We’re in the midst of that boring two-week stretch before anyone can bet on the Super Bowl, so we may as well talk about every football fan’s favorite game of the year – the Pro Bowl. Sure, plenty of undeserving players such as Derek Anderson, David Garrard, and Gus Frerotte have been selected in recent years and made the honor less prestigious, but it’s still a rare opportunity to highlight a few positives from the Dolphins’ season.

Four Fins in all have been selected to the 2011 Pro Bowl – the most for the team since 2003 – offensive tackle Jake Long (who will not play due to injury), linebacker Cameron Wake, defensive end Randy Starks (replacement for the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Brett Keisel), and long snapper John Denney.

It’s hardly a surprise that two Dolphins defensive linemen are making the trip to Honolulu, since Miami ranked sixth in total yards allowed per game (309.3) and 10th in sacks (39.0), while the long snapper is the only representative from the 30th–ranked offense.

Wake, the NFL’s sack leader (14.0) through 16 weeks, was dominant all year long , and should get some consideration for the Defensive Player of the Year.  NFL.com, however, list him on its “Which AFC player are you most surprised to see make the Pro Bowl?” poll, along with the league’s leading rusher (Arian Foster) and receiver (Brandon Lloyd).

Starks recorded 30 total tackles and to go along with 3.0 sacks, which was good for third on the team behind Wake and Koa Misi. For what it’s worth, Starks had 56 tackles and 7.0 sacks in 2009 and failed to make the Pro Bowl roster, so it appears that the NFL has gotten progressively worse.

With Denney as the long snapper, kicker Dan Carpenter has made 102 out of 103 extra point attempts and 76 of 94 field goals over the last three seasons (which would be higher if Carpenter wasn’t forced to attempt a ridiculous eight FGs over 50 yards last season).  I’m surprised team MVP, punter Brandon Fields, didn’t get any consideration while we’re at it.

The Pro Bowl will air on Sunday, January 30 at 7 p.m. EST on FOX.  Pretend that you’ll be watching.

The Super Bowl just can’t get here fast enough. Go Packers?

Now that the New York Jets have been eliminated from the Playoffs and we can all breathe a collective sigh of relief, it’s time to think about what’s next for the Miami Dolphins.   Let’s take a look back at where it all went wrong in 2010 and make some very early predictions for 2011 (presuming we’ll actually have an NFL season). In the coming weeks, I’ll break down key free agents who’d look great in aqua and orange next season.

Anyone who watched even a handful of series doesn’t need to look at advanced metrics to know Miami’s offense was dreadful. The Dolphins, expected to be a dominant run-first team after having the fourth-best rushing offense in 2009, tied for 29th in rushing TDs (8) and 21st in rushing yards (1,643), while also coming in 27th in passing TDs (17) and fourth in interceptions (21). While WRs Brandon Marshall, Davone Bess, and Brian Hartline, as well as TE Anthony Fasano (signed to an extension through 2012), form a solid and dependable aerial attack, the same can’t be said for just about every other member of the offense. So who should and likely will be back in 2011?

Chad Henne, QB

2010 Prediction: 4,161 passing yards, 25 TDs, 13 INT
2010 Statistics: 3,301 passing yards, 15 TDs, 19 INT

It turns out I – as well as everyone who threw away money on a Henne jersey – was wrong about the supposed QB of the future. After showing promise at the end of the 2009 season and having a Pro Bowl WR at his disposal, Henne was expected to take a step forward and improve his decision-making. After throwing three picks in a crushing loss to the Baltimore Ravens in Week 9, Henne was benched in favor of Chad Pennington, and was then once again pulled for Tyler Thigpen in an embarrassing season-ending loss to the Patriots. Over the last 12 games, Henne threw 12 TDs and 18 INTs, and posted a QB Rating under 60.0 in four of his final eight appearances.

