We are excited to announce that this is The Nice Dolphin’s 100th post!

We’ve come a long way over the past eight months or so, and to mark the occasion of reaching an arbitrary round number, we thought we’d take a look back at some of our favorite posts!

Alex solos:
1. The Nice Dolphin Book Review: Where the Red Fern Grows
http://thenicedolphin.tumblr.com/post/5859671958/the-nice-dolphin-book-review-where-the-red-fern-grows  
2. Bengal Like Me
http://thenicedolphin.tumblr.com/post/15785075485/bengal-like-me 
3. Summer Jam Post 2.0 — 90s R&B
http://thenicedolphin.tumblr.com/post/6853644225/summer-jam-post-2-0-90s-r-b 
4. I Wonder if God asked Mike How to Moonwalk
http://thenicedolphin.tumblr.com/post/6994797109/i-wonder-if-god-asked-mike-how-to-moonwalk 
5. MLB Daily Update 5/27 (remember those?!)
http://thenicedolphin.tumblr.com/post/5917902434/mlb-daily-update-5-27  

Matt solos:
1. Still Thinking About Redskins Player Sean Taylor
http://thenicedolphin.tumblr.com/post/13407884924/still-thinking-about-redskins-player-sean-taylor 
2. Matt’s Second Annual Post About Why You Should Watch the Wire
http://thenicedolphin.tumblr.com/post/6713143785/matts-2nd-annual-post-about-why-you-should-watch-the 
3. Do the Right Thing: Watch Do the Right Thing
http://thenicedolphin.tumblr.com/post/5658519019/do-the-right-thing-watch-do-the-right-thing 
4. Game of Thrones is Winning Its Game of Being an Awesome TV Show
http://thenicedolphin.tumblr.com/post/6106209576/game-of-thrones-is-winning-its-game-of-being-an-awesome 
5. I Ate 40 Wings
http://thenicedolphin.tumblr.com/post/5855944313/i-ate-40-wings  

Tag-team Effort:
1. I Make You Laugh How? Ranking Some of This Year’s Sitcoms
http://thenicedolphin.tumblr.com/post/5792566806/i-make-you-laugh-how-ranking-some-of-this-years 
2. Yeezy Taught Us Well (Top 20 Kanye West Songs)
http://thenicedolphin.tumblr.com/post/6382155559/yeezy-taught-us-well 
3. Top 10 NBA Players
http://thenicedolphin.tumblr.com/post/6744473596/top-10-nba-players

Pictures:
1. Former Rep. Anthony Weiner and Kanye West Lyrics
http://thenicedolphin.tumblr.com/post/6473648938 
2. Matt at the Vancouver Riots
http://thenicedolphin.tumblr.com/post/6605402279/our-own-matt-takes-part-in-the-vancouver-riots 
3. Chris Benoit Corpse Flower
http://thenicedolphin.tumblr.com/post/8118227848/timely-as-ever

And of course, the reason behind the name:
http://thenicedolphin.tumblr.com/post/5824998095/from-the-wire-season-5-episode-3-not-for  

Also, a HUGE THANK YOU to everyone that had ever read, seen, tweeted, ‘liked,’ shared, laughed at, derided, insulted, or genuinely enjoyed any of our posts.

Finally, we love your comments! Whether they be here on the blog, on facebook, twitter, in real life, or anywhere. Please keep them coming — your feedback is essential to us wanting to produce more, better material.

Spread the word that is TND, and here’s to another 100 posts!

This post is more personal than my usual fare, but just think of it as “Matt-style.”

I’m a lifelong Bengals fan. When I was two years old, I fell in love with the striped helmets, and it’s been a life of disappointment ever since. Last Saturday, my devotion finally paid off. I got the opportunity to work the sideline of the Bengals-Texans playoff game. My responsibilities consisted of answering the phones on the Bengals sideline when the coaches called and finding the player with whom they wished to speak.

However, thanks to my handy disguise (black polo, khaki pants, sneakers, sideline pass) I was able to slip into the bowels of Reliant Stadium and run out with the team moments before the game began. Getting booed by 70,000+ people is a great feeling. Running back into the locker room during halftime was fun, as the same fans that were booing me also wanted a high-five.

Hearing Marvin Lewis’ halftime speech (“They’ve given us their best; it’s about to pop!”) was inspiring as were the free fruit, hot dogs, and Gatorade.

The second-half was a bummer, as the Texans pulled away for the win, and Marvin’s post-game speech provided little comfort in the moment (“It’s my fault; we’re a young team; you played your balls off”).

