My life has been completely taken over by the #MetLifeTakeover and the pre party we are doing Sunday November 30th. My living room is filled with a half dozen boxes filled with everything from inflatable palm trees to t-shirts to some of the best raffle prizes we have ever had. It’s insane. I will get to all that stuff in a minute but before I do, I wanted to let you guys that the one and only Solo D has re-recorded the Dolfans NYC theme song!

Solo D wrote a song for us years ago and ever since DJ Tropic started DJing our Sunday watch parties at Slattery’s people have been asking about that track. Tropic spins it at least once a week and people keep bugging him about where they can get a copy. The problem was that the song was way out of date. It mentioned our old bar Third & Long and our hatred for Rex Ryan who will very likely be out of a job in a couple months. We asked him to rerecord it and he was happy to do it since back then he was just recording shit at his place and he wanted to update it with some real studio sound!

So here it is the 2014 version of the Dolfans NYC Anthem! Get it, memorize it and sing it with us every Sunday!

[mp3j track=”http://www.dolfansnyc.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/01-Dolfans-NYC-Anthem.mp3″ volslider=”y” style=”outline”] Download the MP3

Now for some other stuff! Speaking of Solo D, he will be playing at our November 30th pre-party! The party starts at noon at Slattery’s Midtown Pub and will go to about four. At 1pm we have a surprise Dolphins alumni visiting and at 2pm Solo D will be performing. DJ Tropic will be DJing and we are raffling off TWO full sized autographed Dolphins helmets! One is signed by Ryan Tannehill and the other by Mike Wallace. We also have a game used signed Brian Hartline cleat and a TON of other prizes. On top of that the first 150 people in the door get a free t-shirt. It’s going to be insane.

Lastly, I just wanted to hook you guys up with a story written by Dolfans NYC member Pascal Mencini. He went to London for the Raiders game and ended up hanging out with a bunch of the Dolphins rookies. It’s a pretty cool story and worth checking out.

Phins up!

It finally happened. Today we sold our 1,000th ticket to the Dolphins game in NJ on Monday Night Football. It’s a huge milestone for us because we thought we would have a hard time selling tickets since it was on a work night and Thanksgiving weekend but we have sold over 250 more than our record breaking 752 tickets last year!

We now own the two highest group ticket purchases in MetLife Stadium history. We have taken the #MetLifeTakeover to another level and thank you guys so much for joining us!

If you still need tickets we are completely sold out, but it’s time to announce the sections so any last minute ticket holders can pick them up on StubHub.

We have nearly the entire sections of 345 and 346 so good luck getting tickets in those sections… but we also have 8 full rows in 344 and several rows in 347 as well. I recommend buying tickets in rows 17-20 in 347 and the top rows (24-26) in 344. Also there are a few seats in the “prime” section of 346 so you can get some pretty great seats cheap with a ton of Dolphins fans sitting right behind you. Let’s keep going!

Now the fun stuff! Tailgate info and the big pre party!

Because it’s on Monday night our busses aren’t leaving our bar, Slattery’s Midtown Pub, until 5:45pm so that means the 216 people who signed up for the buses won’t be getting to MetLife until around 7pm. Because of this we are NOT doing an official tailgate. BUT we are going to be organizing a BYO tailgate in Lot L (you need a YELLOW parking pass). A few of us will be getting there right when the gates open and we will post our location to Twitter and Facebook. If everyone meets us there we can still party while we wait for all the busses to show up. Bring your own beer and food and if you have a grill or tents or whatever BRING EVERYTHING! We can still do a pretty fun tailgate even if it’s not catered or anything like last year. Plus we will have a few surprises in store…

Speaking of surprises, we are throwing a big party at Slattery’s on Sunday the 30th! 

On Sunday at noon we are having a big party since we aren’t doing a proper tailgate. The big news is that members of the Miami Dolphins organization will be there! They haven’t told us who yet, but they are bringing a Dolphins alumni member and a ton of SERIOUS raffle prizes. This will be BY FAR our biggest raffle ever. Plus the first 150 people through the door will receive aqua Miami Dolphins t-shirts! We will be showing the 2013 #MetLifeTakeover game as well as some of the 1pm games plus we will have a performance from the one and only Solo D! There will be the same food/drink specials we have every game day at Slattery’s and there will be even more surprises.

We will also be selling our new merch designed specifically for the #MetLifeTakeover we have new warm weather Dolfans NYC beanies and Dolfans NYC clear bags. If you haven’t been to a game recently the NFL now requires everyone to have clear bags if you want to bring anything into the stadium. So now you can rep our crew in style. If you can’t make the party they are now available in our web store too!

Lastly we will be giving out rally towels for people going to the game with us. You must have purchased tickets from us to get one. We only have 600 so this is the only way you are guaranteed to get one. We will also be giving out wristbands for the bus and even a few inflatable palm trees! It’s going to be a party!

So, let’s get excited for the best #MetLifeTakeover ever!

