pick.

Tannehill was due to count $26.6 million against Miam’s cap in 2019, a pricy number for a player who struggled to stay healthy or ascend into a top-tier passer. Following the trade — and an agreement to pay $5 million of his signing bonus on the Titans’ behalf — the Dolphins saved a little over $8 million and ate about $18.4 million in dead money. Tannehill will be off the books entirely in 2020.

March 18, 2019: Career journeyman Ryan Fitzpatrick was signed to a two-year contract to be the team’s new starting quarterback. The deal provided the Dolphins with a cheap stopgap solution under center. The two-year, $11 million contract given to Fitzpatrick constituted the most expensive acquisition the Dolphins made in free agency. Only the Cowboys and Rams — two Super Bowl contenders — spent less.

March 28, 2019: Pass rusher Robert Quinn, who came over in a trade from the Rams in March 2018, was sent to the Cowboys for a 2020 sixth-round pick. He led Miami in sacks during the 2018 season with 6.5. The trade saved the Dolphins close to $12 million in cap space and stuck them with only around $1.1 million in dead money.

April 25-26, 2019: Miami selected Clemson defensive tackle Christian Wilkins in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft and traded its second-round pick for quarterback Josh Rosen. Rosen, a top-10 pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, started one season for the Cardinals.

May 13, 2019: The most significant investment made by the Dolphins in the offseason was a five-year, $76.5 million extension given to cornerback Xavien Howard. He was their only Pro Bowler in 2018 and is now tied to the team through the 2024 season. DeVante Parker, Jakeem Grant, and Jesse Davis received more moderately sized extensions at other points in the offseason.

Aug. 31, 2019: A week prior to their regular season opener, the Dolphins traded starting left tackle Laremy Tunsil and wide receiver Kenny Stills to the Texans. The package of picks sent back to Miami was quite the haul:

Official terms of now completed trade: Houston receives: T Laremy Tunsil WR Kenny Stills 2020 4th round pick 2021 6th round pick Miami receives: 2020 1st round pick 2021 1st round pick 2021 2nd round pick T Julien Davenport CB Johnson Bademosi

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 31, 2019

Following the trade, Julién Davenport was slotted in as the Dolphins’ new starting right tackle. No offensive lineman in the NFL allowed more quarterback hits (14) in 2018 or drew more penalties (16) than Davenport.

He lasted just one game for the Dolphins before landing on injured reserve.

Sept. 15, 2019: Jay Glazer of Fox Sports reported the Dolphins have been calling around the league in an attempt to trade running back Kenyan Drake. He led the team in rushing in 2017 and yards from scrimmage in 2018.

Sept. 16, 2019: The Dolphins allowed 2018 first-round pick Minkah Fitzpatrick to pursue a trade after their Week 1 loss, and found a partner after Week 2. Fitzpatrick was sent to the Steelers for a 2020 first-round pick, a potentially great investment considering the Steelers’ many problems in 2019.

Howard summed up the state of the roster following the trade

pic.twitter.com/wLbhtqqNv5

— Xavien Howard (@Iamxavienhoward) September 17, 2019

On the bright side for Howard, the first-round pick acquired from the Fitzpatrick trade is just one of the reasons why the roster around him could be upgraded massively.

Step 2: Stockpile cap space and draft picks

Altogether, the offseason moved the Dolphins to the top spot in salary cap space for the 2020 season. The team is due to carry only $6.9 million in dead money in 2020 and none in 2021.

It also owns the following picks in the next two drafts:

2020

1st round (Dolphins)

1st round (Texans)

1st round (Steelers)

2nd round (Dolphins)

2nd round (Saints)

3rd round (Dolphins)

5th round (Steelers)

6th round (Dolphins)

6th round (Cowboys)

7th round (Dolphins)

2021

1st round (Dolphins)

1st round (Texans)

2nd round (Dolphins)

2nd round (Texans)

3rd round (Dolphins)

4th round (Dolphins)

5th round (Dolphins)

6th round (Steelers)

That draft capital and the Dolphins’ ample cap space was the point of the offseason teardown. It’ll be even better if they land the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.

It’s expected to be a good year to draft a quarterback with Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa and Oregon’s Justin Herbert among the top arms in the class. That’d likely be an appealing route for the Dolphins and — by the look of the team so far — a probable outcome.

Step 3: Lose a lot

There have only been two winless teams over the course of a 16-game schedule in NFL history: the 2008 Lions and the 2017 Browns. The Dolphins can look to both as a source of optimism.

Detroit followed its 0-16 season by drafting Matthew Stafford first overall in 2009. By 2011, the Lions were a playoff team. The Browns also tanked to acquire loads of picks, then selected Baker Mayfield at the top of the 2018 NFL Draft after their winless year. That plan seems to be paying off for Cleveland.