While most Dolphins fans never want to see him on the field again, it’s almost a given that Miami will keep the still 25-year-old QB for another year. It’s even possible that he’ll get a chance to compete for a backup spot with a veteran QB – Kyle Orton? Donovan McNabb? Er, Brady Quinn? – in training camp if the team doesn’t draft a QB in the first round of the Draft. Either way, it’s become clear that Henne is not the long-term solution as the Dolphins starter.

2011 Prediction: 1,127 passing yards, 5 TDs, 6 INT

Tyler Thigpen, QB: Thigpen was horrendous in his lone start against the Bears, a 16-0 shutout at home (albeit he was missing half of his offense), and finished the year with 435 passing yards (53.2% completion percentage), two TDs, and two picks. While he has mobility and can make plays out of the pocket, he’s unlikely to receive anything more than a training camp invite from Miami.

2011 Prediction – signs with Tennessee Titans: 1,630 passing yards, 9 TDs, 7 INT

Chad Pennington, QB: I wish Pennington all the best with his return from a fourth shoulder surgery, but considering that he played two snaps in 2010 before getting hurt again, the odds aren’t in his favor. In an ideal world, he’d become the Dolphins’ QB coach, but I have a feeling he’ll go back to where it all started and take Mark Brunell’s clipboard job in New York.

2011 Prediction – signs with New York Jets: 110 passing yards, 2 TDs, 0 INT

Ronnie Brown, RB

2010 Prediction: 893 rushing yards, 135 receiving yards, 7 TDs
2010 Statistics: 734 rushing yards, 242 receiving yards, 5 TDs

On the surface, my prediction looks fairly accurate, since Brown gained only 58 fewer yards from scrimmage and managed to play all 16 games for only the second time in his career. The problem is that Brown averaged a career-low 3.7 yards per attempt, didn’t have a single 100-yard rushing game, and his 45.9 yards per game were the lowest of any player with at least 200 carries. The soon-to-be-30-year-old is an unrestricted free agent who hasn’t been offered a contract by the Dolphins and has probably already cleaned out his locker

2011 Prediction – signs with Cincinnati Bengals: 697 rushing yards, 213 receiving yards, 4 TDs

Ricky Williams, RB

2010 Prediction: 906 rushing yards, 211 receiving yards, 9 TDs
2010 Statistics: 673 rushing yards, 141 receiving yards, 3 TDs

No one expected Ricky to even come close to matching his gaudy 2009 numbers (1,121 rushing yards, 13 TDs), but 2010 was certainly a disappointing season for the 33-year-old running back. Still, Williams averaged 4.2 yards per carry and busted off a 45-yard scamper, showing he has plenty left in those legs. After he recently bashed Coach Sparano and the organization, it doesn’t sound like he’ll be back in Miami next season either, and I’ll be shocked if he doesn’t sign with the Jets or Patriots just to stick it to the Dolphins.

2011 Prediction – signs with New England Patriots: 479 rushing yards, 96 receiving yards, 3 TD

Patrick Cobbs / Lex Hilliard / Lousaka Polite, RB:  Forget what I projected — guess who was the Fins’ third-leading rusher last season? Yep, Thigpen with a whopping 73 yards. Short-yardage specialist Polite managed to get 62 rushing yards and his first career TD, while Cobbs and Hilliard played mainly on special teams and combined for exactly zero rushing yards on four carries. The coaching staff reportedly loves Cobbs, and Polite converts on third-and-one situations as well as anyone in the league, so their roles are unlikely to change in 2011.
Hilliard, however, could opt for more playing time, especially with the impending return of the speedy Kory Sheets.

2011 Prediction – signs with New Orleans Saints: 132 rushing yards, 160 receiving yards, 2 TDs

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.

It was initially intimidating to meet not only the owner of our favorite football team, but one of Forbes‘ richest men in America.  And yet, Miami Dolphins majority owner Stephen Ross was incredibly kind and generous when he took the time out of his busy schedule to meet Michelle, Igor, and me in his midtown New York office, and sat down to talk about football and our local fanclub.

