by Dave Hyde, Sun Sentinel, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. , South Florida Sun-Sentinel

In a barber shop?

"Yeah, I couldn't believe it," he said. "And there's a photo of me that I'd signed a while ago that's up now on the wall. Under it are the words, 'Beat Baltimore.'"

This what happens when a Football town shakes off the dust and cobwebs and becomes a Football town again. Do you feel it happening? Vonnie Holliday did outside his apartment complex this week.

"These people who don't speak much English came up and started hugging me," he said. "I'd seen them for a while. I didn't even think they knew I played Football. They follow soccer, I know, but now they're hugging me and saying as best they can, 'Congratulations.'"

This feeling of feelgood is everywhere now, having grown in size and strength in recent days like a voice going through a loudspeaker. Jason Allen felt it at a restaurant with a few teammates.

"We finished eating and three or four plates of more food showed up," the Dolphins' defensive back said. "All we were told was, 'Compliments of the chef.' Appetizers, drinks, they kept coming. We kept eating."

Allen sat at his locker Wednesday and chuckled.

"Last year, at a nightclub if they heard a Dolphin was in line, they'd shrug and say, 'Whatever,'" he said. "Now, it's like 'Get him up here.' Now it's good for business. And for us."

Winning does this. Surprising people multiplies the effect. Even quarterback Chad Pennington, summoning the full force of optimism, allowed Wednesday that he told his father before the first game the Dolphins would win 10 games.

They won 11. They're in the playoffs. They aren't burdened with Super Bowl expectations in a manner that made Dolphins playoff appearances stale by the most recent failed excursion seven years ago. This recent team is held up to last year's 1-15 season. It's spawned car pennants, office talk and made it safe for players to go out in public again.

Holliday cringed last season when fans approached in public, figuring either criticism was coming or something even worse was. "The pep talk," he said. "You know, the speech of 'Hang in there' and 'Things are going to get better.'"

Roth asked friends to pick up his dinner or run errands last year simply because he didn't want to be seen in public.

"I felt guilty, like I was letting people down," he said.

And now?

"Now it's like I want to go out, because everyone's happy to see me," he said.

Where Ted Ginn Jr. said a couple people might stop him in public last year, now, "12 or 15 people are saying, 'Way to go,' and 'Keep it going,'" he said.

Where once Patrick Cobbs walked through South Florida unnoticed, now he is stopped constantly, even in a restaurant's pickup line by someone congratulating him for being, "the first one down on kickoffs," he said.

Once upon a time, back in mythological years like 1972 and 1984, this is how South Florida acted. It's who this area was. Stories come through the mist: Of Jake Scott and Jim Mandich renting out a bar after games and the city coming to party; of a short, fat, balding impersonator of Dan Marino who was caught in the mid-1980s -- but only after he had eaten on a restaurant that feared not serving him.

This team isn't those teams. It's not even close. But for the first time in years, this season's splash of surprise has reminded everyone how a Football town acts. From barber shops to nightclubs, the Dolphins are in favor again.

It's fun and good and also why safety Renaldo Hill sat at his locker Wednesday and said three straight times, "Got to focus. Got to focus. Got to focus."

Sunday's storm is coming. Maybe the ride stops there for this reborn Football town. Or maybe the surprise sweeps everyone up higher still.

Dave Hyde can be reached at dhyde@SunSentinel.com

To see more of the Sun Sentinel or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.sun-sentinel.com/. Copyright (c) 2009, Sun Sentinel, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

Copyright 2009 South Florida Sun-Sentinel
	Terms & Conditions     Privacy Copyright © 2009 LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.