Anything can happen in an NFL game — like a team putting their oft-injured, lunky tight end in on defense, for instance — so it’s not a foregone conclusion that the Dolphins will finish 0-16. But whew, they’re a putrid football team. Right here, we’ll keep track of their season as it unfolds:

Week 1 — Ravens 59, Dolphins 10

There are many ways to dice up the carnage of the blowout, but here are a few stats that put in context just how absolutely terrible the Dolphins were in their opener:

Baltimore had 643 yards of total offense (the most ever allowed by Miami). The Dolphins had 200 yards. That 443-yard difference is the worst disparity in an NFL game since the Vikings trounced the Lions in 1988.

Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson joined Johnny Unitas, Joe Namath, and Drew Brees as one of only four players who has finished a game with more than 20 adjusted yards per attempt in a game with at least 20 passes thrown.

The Dolphins had a time of possession of 19:53. It was their first time having the ball for less than 20 minutes in a game in 14 years.

That’s a good ol’ fashioned steamrolling.

Week 2 — Patriots 43, Dolphins 0

Miami hung in the game longer than expected and trailed only 13-0 at halftime. The game busted open in the second half with the Patriots recording two pick-sixes in the fourth quarter.

At the end of the game, the Dolphins had 189 yards of total offense. It made them the first team since the 2010 Bills to start a season with 200 yards or less in their first two games. That team finished 4-12 with Ryan Fitzpatrick starting at quarterback for almost the entire year.

Miami won’t have to worry about a similar fate ...at least when it comes to Fitzpatrick. The veteran was benched in favor of Josh Rosen the week following that shutout home loss to New England.

Week 3 — Cowboys 31, Dolphins 6

Like the week prior, the Dolphins kept the game close early. They trailed 10-6 at halftime before the Cowboys pulled away with three touchdowns in the second half.

Miami even threatened to take its first lead of the season at the end of the second quarter, but that was ruined by a Kenyan Drake fumble.

HELLO #HOTBOYZ @Thejaylonsmith forces the fumble & @tanklawrence recovers #MIAvsDAL | #DallasCowboys pic.twitter.com/HgCpqEh1zg

— Dallas Cowboys (@dallascowboys) September 22, 2019

The Dolphins gave up 476 yards of total offense to the Cowboys and managed just 283 yards of their own.

Week 4 — Chargers 30, Dolphins 10

The Dolphins actually led a game for the first time in 2019 with an early touchdown that put them ahead of the Chargers, 7-3. It stayed close in the first half with Josh Rosen playing well early and leading the team to a 10-10 tie late in the second quarter.

Los Angeles turned on the jets in the second half, though. The Chargers scored 20 unanswered points and Rosen’s solid day of work was undermined by a baffling interception.

first career pick ✊ pic.twitter.com/INAa3IIig4

— Los Angeles Chargers (@Chargers) September 29, 2019

The Dolphins lost their first four games by a combined 137 points, the worst for any team since 1950.

Week 6 — Washington 17, Dolphins 16

The Dolphins came oh so close to getting into the win column after a Week 5 bye. Washington took a 17-3 lead into the fourth quarter, but Miami started a come back after Josh Rosen was benched and replaced by Ryan Fitzpatrick.

Fitzpatrick led the team down the field on a nine-play, 55-yard touchdown drive early in the fourth quarter and then a nine-play, 75-yard drive in the final minutes. The latter was capped with an 11-yard touchdown pass to DeVante Parker. However, a two-point conversion attempt was unsuccessful when Fitzpatrick’s screen pass to Kenyan Drake was dropped.

The Dolphins two point conversion to win, did not succeed pic.twitter.com/gXSIgdd0p0

— Vikings Blogger (@firstandskol) October 13, 2019

Drake may not have made it in even if he caught the pass. Either way, in the long run, the drop was probably a good thing for the Dolphins.

Week 7 — Bills 27, Dolphins 17

In the middle of the third quarter, the Dolphins had a 14-9 lead and were in the red zone threatening to go up two scores over Buffalo. Then Ryan Fitzpatrick threw an interception and the Bills went on a 98-yard drive that ended with a touchdown.

That was the first of three fourth quarter touchdowns for the Bills, who won despite losing in the stat books to the Dolphins.

Miami had 381 yards while Buffalo had 301. The Dolphins also won in first downs (24 to 17) and time of possession (33:31 to 26:29). Still, they fell to 0-6 with the loss.

[junker-town]

How the Dolphins are tanking, in 3 steps

Dolphins quarterback Josh Rosen sacked by Ravens pass rusher Matthew Judon.

The Dolphins gutted their roster and now they are — surprise, surprise — a very bad football team.

The Miami Dolphins are awful.

That’s no surprise. They were expected to be after they mostly spent their offseason getting rid of talent rather than acquiring it. But it was still staggering to see just how bad the Dolphins were when they kicked off the 2019 season by getting destroyed by the Ravens, 59-10.

While head coach Brian Flores continues to insist the team’s not tanking, there’s no way around it at this point. The Dolphins are bottoming out in a way that’s usually only seen in the NBA.

The one-sided loss to Baltimore was, in all likelihood, the first of many butt kickings Miami will endure in 2019. That’s even apparent to Dolphins players, some of whom asked their agents to get them traded out of South Beach, according to Pro Football Talk.