He listened attentively as we talked about the growth and direction of DolfansNYC, and was pleased to hear that over 100 die-hard, aqua-and-orange-clad fans come to Third and Long each week to watch the games. But Mr. Ross could help but chuckle when we told him that we play the original team fight song after every Miami touchdown.

“You play the old version?” he clarified, flashing a wide grin. “I hate that song! I had Jimmy (Buffett) write the ‘Fins to the Left’ song that we now play in the stadium.”

“T-Pain — the hip-hop artist — recorded a new version of the fight song, but the fans weren’t very receptive when it was played during the preseason games,” Mr. Ross continued. “I wanted to do something in football like baseball does with the seventh inning stretch, so we now play (the old fight song) after the third quarter. The crowd goes wild and it brings a lot of excitement.”

When we told Mr. Ross about our efforts to raise money for charity, with a goal of contributing at least $1,000 to the Miami Dolphins Foundation, he was more than happy to oblige.

“You guys want some paraphernalia?” he asked as he opened his cupboard and rummaged through stacks of Dolphins items. “Let’s see what we’ve got here that they sent me. I have no idea what I have!

In a matter of minutes, our hands we filled with official team polo shirts, jackets, and hats. Mr. Ross signed both our banner and a hat with a ‘Go Fins!’ inscription, and in return, we provided him with a DolfansNYC t-shirt from the club.

Mr. Ross then showed us showed us “FanVision,” a device his company created that streams video to a 4.3-inch screen, which he hopes will revolutionize the in-stadium game experience. It allows fans to watch instant replays from three different angles, see highlights from other NFL games, and get access to every conceivable statistic.

“FanVision is a new technology that is now available in 12 NFL stadiums, including the New Meadowlands for Jets games,” he told us. “We’re hoping to have it in every stadium by next year, and a few baseball ones, too. We’re also working on a mobile version that will be compatible with cell phones.”

Before we left, we crowded around Mr. Ross’ desk, surrounded by shelves that house dozens of his real estate awards, philanthropic recognitions, and photos with various politicians and celebrities, as he and a member of his media team gave us a sneak peek at a couple of upcoming projects. Along with two breast cancer awareness campaigns featuring R&B singer Kelly Rowland, we were treated to a preview of the opening montage and theme song for the Dolphins upcoming showdown with the New England Patriots.

Let’s just say that no Fins fan will be disappointed with the splendid blend of old and new school. Monday night can’t get here fast enough.

Special thanks to Mr. Ross and DolfansNYC member Tim Sullivan for organizing the meeting.

ESPN is running a competition right now to name America’s best sports bar and while Third & Long didn’t make the cut, our neighbors to the South did.

The season before Short Michelle and I started Dolfans NYC we visited Miami Mike’s in New Jersey for a game. It was amazing. We watched the game with 100 Phins fans and they played the fight song after every score and Miami Mike ran around like a manaic with his Dolphins poncho on high fiving everyone. It was an amazing experience.

So when Michelle and I started DolfansNYC Miami Mike’s was and continues to be a huge inspiration. We will not stop until we are as big of a Dolphins home base as they are. With two huge Dolphins bars in Jets territory Dolfans will not be stopped.

So if you guys would take a second and vote for our pals over at Miami Mike’s I would appreciate it. Let’s Go Dolphins!

Ps. Yes, I am intentionally ignoring the preseason mess that just happened.

One of the staff writers over at PhinPhanatic, Chris Leeuw, recently broke his neck and is paralyzed from the neck down.  This is obviously an horrible thing to happen to anyone, but having it happen to a member of our Dolphins family makes it even worse. Our good friend Brian Millar over at PhinPhanatic reached out to us asking if we would post something on DolfansNYC asking our members to reach out to Chris and leave him a message of support.

To follow Chris’ progress and to leave him a message of support click here.

To find out more information about Chris and his injury click here.

Let’s all hope he makes a full recovery!

I don’t know about you guys but I am getting more and more excited about football season every single day.  We are  just four days away from the start of training camp and I can’t wait. I have no idea what this team is going to look like but I could not be more pumped.

