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!

Vontae Davis and a friend at Greenhouse (via my personal blog Driven By Boredom)

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!

Igor & The Fake Ted Ginn Jr.

Well it has been a minute since I hit you guys up.  Things are pretty slow this off season.  The combine is happening right now, but I haven’t been paying all that much attention. Most people say the Phins are looking at Rolando McLain or Dez Bryant.  There are also rumors that we are looking at stealing Karlos Dansby away from the Cardinals and possibly trading with the Cardinals for Anquan Boldin.  If we pulled off either of the Cards deals then our draft might look pretty different.  The one guy I am obsessed with in the draft is Eric Barry.  He is just the type of playmaking safety we need and having him back there with our two young corners would solve our secondary problems for years.  Unfortunately I don’t think he could possibly fall to us, but honestly with a lot of people trying to trade down, he might be worth trading up for. We also need a nose tackle since we have no shot at Vince Wilfork who was my #1 off season dream.  It’s pretty likely we will pick up a nose in the second round if anyone is still available.

If we could get Dansby and Boldin our main needs would be a nose and a safety.  We could also use another outside linebacker or two if we don’t resign JT, which we better.

Anyway, I have some planned updates for the next few weeks, so check back and pretty soon we are going to start working on our draft party plans.  It’s all pretty exciting.

In the mean time, check out this amazing Sports Illustrated article from 1984 on Dan Marino.  It talks about how he is a pretty boy icon and discusses things that will be really relevant in the coming years like his bad knees.  It aslo talks about how he really wanted to get some big sponsors which I always wondered about.  Dan was advertising gloves and Blockbuster but he never really had a big shoe contract or a drink sponsor which was very confusing to me.  He should have been on Nike and Pepsi ads.  I wonder why that never happened. He did have Upper Deck which was cool growing up and collecting cards.

Anyway, see you guys soon.

Ps. If I spelled anyone’s name wrong in this article, I apologise, I am very tired and very busy and I didn’t have time to double check anything…

Hey guys.  It’s been a bit since I updated.  I just wanted everyone to know that I am going to try to update this site about once a week during the off season.  Maybe a little round up of Phins news or some videos or something.  I just want to keep the momentum going.

I collect Miami Dolphins related records and I made a few recordings of a couple of things I have.  I will get those up here periodically over the next few weeks and months.  They should be pretty cool, stuff not a lot of people have heard, including the original recording of the fight song which sounds completely different from the one they play at Dolphins Stadium.

Now a few quick words on the Phins:

• Joey Porter is an asshole. He is going on every radio station he can find to complain about the Dolphins and to force his way out of Miami.  I can’t wait to see how Sporano is going to  handel him.  The worst part about it was that Channing Crowder got his back on the air and said that the situation was bad for the team chemistry.
• Thank God the Jets didn’t make it to the Super Bowl.  We would have all had to move if that had happened.  The best part is, because they lost in the AFC Championship they have restrictions on what sort of free agents they can sign. Amazing.
• Speaking of the Jets, seeing Rex Ryan flip off some Phins fans made my week.  I bought a copy of the NY Daily News with him on the cover. The headline read “REX-RATED”.  Next time I see him at the bank I will see if I can get it signed…
• Lastly, how sad is it that we missed out on Drew Brees not once, but twice.  The guy is one of the best in the game and he could have been ours. Instead we got Jamal Fletcher and Daunte Culpepper. Woops

Okay guys, hopefully I will be back soon. We have some off season surprises instore for you, so keep checking back… Go Dolphins!

During Short Michelle and my trip to Miami we celebrated the Tampa Bay victory at Kim Bokamper’s sports bar.  On the menu was a 3lb buger called The Beast.  If you ate the whole thing you got the $30 burger for free.  Watch my attempt at the unthinkable, all while the Patriots lost to the Colts. Thanks to the Shed Dawgs for cheering me on and of course to Michelle for putting the video together.

Matt Long, the owner of Third and Long and the founder of the I Will Foundation is going to be on Real Stories with Bryant Gumbel tomorrow night at 10 PM. Dolfans NYC has raised several hundred dollars for the I Will Foundation this year and will be doing another raffle at the New England game to support the charity.  We cannot thank Matt Long enough for him letting us use his bar for our events.  So if you get a chance, learn a little more about the man that makes our club possible.  Here is the description from HBO.com.

Completing an Ironman Triathlon takes athleticism, strength, conditioning and willpower, attributes New York City firefighter and triathlete Matthew Long has always had in abundance. But to cross the finish line at the 2009 Lake Placid Ironman this summer, Long needed even more – he needed a miracle. In Dec. 2005, the Brooklyn native was riding to work during a transit strike when he was run over by a bus and impaled on his own bicycle. After months in the hospital, 40 operations and years of physical therapy, Long has willed his way back to endurance competition. As correspondent Mary Carillo discovers, nothing can keep this 43-year-old down.

We actually managed to get the site up before the Saints game! That was my goal and I didn’t think we would make it.  Well, clearly I was wrong. The site is going to be tweaked over the rest of the season probably starting, but it is ready to go now.  I hours this weekend getting all the updates from our temporary site moved over, adding all the pictures and getting some new video posted.  I hope you like it.

We are going to be doing a lot more video and want to include everyone who comes out to Third & Long every week.  Talk to me at a game, lets get you guys involved in the site in some way or another. This thing is about Dolphins fans stuck in the heart of Jets country trying to have a place to talk Dolphins and watch the games in a great environment, not about Michelle and I starting a blog. So, please, send in pictures, video blogs, writing, anything, we want this page to be yours.

Only 4 and a half hours to kick off against the Saints.  Let the Wildcat roar and make Drew Brees look like Drew Henson.  Go Dolphins!

If you have female friends or family in South Florida right now this post is for you…

I received an e-mail from fellow female Dolfan, Pauline Crowder (mother of the Dolphins’ own Channing Crowder). She has been dedicating her time to educating women on the game of football and helping them to understand and appreciate this awesome game! It’s always great to see the women out there supporting football and especially the Dolphins! I wanted to share Pauline’s e-mail with you and also let you know about some upcoming events that she is hosting and how you can participate. Thank you Pauline!

We have weekly seminars at Bokampers Sports Bar in Plantation at 7:00 p.m. right before Monday Night Football
We are also holding a seminar at the Bank Atlantic Service Center on Cypress Creek this Tuesday, October 27th at 6:00 p.m. The seminars usually last about an hour and a half. They are interactive — questions are encouraged. Channing joins us near the end of the seminar, so everyone has an opportunity to talk with him, have him sign autographs, take pictures, etc. In addition to being informative, they are lots of fun.
Visit the website: football101forwomen.com

Live Seminars at Bokampers Sports Bar and Grill
MONDAY NIGHTS @ 7PM
1280 S. Pine Island Rd. Plantation, FL 33324 954-533-7152
bokampers.com
Presented by V Georgio Vodka.Complimentary appetizers and drink specials.
$25.00

Live Seminars at BankAtlantic
2100 W. Cypress Creek Ft Lauderdale, Fl 33309
Tuesday, 1O/27/09 6:00pm
$20.00