“The players believe that the coaching staff, despite claiming that they intend to try to win, aren’t serious about competing and winning,” the report said.

Those players are correct. The Dolphins organization is not trying to be a contender in 2019. Its goal all year has been to load up on cap space and draft picks in lieu of wins. That’s a textbook tank job.

Dolphins players aren’t trying to lose, though. Roster spots are too hard to come by and careers are too short in the NFL. They’ll all give 100 percent on the field. Miami is just too far behind other teams in terms of skill to truly keep up and compete.

So how did the Dolphins get to this point? They followed a simple three-step process

Step 1: Gut the roster

Dec. 31, 2018: The best place to start is the day Adam Gase was fired as head coach of the Dolphins after a 7-9 season.

Miami finished the year 31st in total offense and 29th in total defense. The Dolphins were bad at everything, but by still managing seven wins, they didn’t even have a top-12 pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. Being stuck in that 6-to-8-win middle ground — somewhere the team was for most of a decade — prompted coaching and executive changes.

Along with Gase’s firing, football operations were removed from executive vice president Mike Tannenbaum’s control and given to general manager Chris Grier. Former Raiders GM Reggie McKenzie was later hired as a senior personnel executive and Patriots linebackers coach Brian Flores, a first-time head coach, replaced Gase.

March 7, 2019: The first signs of tanking didn’t come until March. It started with the Dolphins releasing veteran defensive end Andre Branch and starting offensive guard Ted Larsen. Still, neither move was too surprising considering they saved the Dolphins about $9 million in combined cap space. Branch signed with the Cardinals, but didn’t make the final roster. Larsen is now a backup for the Bears.

March 13, 2019: The Dolphins made another move on the offensive line by releasing Josh Sitton. He played just one game for the team in 2018 before a rotator cuff tear landed him on injured reserve. It saved the team $5 million in cap space and Sitton retired in April.

That was also the same day free agency began in the NFL. The Dolphins allowed offensive tackle Ja’Wuan James, defensive end Cameron Wake, wide receiver Danny Amendola, and running back Frank Gore, among others, to walk and sign elsewhere.

March 15, 2019: Quarterback Ryan Tannehill was traded to the Titans after seven years and 88 starts with the Dolphins. The two teams swapped late-round selections in 2019 and the Dolphins received a 2020 fourth-round pick.

Tannehill was due to count $26.6 million against Miam’s cap in 2019, a pricy number for a player who struggled to stay healthy or ascend into a top-tier passer. Following the trade — and an agreement to pay $5 million of his signing bonus on the Titans’ behalf — the Dolphins saved a little over $8 million and ate about $18.4 million in dead money. Tannehill will be off the books entirely in 2020.

March 18, 2019: Career journeyman Ryan Fitzpatrick was signed to a two-year contract to be the team’s new starting quarterback. The deal provided the Dolphins with a cheap stopgap solution under center. The two-year, $11 million contract given to Fitzpatrick constituted the most expensive acquisition the Dolphins made in free agency. Only the Cowboys and Rams — two Super Bowl contenders — spent less.

March 28, 2019: Pass rusher Robert Quinn, who came over in a trade from the Rams in March 2018, was sent to the Cowboys for a 2020 sixth-round pick. He led Miami in sacks during the 2018 season with 6.5. The trade saved the Dolphins close to $12 million in cap space and stuck them with only around $1.1 million in dead money.

April 25-26, 2019: Miami selected Clemson defensive tackle Christian Wilkins in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft and traded its second-round pick for quarterback Josh Rosen. Rosen, a top-10 pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, started one season for the Cardinals.

May 13, 2019: The most significant investment made by the Dolphins in the offseason was a five-year, $76.5 million extension given to cornerback Xavien Howard. He was their only Pro Bowler in 2018 and is now tied to the team through the 2024 season. DeVante Parker, Jakeem Grant, and Jesse Davis received more moderately sized extensions at other points in the offseason.

Aug. 31, 2019: A week prior to their regular season opener, the Dolphins traded starting left tackle Laremy Tunsil and wide receiver Kenny Stills to the Texans. The package of picks sent back to Miami was quite the haul:

Official terms of now completed trade: Houston receives: T Laremy Tunsil WR Kenny Stills 2020 4th round pick 2021 6th round pick Miami receives: 2020 1st round pick 2021 1st round pick 2021 2nd round pick T Julien Davenport CB Johnson Bademosi

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 31, 2019

Following the trade, Julién Davenport was slotted in as the Dolphins’ new starting right tackle. No offensive lineman in the NFL allowed more quarterback hits (14) in 2018 or drew more penalties (16) than Davenport.

He lasted just one game for the Dolphins before landing on injured reserve.

Sept. 15, 2019: Jay Glazer of Fox Sports reported the Dolphins have been calling around the league in an attempt to trade running back Kenyan Drake. He led the team in rushing in 2017 and yards from scrimmage in 2018.