I think if Chad Henne continues to improve our offense could be something really special. We had the #4 rushing offense in the NFL last year and that was with Ronnie hurt. This year our QB has a full training camp to prepare and a guy you might of heard of named Brandon Marshall.  Add to that improved depth at offensive line and more experience for guys like Bess and Hartline we could really have an impressive offense.

On the defensive side you have to worry a little bit.  Mike Nolan comes to town with and amazing reputation for turning around defenses and Karlos Dansby provides us with a quality inside linebacker like we haven’t seen since Z Thomas was in his primte, but with Ferg retiring we have lost all three defensive captains.  Other than Dansby we really only have Bell, Allen and Crowder to provide veteran leadership and  you can question if Allen or Crowder will even start.  There is a lot of potential on this team certainly. Cam Wake seems like the guy everyone is talking about.  As a former Nittany Lion myself I am pretty excited about him, but I still don’t know if he is the real deal.  And that brings us to our secondary.  Sean Smith and Vontae Davis look to be our corner backs of the future. These are athletic guys who showed they could make plays last year.  They also showed that they occasionaly give up the big play.  I think everyone is counting on these guys to show up and I am confident they can do it, but will they be able to do it NOW? I hope so.

Speaking on Vontae Davis I got to meet the man the other week.  I saw on Twitter that Vontate Davis was going to be in New York on vacation.  I hit him up and he put me in contact with his assistant. I put her in touch with Dolfans NYC member Scott who is part of the ownership of the popular nightclub Greenhouse.  Greehouse has NFL players there all the time and I thought it would be the perfect spot for Vontae.  We got him a table set up for Saturday but he showed up on Thursday as well.  I went down both nights and hung out a bit.

Thursday was the day Ferg retired and it was one of the first things I asked Vontae about. He hadn’t checked the news and hadn’t heard about it. He almost didn’t believe me until I pulled up the article on my phone. He looked more than a little upset.  Still, he had very high hopes for this season and is a monster up close.  The guy is two inches shorter than me but his arms are bigger than my legs. He seemed like he had a great time both nights and he told me he would hit me up next time he is in town.  I am really glad Dolfans NYC could treat him right. Hopefully he will let other players know and we can build on the already good realtionship we have with the team. Also, Vontae’s assistant is going to try to send over some autographs so we have something to raffle this year.

Anyway, I should be updating this more over the next couple weeks as we get ready for the reason.  I hope you guys are exicted as I am.  Go Dolphins!

This is the slowest time of the year and I can’t really take it. Everyone in Miami is talking about Lebron James and the only thing happening in Phinsland is that Chad Henne is getting married. And over over here at Dolfans NYC nothing is going on either. I really am trying to find something to update about and I just can’t do it.  July is just too long to deal with. I just keep refreshing the Phins newswire and hoping that Rex Ryan falls down a manhole.  He might actually fit now that he had his lap band surgery.

Anyway, I just wanted to check in with you guys and post a picture of the kitten I rescued. I found him and his brother in a box on the street. I found them good homes but before I did I taught them all about the Wildcat. They are named Jameson and Maven now, but to me they will be Ronnie and Ricky. Say hello to the Wild Kitten.

I noticed that Hulu recently released a ton of new NFL season highlights.  The Dolphins have about 10 seasons up including the ’72 & ’73 seasons and some classic Marino stuff… But I immediately went to the 2002 highlights.  2002 seems to be the Dolphins season that haunts me the most.  I think part of it was that it was the first NFL season after I turned 21 so it was the first time in my life I could go to sports bars and watch every single game.  Since that season I have only missed one full Dolphins game and I had a friend calling me every few minutes with updates…

But that season was one of the only times since Marino that the Dolphins really had a real shot at greatness.  We were destroying people until Jay Fiedler got hurt against the Broncos in what at the time was one of the best games I had ever seen.  We won with no time on the clock with a 53 yard field goal.  It was amazing. Unfortunately Fiedler broke his thumb and was replaced by the singularly worst QB in Dolphins history Ray Lucas who promptly lost us three straight games.  After that it was up to Wannstdet to over use Ricky until a season later he was hanging out in Australia instead of running over Jets and Patriots.

