Welcome back to South Florida football, Larry King! In advance of your color commentary during the first half of this weekend's game between the Dolphins and Patriots, Juice thought it would help get you up to speed about how our area and football team has changed since you were last here as a broadcaster.
Where to begin? Well, we drained the Everglades, allowing for more comfortable human habitation on the coast. Or did you know that?
Actually, it says on the release that you started here in 1969. Then you'll be glad to know that that the young, struggling quarterback you watched that year turned into a pretty decent player. Yup, Bob Griese made the Hall of Fame! And that other fresh-faced youngster in the backfield also made the Hall -- look what Larry Csonka did after you left!
Come to think of it, maybe the return of the Suspendered One portends a bountiful harvest of championships for our current Dolphins team. The Fins went 3-10-1 that first year with King in the booth. They improved dramatically, winning 10 games the two next seasons, and after King left in 1971, well, those 1972 Dolphins put together pro football's most magical season.
So it's worth bringing King back, then kicking him out, just to see if the home team will have a similarly charmed season in 2010.
It's not clear from the release whether King's going to be attending the post-game press conference, where losing coaches tend to have a short fuse. Word to the wise, Lar: If you get "inappropriate" with Tony Sparano, he will totally storm off the set.