Sept. 16, 2019: The Dolphins allowed 2018 first-round pick Minkah Fitzpatrick to pursue a trade after their Week 1 loss, and found a partner after Week 2. Fitzpatrick was sent to the Steelers for a 2020 first-round pick, a potentially great investment considering the Steelers’ many problems in 2019.

Howard summed up the state of the roster following the trade

pic.twitter.com/wLbhtqqNv5

— Xavien Howard (@Iamxavienhoward) September 17, 2019

On the bright side for Howard, the first-round pick acquired from the Fitzpatrick trade is just one of the reasons why the roster around him could be upgraded massively.

Step 2: Stockpile cap space and draft picks

Altogether, the offseason moved the Dolphins to the top spot in salary cap space for the 2020 season. The team is due to carry only $6.9 million in dead money in 2020 and none in 2021.

It also owns the following picks in the next two drafts:

2020

1st round (Dolphins)

1st round (Texans)

1st round (Steelers)

2nd round (Dolphins)

2nd round (Saints)

3rd round (Dolphins)

5th round (Steelers)

6th round (Dolphins)

6th round (Cowboys)

7th round (Dolphins)

2021

1st round (Dolphins)

1st round (Texans)

2nd round (Dolphins)

2nd round (Texans)

3rd round (Dolphins)

4th round (Dolphins)

5th round (Dolphins)

6th round (Steelers)

That draft capital and the Dolphins’ ample cap space was the point of the offseason teardown. It’ll be even better if they land the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.

It’s expected to be a good year to draft a quarterback with Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa and Oregon’s Justin Herbert among the top arms in the class. That’d likely be an appealing route for the Dolphins and — by the look of the team so far — a probable outcome.

Step 3: Lose a lot

There have only been two winless teams over the course of a 16-game schedule in NFL history: the 2008 Lions and the 2017 Browns. The Dolphins can look to both as a source of optimism.

Detroit followed its 0-16 season by drafting Matthew Stafford first overall in 2009. By 2011, the Lions were a playoff team. The Browns also tanked to acquire loads of picks, then selected Baker Mayfield at the top of the 2018 NFL Draft after their winless year. That plan seems to be paying off for Cleveland.

Anything can happen in an NFL game — like a team putting their oft-injured, lunky tight end in on defense, for instance — so it’s not a foregone conclusion that the Dolphins will finish 0-16. But whew, they’re a putrid football team. Right here, we’ll keep track of their season as it unfolds:

Week 1 — Ravens 59, Dolphins 10

There are many ways to dice up the carnage of the blowout, but here are a few stats that put in context just how absolutely terrible the Dolphins were in their opener:

Baltimore had 643 yards of total offense (the most ever allowed by Miami). The Dolphins had 200 yards. That 443-yard difference is the worst disparity in an NFL game since the Vikings trounced the Lions in 1988.

Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson joined Johnny Unitas, Joe Namath, and Drew Brees as one of only four players who has finished a game with more than 20 adjusted yards per attempt in a game with at least 20 passes thrown.

The Dolphins had a time of possession of 19:53. It was their first time having the ball for less than 20 minutes in a game in 14 years.

That’s a good ol’ fashioned steamrolling.

Week 2 — Patriots 43, Dolphins 0

Miami hung in the game longer than expected and trailed only 13-0 at halftime. The game busted open in the second half with the Patriots recording two pick-sixes in the fourth quarter.

At the end of the game, the Dolphins had 189 yards of total offense. It made them the first team since the 2010 Bills to start a season with 200 yards or less in their first two games. That team finished 4-12 with Ryan Fitzpatrick starting at quarterback for almost the entire year.

Miami won’t have to worry about a similar fate ...at least when it comes to Fitzpatrick. The veteran was benched in favor of Josh Rosen the week following that shutout home loss to New England.

Week 3 — Cowboys 31, Dolphins 6

Like the week prior, the Dolphins kept the game close early. They trailed 10-6 at halftime before the Cowboys pulled away with three touchdowns in the second half.

Miami even threatened to take its first lead of the season at the end of the second quarter, but that was ruined by a Kenyan Drake fumble.

HELLO #HOTBOYZ @Thejaylonsmith forces the fumble & @tanklawrence recovers #MIAvsDAL | #DallasCowboys pic.twitter.com/HgCpqEh1zg

— Dallas Cowboys (@dallascowboys) September 22, 2019

The Dolphins gave up 476 yards of total offense to the Cowboys and managed just 283 yards of their own.

Week 4 — Chargers 30, Dolphins 10

The Dolphins actually led a game for the first time in 2019 with an early touchdown that put them ahead of the Chargers, 7-3. It stayed close in the first half with Josh Rosen playing well early and leading the team to a 10-10 tie late in the second quarter.

Los Angeles turned on the jets in the second half, though. The Chargers scored 20 unanswered points and Rosen’s solid day of work was undermined by a baffling interception.

first career pick ✊ pic.twitter.com/INAa3IIig4

— Los Angeles Chargers (@Chargers) September 29, 2019

The Dolphins lost their first four games by a combined 137 points, the worst for any team since 1950.

