Hey Dolphins Fans! Stand Up, or Stay Home!

I stood on the white tarp covering the bullpen pitching mound at Dolphins stadium on Sunday. Arms folded in front of me, one hand up to my chin. I watched the Raiders once again drive down field and waited for the Miami Dolphins defense of old to arise from the ashes like a true Phoenix would.

It was a pivotal series. A stop and Miami could get the momentum back, Miami could turn the game around. They needed the stop…and they needed the fans. The final result? They got neither.

As the 1st down unfolded with a Dolphins stop I realized how quiet the field was. I turned and started raising my hands to the fans behind me. Desperately trying to get the fans to make some noise…any noise…anything that would get the defense to feel as thought there was someone, something to fight for. Nothing. The Dolphins would stop them on 2nd down and brought up a 3rd and 7 from the 27. I grabbed another web guy, Casey, and told him to follow me, he asked where to and I told him we needed to get the fans up.

The two of us ran up the ramp into section 139 and the surrounding sections. We started throwing up our arms, yelling at the fans to get on their feet. I screamed “these are your Dolphins, stand up and support them”, “Get up! Get UP! GET UP!” Casey did the same. I ran down the front walkway towards the opposite end end-zone. Screaming. At one point a fan sat their with a disgusted look on his face and with a waive of his hand told me to get away…”If you don’t want to be here, If you don’t want to support your team, THEN GO HOME!” I screamed at the man only a few rows up. Somewhere, somehow, the tone brought out a fire in the surrounding fans. A few stood at first, followed by more. Fingers pointed towards me, high fives from the first couple of rows as I ran back the other way, a roar was beginning to form as the Raiders broke the huddle. Casey and I did not stop.

We waived our hands, we screamed and the seats behind us that one play earlier became loud, for a second, I thought we had something. Culpepper would throw to Jerry Porter for another touchdown on that play. The stadium, sans the Raiders fans, grew quiet again, only this time no cheers would return. The silence that was only interrupted sporadically through out the game was back. A piss poor showing by the home crowd.

Professional football games are not cheap. Add in the 25 dollar cost to park, the 7 buck price for a cold beer, and everything else, going to a game is not where you go if you want to just relax. Dolphins fans have always been fickle when it comes to their team. Most of them anyways.

I am sure that Wayne Huizenga appreciates the fact that these quiet fans are at least paying the price of admission, but the team could use some encouragement. Even a team of professional adults. In Miami they get very little…even when the game is on the line.

Sunday was no different. Loud roars from Raider Nation reverberated off the walls and sent a deafening thunder across the turf at the base of the surrounding bowl…a thunder that rivaled the mornings tropical storm. A thunder that came from the fans of our teams visitors. While our teams fans, quietly sat on their hands…with their mouths fully shut.

Oddly enough, it is these fans who say nothing, who do nothing, who support nothing vocally at a game, are the same fans who stand by the water cooler on Monday and have a million different solutions to the problem…usually beginning with “Fire Cam Cameron”. Well, how about firing yourself? If you can’t stand up and support this team, then support them by staying home. The rest of us will do what we can without having to be lumped into your category. At least you could save the rest of us the embarrassment by association. The Miami Dolphins may not be winning, but they still deserve better from its fans…at least if you stand and yell and pour your heart out, you would have at least earned the right to complain. If you can’t cheer, you deserve nothing…except the hole in your wallet from going in the first place.