Dolphins

TEL AVIV -- Three dolphins stranded by a bankruptcy are the central figures in the great Flipper Flap.From limbo in an abandoned pool, they have been saved -- or condemned, depending on who's doing the telling -- to perform in an amusement park. It is yet another controversy from Israel taking on international dimensions.The dolphins were part of a contingent obtained from Russia to put on entertainment shows at Dolphinarium, a shabby 13-year-old beachfront building on Tel Aviv's Mediterranean coast.

MIAMI -- Miami Dolphins coach Don Shula went to his heavy-metal act last week. He showed off his 1972 Super Bowl ring to his players at practice. You know the ring. The one from the season the Dolphins went unbeaten. Huge glob of gold, surrounded by diamonds."The young guys were impressed and the veterans got hungry,said Miami free safety Louis Oliver. "We played well in the first half of the year, but got complacent in the second. The ring alerted us that it was time to prepare for the big dance.

MIAMI -- Under pressure to pay estate taxes on the sports empire built by their father, the Robbie family has signed a letter of intent to sell the Miami Dolphins and their half of Joe Robbie Stadium, sources said yesterday.The Robbies have agreed to sell the team to a group headed by investor Nelson Peltz and real-estate mogul Bruce Frey, said three people familiar with the talks.Sources said the price, which is subject to negotiation, ranges from about $140-$157 million. Peltz is an investor who recently bought control of DWG Corp.

MIAMI -- Nicknamed the "Miami Pound Machine," the Miami Dolphins had the NFL's stingiest defense coming into last night's game against the Los Angeles Raiders. The Dolphins hadn't allowed a touchdown on the ground in 24 quarters.But the streak ended as the Raiders pounded the Pound Machine, amassing 177 yards on the ground in a 13-10 victory. The win gave the Raiders (7-3) a one-game lead in the AFC West, while the Dolphins (8-2) fell a game behind Buffalo in the AFC East.Bo Jackson, who had rushed for 118 yards in his first three games, had his best game of the season, gaining 99 yards on 17 carries.

Some of the mystique that hovers over the San Francisco 49ers dissipated like a Bay Area fog in the midday sun whenSteve Emtman chose to play for the Dolphins.The Dolphins edged the Super Bowl champions in this free-agent derby last week, marking the first time since the salary cap has been in place that San Francisco lost a player it coveted.And thus a rivalry is born.The two teams stood wallet to wallet in a high-stakes recruiting war last year, with the 49ers winning the services of Deion Sanders and probably sealing their Super Bowl fate.

MIAMI -- The Miami Dolphins yesterday won the brief but high-priced sweepstakes for three-time Pro Bowl tight end Keith Jackson, gaining a major offensive weapon in one of the biggest acquisitions in club history.The NFL stature of Jackson, 27, was reflected in the fact he chose halftime of "ABC's Monday Night Football" telecast as the regal stage for his announcement.The Dolphins were to introduce Jackson today at a Joe Robbie Stadium news conference. He agreed to terms but did not actually sign yesterday, contrary to ABC reports.

MIAMI -- The Bobby Humphrey merry-go-round spun wildly again yesterday, leaving the Miami Dolphins running back with a bullet wound in his leg and a bunch of explaining to do.Humphrey was shot in the right thigh yesterday morning by Mark Steven Petties, a close friend and former football teammate of Humphrey's, as the two rode through Alabaster, Ala., in Humphrey's red Lexus.Humphrey wasn't badly hurt and was discharged from the hospital in the afternoon. The 6-foot-6, 300-pound Petties told U.S. Marshal Chris Harding at the shooting scene, 30 miles south of Birmingham: "Bobby was driving fast and crazy.

The Washington Redskins want to play 19 games this year.That's because the only way they can do that is to make the Super Bowl.But the team they may wind up being compared with could be their 20th foe: the 1972 Miami Dolphins.As the Redskins -- 9-0 going into today's game against the Atlanta Falcons -- attempt to match the Dolphins' feat of a perfect season (17-0), the comparisons will become more inevitable with each Washington victory.And the two teams appear to be quite similar.Both featured excellent head coaches (Joe Gibbs and Don Shula)

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The joy ride stopped here for the Miami Dolphins yesterday.For two weeks, football had been fun for the Dolphins. Their defense had teeth, their offense had balance and Dan Marino -- for the first time in memory, anyway -- had a running game.On a sunny, wind-swept afternoon in the Meadowlands, it all fell apart, though. The New York Giants pierced the Dolphins' unbeaten bubble with a resounding 20-3 victory before 76,483 at Giants Stadium.Call it a triumph of smash-mouth football.

JEAN-MICHEL Cousteau ("Save the dolphin: Let it go free!", Other Voices, May 11) begins eloquently by pointing out that "contact with marine mammals is educational" and "observation helps us to understand and respect the animals, and engenders the will to protect them in the wild."These are the premises on which the zoos, oceanariums, aquariums and marine life parks are founded.A recent Roper poll shows that the American public is in near-unanimous agreement (92 percent) in its understanding that these facilities play an essential role in educating the public about marine mammals and the need for their conservation.