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After watching Super 8 and Cowboys and Aliens back-to-back, I noticed a startling similarity between the actions of the aliens in both movies. In the following post, I will discuss these similarities. There will be spoilers. So if you haven’t seen Super 8 or Cowboys and Aliens and don’t want to know key plots points, avoid reading this post until you’ve seen both films. Also, LOL at the idea that Cowboys and Aliens will be “ruined” by anything other than crappy acting, an infinite number of cliches, and being really really boring. Don’t get me wrong, Super 8 was weak in it’s own right, but I haven’t seen a movie as bad as Cowboys and Aliens in a long time. Probably since The Lion King.

I digress…

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As the NFL Playoffs begin this Saturday, TND is taking a look back at it’s preseason predictions. First up, Alex evaluates Matt’s NFC Picks. Matt’s predictions are in bold, Alex’s commentary is in regular font.

NFC East

4. New York Giants

Normally I’d be all over Matt for predicting a last-place finish for the division-winning Giants, but the NFC East was such an awful division this year, I’m not so sure the Giants didn’t finish last.

1. Philadelphia Eagles

Again, can’t hate on this too much. Everyone (myself included) thought the Iggles would ball out this season. Alas.

NFC North

4. Minnesota Vikings

I don’t think McNabb is that great anymore

Fuckin’ Nostradamus over here…

3. Chicago Bears

The defense was lucky with injuries last year and things will change this year… but I think they still got a good setup there. Cutler’s got something to prove behind those dazed, weird eyes, and he’s got the arm to prove it.

Kudos to Matt for predicting that injuries would derail the Bears this year. I’ll disregard the fact that he said it would be defensive injuries.

2. Detroit Lions

Playoff-worthy? We’ll see. Can Stafford actually go it healthy this year? At this point it seems like he must, or he might as well just kill himself. Maybe I’m exaggerating, but it’s about time we see how this team is with a #1 pick at the helm. With a strong front-seven and a nice offense, we’ll see if these Lions can… roar. Um. I’m sorry for that.

1. Green Bay Packers

The lockout prevented as much attention on them, so they almost have that as motivation on its own. They won’t have as much hangover as normal, along with them having a pretty young core. Rodgers? Check. Jennings? Check. Ryan Grant and Finley back? Sure thing. Could these guys be in strong contention to repeat? It’s looking good. 

I can’t even be mad at Matt’s Green Bay  and Detroit  analysis. Spot on. I do love the fact that he goes out of his way to note that Ryan Grant would be back.

NFC South

4. Carolina Panthers

Yuck. They are banking on Cam Newton to start as QB, which might be fine in a few years, or if they had had all offseason to prep him… but wow, this is not gonna go well.

Add Matt to the list of people that took a spray fart into the wind regarding Cam Newton. Now Matt’s looking sad and stinky as Cam is a shoo-in for Offensive Rookie of the Year (all-time?).

3. Atlanta Falcons

Also, I was definitely not hot on their huge trade to grab Julio Jones. Is that really the only piece you need to take it to glory? I don’t know about that. They got clowned by Green Baylast year after some good times in the regular season. I think that was closer to their true colors… and I expect them to not perform as well this year. Granted, I think their third-place finish will still place them above 8 wins and in range of a wild card… I just like these other two teams more.

Matt hates on JULIO! here, but let it be known that Matt practically traded his left nut to grab him in fantasy.

2. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Freeman, Blount, Mike Williams and co. make for a young offense that is only going to be more experienced this year. Raheem Morris seems like a great coach, and in general, this was a team that deserved to be in the playoffs last year and should get that awesomeness this year. 

Oh wow. Wow. Wauw. Everyone mentioned in this paragraph completely crapped the bed this season. As much as I was pulling for the Bucs, they were flat-out terrible. Freeman played worse than John Wall is now, Blount was injured/ineffective, and Mike Dub was overshadowed by the other Mike Dub. Raheem Morris just got fired after the team quit on him in mid-September. Tampa Bay finished the season by losing 10 in a row. And to think Matt had this team rated higher than Atlanta. If only there was someone to talk some sense into him before the season started. Oh, wait:

“Here’s how you know Matt’s wrong about the Falcons and Bucs. He cites the trio of Freeman, Blount, and Williams as the keys to their success. Let’s break that down in some simple mathematical equations:
Ryan > Freeman
Turner > Blount
White > Williams
And guess what? The Falcons already have that experience. Losing to the Packers aka Super Bowl Champs as a sign of weakness? Nomc.”

Yeah, that’s right. I wasn’t even in charge of knowing shit about this conference and I was still able to break it down mathematically as to why the Falcons would be better than the Bucs. Damn, son.

1. New Orleans Saints

Nailed it!

NFC West

4. San Francisco 49ers
Their running back is injury-prone, their QB situation is really bad, and their golden WR has in no way reached his potential. But Vernon Davis is a baller. That being said, I don’t expect much for these guys. I don’t know about Harbaugh’s odds as an NFL coach, but I don’t see it in year 1. And they got Carlos Rogers, who misses more interceptions than most receivers normally catch. Even though they got a new QB in Colin Kaepernick, it’s feasible that they’ll be back at the number 1 spot in next year’s draft (not actually a bad thing with Luck). 

