Hey guys! Amazing win against the Jets last week!

This week we play another division rival, the stinking Buffalo Bills. As bad as their record is they are actually playing pretty good offensive football and our line took a big loss this week losing Vernon Carey for the year. This game could be a tough one…

We are doing a special event for the game at Third & Long thanks to Buffalo Trace Bourbon. They are doing a campaign called “Shoot the Buffalo” and the woman who handles their marketing is a HUGE Dolphins fan and thought we could work something out. She provided five bottles of Buffalo Trace to our tailgate last week and this week for the Buffalo game she is buying us 300 Buffalo Wings and doing Buffalo Trace specials at the bar. It’s just $4 a shot and $6 for mixed drinks. I didn’t drink any last weekend but from what everyone told me it’s really, really good bourbon.

On top of the cheap Bourbon and free wings Nat Moore sent us a Larry Csonka autographed football to auction off during the game. We will be auctioning off that as well as some other Dolphins memorabilia during the third quarter of the game. Raffle tickets will be on sale for $1. As always all the sales from the fundraising go to charity and to raising money for the club so we can do things like tailgates and print more t-shirts.

Over the last few weeks we have made a lot of really good connections with the Dolphins organization and we have some really amazing stuff to look forward to next season. I don’t want to get ahead of ourselves but we should have some pretty awesome events and raffle prizes next year. Plus with the Dolphins coming to town next year to play the Giants we will have TWO Meadowlands tailgates.

Lastly, I leave you with another sick Solo D song: “Beat The Bills”! Go Dolphins!

Dolfans NYC rode in to the belly of the beast last weekend.  It is our third group to the Meadowlands to watch our Dolphins take on the New York Jets.  The first year there were only a few of us.  Last year we had about a dozen… This year we bought 63 tickets to the game and held a huge tailgate with tons of Dolphins fans from all over the greater New York area.  The size of the group may be different but the results have been the same time. Dolfans NYC has walked out of that stadium with a victory.

When we showed up to Giants Stadium at 11:30 in the morning it was pouring rain. We had bought a little tent but the wind was blowing so hard we didn’t have any idea how we were going to set it up.  We had a bunch of meat in the car that was getting warm so I got out and put everything into these cheap coolers we bought.  The first cooler ripped to bits when I dropped the ice in and started blowing away. After a fierce struggle I got everything into the other cooler and returned to the car freezing and completely soaked.  Around 12 another car showed up and the rain had let up a little bit.  They were ready to face the elements so we tried to set up this tent tying the thing to the cars with ribbon that Michelle bought to hang up balloons. It was a very haphazard set up but it was good enough to get the grill set up.  When the wind picked up a few minutes later the tent almost blew away but we held it down until the wind actually bent the poles so badly that we had to throw the thing away after the tailgate. At some point the rain slowed to a drizzle and a bunch more Dolphins fans showed up and we had ourselves a party.

Thanks to Buffalo Trace Bourbon for providing us with a lot of free booze for the tailgate!

The game itself was a mess but I had 16 tickets in my section and we just happened to luck out and were sitting with another handful of Phins fans.  We had some very big dudes with us and some very drunk dudes with us and we just ruined the game for every Jets fan around us and that is exactly what we came to do.  In the end the Dolphins won and we were completely drenched and freezing, but we couldn’t be more content as we walked out of Giants Stadium singing the Dolphins fight song.

I uploaded all the photos to my other website.  So click here to check out all the pictures from the Dolfans NYC tailgate.

Ps. Check back tomorrow for info about the big party this weekend at Third & Long!  Raffles, free Buffalo wings and serious drink specials from Buffalo Trace!

Just a few more notes on tomorrows game…
It is going to rain tomorrow. If you are tailgating with us, if you have any sort of tent or covering you can bring please do! We will be doing the tailgate rain or shine but if the rain is really bad we might park in a near by parking garage.

Also remember we will have some food and and some booze but we are looking at probably 100 people for this thing assuming the weather isn’t horrible so we need everyone to bring your own food and booze if you can. If anyone has a grill or any of the normal tailgating stuff bring it. We can’t have too much stuff.

One thing we will have at the tailgate will be Orange Miami Dolphins Rally towels. We had the Dolphins send us a box of 50 towels that they were giving out at the last Jets game. We will be giving them out to anyone who bought tickets with us and hopefully we can fly those Orange towels all day.

If you are planning on tailgating with us and have not done so already email DolfansNYC@Gmail.com with your contact info. We will be emailing everyone as soon as we park and know where we are going to be. We are planning on being there between 11 and 11:30. If you can’t get email on your phone give us your phone number and we will text you. We will also be updating the @dolfansnyc Twitter and updating the Facebook group as soon as we park.