I just wanted to throw up a post today with a bunch of small updates that you guys might want to know about. It’s hard to update after a loss but for once I felt proud of our team after a loss instead of just upset. It was completely heartbreaking to lose like that but to see our line step up after Albert went down and to see Tannehill play so tough after getting hit over and over again was pretty inspiring. Until that last drive, well after Finnegan went down, the Lions had only one pass worth talking about. Obviously it wasn’t good enough, but this is not your same old Dolphins. But let’s move on and get to the news.

First of all, happy Veteran’s Day. We took the money we made on Sunday at Slattery’s and donated it ($300) to the Wounded Warrior Project. It seemed like the perfect timing for a donation like that. It means a lot that we can give back like this while doing something as fun as this club.

Also in Veteran’s Day news Andy Cohen profiled our friend Jim Miller on the Dolphins website. Jim is a great dude and I get to see him nearly every year as part of the Dolphins Web Weekend. He and I have some political differences but I have never enjoyed discussing our differences more with anyone. He is a true patriot and someone I am honored to call a friend…

In Dolfans NYC news we surprised everyone at the bar on Sunday by announcing that the Marks Brothers, Mark Clayton & Mark Duper would be coming to Slattery’s this Thursday for an autograph signing. We had waited until the last moment to announce because we didn’t have 100% confirmation. Unfortunately we should have waited a little longer because the event they were coming to NYC for got moved. Fortunately for us it looks like they may still be coming after all, just not until the December 14th game against the Patriots. Things are still a bit in the air but as soon as I get more info I will pass it on to you guys.

This Thursday should still be a blast at the bar anyway. We are obviously playing a huge “must win” game. I mean they don’t get much more must win than this in November. Plus it’s prime time so that’s always a lot of fun. And we are doing a FREE raffle to make up for the Marks Brothers mistake. But make sure you get to the bar early. The upstairs of Slattery’s is reserved for us but the downstairs will have a post work happy hour crowd that will probably leave once the bar fills up with 300 Dolphins fans.

Okay, that’s all I got for now but we will be updating soon with more news about the #MetLifeTakeover so be on the look out for that. Have a great Veteran’s Day!

Standing inside the same auditorium where his former coaches delivered passionate pregame speeches and reviewed game film with the team – Joe Philbin’s mantras and principles, as well as framed photos of the organization’s two Super Bowl-winning squads gracing the walls around him – former Miami Dolphins wide receiver Chris Chambers addressed dozens of fan-site moderators gathered for Web Weekend XI.

Joined by fellow team icon A.J. Duhe and Finsiders host Greg Likens, Chambers – decked in a black windbreaker jacket and matching thick-rimmed glasses – was candid and reflective, touching on everything from being caught off-guard when he was traded to San Diego midway through the 2007 season to earning a Pro Bowl selection during Nick Saban’s lone tumultuous year in South Florida.

After presenting DolfansNYC with two of our extremely humbling three Webby Awards and obliging every photo- and autograph-seeker following the ceremony, No. 84 graciously took time out to look back on his career highlights, express his appreciation for Dolphins fans on the road and much more in a one-on-one interview.

Looking back on your six-and-a-half-year Dolphins tenure, what were some of your favorite memories?

“There are so many moments. The Dallas Cowboys game (on Nov. 27, 2003), being able to score three touchdowns. Jay Fiedler and I both got the Turkey Award there, (but) I gave it to him though because he was the older guy. Now, I (tell him), ‘I want my award back!’ It was cool at the time.

“My first touchdown against Indianapolis (on Nov. 11, 2001), Jay threw a beautiful ball to me, and I caught it, 60 yards (downfield). I ended up getting my second touchdown in the same game.

“And then the Buffalo Bills game (on Dec. 4, 2005), where I set the Dolphins record for receiving yards and catches. That was a game that was very bleak at halftime, and then enter Sage Rosenfels, and it was bombs away!

“Those games have been outstanding, and I can’t wait to continue to look back and watch some of those games, and show my son and some of his peers what his dad did when he was on the field.”

That was an incredible Dolphins comeback against Buffalo. Do your franchise records still stand?

“Brian Hartline broke (the receiving yards record), actually (on Oct. 30, 2012), and I was kind of crying a little bit. [Laughs] But he’s a good receiver, and I don’t see anyone touching that for quite some time. We’ll see how (long the record stands).”

You caught passes from 10 different quarterbacks in Miami. What kind of impact did the ‘quarterback carousel,’ as you’ve called it, have on your game?

“You know, you kind of got used to it after a while. We never had that one guy who was the quarterback here – (whom) you started with here, continued to play with and grew with. That’s what made it difficult, when you’d have to have a different guy (frequently). I remember us having a left-handed guy, then we had another righty, and then a guy who was a little more mobile.

“I called it a lot of guys on (ends) of their careers, like Daunte Culpepper, who wasn’t healthy. Gus Frerotte – he had gray hairs, for God’s sake! Guys like that, they went out there and did what they did, and I had some good seasons, but once I got with a more stable quarterback (with the Chargers), that’s when I was able to take off a little bit.”

Who were some players you admired growing up and modeled your own game after?

