Time to lift the curse

The Miami Dolphins have played ten games this season.

The six I’ve missed, they’ve won.

The four I’ve watched, they’ve lost.

Coincidence, right?

I thought the same until last week. When I tuned into (read: found an illegal internet feed of) Miami’s home game with Oakland, we led 14-8. Within two plays Raiders receiver Jonnie Lee Higgins had returned a punt for a touchdown, putting the team from the West Coast ahead.

I stayed watching. Miami quarterback Chad Pennington drove us down the field, but the game looked over at 4th and 5 way outside of field goal territory. Then the feed dropped... and while I was desperately searching forums for a new naughty link-up to the US TV coverage, Penny hooked up with Ted Ginn Jr for the first down.

Naughty feed found, I tuned in again to see the offense halted again. Then that feed dropped... and the official NFL site told me that Dan Carpenter had booted what turned out to be the winning field goal through the uprights just seconds after I’d been blacked out again.

I didn’t even try to retrieve the feed after that point. I knew what the result would be if I had. Lesson learned.

But now the jinx has got into my head, because the Phins’ most important game of the season – hell, of the last five years – kicks off in a couple of hours. Like the New England Patriots, we’re 6-4 and looking likely to snatch a play-off spot if we can continue some promising recent form. And today we go head-to-head. Not only is it a crucial game for divisional supremacy and Super Bowl contention, it’s massive for me because my hatred for the Patsies is well documented on here. As dreams come true go, it’s right up there with Evangeline Lilly and Drew Barrymore turning up on the doorstep in PVC asking me to teach them both a lesson. Today... I’ll take a Phins win over even that fantasy. I shit you not.

Last time we played (and smashed) the New England Patriots I was sat on a train from London to Bath, following it via text messages from a friend and ESPN updates on my mobile. It was great. But if – and it’s a big if – we’re going to beat the Pats again, I need to see it. And so, against my better judgement, I’ll be tuning into Sky Sports at 6pm. Because I haven’t seen a single one of our victories over the last two years. The last time Miami won and I was actually watching was on Thanksgiving Day 2006, when former Lion Joey Harrington returned to Detroit to guide us to a 27-10 triumph as the boos rained down around him. That was 23rd November, exactly two years ago to that day. And so I can’t help thinking this is the perfect day for my jinx to be lifted.

If it all goes tits, you know who to blame.