Week 6 — Washington 17, Dolphins 16

The Dolphins came oh so close to getting into the win column after a Week 5 bye. Washington took a 17-3 lead into the fourth quarter, but Miami started a come back after Josh Rosen was benched and replaced by Ryan Fitzpatrick.

Fitzpatrick led the team down the field on a nine-play, 55-yard touchdown drive early in the fourth quarter and then a nine-play, 75-yard drive in the final minutes. The latter was capped with an 11-yard touchdown pass to DeVante Parker. However, a two-point conversion attempt was unsuccessful when Fitzpatrick’s screen pass to Kenyan Drake was dropped.

In the long run, Drake’s drop was probably a good thing for the Dolphins.

[junker-town]

How the Dolphins are tanking, in 3 steps

Dolphins quarterback Josh Rosen sacked by Ravens pass rusher Matthew Judon.

The Dolphins gutted their roster and now they are — surprise, surprise — a very bad football team.

The Miami Dolphins are awful.

That’s no surprise. They were expected to be after they mostly spent their offseason getting rid of talent rather than acquiring it. But it was still staggering to see just how bad the Dolphins were when they kicked off the 2019 season by getting destroyed by the Ravens, 59-10.

While head coach Brian Flores continues to insist the team’s not tanking, there’s no way around it at this point. The Dolphins are bottoming out in a way that’s usually only seen in the NBA.

The one-sided loss to Baltimore was, in all likelihood, the first of many butt kickings Miami will endure in 2019. That’s even apparent to Dolphins players, some of whom asked their agents to get them traded out of South Beach, according to Pro Football Talk.

“The players believe that the coaching staff, despite claiming that they intend to try to win, aren’t serious about competing and winning,” the report said.

Those players are correct. The Dolphins organization is not trying to be a contender in 2019. Its goal all year has been to load up on cap space and draft picks in lieu of wins. That’s a textbook tank job.

Dolphins players aren’t trying to lose, though. Roster spots are too hard to come by and careers are too short in the NFL. They’ll all give 100 percent on the field. Miami is just too far behind other teams in terms of skill to truly keep up and compete.

So how did the Dolphins get to this point? They followed a simple three-step process

Step 1: Gut the roster

Dec. 31, 2018: The best place to start is the day Adam Gase was fired as head coach of the Dolphins after a 7-9 season.

Miami finished the year 31st in total offense and 29th in total defense. The Dolphins were bad at everything, but by still managing seven wins, they didn’t even have a top-12 pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. Being stuck in that 6-to-8-win middle ground — somewhere the team was for most of a decade — prompted coaching and executive changes.

Along with Gase’s firing, football operations were removed from executive vice president Mike Tannenbaum’s control and given to general manager Chris Grier. Former Raiders GM Reggie McKenzie was later hired as a senior personnel executive and Patriots linebackers coach Brian Flores, a first-time head coach, replaced Gase.

March 7, 2019: The first signs of tanking didn’t come until March. It started with the Dolphins releasing veteran defensive end Andre Branch and starting offensive guard Ted Larsen. Still, neither move was too surprising considering they saved the Dolphins about $9 million in combined cap space. Branch signed with the Cardinals, but didn’t make the final roster. Larsen is now a backup for the Bears.

March 13, 2019: The Dolphins made another move on the offensive line by releasing Josh Sitton. He played just one game for the team in 2018 before a rotator cuff tear landed him on injured reserve. It saved the team $5 million in cap space and Sitton retired in April.

That was also the same day free agency began in the NFL. The Dolphins allowed offensive tackle Ja’Wuan James, defensive end Cameron Wake, wide receiver Danny Amendola, and running back Frank Gore, among others, to walk and sign elsewhere.

March 15, 2019: Quarterback Ryan Tannehill was traded to the Titans after seven years and 88 starts with the Dolphins. The two teams swapped late-round selections in 2019 and the Dolphins received a 2020 fourth-round pick.

Tannehill was due to count $26.6 million against Miam’s cap in 2019, a pricy number for a player who struggled to stay healthy or ascend into a top-tier passer. Following the trade — and an agreement to pay $5 million of his signing bonus on the Titans’ behalf — the Dolphins saved a little over $8 million and ate about $18.4 million in dead money. Tannehill will be off the books entirely in 2020.

March 18, 2019: Career journeyman Ryan Fitzpatrick was signed to a two-year contract to be the team’s new starting quarterback. The deal provided the Dolphins with a cheap stopgap solution under center. The two-year, $11 million contract given to Fitzpatrick constituted the most expensive acquisition the Dolphins made in free agency. Only the Cowboys and Rams — two Super Bowl contenders — spent less.

March 28, 2019: Pass rusher Robert Quinn, who came over in a trade from the Rams in March 2018, was sent to the Cowboys for a 2020 sixth-round pick. He led Miami in sacks during the 2018 season with 6.5. The trade saved the Dolphins close to $12 million in cap space and stuck them with only around $1.1 million in dead money.

