Tin Bits - Contest Results

• Well, it took me long enough, but I've finally managed to finish grading the papers of the Tin's Fins 2010 Draft Contest.  From the 1st entry to about the 26th entry, not a single person had correctly guessed a single Dolphins' draftee.  Out of about 50 entries, only about 6 even got one right - so I don't feel so bad about getting none right myself.  Results are at the bottom of this blog post.

• A couple of lagging news items following the Draft.  Former Elon star WR, Terrell Hudgins, a player I described in the live chat as being a sort of 'poor man's Dez Bryant', has signed a rookie free agent contract with the same team that drafted Bryant - the Dallas Cowboys.  As if they didn't have enough receivers already, the Cowboys also got 'retired-before-hired' rookie free agent TE, Scott Sicko to sign on the dotted line.  As of now, the Cowboys have at WR - Roy Williams, Miles Austin, Patrick Crayton, Sam Hurd, Dez Bryant, Terrell Hudgins, along with a slew of young unproven no-names.

• Speaking of the Cowboys and Dez Bryant - news has surfaced that Dolphins' GM Jeff Ireland asked Dez Bryant if his mother was a prostitute.  This yahoo reporter took it very personally. I thought it was hilarious.  It really trumps any of the other weird combine interview questions we've heard this year.  Ultimately, it sounds as if Dez passed the test, though whether or not he was ever a Dolphins' target is unknown.  If my theory is correct that certain NFL teams work together in the pre-draft evaluations, as I have suggested goes on between Dallas and Miami, then it makes sense that a team that wasn't going to draft Bryant would ask the question on behalf of the team that was.  Whatever you want to think of Dez Bryant and his future, he has, in my opinion, handled himself really well as a 20 year old in the spotlight and with all the criticism he's faced the past few months.  As for the question - yes it's class-less and brutish - it was meant to be - so that yahoo reporter should lay off the Yoo-hoo and stop comparing a 1st round NFL draft pick with someone who works in an office for $40k a year.  Those people also don't have to strip to their underwear, get prodded and medically investigated, interviewed four or five times, have their families and backgrounds checked, their internet history investigated, their twitter followed, and be in 'evaluation mode' for 4 months straight.  Then after they are drafted they are still under evaluation every minute they are at work.  There's really no comparison between an NFL player and a regular person when it comes to what is an appropriate question.  They obviously want to know how he reacts to confrontation, what his temper is like, etc.  This is a physical game, people are hitting each other, adrenalin is pumping.  So, Michael Silver, YOU need a reality check.

• Hooked up with new Miami Dolphin CB, Nolan Carroll, via the internet and verified that Dolphins rookie camp runs from Thursday morning through Sunday evening.  It will be interesting to see who the Dolphins call-in to fill in the missing holes (they essentially need enough players to run a 7-on-7 drill.

And now, drumroll please, the WINNERS of the 2010 TIN's FINS DRAFT CONTEST:

1. Dahlia305 - 52 points
2. 13kvFINS - 51 points
3. NcDolfan  - 44 points

NcDolfan managed to join us in the live chat from Bahrain (if memory serves) as he was deployed by the US Navy to fight pirates aboard the USS Farragut.  He was the only entrant to guess we would draft Austin Spitler and he even got the number pick right.  NcDolfan, as if you couldn't find any better motivation to be safe over there, there is a $15 Gift Certificate waiting for you when you get back!  

13kvFINS had the hardest to read entry, with the most additional narrative added - imagine a contestant on Wheel of Fortune asking if there are any 'R's and then while the Rs are being turned over, that contestant then stating his reasoning behind why he chose R and what other letters he thought of choosing, and you'll get the picture.  He was the only contestant to pick Koa Misi with our 2nd pick - but it didn't count as it was in his 'alternate answer', not the official one. which had zero correct.  Had he submitted the alternate instead, he would have edged out Dahlia305  for the win. 13kvFINS' entry was the only one out of over 50 entries that picked DE as the answer to #10, though his reason for picking that position was wrong, he did type out 'DE' s he gets the points and the $25.

