Just a short post today. I have a busy weekend I have no idea how many of you actually read these things

I just wanted to say I like our chances against the Ravens this week and if we win we will put ourselves in a very good place in the AFC playoff picture. Winning again against the Titans would go a long way next week too. Let’s see if we can get a little winning streak going.

I was hoping the be in Baltimore for the game but unfortunately the people I was going with could not make it. If anyone is going to the game and has an extra ticket for sale, let me know I would love to make the trip but I don’t want to sit by myself.

If I am not at the game I will of course be at Third & Long. If anyone out there hasn’t been yet you really need to join us out there. This season has been so much fun win or lose. We even got the bartender to get rid of her Giants gear and put on a DolfansNYC t-shirt.

Speaking of the shirts, we got more in and Michelle will have them for sale even if I am not at the game.

Let’s get em this week guys! Go Dolphins!

Randy Moss is going to the Tennessee Titans, who claimed the enigmatic wide receiver off waivers from the Minnesota Vikings.  Since waiver priority is determined by the inverse order of the current standings, the 4-3 Miami Dolphins would have acquired Moss had they decided to put in a claim.  Did the team make a big mistake by passing up the chance to feature two 2009 Pro Bowlers in a revamped vertical game?

There were plenty of reasons for Miami to pass on Moss, who can be the best player on the field if he’s motivated, and a head-case who doesn’t respect his teammates or coaches and carries far more baggage than he’s worth if he’s disinterested. 

Despite playing for Bill Belichick, one of very few coaches who has earned Moss’s admiration, the wide receiver still found a ticket out of New England after questioning his role in the offense and getting into a spat about Tom Brady’s hair (I don’t actually think that last part is true, but it’s hilarious nonetheless). 

Through his career, Moss has been repeatedly chastised for his lack of effort, failure to finish routes and make blocks, and an alarming attitude in the locker room that largely contributed to his release from Minnesota.

But hate him or love him, Moss is one of the most talented WRs in NFL history, and players of his caliber are hardly ever so readily available.  He’s two and a half years removed from a season in which he recorded nearly 1,500 receiving yards and caught an NFL-record 23 touchdown passes.   For his career, he ranks second in league history in TDs (153), fourth in receiving yards per game (76.6), fifth in total receiving yards (14,778), and eight in catches (948).  Those skills didn’t suddenly diminish overnight.

Perhaps the Miami coaches didn’t think they could keep him happy in a run-first offense, or didn’t want to deal with the distractions and media circus that surrounds the outspoken and constantly unhappy Moss.  But his off-putting personality aside, the Dolphins sure could’ve used him on the field.

The team ranks 25^th in the league in passing plays of over 20 yards (17) with an anemic average of 6.7 yards per pass attempt.  Miami hasn’t had a true deep threat (at least one who can catch the ball) in years, and Moss would’ve commanded double-teams and opened the field for Brandon Marshall — who publicly lobbied for the acquisition — and slot receiver Davone Bess.

It would’ve been a relatively low-risk and low-cost gamble for the Dolphins, since Moss is owed $3.388 million for the remainder of the season, the final year of his contract.  Even he has to realize that at this point, no team would hesitate to cut him if he continues to exhibit an oversized ego and a poor attitude, and that he could find himself out of a job in the offseason if he burns yet another bridge.  

The Dolphins could’ve gotten a playmaker whose talents could’ve single-handedly brought the division title back to South Beach.  Instead, they’ll have to settle for seeing Moss catch passes only once this year, when the visiting Titans come to Miami on November 14.

The bar started out a little bit empty on Sunday but it was Halloween and everyone was partying the night before, that being said, by the end of the 1st quarter the crowd was bumping like usual. Five field goals was very frustrating for everyone, but signing the fight song after that touchdown was worth all the anguish.  We took another game on the road and hopefully we will do it again next week and hopefully I will be at the game. I grew up right outside of DC and I spent a lot of time in Baltimore as a misguided teen. I love the city but hate the Ravens. I can’t wait.

If you check out the pictures below you will notice a few things.  1) It was Curtis the Third & Long bar manager’s birthday and Michelle got him a cake. That made for a fun and delicous two minute warning. 2) I have noticed that the Last Rights Mac 10 T-shirt is becoming really popular. People ask me about mine, so check their website if you want one.  3) We got new shirts in and the logo is bigger. Michelle should have them next week as I will be out of town but we should have every size now.

