I Went To A Football Game... And A South Beach Nightclub Broke Out

Here's all you need to know about Club Liv (not pictured) at Sun Life Stadium.

One of Dan Marino's former teammates told me that 13 walked him into the hip nightclub.

Marino went to buy four friends a round of drinks.

He was charged 73 dollars.

I'll repeat.

DAN MARINO WAS CHARGED.

Sun Life Stadium is located on DAN MARINO BOULEVARD. (the issue of 4 drinks costing 73 dollars is for another time).
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So as the Dolphins game started to unravel against the Pats, I decided to check out the club for myself.

Two important things you must know about me: I'm neither cool nor single.

So, I'm not exactly the target demographic.

Still, I wanted to see what it's like inside, behind the velvet rope.
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If you are a big partier, I'm sure it's cool.

There are plenty of good-looking people inside dancing to hip-hop.

There are monitors all around, with the game showing.

To sweeten the pot, there are INCREDIBLE club level seats outside connected to the club, where they have scantily-clad girls bring you whatever drinks you want.
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Still, what's surreal about it, it's a FOOTBALL GAME.

Only in Miami.

I went to Yankee stadium, where in order to enhance the so-called "fan experience," they give you more history, better sightlines to the action.

The only sightlines this crowd cared about was to tan lines.

75 Percent of the people or more were not wearing any form of Dolphin gear.

I'm guessing around 30 percent didn't know they were at a football game.

That's strange, but very Miami.

It's definitely meant to be a scene where people can be seen.
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Still, while I was there, I was excited to meet a celeb (ESPN's Kenny Mayne who was AWESOME!)

There were other celeb sightings including Dan Uggla (despite his 33 homers and over 100 RBI--- he was introducing himself to people 'Hi I'm Dan.')

Rick Ross and his posse had an area.

Remind me to google who Rick Ross is.
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I will say this.

Owner Stephen Ross has captured an element of South Florida that was under-represented at Fins games... People who don't care about football.

Is that how you want to pack your house?

It was bumping in there for an 8:30 Monday Night game against the Pats.

Let's check back when it's 1 pm against Cleveland.

And you wonder why Ross wants to only play 4 o'clock games?

The money-making club doesn't work at 4 pm as well as it does at 730.

Competitive advantage of playing a 1 pm game be damned.
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The real problem for Club Liv is this.

The Fins are 2-2, with 2 division losses at home.

They have a bye week before heading to Green Bay.

And the Heat play their first exhibition tomorrow night.

Good luck keeping fan interest.

Why I Can't Wait For Jets-Dolphins...

As I've said multiple times on this blog, I'm a New York Giants fan.

And yet, I can barely sleep tonight in anticipation of the Dolphins showdown with the Jets (not pictured).

There are so many storylines to this game, that my head may explode.

I'd try to rank them, but what good is that.

Instead, I'll just lay them out and ask you to pick your favorite one.

As Mad Dog Jim Mandich told me on Tuesday, this is the biggest Dolphins game in years.

How can you argue?
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Return Of the Prodigal Son:

Jason Taylor talked a whole lotta ***t about the Jets in his time with Miami.

He was always good for a soundbite about REALLY hating the Jets.

You'd almost believe him.

Until, he decided to sign with them.

I don't expect loyalty in sports. Those values are long gone.

So, you can't blame JT for leaving Miami a second time.

But the Jets? Really? That just smells of desperation. Any fan of the Fins is perfectly within their rights to wish him failure.

I do.
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Marshall vs. Cromartie

Antonio Cromartie might not be able to name all of his kids, but I'm sure he knows who his daddy is.

That's because the LAST time Cro tried to cover Brandon Marshall, he set the NFL receptions record.

Well, Revis pulled a hamstring watching Randy Moss posterize him last week.

That means, Marshall is going to be one-on-one with a man he LOVES to torment.

How will that play out?
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HYPE VS HOPE

The Jets lead the NFL in hype, bombast, and self-esteem.

They sure love themselves.

Just watch "Hard Knocks."

The Dolphins are quietly and cautiously optimistic about this season's chances.

This trend is epitomized by the two coaches.

Rex Ryan: a WWE parody of a human being.

Tony Sparano: passionate, but doesn't talk about it.

On defense, you have a team that KNOWS how good it is, against a team that THINKS it is worthy.
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QB BATTLE

This question will be asked for the next decade.

Who is better: Mark Sanchez or Chad Henne?

Fins fans are down on Henne.

Clearly, the training wheels are on as the defense dominates.

Sanchez was proclaimed the worst QB in football, until he wasn't.

Was his performance against the Pats the real deal?
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Opening Night

On top of ALL that, it's opening night.

The Fins will have all their orange carpet hype and LIV nightclub debuting at the stadium.

Truth is, Dolphins fans hate the Jets and visa-versa.

This is a true rivalry when both of these teams suck.

Now, they're both good.

They're in the division.

A win positions Miami 2 games ahead of New York with a game in hand.

A loss and the Jets and Fins are tied with NY holding the head to head advantage.

I think you get the picture, this is a big game.

Can they kick it off already please?

Marshall Plan (or I could've gone with Marshall law or simply Marshall, Marshall, Marshall)

Bill Parcells lost it, huh?

Really?

Cause I think the Dolphins just landed a STUD. STUD wide receiver, and the cost is just a second round pick.

I remember the not-so-long-ago days when the Dolphins would give up second round picks for crappy backup quarterbacks.

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I know Marshall comes with baggage. 10 touchdowns last year and a 21 catch game.

That must keep Chad Henne up at night.

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This guy is one of the best playmakers in the league. He's the type of guy who will give opposing defensive coordinators nightmares. He makes Ricky better, he makes Ronnie better, He makes Henne better, He makes the Dolfan Bandits better, He makes the Miami Dolphin cheerleaders better, Big Papa Pump just got better.

If there were ONE guy out there that I'd want the Dolphins to get, it would have been Marshall.

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The Knucklehead factor. Sure, it's there. He's been suspended before. He didn't like Josh McDaniel (I don't blame him, that guy is a dip).

I can live with that.

Here's why.

You have to believe in your organization.

You have to believe that no matter WHAT issues someone has had in the past, you have enough leaders, you have enough positive people, to help that guy turn his life around.

Look at what the Patriots did to Randy Moss.

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Just yesterday, I had a friend (whose name rhymes with Diss Bank) tell me he was upset with Parcells. I've read blogs saying the old man's lost it.

Really?

Why?

Because he didn't telegraph this move? Because he didn't hold a press conference to say what he was going to do?

The Jets went FIRST this offseason, they acquired Antonio Cromartie and Santonio Holmes. The Fins got Karlos Dansby and Brandon Marshall. Advantage: Fins.

It's like they taugh me in my public policy class, there are advantages to going first in a negotiation. But there's also an advantage to waiting and getting better information.

He who moves first, doesn't necessarily get the best result.

Leadership isn't about talking about what great things you'll do, it's about doing them.

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This proves lesson number 1,000 why sports-talk hosts and reporters are always behind the 8-ball in this town. Who told me the Fins were going to legitimately be able to make this happen? The only place I read it is espn.com, when it's a done deal.

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The Miami Dolphins are a whole lot better this morning. Bill Parcells is a whole lot smarter than some people were giving him credit for.

Bravo tuna, Bravo!