It's December 24th...for the next four months.

The Prodigal Fan Returns:

I don't know jack about the NFL Draft.

The creator of, and prime contributor to, this site, The Phinisher, loves this stuff. He has forgotten much more about football than I'll ever know. I'm a guy whose interest in football was only re-stoked back in early November of 2007. The Dolphins were 0-8 and seemed a likely contender to be the League's first ever 0-16 team. At this point, I determined to re-embrace my previous Dolphins fandom and get behind a team that, from roughly 1980 through 2000, I had supported in a relatively casual way. Being a major fan of underdogs and comeback stories, I saw the mid-2007 Dolphins as a team that had nowhere to go but up. I wanted to get behind them and be here when it happened. I didn't have to wait terribly long.

We all know how that 2007 season ended: the Phins just managing to sidestep "beating" the Lions to the most pathetic season in league history. In comes Parcells, his game acumen, and a cadre of past coaching proteges, all of whom have turned the Dolphins into a relevant and interesting team in the last two years. It's been a fun period of growth, though not without its pains.

Through it all, my football education has continued. Unlike my previous period following the team, my knowledge of team dynamics, depth, and game strategies has increased. In the past, I couldn't have told you who Miami's backup inside offensive tackle was for all the pasta in Tony Sparano's pantry. Now, being more attuned to such things, my enjoyment of the game has increased exponentially.

And yet, the draft hype has always eluded me.

Is There a Draft In Here?

I never really saw the point in getting all amped up about guys who may or may not be worth a moldy mouthpiece. The annals of the draft are littered with examples that prove beyond a doubt that drafting players is far from an exact science, even for the most savvy football minds. This is to say nothing of the clueless team heads who seem to think they're drafting for a fantasy team (I'm looking at you, Al Davis and Matt Millen). With so much uncertainty, why the hype? Well, after a 2009 season of Dolphins football in which I learned more about the team than I ever have before, I tried to study a little more going into the draft. I looked over the Dolphins needs, read commentary, and even glanced at a few highlight reels of potential players. After this homework, I think I now understand the giddiness over the draft.

It's Christmas Eve.

(Apologies to our non-Christian readers - I was raised Catholic, so this is really my only point of reference.) Remember when you were a kid the days and nights before Christmas (or Channukuh, etc.)? You saw your gifts sitting there under the tree, just waiting to be opened. They weren't yours yet, and you couldn't play with them. In fact, they may not even be what you thought. Sure, that green one there looks like the packaging for Castle Greyskull, but is it? That smaller one with the goofy Santa wrapping paper on it has to be Zartan and his Chameleon skif, but maybe it's a box of argyle socks. You know what you asked for, and you're reasonably sure that you were good enough have your wishes granted, but you never truly knew until you opened them on the morning of the 25th.

Well, the draft is Christmas Eve, the players are the presents, and their college careers are the wrapping paper. Their collegiate play gives a pretty good idea of what they may be, what they may become, and how much entertainment we may get from them, but we don't truly know yet. Christmas is going to come when the regular season begins. This means that our Christmas Eve is now roughly a 3,300-hour day.

This long-winded analogy in place, I'm excited about the things sitting under our tree. They certainly look like what we want. Going into the draft, the Dolphins needs were obvious (no need to rehash - the Phinisher was all over this). After the revelation that Starks will switch to nose tackle, the Dolphins defense has the potential to be vastly superior to the 2009 version. I'm sure there may be some growing pains, but I truly don't expect to see the backfield breakdowns of early '09, or the line fatigue of late '09. With the youth and character of the guys drafted on Thursday & Friday, the off season pickup Dansby, and assuming further development of Vontae Davis and Sean Smith, Miami's defense may inspire something other than anxiety for us fans this season (that Saints game almost killed me).

Still, all of this enthusiasm is that of a kid on Christmas Eve with nothing to do but wait for morning. Well, dawn may be far away, but it will come. Let's hope that our desires are satiated and our presents, once opened, pummel the ass off the rest of the league, starting with the Bills. Until then, I'll be waiting, wearing my orange and teal PJs.