Anyway, check the slide show below and double click if you want to download a picture. Go Dolphins!

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Normally when I post picture I talk about last weeks game. I will not this week. I have no comment on the Steelers tragedy so please don’t talk to me about it. Moving on…

This week we have to play the Bengals and the TOcho show.  The game is away so all the pundits are picking us based on some stupid coincidence.  The reason we are 0-3 at home and 3-0 on the road is simply because we played better teams at home than on the road. I have no idea why people are making a big deal out of that irrelevant statistic. Going into Cinci is not going to be an easy game but I really do think the Dolphins are the better team and that we can win this game. The Bengals have a tough defense, but we played pretty well against the Steelers and Jets defenses… we just need to get in the damn endzone.

As always we will be watching the game as a group at Third & Long (35th and 3rd) and win or lose we will have a good time.  We always have drink specials for Dolphins fans and now we have our own Dolfans NYC IPA that is only $4 a pint. We should be doing some sort of raffle this week and we finally got new large and XL t-shirts in.  We got the logo printed bigger on them this time too. They look really good.

And lastly if you have questions about group tickets to the Jets game you should email DolfansNYC@gmail.com for details.

Thanks guys, see you Sunday. Go Dolphins!

Oh.. and pictures below.  Double click if you want to save an image.

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So the Dolphins have their first 1pm home game all year against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The heat should help and the Steelers are wearing black but unfortunately there is a chance of rain on Sunday. Either way we have to find a way to get a win at home finally. If we beat the Steelers it will make people pay attention and keep us alive in the AFC.

When this all comes down to it I have a feeling we will be fighting with the Steelers for a wild card spot. I went to Penn State for college and my freshman roommate was a huge Steelers fan and I watched football with him every Sunday for two years so I had love for the Black and Gold but with a creep like Big Ben at QB and that 3-0 game in the monsoon a few years ago I am running out of that love…

Their run defense is crazy so it might be up to Henne to win this game. I know that scares a lot of people, but I think the guy will come to play and hopefully avoids that crazy haired safety lurking back there…

A few other notes:

For those of you joining us at Third & Long we have something pretty awesome in store for you. Curtis the bar manager at Third and Long surprised us with a branded beer handle and he will be serving “Dolfans NYC IPA” the official beer of our fan club. It will only be served during Dolphins games and is only $4 for Dolphins fans! Pretty awesome.

We have 10 extra tickets to the Jets/Dolphins game now. They are $110 and I know a lot of people asked me about them so email Michelle ASAP at DolfansNYC@gmail.com if you want to get in on our Meadowlands take over. We have now bought over 60 tickets as a group. Maybe we can make it 100!

Hope to see you guys this Sunday at 1pm at Third & Long (35th St and 3rd Ave.) Go Dolphins!

Well that was awesome. An overtime win in Green Bay? Perfect.  On top of that their were no injuries and we get John Jerry back this week. Unfortunately it looks like Odrick is out for the year with a broken leg, but he has only played 3 quarters all year so I am not too stressed out about it.  Anyway, the game was great even if it was a bit too close for comfort, but then again every Phins game is like that so I guess I should be used to it. Henne played great, Marshall was in full Beast Mode and Cam Wake was dominant. He had three sacks and three more hurries. He played out of his mind.  Cam Wake and I both went to Penn State so I have been trying to get people in the bar to chant “WE ARE…. CAM WAKE!” whenever he has a sack. Penn State does the “WE ARE… PENN STATE!” cheer so I thought it would be appropriate. It hasn’t really caught on yet, but maybe we can run with it…

Anyway, I got a new camera this week and it is very small but still high quality so I don’t have to lug my serious camera around with me anymore. I didn’t take a lot of shots on Sunday but there were some good ones. Check the slideshow below and as always if you want to download a photo just double click on it and it will take you to the Flickr page.

Go Dolphins!

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Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed the break from football as much as I did. After having my heart broken two weeks in a row I have pretty much avoided everything Dolphins for a while. I just couldn’t take it. But I am officially back on board.

