How I Became a Miami Dolphins' Fan

It was 1994, the year of Ace Ventura and Forrest Gump. I was seven. Both movies had a profound impact on my life. During the summer, I watched Forrest Gump daily-seriously, once every day. I eventually felt so inspired by the film that I decided to bring the VHS case of the film to a barber shop. I gave the barber the case and showed him the different photos of Forrest that had his head at different angles. I then allowed the barber to duplicate Forrest's haircut on my seven year-old head. It didn't work out how I had planned. No, there was a Parkinson's esque quality to the haircut that instantly made realize I needed to find a hat I really liked. And it should be noted that if you didn't get choked up while watching Forrest Gump then you are not human, you have no soul, and you eye little children with more bad intent than Aqualung. Chris Hanson will find you, and you will be molested by the big gray hand of justice.

1994 was also the first year I would play in a youth football league. I hated football when I was five. I hated it because I didn't understand it. I just knew it got my dad's total attention. He would sit there, not blinking, watching every play and suffering through every commercial. Then the day came when I happened to catch my dad watching a Detroit Lions' game. There was this silver blur with blue streaks dashing all over the field. It didn't stop until it reached the endzone. That's when I realized it wasn't a blur, but a man. It was Barry Sanders.

After that, I was hooked. It was such a rapid and severe obsession that when I ended up renting Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, I came away at the end of it with a favorite team and player. I was a Dolphins' fan from that point forward and Dan Marino was the man. I remember carefully scanning the credits for his name so I knew how to spell it, which in hindsight, was a really strange thing to do. I think I did it so I could ask my mom to get me his jersey for my birthday. Nevertheless, it was Ace Ventura that made me a Dolphins' fan. It also made me want a pet dolphin, but apparently that's illegal-another dream killed by the law.

However, another dream has come true and that is the Dolphins' renaissance. To go from a 1-15 team a season ago to a 10-5 team with a shot at the division and the team's first playoff berth since 2001 is a surreal feeling. On the surface, I worry simply because in football when something seems too good to be true it usually is. Look at the Patriots of 2007. But if you do that, then you also have to look at the Giants of 2007 as well. The Giants are my NFC team, and the team I focused most of my energies on last season. A good portion of my friends are Giants' fans and I remember before every game last season there was always plenty of doubt about the Giants' ability to win what were crucial victories.

Obviously, they proved us wrong; and when they nearly dashed the Patriots' hopes for a perfect season in week 16, I was secretly optimistic that the Giants would go all the way, but I kept doubting them publicly. Superstition is a huge and underestimated part of sports. Jon Henderson, a former NFL receiver, used to have a trainer smack him across the face as hard as possible before each game. That's one way to get a concussion and perhaps the reason why Henderson's career lasted a mere three seasons.

As for the Dolphins, I have kept my hopes low, simply appreciating the dramatic turn-around that Parcells and Sparano are responsible for. It is a great season to be a Dolphins' fan. The defense is filled with youth and playing at a high level. There are still gaps in their game, but they have made huge strides over the course of the season and show great promise for the future. Chad Pennington has given the team a determined mentality and a level of efficiency that it has lacked for years. Even if they don't make the playoffs this year, they still did something only two other teams have done before and I am proud of them. The only hope I have is that they can win the final game of the season against the Jets and take the AFC East title. There hasn't been a Dolphins/Jets game in years that has so much riding on it, and that's all I want out of this season: a hard-fought football game to end a hard-fought season.