Dahlia305 had some key scores on her entry.  First, she somehow knew/guessed that we would draft John Jerry.  She knew we would trade down.  She was the ONLY entrant to get full points for #1 (maybe she was smart enough to copy from my mock draft - as I also had Trent Williams going 4th overall).  And thus, she's the only one walking away with the $50 first prize.

Congratulations to all the winners.  Prizes will be sent out to Dahlia305 and 13kvFINS on Thursday.  NcDolfan - I will hold yours until you return unless you tell me otherwise.  A couple of honorable mentions:  Elias P. got 43 points and had the best score on #8 (WRs);  Fin_Fan_in_Japan scored 39;  Rob H. scored 38.  Twenty-four contestants scored a 37.  The lowest score was a 24.  There were a total of 112 possible points. 

CONTEST # 4 - Just Draft It!

First Prize is a $50 gift certificate to NFLshop.com.

Second Prize is a $25 gift certificate to NFLshop.com.

Third Prize is a $15 gift certificate to NFLshop.com.

OK, here's how this will work.

All entries MUST be e-mailed to 'tinshaker@gmail.com' with the subject "CONTEST".

All entries must be in my inbox by midnight Eastern time on April 16th (Friday night).

Ok, now the actual contest.

Below are ten questions/challenges. In parenthesis are the point values for each question. The fan with the most points wins, with the second most points comes in second and so on. In the case of a tie for first place, the tie breaker question #11 will be used to break the tie, and the loser of the tie-breaker then becomes the second place finisher. This would push the second placer down to third, etc. The same tie-break formula would be used for a 2nd or 3rd place tie-breaker. If there is a three-way tie (or more) and the first tie-break results in two or more people still being tied, then the order in which I received the e-mail entry will be used to number the entrants, and I will then use a random number generator to choose a winner. Only other rule is that Tinshaker can't play.

Here are the questions:

1. Predict the first five picks in correct order. It doesn't matter if a team trades the pick, the number of the pick is what's important. (1 point for each name, 1 point for being the correct number/name combo, and bonus 3 points for getting all five picks perfect). note: you may get a couple of free points here.

2. Predict the teams that will draft a QB in the first round. (2 points for each correct team)

3. Predict how many Offensive Linemen will be drafted in the first round w/ bonus if you can name them. (3 points for getting the number of OLs right, 1 point for each correct name you list, however, you will lose a point if you list someone who is not chosen in the first round. Example: if the answer is 5 and you choose 6, you will lose a point for each incorrect name, and you'll score no points for getting the number wrong).

4. Predict the first cornerback chosen. (2 points for name, 2 bonus points if you name the team that picks him)

5. Predict the first safety taken in the draft. (2 points for name, 2 bonus points for team).

6. Predict the number of times Pat White will be mentioned during the NFL Network  live coverage on day 2. (this could also be a good drinking game, 5 points)

7. Predict all 10 Miami Dolphin draftees. (since there may be trades, I have to grade this by each pick. 3 points for each player correctly identified in any order. No matter how many picks we end up with, a bonus of 12 points will be given to each entrant who correctly predicts at least 50% of the players).

8. Predict the first 10 wide receivers drafted. (2 points for each name, 10 bonus points if you get them all right in the right order).

9. Will the Dolphins trade up, down, or stick with the #12 pick? (4 points)

10. Predict the position of the first Miami pick, ie DT, WR, CB, etc. All pass-rushers under 265lbs will be considered an OLB for this question. (10 points)

Tie-Breaker:

11. Guess how many combined-college-career touchdowns were scored by all of the 2010 Miami draftees. (The closest wins, and TD passes count, whether it be a QB or a halfback option, as do special team TDs, and defensive TDs). Yes I know this is hard but that's why I said 'GUESS'. The best way to do this would be to take your answers from question # 7 and add up the TDs for those players.

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As you can see, it's very unlikely there will be any ties, but #11 is the tie-breaker so think about it for 5 seconds and make a guess. If two entrants are tied, and one fails to answer #11, but the other does answer it, the latter would automatically win. Even if he/she put 3000.

Any questions should be addressed in the comments section so everyone can see the question/answer.

Once again, entrants must e-mail their entries to me by midnight Friday, the 16th. Good luck!