“Growing up in Cleveland, Ohio, I was a huge Ohio State fan, so, Terry Glenn and Joey Galloway (were my role models). If you see a lot of my plays, you see me diving and stuff, I got that from Terry Glenn.

“I was a die-hard Cleveland Browns fan, with Webster Slaughter, Eric Metcalf and those guys. They were really good – they had Bernie Kosar and The Dawg Pound – and that’s what really ignited me as a youngster to play football. To be able to have that (experience) and know that today, kids really look up to us, it really is something special.”

When you first entered the NFL, were there any veterans who took you in and served as role models?

“Absolutely – Sam Madison, Terrell Buckley, James McKnight, who was already a receiver here. He was one guy I really looked up to (because) he was a really good route runner, a very positive guy, a very clean guy.

“I just kind of jumped in, and once the guys saw my athletic ability on the first day of camp, guys received me even though I was kind of there to, at some point, take their jobs. They did an excellent job of supporting me and showing me the ropes.”

You recently had a chance to serve on the Dolphins coaching staff during training camp and help some of the younger players. How much did you enjoy that experience?

“I was an intern, so I didn’t know what I was going to do. I didn’t know if I was going to be stapling papers or whatever, but when I went in there, I knew a lot about this offense already, because a lot of plays that Norv (Turner) ran were similar to Bill Lazor’s. We were all on board and they really respected my knowledge. Every time I spoke in the receiving room, the guys paid attention to me.”

Do you plan to pursue a full-time coaching gig in the future?

“It’s just something that I wanted to do. I don’t know if I’m ever going to become a full-time coach, but I love the flexibility to come out here and help the guys, and see the guys go on their way. It really brought me closer to this organization again, because I didn’t know anybody but the snapper, (John Denney). He was the only guy who was here when I was here. Now that I know some of the players’ faces, had some conversations with them, it meant the world to me, and I think the Dolphins should continue to do that with some of their former players.”

Finally, DolfansNYC will have as many as 1,000 fans cheering on the team when the Dolphins visit the Jets at MetLife Stadium on Dec. 1. As a player, how did it feel when you’d walk into opposing stadiums and see aqua and orange in the stands?

“It felt so good! I think we have some of the best fans in the NFL – we always have. To come to New York – when you have your Fire Marshall on one side and have (Dolphins fans) rooting – it was just an outstanding feeling. Knowing you can come into a stadium and you see Dolphins tents and you see Dolphins tailgates, for the home team, it’s kind of intimidating, and it lets you know that the support is huge.

“I just want the Dolphins fans to continue to support us. I think we’ll have a very good team this year and (fans) will be able to get behind us.”

For more Chris Chambers check out his non-profit foundation Catch 84 and his South Florida training facility The Chamber.

This past weekend was amazing. Not only did we help organize a group trip for fan clubs around the country but it was also the Dolphins annual Web Weekend a conference of Miami Dolphins web masters that I have attended 11 years in a row.  Also the Dolphins played one of their most dominant games in the history of the franchise so that was nice too.

Dolfans NYC was founded because of Web Weekend. Michelle and I both ran Dolphins fan sites and realized we both lived in NYC and started watching games together. A few years later we abandoned our former sites and started Dolfans NYC. This is the 6th time we have attended as Dolfans NYC and the weekends keep getting better.

This year we donated $5000 to the Miami Dolphins Foundation beating our $3000 donation last year after giving $1000 in both 2011 and 2012. That’s $10,000 to the Foundation thanks to you guys. To celebrate we are holding a FREE raffle this week at Slattery’s Midtown Pub for the Lions game. All you have to do is show up and you get a ticket! We should have some cool prizes including a Dolfans NYC shirt signed by AJ Duhe.

Speaking of AJ Duhe, he and Chris Chambers came and spoke to us during Web Weekend. We also had GM Dennis Hickey and CEO Tom Garfinkel in attendance as well. It was pretty great. Plus Jordan Tripp, Michael Thomas and the Finsiders joined us at a party on Friday. Coach Philbin was supposed to speak with us but unfortunately he was out of town because of the death of his father. As always Michelle stepped up and bought a condolence card that we all signed.

The last event of the weekend (aside from the game!) was the Dolphins Webby Awards which are given out to Dolphins Websites. It means a huge amount to me that we have now won the Eddie Jones Community award all three years of its existence. This club has become as much about giving back as it is about football and so that award means a ton to me. We also won the social networking award which I take a bit of pride in considering I do 90% of the social networking for Dolfans NYC. Our third award was the “Most Informative Site” award which is kinda silly considering I haven’t updated this site in a month. That being said our Twitter account and Facebook page serve as great newswires and it still means a great deal because the awards are voted on by our fellow web masters.

Anyway, check out the pictures in this Flickr gallery below. I took all the pictures with our logo watermarked on the images. The other shots are courtesy of the Miami Dolphins. See you guys Sunday!

[tylr-slidr]http://www.flickr.com/photos/dolfansnyc/sets/72157648718752277/[/tylr-slidr]