Now, very important. I know with the weather and the Dolphins record some people are trying to get rid of tickets. If you bought your tickets with us you are with a group of Dolphins fans. Do NOT sell your tickets to stub hub or let them fall into Jets fans hands. That would be really unfair to the rest of the group. People bought these not so great 300 level tickets so they could be surrounded by Dolphins fans, people want support in enemy territory. If you have extra tickets please post a message on the Facebook group. If anyone needs tickets, please check the Facebook group. Hopefully we can figure this out.

AGAIN… If you need tickets, please check the Facebook group! Someone will be able to help!

And finally… I just wanted you guys to check out this song by a Miami rapper named Solo D. He writes a song every week about the Dolphins upcoming opponent. His song about the Jets game is amazing. We have already hit him up about doing an official Dolfans NYC song.

Can’t wait until we take over Giants Stadium tomorrow. Go Dolphins!

So if you don’t know already Alex, Michelle and I went to “Web Weekend” an event put on by the Miami Dolphins that gets all the people around the world who run Miami Dolphins websites together.  We get free tickets to the game, we get a sideline pass before the game, we get to meet the coach and we get to do question and answer sessions with others in the Dolphins organization.  This year we got to talk to coach Sparano, injured draft pick AJ Edds, former Phin Sam Madison and CEO Mike Dee.  We presented Mike Dee with $1000 dollars that we as a group raised for the Miami Dolphins Foundation. The Dolphins seemed very touched by the Donation so I wanted to thank you guys again for all the support. Thanks for buying t-shirts and raffle tickets and that sort of thing. It helped a lot.

Michelle is going to be putting a Web Weekend video together and I have a feeling Alex is going to have something to say about the experience but for now you should take a look at my pictures from the trip. I uploaded them all to my personal website so you are going to have to check it out over there. Go Dolphins!

Third and Long was probably the least crowded it has been all year, that is to say it was only kinda packed. The holiday weekend and the Bears drubbing thinned the heard a little bit but there was still a big crowd and we had as much fun as we have had all year. The Dolphins finally won a game convincingly and we had a blast.

Now usually I get these pictures up earlier than this and when we win I try to get them up right away but I was so busy because I had to go out of town.  Where did I go? Miami. I am working as a photographer covering the Art Basel art fair in Miami and then going to the Dolphins game on Sunday.  I will have more on that later but the important thing to know for this story is that I grabbed the wrong USB cord and I could not get the pictures from last Sunday off my camera.  After shooting Basel for two days I HAD to turn in pictures to my editors at the Village Voice and the Miami New Times.  At 5 am I went to Wallgreens and they didn’t have a USB cord so I went to CVS.  CVS didn’t have them either. I was sort of panicked. I needed to get images to them by the morning or I might not get paid. I was about to give up when I saw some Miami Dolphins bracelets on the counter and bought them.  The clerk at CVS was pretty much the only guy in the store at 5 am and he was big Dolphins fan. I talked to him about how much we hated the Jets for a while and the I came up with an idea. I would buy a scanner, get out the USB cord and return it.  He told me he would do me one better. He would open it, pull out the cord and let me take it with me and return it.  He told me since I was a Dolphins fan he would trust me.  I thanked him for saving my life and ran out to the car and grabbed my computer and transferred all the files in the store right there.  The guy saved my ass.  I gave him a Dolfans NYC wrist band and he told me he would come up to see the Dolphins play the Jets in NYC one year. He said he has always wanted to do it.  This all just goes to show you that you can always count on the kindness of Dolphins fans.

Sorry. It is 6:15 am and I have slept two hours since I got to Miami two days ago. I am not sure that story really made sense as I am nodding out as I write it, but I just wanted to share that story with you guys before I went to sleep.  Enjoy the pictures from Third & Long last Sunday below.  Click to open them in a new window so you can download them.  Go Dolphins!

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So this week we go to Oakland without Brandon Marshall and a quarterback question.  Fortunately for us Oakland can be run on and if we are going to have a good run game all year this has to be it.  Henne is probably going to get the start which is scary because Oakland has a decent pass rush and Henne will be in a knee brace.  On the other hand if Thigpen starts he is 1-11 as a starter but his one win came at Oakland.  I really have no idea what to expect from the game but I just hope it is a lot more fun than last week.

I also wanted to thank everyone who came out last week, we raised over $500 for The Miami Dolphins Foundation. It was a big success despite the game. This week at Third & Long we aren’t doing a raffle or anything but we do still have Dolfans NYC shirts for sale (although we are out of Mediums). All of the money still goes to charity minus random club expenses.

Speaking of the shirts… did you guys see Dan Marino with his? It’s a pretty good look…

Next week I am going to be in Miami for the Cleveland game and then we have the big trip to the Meadowlands for the Jets game so I won’t be at the bar for a few weeks so I hope to see everyone at Third & Long this week. No matter how badly the Dolphins play everyone still has a good time until the fat lady sings.

