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The Dol-fans Make Me Cry
 
Dolphin Cheerleaders



 

-by Brian Fein

Week in and week out, people call up radio talk shows, claiming to be fans of the Dolphins. They call to talk about the past weekend's game, next week, who sucks, who gets game balls. But do any of them ever consider who really sucks? Don't go throwin' stones just yet, Dol-fans.

I've been to every Dolphins' home game for 3 years, and I've never seen a more atrocious showing of team spirit and loyalty than I have at the Pro every week. Fans are encouraged to make noise, become the 12th man on the field. Fans are not encouraged to ensure that the people behind them have ample viewing space.

This past week at the Sunday night Buffalo game, a guy almost got into a fight with a guy 2 rows in front of him because he stood up to cheer during a play. "We'll go home early tonight," he said. All because the guy in front stood up. Many times, I've found myself on a defensive third and short, afraid to stand and cheer for my team for fear of getting beaned in the skull with a beer bottle. Football games aren't supposed to be like that.

Standing to cheer isn't even the half of it. Why is it that fans cheer when the home team is on offense? Football fan etiquette dictates that you are as loud as possible on defense, and silent on offense. Cheering after and between plays is acceptable, but you don't start a wave when the offense takes the field. You don't chant "Let's go Dolphins" when Fiedler is barking a cadence at the line.

As if that weren't enough, why do fans start pouring out the exit gates at the beginning of the 4th quarter? Go to Green Bay, New England, Chicago, or New York. Not only do the fans stay until the end, but they're on their feet, screaming for their team for 60 minutes of play. What is it about South Florida fans that make them so different? Is it that important to be first in line to get out of the parking lot?

So what is your responsibility as a fan? Ever wonder what fans are supposed to do? Well, allow me to spell it out for you:

  • Go to the game - don't make the TV station buy out the tickets the Friday before the game so you "fans" can watch it on TV. If you call yourself a fan and don't make an effort to get out there and support your team, one should question your true level of devotion. The fact that Miami can't sell-out a playoff game is an embarrassment in front of the entire country.

  • Cheer - make noise when your team is on defense…LOTS of noise! Not only does it cause the opponent to false start, it sometimes causes them to burn timeouts. Not to mention that the defense feeds off of crowd noise. Ever see the defensive backs dancing on the field during TV timeouts? That's their way of firing up the crowd. Stand up if it's a critical game situation. Stop being so lazy, and get off your ass and cheer!

  • Shut Up - When your team has the ball, shut your pie-hole. Sit on your hands, and make sure you can hear the guy in the 19th row bite into his nachos. The offense relies on audible signals, and fans making noise only make it difficult (this includes you idiots who wait till we have the ball to start the wave).

  • Stay till triple-zeros - you're not going anywhere. What's your hurry? All you're going to do is sit in your car in the parking lot rather than sit in the seat in the stadium. There's nothing worse than looking around at the end of the 4th quarter seeing nothing but orange empty seats.

The fans of a football team have the sole responsibility of bringing the home-field advantage to the home team. That doesn't happen often enough. I'm not sure why South Florida fans are so wishy-washy. Maybe it is because most of them aren't hardcore. Maybe it's the people who don't really follow football, who don't know how to behave at a game. I can't figure it out. I can only hope that some day, the Dolphins will draw crowds similar to the support they see in "real" football towns.

Note: I'd like to give "props" to the fans in the lower bowl endzone around section 100. These guys are the type of people with which we need to fill the entire stadium.

Brian would love your feedback.
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