The Dolphins are 2-0 on the road and ready to make it 3-0 against a banged up Packers. It looks like Aaron Rodgers is going to play but Clay Matthews is doubtful and Woodson has a toe injury which is never a good injury for a DB to have. On the Dolphins side we are the healthiest we have been all year coming off the bye week. Looks like Odrick is still out, but we finally get Crowder back and John Jerry is at least going to be worked in. If the Dolphins can hit Rodgers early (and Cam Wake should have a day with RT Mark Tauscher doubtful) I think they have a pretty good chance of taking the upset and getting back on track. And I pray they do because I can not take three straight losses. We need this game.

I am excited to see everyone at Third & Long (35th and 3rd Ave) this week. We should have a little more room to move around at the bar this week since it is not a big division game, but I hope to see the place pretty packed anyway. I know that anyone who can manage to be a Phins fan in the middle of Jests country can’t possibly be a fair weather fan. We aren’t doing a raffle or anything this week, but we still have drink specials if you are wearing Dolphins colors and as always we will have sound and the game on more than half the TV’s in the bar.

I can’t wait! Go Dolphins!

So I don’t even want to talk about the disaster that is last weeks MNF game against the Patriots other than to say I have never seen a game where a team is clearly beating another team on offense and defense and then lost by 27 points. It was crazy.  Last year when we beat the Jets when Teddy Ginn had 2 TD’s we were clearly playing worse football than the Jets, but we won.  That type of thing happens, but never by four fucking touchdowns. Insane.

Anyway, just because I am in hiding and super glad there is a bye week so I can ignore football for another week, I do have to post the pictures I took at the Third & Long meet up on Monday. We had a great crowd and we suffered together.  We had some new people out and it was good time.  I think we have got to have the cutest girls of any sports bar in the city. We also payed Michelle back for the 44 Jets/Dolphins tickets she put on her credit card and we raised a few hundred dollars for charity.  In total, along with ad revenue from the site we have raised well over $1000 dollars for charity. It’s pretty impressive guys.  Thanks.  Anyway, here is a slide show of the pictures from Monday.  As always if you want to download a photo just double click the slide show and it will take you directly to the Flickr page.

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The Dolphins only play on Monday Night Football once this year, and it happens this Monday. Get excited people, it’s our first crack at the New England Patriots.

Last week was a disaster at least our offense came to play. If the Dolphins offense plays like it did last week we should be able to put 50 points on the Patriots. Unfortunately the Patriots offense has two things the Dolphins have proved they can’t stop… Tight Ends.

The Patriots have two fantastic pass catching tight ends and I have to admit I am pretty worried about how we are going to stop them. That being said we are historically pretty good at home against the Patriots and we have to come up big in prime time, especially after last week. We must win this game.

Now a few important things. We will be at Third & Long as always watching the game. For those who haven’t been yet, it’s at 35th and 3rd Ave in the city.

Come early! We have had a little bit of a line at times. Everyone get’s in but you might have to wait a little bit. If you get there 30 minutes early you won’t have a problem. Third and Long has good MNF drink specials so they have a bit of a regular crowd there, so we gotta get there early and make sure we have the whole place to ourselves.

We WILL be doing a raffle this week. I know I promised a raffle last week but Michelle was out of town and we didn’t get it together in time. We will be raffling off a Dolphins hat signed by Dolphins owner Stephen Ross as well as a really nice Dolphins jacket that he gave us. We will also probably have a bar tab do give away and a Dolfans NYC shirt.

Speaking of shirts, we ran out of L and XL shirts so fast that we haven’t really been selling them the last couple weeks, but I got new shirts printed and we should have every size available. They are 15 dollars and are aqua with the DolfansNYC logo on them.

Lastly, I just wanted to mention the tickets to the Jets game. If you have talked to Michelle about buying tickets, please bring your money on Monday. She put 36 tickets on her credit card and needs to start collecting money. We want to order more tickets as well, so if you want to go with us to the Jets/Dolphins game in NYC, email Michelle ASAP at dolfansnyc@gmail.com.

Okay! See you Monday and remember almost all the money raised from the raffle and the t-shirts goes to the Miami Dolphins Foundation charity. The only money that doesn’t go to charity goes to club expenses like printing shirts, promoting the club and prizes for the raffles. So please, be generous. And if you would like to just donate money please let us know. We are trying to raise $1500 as a group. Thanks!

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.