Rant: Dear Nfl....(and A Thank You To The Fans And The Dolphins)

[phins_4_ever]

...what you have done is ridiculous. I don't know who read the radar wrong or what information you knuckleheads in NY got but the only lightning and thunder in the area was in the beginning of the game during which you continued to play the game. When your first stoppage came along it was sunny at the stadium and in the surrounding areas and when we had that monster delay there was nothing around us. It was mostly sunny with a 5 minute light shower. The entire time no lightning was seen or any thunder was heard.

You should be ashamed: you took away homefield advantage and you increased the risk of injuries to the players. Everybody involved in the decision for both delays should be fired.

To the fans who stayed: congratulations you are now being part of a historic NFL game. And thanks for being such good sports. We were tired but we cheered and we were loud on D (well what you can consider loud in a stadium where it would take you 10 minutes to great everybody in attendance via handshake ) and our wish of "please no overtime" was granted.

Kudos to the Dolphins for a very nice jumbo tron announcement thanking us and congratulating us for being part of history once again. And thanks for giving fans the opportunity to move into the lower sections. These were small little things which was greatly appreciated by fans who were just tired.

To those who left early: I don't blame you. It is understandable.

 

[SkapePhin]

That was the most bizarre thing I've ever seen. In fact, I can't even recall a single time a Dolphins game was delayed due to weather mid-game in the past 20 years, and they have played in some nasty weather during that span.

Given the weirdness around Dolphins home openers in the past 2 years I think they will schedule the Phins to open up in a dome somewhere next year.

 

[Miamifinz]

I guess the head honchos at the NFL have never visited south florida. That’s beach weather here!

 

[uk_dolfan]

What I found crazy was if it was so dangerous for the players to be on the field, why did they not force fans to leave the stands? Do they not have lawyers like the player?

Huge props to the fans who stayed. It's easy for many to sit on their sofa and have a pop at the locals who only turn up when Miami teams are trending upwards - but it's very very easy to overlook the thousands of fans who still turn up at the darkest times when we are at our lowest. When the good times finally return IL be so glad for those folks

 

[phins_4_ever]

That was the most bizarre thing I've ever seen. In fact, I can't even recall a single time a Dolphins game was delayed due to weather mid-game in the past 20 years, and they have played in some nasty weather during that span.

Given the weirdness around Dolphins home openers in the past 2 years I think they will schedule the Phins to open up in a dome somewhere next year.

I guess the head honchos at the NFL have never visited south florida. That’s beach weather here!

If you have a rule that there is weather delay because somewhere 30 miles away is a thunderstorm you will never play a game in South Florida in the summer again. In the summer there is always a thunderstorm some 30 miles away. Always. It is called rainy season, tropical season.

 

[BigNastyFish]

If you have a rule that there is weather delay because somewhere 30 miles away is a thunderstorm you will never play a game in South Florida in the summer again. In the summer there is always a thunderstorm some 30 miles away. Always. It is called rainy season, tropical season.

Probably where we're heading...

 

[VBCheeseGrater]

What I found crazy was if it was so I for the players to be on the field, why did they not force fans to leave the stands? Do they not have lawyers like the player?

I was wondering about this too. The only thing i can think of is possibly the players being at greater risk in an open field. I'd like to know if they encouraged the fans to head back into the concession areas.

Either way it seems excessive given the reported lack of an actual lightning storm at the stadium.

 

[gregorygrant83]

We can complain about it, but if the league had ignored the warning and kept playing and then had something horrible happen to players or fans than everyone would be in an uproar about ignoring the lightning warning. Of the two options it's best to be too cautious than the other way around.

 

[phins_4_ever]

What I found crazy was if it was so I for the players to be on the field, why did they not force fans to leave the stands? Do they not have lawyers like the player?

Huge props to the fans who stayed. It's easy to have a pop at the locals who only turn up when Miami teams are trending upwards - but it's very very easy to overlook the thousands of fans who still turn up at the darkest times when we are at our lowest. When the good times finally return IL be so glad for those folks

They put on the jumbo tron that fans should go on the concourse area. But you have to understand the confusion. The first delay was befuddling but the second one was like "WTF?"

Nobody had any clue why or what happened. Bear in mind I am sitting in the upper level so I have a pretty darn good view of the surrounding areas through the gap between roof and stadium. If here is clouds, you will see them. If there is lightning you will see it.

It was gorgeous afternoon with some light wind and a mix of sunshine and light cloudiness. I had no clue what was happening when the ref announced it and I had to read the close captioning on the jumbo tron to see what the ref actually said. That's when people got upset and said "screw that. This is a joke" and left.

I am not sure why you would leave for the concourse area anyways. The building is cat 4 hurricane approved and no lightning is hitting you through the roof. You are much more exposed on the concourse on the upper level because the roof ends over the concourse and some areas in the center section of the concourse area extend out have no roof cover.

 

[uk_dolfan]

They put on the jumbo tron that fans should go on the concourse area. But you have to understand the confusion. The first delay was befuddling but the second one was like "WTF?"

Nobody had any clue why or what happened. Bear in mind I am sitting in the upper level so I have a pretty darn good view of the surrounding areas through the gap between roof and stadium. If here is clouds, you will see them. If there is lightning you will see it.

It was gorgeous afternoon with some light wind and a mix of sunshine and light cloudiness. I had no clue what was happening when the ref announced it and I had to read the close captioning on the jumbo tron to see what the ref actually said. That's when people got upset and said "screw that. This is a joke" and left.

I am not sure why you would leave for the concourse area anyways. The building is cat 4 hurricane approved and no lightning is hitting you through the roof. You are much more exposed on the concourse on the upper level because the roof ends over the concourse and some areas in the center section of the concourse area extend out have no roof cover.

I saw on twitter that they stopped selling booze in certain areas, I bet that went down well :trump:


When the ref stopped play for the first stoppage the TV crew thought they were stopping to review the Titans catch

 

[phins_4_ever]

We can complain about it, but if the league had ignored the warning and kept playing and then had something horrible happen to players or fans than everyone would be in an uproar about ignoring the lightning warning. Of the two options it's best to be too cautious than the other way around.

There was no lightning and/or thunder. Nothing. Nothing would have happened. Some ass jerk read the radar images wrong or whatever the problem was.

 

[gregorygrant83]

I saw on twitter that they stopped selling booze in certain areas, I bet that went down well :trump:

To me it sounded like Sam Rosen drank most of the alcohol during the break and did most of his second half announcing drunk.

 

[phins_4_ever]

I saw on twitter that they stopped selling booze in certain areas, I bet that went down well :trump:

Well, alcohol sales ends with the third quarter. That third quarter lasted two hours, well the last 6 minutes of it.

To be honest, there weren't that many people left. I have never ever seen this stadium so empty.

 

[SkapePhin]

Unless there was a Tornado watch in the area, they should have kept playing, especially that first delay with only a minute remaining in the half.

 

[royalshank]

To me it sounded like Sam Rosen drank most of the alcohol during the break and did most of his second half announcing drunk.

Who could blame him! I was all over him for what I thought was being overly focused on the weather before the first delay. He must have been clued in or something.