Harbaugh: Coach of the Year
Alex Smith: Comeback Player of the Year
Carlos Rodgers: Pro-Bowl CB
Colin Kaepernick: Glued to the bench
49ers: Number Two Seed, First Round Bye

1. St. Louis Rams
The Rams look like they can take a step up this year. With some solid defense led by Spagnuolo, Sam Bradford due to continue becoming a great QB, and Josh McDaniels cranking up the offensive playbook, this team looks to be better than last year, when it almost made the playoffs. Either way, they’re gonna be a fun team to watch.

Josh McDaniels crapped the bed, Sam Bradford couldn’t get off the training table, and they were most certainly NOT a fun team to watch.

Division Champs (seed):
NFC East: Philadelphia Eagles (2)
NFC South: New Orleans Saints (1)
NFC North: Green Bay Packers (3)
NFC West: St. Louis Rams (4)
Wild Card: Dallas (5), Tampa Bay (6)

First Round: 
Green Bay over Tampa
Dallas over St. Louis

Second Round: 
New Orleans over Dallas
Green Bay over Philadelphia

NFC Championship: 
New Orleans over Green Bay

NFC Champ:
New Orleans Saints

I don’t even know what to say. Just look at that. Matt got exactly 2 playoff teams correct. And those were the Saints and Packers. Not exactly the deepest sleepers.

Can’t imagine anyone could give worse conference predictions than the ones Matt jinned up, most likely in a Sunny D-lite and rum-infused stupor? Stay tuned…

ALLOW THE NICE DOLPHIN TO REINTRODUCE ITSELF

2012 is already shaping up to be a great year, as today is the day TND returns to action! A big “thank you” to everyone for allowing Matt and I to take a break while we kept our lives from spiraling too far out of control by studying for finals. Because finals ran until the end of 2011…

Regardless, TND is back and promises to be stronger than ever in 2012. Our analysis will be sharper, the jokes wittier, the memes more offensive, and Matt’s grammar will be even worse.

Be sure to keep an eye on our facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Nice-Dolphin/234883756528578) and twitter account (@thenicedolphin) for all new TND posts.

Happy New Year!

On the morning of November 27, Redskins player Sean Taylor was still alive in my mind. Still alive when I walked into class that morning and pulled out my laptop. He had been shot the day before, and I’d even joked in a semi-depressed way to some friends about how there goes Sean Taylor, again getting into trouble. Last I’d heard when I went to sleep the night before, I thought he was stable but facing a long recovery. If anything, I was worrying about when he was going to be able to play again that season. Then I opened up my Facebook wall that morning, and I saw my friend Paul had written “dude man.. i cant believe sean taylor died.. it’s so sad”.

And I rushed to espn.com and tried to read the story. Because I couldn’t believe he was dead. And I couldn’t believe I cared about him playing later in the season when it turned out his life was in peril. And I really could not believe that he was actually dead. Then I sat there in class, not knowing what else to think about.

Sean Taylor’s death consumed my thoughts for the next few weeks, and it still consumes me whenever I think about it, and whenever it’s around this time of year when the anniversary of his death comes up on the horizon.

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To all of our loyal followers: we have not forgotten you!

If that New York Times article is true and Matt and I aren’t learning anything in law school, then why do we have to study so much for finals?

It’s a lame excuse to be sure, but unfortunately, the TND crew has been consumed with study over the last month and will continue to be until mid-December.

We’ve got a lot of great ideas for the blog and will re-elevate TND to greatness upon our return.

In the meantime, keep doing what ya do and know that we’re still here and once life returns to a normal pace, we will be back providing you with that pop culture fix you can’t find anywhere but TND.

Thank you again for your patience and support!

Yes, we’re going to keep writing about Breaking Bad, after its season’s end. Next up to bat is how this season compares to all the other seasons that have come on in this very strong year of television. 

Because I like talking about things I really enjoy, and because there are a lot of shows I really enjoyed this calendar year, you might wonder if I’m just saying Breaking Bad because it was the most recent in my memory. That would not be the case. 2011 has produced some excellent TV. The latter half of Community, which gave us some classics like the paintball two-parter, the documentary-style episode after Pierce gets hospitalized, the “flashback” episode, and the Pulp Fiction episode among others. It was part of a very impressive season. 

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Breaking Bad Season 4 ended a week ago. It was excellent. It was the best show of 2011 (I’ll get into that tomorrow or something). But how was it compared to the other Breaking Bad seasons?

Let’s rank them! Here we goooooo… and spoilers ahead. Don’t read this if you haven’t seen all of it:

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