April 25-26, 2019: Miami selected Clemson defensive tackle Christian Wilkins in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft and traded its second-round pick for quarterback Josh Rosen. Rosen, a top-10 pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, started one season for the Cardinals.

May 13, 2019: The most significant investment made by the Dolphins in the offseason was a five-year, $76.5 million extension given to cornerback Xavien Howard. He was their only Pro Bowler in 2018 and is now tied to the team through the 2024 season. DeVante Parker, Jakeem Grant, and Jesse Davis received more moderately sized extensions at other points in the offseason.

Aug. 31, 2019: A week prior to their regular season opener, the Dolphins traded starting left tackle Laremy Tunsil and wide receiver Kenny Stills to the Texans. The package of picks sent back to Miami was quite the haul:

Official terms of now completed trade: Houston receives: T Laremy Tunsil WR Kenny Stills 2020 4th round pick 2021 6th round pick Miami receives: 2020 1st round pick 2021 1st round pick 2021 2nd round pick T Julien Davenport CB Johnson Bademosi

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 31, 2019

Following the trade, Julién Davenport was slotted in as the Dolphins’ new starting right tackle. No offensive lineman in the NFL allowed more quarterback hits (14) in 2018 or drew more penalties (16) than Davenport.

He lasted just one game for the Dolphins before landing on injured reserve.

Sept. 15, 2019: Jay Glazer of Fox Sports reported the Dolphins have been calling around the league in an attempt to trade running back Kenyan Drake. He led the team in rushing in 2017 and yards from scrimmage in 2018.

Sept. 16, 2019: The Dolphins allowed 2018 first-round pick Minkah Fitzpatrick to pursue a trade after their Week 1 loss, and found a partner after Week 2. Fitzpatrick was sent to the Steelers for a 2020 first-round pick, a potentially great investment considering the Steelers’ many problems in 2019.

Howard summed up the state of the roster following the trade

pic.twitter.com/wLbhtqqNv5

— Xavien Howard (@Iamxavienhoward) September 17, 2019

On the bright side for Howard, the first-round pick acquired from the Fitzpatrick trade is just one of the reasons why the roster around him could be upgraded massively.

Step 2: Stockpile cap space and draft picks

Altogether, the offseason moved the Dolphins to the top spot in salary cap space for the 2020 season. The team is due to carry only $6.9 million in dead money in 2020 and none in 2021.

It also owns the following picks in the next two drafts:

2020

1st round (Dolphins)

1st round (Texans)

1st round (Steelers)

2nd round (Dolphins)

2nd round (Saints)

3rd round (Dolphins)

5th round (Steelers)

6th round (Dolphins)

6th round (Cowboys)

7th round (Dolphins)

2021

1st round (Dolphins)

1st round (Texans)

2nd round (Dolphins)

2nd round (Texans)

3rd round (Dolphins)

4th round (Dolphins)

5th round (Dolphins)

6th round (Steelers)

That draft capital and the Dolphins’ ample cap space was the point of the offseason teardown. It’ll be even better if they land the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.

It’s expected to be a good year to draft a quarterback with Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa and Oregon’s Justin Herbert among the top arms in the class. That’d likely be an appealing route for the Dolphins and — by the look of the team so far — a probable outcome.

Step 3: Lose a lot

There have only been two winless teams over the course of a 16-game schedule in NFL history: the 2008 Lions and the 2017 Browns. The Dolphins can look to both as a source of optimism.

Detroit followed its 0-16 season by drafting Matthew Stafford first overall in 2009. By 2011, the Lions were a playoff team. The Browns also tanked to acquire loads of picks, then selected Baker Mayfield at the top of the 2018 NFL Draft after their winless year. That plan seems to be paying off for Cleveland.

Anything can happen in an NFL game — like a team putting their oft-injured, lunky tight end in on defense, for instance — so it’s not a foregone conclusion that the Dolphins will finish 0-16. But whew, they’re a putrid football team. Right here, we’ll keep track of their season as it unfolds:

Week 1 — Ravens 59, Dolphins 10

There are many ways to dice up the carnage of the blowout, but here are a few stats that put in context just how absolutely terrible the Dolphins were in their opener:

Baltimore had 643 yards of total offense (the most ever allowed by Miami). The Dolphins had 200 yards. That 443-yard difference is the worst disparity in an NFL game since the Vikings trounced the Lions in 1988.

Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson joined Johnny Unitas, Joe Namath, and Drew Brees as one of only four players who has finished a game with more than 20 adjusted yards per attempt in a game with at least 20 passes thrown.

The Dolphins had a time of possession of 19:53. It was their first time having the ball for less than 20 minutes in a game in 14 years.

That’s a good ol’ fashioned steamrolling.

Week 2 — Patriots 43, Dolphins 0

Miami hung in the game longer than expected and trailed only 13-0 at halftime. The game busted open in the second half with the Patriots recording two pick-sixes in the fourth quarter.