Below is a printable version in pdf format:

CONTEST # 3 RESULTS!!

There were a total of 58 points available in the Grind contest, and while I was worried that this quiz was too easy, it turned out that about half of the entries I received scored 50% or less. However, the high scores were higher than usual. There were some rather interesting answers as well, including Ralph's guess that Pat White would run for 185 yards, or my personal favorite from herdfan who guessed that Josh McCown scored the first-ever reg. season TD pass outside the U.S.. Actually, she just put 'McCown' so she might have meant Luke...j/k herdfan, all in good fun. And to ukfinfan, who got that question right but claimed he should get an extra point for actually being there, I'll give you the extra point. You still did terribly. ;)

Here are the answers, followed by the winners.

1. Where did the Dolphins play their home games prior to the 1986 season? THE ORANGE BOWL.

2. Which Miami Dolphins Quarterback scored the first-ever regular season touchdown pass thrown outside of the United States? CLEO LEMON threw the pass in London in 2007. It was also Ted Ginn's first TD of his NFL career.

3. Name the two Dolphins draft picks from 2008 that played a) the MOST and b) the LEAST amount of regular season snaps in the NFL in 2008. Despite all the confusion, most of you figured it out. Jake Long had the most snaps. He only missed about 3 snaps total. Shawn Murphy had the least. Despite being on the 53 man roster, he was inactive for every game. I did give a half point if you said Lex Hilliard. For the record, Jalen Parmele played quite a bit for the Baltimore Ravens.

4. First photo-question. Name this ladies-man. This is former Dolphins possession receiver, Mr. Hands aka O.J. McDuffie.

5. Second Photo Question. There's a future Miami Dolphins 1st round draft pick on this basketball team. Find him, name him, and score points. I was surprised by how many people swore that Vernon Carey was the answer. But the real answer is Ted Ginn, Jr. front row, 2nd from left.

6. Name the team that Miami has never beaten. Houston Texans. Current record is 0-4.

7. Who will start at cornerback in the Dolphins vs, Jaguars pre-season game on the 17th? I'm looking for TWO names here. Will Allen and Sean Smith.

8. Which wide receiver will make the most catches in the Jaguars game? only about 6 people guessed correctly. It was Patrick Turner with 3 catches. Bess and Ginn both had 2. Turner also dropped two passes.

9. Which Quarterback will COMPLETE the most passes in the Jacksonville game on Monday Night? (Chad Henne completed 7 passes to become the correct answer here. Pennington had 4 completions, and White had 2.

10. Guess the combined score of the pre-season game vs Jacksonville. The catch is that for every point your guess is off, in either direction, you lose one of your seven points. Look on the bright side, you can't possibly lose more than 7 points! ;) 21 points was the total. No one guessed such a low total but some of you came close enough to rescue some of your 7 free points here.

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Tie-Breaker: How many rushing yards will Pat White be credited for in the Jacksonville game?

We didn't have any ties at the top, but by my record keeping, White ran 4 times for 25 yards. A few of you came close but surprisingly most of you guessed much larger numbers.

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And finally, the winners!

In First Place with a whopping 54 points is SeaPhinFan!

In Second Place with an impressive 51 points is Craig G.!

In Third Place with a solid 49 points is Thoro!

And in our Honorable Mention spot, with a just missed it 48 points, is Gatorplaya50!

It's a good thing gatorplaya didn't tie with Thoro, since he failed to answer the tie-breaker question!!

Still, a good race between these four and Daniel was tied with them heading into the game but he ended up with a respectable 42 points.

The rest of you need to hone your Nostradamus skills.

To all the winners, you will receive your prizes via e-mail from NFLshop.com by Wednesday morning (tomorrow).

CONTEST # 3 - "The Grind"

Here we go, people! The 3rd Big Tin's Fins Pub Quiz is here!

Some of you Tin's Fins vets know that these aren't about having a bunch of perfect ballots picked out of a hat to find a winner. These tests are challenging, even for the most well-versed Dolphin fan. Some of it is actually revision from previous articles right here on this blog, so there is a slight advantage if you're a regular reader. But I guarantee you, if nothing else, every person who attempts the test will lose a good handful of hair on at least one question.