The 2002 season we had 6 Dolphins defenders in the Pro Bowl along with Ricky on offense, we trounced the AFC Champion Raiders and yet we went 9-7.  The next year we won 10 games and still didn’t make the playoffs. It was disastrous…. and it only got worse…

You watch these highlights and you will see so many players that got away or were never the same again… Of course we lost Ricky but within a few seasons rookie sensation Randy McMichael was gone, Surtain and Madison were cast aside, we let Todd Wade and Morlon Greenwood leave in free agency, Jamie Nails got injured and Chris Chambers never lived up to his potential.  In one of our biggest mistakes we traded Adewale Ogunleye for Marty Booker and a third round draft pick that we immediately traded for a running back who immediately got hurt. Wannstedt mismanaged Rob Konrad until he decided to retire and even solid role players like Travis Minor and Ed Perry were soon gone. And I still miss Olindo Mare if only for his booming kickoffs…

It was sad to see a team that good fall apart so quickly.  We were so spoiled then.  If we had only appreciated what we had in Jay Fiedler and how nice it was to have 10 and 11 win seasons even if we weren’t doing much in the playoffs… Sigh…

Anyway, I am going to just let you watch these highlights.  Try to appreciate them instead of depressing yourself like I just have.  And then look towards the future and hope that Chad Henne is the real deal and that Brandon Marshall’s hips and temper hold up for a few years and that Ricky has a few more 100 yard games in him and that Jason Taylor isn’t a 10th of the player he was in 2002…

Go Dolphins!

Free agency is just a few days old and it has been an exciting one for the Dolphins!  We cut Joey “Bitch, Moan and Won’t Play The Run” Porter,  “Garbage” Gibril Wilson and Akin Ayodele.  We also let unrestricted free agent Nate Jones leave for Denver. In the process we resigned Chad Pennington as a back up and paid former Cardinals inside linebacker Karlos Dansby a dump truck of money to come play for us.  And as we speak we are trying to hammer out a deal for Steelers safety Ryan Clark. One of my best friends is a Steelers fan and spoke very highly of Clark.  So did Peter King in this weeks MMQB.

I am extremely happy we resigned Penny and and pretty upset we let Nate Jones go.  Rarely do you get a player so happy to be a role player and Nate Jones loved the nickle.  He always made plays when he had to and he played is ass off on special teams.  The only problem is that Will Allen is probably going to be playing nickel next year so we had to let somebody go.  Speaking of Nate Jones, Michelle met him last week and has a video message from him that will be going up on this website so check back then.

Lastly, I wanted to tell you guys a funny story.  Saturday night a friend of mine texted me at 330 in the morning to tell me he was hanging out with a Dolphin.  He is a pretty well known musician but doesn’t know anything about football.  He didn’t know who the guy was, but he knew I was a Phins fan so he texted me. Turns out the guy he was hanging out with was Ted Ginn.  He told me that Ted Ginn called me a bitch because I didn’t want to go hang out.  I texted something about dropped passes, but then I sucked it up and met them out.  It turns out that it wasn’t Ted Ginn at all.  I mean, he looked vaguely like him, but he was too short, fat and old looking to be one of the fastest men on Earth.  I decided not to call this guy out, so I posed awkwardly for some photos with him and played a long.  At one point he pulled me aside and thanked me for not blowing his cover.  It was pretty funny.  I had a good night hanging with them anyway, so it wasn’t a total bust.  I even got a fake autograph!

Anyway, here is a pretty funny picture of me and the fake Teddy Ginn.  And remember, come back on Wednesday to check out the Nate Jones shout out.  Probably one of the last things he ever did as a Dolphin. See you soon! Go Dolphins!