At the end of the game, the Dolphins had 189 yards of total offense. It made them the first team since the 2010 Bills to start a season with 200 yards or less in their first two games. That team finished 4-12 with Ryan Fitzpatrick starting at quarterback for almost the entire year.

Miami won’t have to worry about a similar fate ...at least when it comes to Fitzpatrick. The veteran was benched in favor of Josh Rosen the week following that shutout home loss to New England.

Week 3 — Cowboys 31, Dolphins 6

Like the week prior, the Dolphins kept the game close early. They trailed 10-6 at halftime before the Cowboys pulled away with three touchdowns in the second half.

Miami even threatened to take its first lead of the season at the end of the second quarter, but that was ruined by a Kenyan Drake fumble.

HELLO #HOTBOYZ @Thejaylonsmith forces the fumble & @tanklawrence recovers #MIAvsDAL | #DallasCowboys pic.twitter.com/HgCpqEh1zg

— Dallas Cowboys (@dallascowboys) September 22, 2019

The Dolphins gave up 476 yards of total offense to the Cowboys and managed just 283 yards of their own.

Week 4 — Chargers 30, Dolphins 10

The Dolphins actually led a game for the first time in 2019 with an early touchdown that put them ahead of the Chargers, 7-3. It stayed close in the first half with Josh Rosen playing well early and leading the team to a 10-10 tie late in the second quarter.

Los Angeles turned on the jets in the second half, though. The Chargers scored 20 unanswered points and Rosen’s solid day of work was undermined by a baffling interception.

first career pick ✊ pic.twitter.com/INAa3IIig4

— Los Angeles Chargers (@Chargers) September 29, 2019

The Dolphins lost their first four games by a combined 137 points, the worst for any team since 1950.

[junker-town]

How the Dolphins are tanking, in 3 steps

Dolphins quarterback Josh Rosen sacked by Ravens pass rusher Matthew Judon

The Dolphins gutted their roster and now they are — surprise, surprise — a very bad football team.

The Miami Dolphins are awful.

That’s no surprise. They were expected to be after they mostly spent their offseason getting rid of talent rather than acquiring it. But it was still staggering to see just how bad the Dolphins were when they kicked off the 2019 season by getting destroyed by the Ravens, 59-10.

While head coach Brian Flores continues to insist the team’s not tanking, there’s no way around it at this point. The Dolphins are bottoming out in a way that’s usually only seen in the NBA.

The one-sided loss to Baltimore was, in all likelihood, the first of many butt kickings Miami will endure in 2019. That’s even apparent to Dolphins players, some of whom asked their agents to get them traded out of South Beach, according to Pro Football Talk.

“The players believe that the coaching staff, despite claiming that they intend to try to win, aren’t serious about competing and winning,” the report said.

Those players are correct. The Dolphins organization is not trying to be a contender in 2019. Its goal all year has been to load up on cap space and draft picks in lieu of wins. That’s a textbook tank job.

Dolphins players aren’t trying to lose, though. Roster spots are too hard to come by and careers are too short in the NFL. They’ll all give 100 percent on the field. Miami is just too far behind other teams in terms of skill to truly keep up and compete.

So how did the Dolphins get to this point? They followed a simple three-step process

Step 1: Gut the roster

Dec. 31, 2018: The best place to start is the day Adam Gase was fired as head coach of the Dolphins after a 7-9 season.

Miami finished the year 31st in total offense and 29th in total defense. The Dolphins were bad at everything, but by still managing seven wins, they didn’t even have a top-12 pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. Being stuck in that 6-to-8-win middle ground — somewhere the team was for most of a decade — prompted coaching and executive changes.

Along with Gase’s firing, football operations were removed from executive vice president Mike Tannenbaum’s control and given to general manager Chris Grier. Former Raiders GM Reggie McKenzie was later hired as a senior personnel executive and Patriots linebackers coach Brian Flores, a first-time head coach, replaced Gase.

March 7, 2019: The first signs of tanking didn’t come until March. It started with the Dolphins releasing veteran defensive end Andre Branch and starting offensive guard Ted Larsen. Still, neither move was too surprising considering they saved the Dolphins about $9 million in combined cap space. Branch signed with the Cardinals, but didn’t make the final roster. Larsen is now a backup for the Bears.

March 13, 2019: The Dolphins made another move on the offensive line by releasing Josh Sitton. He played just one game for the team in 2018 before a rotator cuff tear landed him on injured reserve. It saved the team $5 million in cap space and Sitton retired in April.

That was also the same day free agency began in the NFL. The Dolphins allowed offensive tackle Ja’Wuan James, defensive end Cameron Wake, wide receiver Danny Amendola, and running back Frank Gore, among others, to walk and sign elsewhere.

March 15, 2019: Quarterback Ryan Tannehill was traded to the Titans after seven years and 88 starts with the Dolphins. The two teams swapped late-round selections in 2019 and the Dolphins received a 2020 fourth-round pick.

