Mo-mentum Shift: The 'Stache That Saved the Dolphins

MiamiDolphins.com

Check out the whiskers on that Wildcat!

​It may be a little early to anoint Tony Sparano the savior of the franchise, but at the very least he's made the Dolphins fun to watch again. And he definitely un-did the damage to a previously proud tradition of upper-lip hair inflicted by one Dave Wanndstedt.

Juice hereby awards Sparano with the region's silver medal 'stache.

The countdown is a Juice effort to encourage our fellow locals to participate in the Movember fund-raising drive, whereby men grow mustaches in the month of November to benefit prostate cancer. Here's the fifth, fourth, and third most celebrated mustaches in the bi-county area.




Judging by this (admittedly small) team photo, roughly half those Super Bowl winning Dolphins wore mustaches. I defy you to watch that video of the undefeated 1972 Miami Dolphins and tell me there's not a connection between flavor-saver-wearing Fins and football victories. Or no, don't tell me. Try to tell it to Larry Csonka's mustachioed mug.

The decades since have been tough on the Dolphins -- and even harder on the mustache, hitting rock bottom in 2004 under Dave Wannstache (as Dan LeBatard used to call him). That team went 4-12, triggering a mustache holocaust among South Florida men who didn't want to have a single thing in common with the disgraced coach.

Thanks to Sparano, Dolphins fans are feeling tickled and once again it's cool to grow a tickler.