Go Dolphins!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Well, I was having a Happy Thanksgiving until the Jets just scored in the Thursday night game against the Bengals…

Anyway, last Thursday the Dolphins played a game that I don’t think anyone wants to remember.  What I do want to remember is that Dolfans NYC threw a really fun party at Third & Long and raised over $500 for the Miami Dolphins Foundation. The bar was completely packed and up until the Dolphins actually took the field we were having a blast.  It sort of went down hill after that….

At least the week ended on a high note with us getting to meet Dan Marino…

Enjoy the photos of the party below and click the gallery to open them in a new window if you want to save any of the shots.  Go Dolphins.

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Last Sunday is a day that DolfansNYC will never forget.

Through the help of Michelle’s coworker, we had the opportunity to attend a live taping of CBS’ “NFL Today.” We stood behind the set as James Brown, Dan Marino, Bill Cowher, Shannon Sharpe, and Boomer Esiason went through the highlights at halftime of the early afternoon games. Once the cameras were off, we walked onto the set and took a picture with the entire cast.

And then, we had the chance to meet our idol, the greatest quarterback in Miami Dolphins history.

It was a little intimidating when my fiancée, Michelle, introduced me to her first crush. I felt like I needed to challenge Dan Marino to a throwing contest to win over her affections. Luckily, I thought better of it and excitedly shook his hand. After all, the man looks like he could still hit open receivers 50 yards down the field with his cannon arm.

“Is this for me? Can I keep this?” asked Marino after we gave him a DolfansNYC t-shirt. He thanked us for the gift, posed for a picture, and autographed our football, jersey, and photo.

As Igor said afterwards, it was an epic day.

With a short week and injuries to both Chad Pennigton and Chad Henne, Tyler Thigpen is in line to make his first start as a Miami Dolphin.

It’s probably safe to assume that most Fins fans don’t know all that much about the team’s newest quarterback.  He’s been the third-stringer behind Pennington, Henne, and (sigh) Pat White ever since he was acquired from the Kansas City Chiefs in September 2009, and had throw only one touchdown and three interceptions for Miami prior to last week.  In his most extensive game action to date, he threw two costly picks in a winnable game against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 17 of 2009.

A mistake-prone QB going up against the Chicago Bears’ fourth-ranked defense that’s tied for the NFL lead with 14 interceptions on the season isn’t exactly a recipe for success, but that doesn’t mean that Thigpen can’t get the job done.

In 2008, Thigpen wasn’t just good in his final ten games for the Chiefs (we’ll conveniently ignore his first career start) — he was one of the best QBs in the NFL.  No seriously, take a look at these numbers from Weeks 7 through 17 of that season.

Only five perennial Pro-Bowlers and a QB playing with Randy Moss and Wes Welker at his disposal found the enzone more times.  The aggressive Thigpen threw the eighth-most TDs — three fewer than Peyton Manning and Aaron Rodgers — rushed for 386 yards and three more scores, and even caught a 37-yard TD pass.  Of course, the second-year player made his share of errors, and Kansas City lost 10 of the 11 games he started (though six of those contests were decided by seven points or less).  The spectacular numbers apparenty weren’t good enough for the Chiefs, who opted to trade for the marginally-better Matt Cassel and keep the legendary Brodie Croyle as the backup QB.

Last week, I speculated that Thigpen would get an extended look towards the end of the season to see if he can be the Dolphins latest QB of the future.  Miami hung on to him during the offseason despite getting plenty of offers, and instead cut ties with White, a 2009 second-round pick.  Don’t be surprised if the underrated Thigpen seizes the opportunity and establishes an immediate rapport with Brandon Marshall on Thursday night. 

At the very least, let’s hope he can make it through the game — I really don’t want to have to write anything positive about Patrick Ramsey.

So last Sunday was a great win and I think we had a lot of fun at the club. We finally had a game we could enjoy because we actually got up on them and could relax for almost a quarter. Unforutunately the injury news was grim and watching the Jets steal an overtime victory made the taste of the win a little bitter. The Jets keep winning games they should not win and it is insanely frustrating.  Chad Pennington is done for the year and we are going to be sending a severely banged up team into battle against a pretty decent Chicago Bears. I have a ton of friends from Chicago so I am hoping we can win to shut these guys the fuck up. I have a feeling some of them are going to show up at Third and Long but I’ll make them sit by the door…

I will make the announcement tomorrow or Wednesday but we have some surprises in store for you guys on Thursday. It will be a big party and we will be raising money for charity and hooking you guys up in the process so get excited for Thursday night football.

And let the football gods shine on Tyler Thigpen. Enjoy the photos from Sunday and double click the slideshow below if you want to save any of the photos.

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