My Time at Web Weekend and the Game, 9/17 - 9/18

I was your representative to Web Weekend VIII, one weekend out of the year where the Dolphins organization shows its appreciation to the main fins fan's websites and fanclubs across the country. i will post pics later today when i get home, but i would like to share some of my thoughts and experiences with you all.

friday night (which i was unable to attend as the wife and i were en route to miami after our workday) was a dinner held at Duffy's Sports Bar by the Dolphins organization. we did end up going there sunday morning before the game. nice place.

saturday morning was a chance to do good for the community called the Special Teams Project partnering with Feeding South Florida. it involved packing and helping distributing foods to those in the area that need it. very good thing

saturday afternoon at 3:30 we went to Nova SEU to the practice facility. we toured the locker room, practice bubble, went to the team store with a 15% coupon in hand! they served us dinner at 5 and then at 6 we had 2 speakers. the first was VP of and marketing and then Coach Sparano spoke for a few minutes and fielded questions. i will speak on that later. after coach left, there was a raffle for some signed footballs (vontae, coach, odrick, merling i believe and jake long). i didnt win any of them lol.

they also did the "Webbie awards" for the sites. unfortunately, we came up short in the awards department, but that's ok. i think we are all comfortable and confident with the quality of this website that we dont require that kind of validation

we were given tickets to game in section 219. very nice. we were also given a parking pass, passes to nat moore's bbq and really the best of all...access the field for warmups at 3 pm. that was awesome. we stayed for 45 minutes and watched the team come out, stretch and warmup. just awesome. ill never forget it.

comments:

the VP of marketing took some questions about selling tickets and some frustration about the focus of celebrities, orange carpet, etc. i think its a bit misplaced. there is a uphill battle to sell tickets in my estimation. they are:

lack of wins
the stadium. this is 2 part imo. 1) the configuration of seating. even my club level seats felt far from the action. 2) the heat. my god the heat. i dont think we need a roof, but at least some sort of translucent covering. im a florida guy. i know the heat and i know the sun, but this was crazy. i was literally baking. there is no air circulation either. no fans moving the air.

i love this team. i indirectly support them from the tampa area with merchandise purchases and NFL sunday ticket and i have gone to games in the past. but at the same time, you have to honestly question and weigh the cost/benefit of attending a game in september with a team that is struggling with an odd stadium configuration and sweltering heat. (actually its not really the heat per se, but the sun). i know some disagree and insist that a real fan will go to the game no matter the circumstance, but you have to see the other side. evidently, the fan base is split on this. despite a sellout, i would wager that the stadium was barely more than half full.

so i can sympathize with those in the organization when their job is to try to find a way to sell tickets. the average person is being priced out of games and the emotional return on dollars spent on a beloved, but losing team is increasingly in the negative. they realize that people are choosing to sit in a reclining chair in a 74 degree living room in front of a 60-inch HDTV broadcast. so they have to get revenue from somewhere.

of course, winning can cure a lot of this. the return on dollar investment will make it worth it to go out. but what are they supposed to do in the mean time? they have to chase the dollars wherever they are. they had Pharell host a party in club LIV and a performance by Miss 305 (whoever that is). no, i didnt go. i was interested in the game. but maybe others are persuaded to check it out

one thing that struck me about my visit to the area is the obvious income disparity. our drive to south beach saw dozens of people lined up at bus stops at 10pm Saturday. just a half mile down the road are absurd yachts that could just as well be docked at the French Riviera. point is, they have to chase the wealthy and bring them in the stadium in some way

every situation is different, but tampa is facing similar problems. of course, a lot of this in both areas is tied to the economy. there is also more hatred toward ownership in tampa i think.

anyway, after the VP was done, coach sparano came to speak. i was honestly impressed with him. he has a stronger presence in person than on camera. i sort of came away a believer in the man. as a coach, well...

couple of points though. someone asked about the wildcat. i really dont think we will see it this year. he twice said, "it's the furthest thing from my mind at this point." he said it was a way to use their two best players (RW, RB) and that they dont have to do that now.

when asked about which guys can break out, he talked about Odrick, Thomas. but he also defended R Jones. he said he needs more playing time and will do well with it. really seems to like him. i buried my head. when asked about Benny Sapp, he said "Who?"

someone in here posted that the team should stay in a hotel prior to home games to recreate the away game feel, but Tony said that he was on his way to the team hotel, so it seems that they are already doing that

thats really about it for tony. he only took questions for a little over 5 minutes. i was really tempted to ask a question about team conditioning, but i felt that i would be out of line. he took time out his night and preparation and i am not an adversary. it really didn't seem like the time and place.

oh yeah. for game warmups, carpenter missed two or three field goals from pretty short range. he hooked them left each time. not sure whats up with him. the odd thing is that he got more accurate the further out he went. oh and neil rackers has a bionic leg. his warmup kicks were a thing to watch.

i really came off the field thinking the team looked sharp and ready to go.

anyway, just wanted to share my time with you guys. this is the best website on the planet and i was honored to be thephins.com representative. i will try to post pics later today

 

ok. sorry for the delay. got some pics

driving up to the practice facility



look who happens to be hanging around the facility. Sam Madison! not sure if he was doing radio or not. in this pic im literally telling him that i would use my height against him on the field. he was cracking up. super nice guy. very gracious. funny thing is that was wearing NY Giants Crocs. lol. people were ribbing him about it. that was awesome



two lombardis



locker room. i wont post anything more detailed about the locker rooms, except its a tie for which player has the most pairs of shoes between Pouncey and S. Smith lol

 

practice field



in the controversial practice bubble. i happen to like it. i think here i was telling mrs. maynard about the rubber pellets.



here's the VP of marketing guy i spoke of earlier. nice guy. answered questions fully and honestly




here's tony. he did a good thing for us. his time was short, but it was really good to hear him speak. he was still a little tense, but showed more of himself than i have ever seen. as i said before, i came away impressed with him and came away with some more respect. he is smart guy, tough SOB and seems like a genuine character guy. he may not be the best HC in the NFL, but you cant take those qualities away from him




at nat moore's bbq before the game, getting the crowd fired up. the also had a "comedian" there in the orange shirt getting people involved. it was good fun



we are down on the field now. here's carpenter warming up. as i said, was hooking a couple of them left




JT is ready to go. he was the first out there btw:

 

chad getting ready to warmup. what (at least i) found interesting was that he threw about 30 7 yard passes to a stationary hartline and then about the same amount of passes to guys going down the sideline about 15 yards in succession. i looked over to the other side of the field and it looked like the texans were running more varied drills. no conclusions here, just an observation to share



now this was really cool. the WRs were on the other side, but the DBs were running right by us playing the ball



VD



just one really good shot from the game. the beers sort of took over after that



oh yeah and one with me and mrs. maynard








this is my pleasure to share with you guys. i am very thankful for the opportunity and proud to represent you all

 

Lol yeah. Kind of interesting how each guy has slightly different stuff. Sort of a small window into each ones lives

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Yeah. It was really well appointed. The entire facility was not lacking in the least in my opinion. I don't have a comparison but it did feel like a place for the big boys. Oh and there must have been 20 tvs all tuned to espn

The condition of the outdoor practice field wasn't awful. There were two painted fields and the bleachers you saw were the only ones

Two more details that you all might appreciate:

They seem to take hydration very seriously. There are posted signs all over. On the fridges with gatorade, water, etc. There are instructions to weigh in before and after practice to assess hydration levels. There are urine color charts above each urinal...mine was good

The other thing is that they had 5 or 6 large posters about the personal conduct policy, gun policy and services provided by nfl security
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Thanks bud

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