Tannehill was due to count $26.6 million against Miam’s cap in 2019, a pricy number for a player who struggled to stay healthy or ascend into a top-tier passer. Following the trade — and an agreement to pay $5 million of his signing bonus on the Titans’ behalf — the Dolphins saved a little over $8 million and ate about $18.4 million in dead money. Tannehill will be off the books entirely in 2020.

March 18, 2019: Career journeyman Ryan Fitzpatrick was signed to a two-year contract to be the team’s new starting quarterback. The deal provided the Dolphins with a cheap stopgap solution under center. The two-year, $11 million contract given to Fitzpatrick constituted the most expensive acquisition the Dolphins made in free agency. Only the Cowboys and Rams — two Super Bowl contenders — spent less.

March 28, 2019: Pass rusher Robert Quinn, who was came over in a trade from the Rams in March 2018, was sent to the Cowboys for a 2020 sixth-round pick. He led Miami in sacks during the 2018 season with 6.5. The trade saved the Dolphins close to $12 million in cap space and stuck them with only around $1.1 million in dead money.

April 25-26, 2019: Miami selected Clemson defensive tackle Christian Wilkins in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft and traded its second-round pick for quarterback Josh Rosen. Rosen, a top-10 pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, started one season for the Cardinals.

May 13, 2019: The most significant investment made by the Dolphins in the offseason was a five-year, $76.5 million extension given to cornerback Xavien Howard. He was their only Pro Bowler in 2018 and is now tied to the team through the 2024 season. DeVante Parker, Jakeem Grant, and Jesse Davis received more moderately sized extensions at other points in the offseason.

Aug. 31, 2019: A week prior to their regular season opener, the Dolphins traded starting left tackle Laremy Tunsil and wide receiver Kenny Stills to the Texans. The package of picks sent back to Miami was quite the haul:

Official terms of now completed trade: Houston receives: T Laremy Tunsil WR Kenny Stills 2020 4th round pick 2021 6th round pick Miami receives: 2020 1st round pick 2021 1st round pick 2021 2nd round pick T Julien Davenport CB Johnson Bademosi

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 31, 2019

Following the trade, Julie’n Davenport was slotted in as the Dolphins’ new starting right tackle. No offensive lineman in the NFL allowed more quarterback hits (14) in 2018 or drew more penalties (16) than Davenport.

He lasted just one game for the Dolphins before landing on injured reserve.

Sept. 12, 2019: Less than a week after Pro Football Talk’s report that several players wanted out of Miami, the team allowed 2018 first-round pick Minkah Fitzpatrick to pursue a trade.

Step 2: Stockpile cap space and draft picks

Altogether, the offseason moved the Dolphins to the top spot in salary cap space for the 2020 season. The team is due to carry only $6.9 million in dead money in 2020 and none in 2021.

It also owns the following picks in the next two drafts:

2020

1st round (Dolphins)

1st round (Texans)

2nd round (Dolphins)

2nd round (Saints)

3rd round (Dolphins)

4th round (Titans)

6th round (Dolphins)

6th round (Cowboys)

7th round (Dolphins)

2021

1st round (Dolphins)

1st round (Texans)

2nd round (Dolphins)

2nd round (Texans)

3rd round (Dolphins)

4th round (Dolphins)

5th round (Dolphins)

7th round (Dolphins)

That draft capital and the Dolphins’ ample cap space was the point of the offseason teardown. It’ll be even better if they land the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.

It’s expected to be a good year to draft a quarterback with Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa and Oregon’s Justin Herbert among the top arms in the class. That’d likely be an appealing route for the Dolphins and — by the look of the team so far — a probable outcome.

Step 3: Lose a lot

There have only been two winless teams over the course of a 16-game schedule in NFL history: the 2008 Lions and the 2017 Browns. The Dolphins can look to both as a source of optimism.

Detroit followed its 0-16 season by drafting Matthew Stafford first overall in 2009. By 2011, the Lions were a playoff team. The Browns also tanked to acquire loads of picks, then selected Baker Mayfield at the top of the 2018 NFL Draft after their winless year. That plan seems to be paying off for Cleveland.

Anything can happen in an NFL game — like a team putting their oft-injured, lunky tight end in on defense, for instance — so it’s not a foregone conclusion that the Dolphins will finish 0-16. But whew, they’re a putrid football team. Right here, we’ll keep track of their season as it unfolds:

Week 1 — Ravens 59, Dolphins 10

There are many ways to dice up the carnage of that blowout, but here are a few stats that put in context just how absolutely terrible the Dolphins were in their opener:

Baltimore had 643 yards of total offense (the most ever allowed by Miami). The Dolphins had 200 yards. That 443-yard difference is the worst disparity in an NFL game since the Vikings trounced the Lions in 1988.

Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson joined Johnny Unitas, Joe Namath, and Drew Brees as one of only four players who has finished a game with more than 20 adjusted yards per attempt in a game with at least 20 passes thrown.

The Dolphins had a time of possession of 19:53. It was their first time having the ball for less than 20 minutes in a game in 14 years.

That’s a good ol’ fashioned steamrolling.