So, without further ado, here are the Rules, and below that are the Contest Questions. I'm happy to e-mail the form to anyone who has issues with flash/pdf/printing, etc. Good Luck, and thanks for reading!

• Rule Number One: You do not talk about the contest....I mean, the first rule is that each question has a unique point value (harder questions are worth more), and the point values (shown in parentheses after question) are designed to make it harder for players to tie. The player with the most points wins. The player with the second most points, comes in 2nd, and so on.
• Rule Number Two: In the event of a tie, the tie-breaker question will be used to break that tie and the loser of the tie-break would slip to the next position. If there are more than two tied, the accuracy of the tie-break question will determine winning order. Example, if there are three players tied for 1st, and the answer to the tie break is 500, then the hypothetical answers 475, 300, and 285 would determine 1st (475), 2nd (300) and 3rd (285) place.
• Contest Runs from Monday thru Friday morning. All entries must be in my inbox by Friday 12pm Eastern / 9am Pacific. The actual tallies/prizes will be awarded on Wednesday the 20th.
• Prizes: As always, for your convenience, the prizes are electronic gift certificates to NFLshop.com:
• $120 - FIRST PLACE
  
• $60 - SECOND PLACE
  
• $30 - THIRD PLACE

And now, the QUESTIONS:

1. As always, we start off with an easy one to get the juices flowing. Where did the Dolphins play their home games prior to the 1986 season? (2 points)

2. Which Miami Dolphins Quarterback scored the first-ever regular season touchdown pass thrown outside of the United States? (4 points)

3. Name the two Dolphins draft picks from 2008 that played a) the MOST and b) the LEAST amount of regular season snaps in the NFL in 2008. (6 points)

4. First photo-question. Click photos to enlarge. Name this ladies-man. (10 points)

5. Second Photo Question. There's a future Miami Dolphins 1st round draft pick on this basketball team. Find him, name him, and score points. (10 points)

6. In 2009, the Dolphins have a tough schedule, but Miami has beaten every team in the NFL except for one. Name the team that Miami has never beaten. (3 points)

7. First Speculation Question. Who will start at cornerback in the Dolphins vs, Jaguars pre-season game on the 17th? I'm looking for TWO names here. (4 points)

8. Second Speculation Question. Which wide receiver will make the most catches in the Jaguars game? (7 points).

9. Third Speculation Question. Which Quarterback will COMPLETE the most passes in the Jacksonville game on Monday Night? (5 points)

10. Bonus Question. Guess the combined score of the pre-season game vs Jacksonville (i.e. if the score is Miami 21 - Jax 20, then the combined score is 41). Every player gets a free 7 points here. The catch is that for every point your guess is off, in either direction, you lose one of your seven points. Look on the bright side, you can't possibly lose more than 7 points! ;) (7 points)

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Tie-Breaker: How many rushing yards will Pat White be credited for in the Jacksonville game?

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Good Luck!

Any general questions should be posted in the comments of this blog post.

Questions - CONTEST # 3

The Contest is Over!

Well the Dolphins have reportedly agreed to terms with drafted Tackle, Andrew Gardner. The terms have not yet been disclosed, but I believe it was for 'free use of the weight room and 5 meals a week'.

More importantly than what he's getting paid, is that we can now finally officially end contest # 2!

Very good timing since contest # 3 is coming up in the not too distant future!

So, without further ado, let's do this:

CONTEST # 2 - "THE SPRING FLING"

1. Let's start with an easy one. Jake Long wears the number 77 for the Dolphins. He also wore this number at Michigan. But in OTAs in 2008, he started with a different number. What was it? (2 points) Answer: #79. The number 77 was originally worn by Drew Mormino who was waived after the start of OTAs in 2008 after he failed his physical.

2. Let's see if you've been following/reading with a keen eye. Ted Ginn, Jr was drafted in 2007 to bring 'family' values and special teams prowess to the Dolphins. How many special teams touchdowns has Tedd Ginn had called back by officials in his NFL career, and how many special teams TDs has he had stand? We are looking for two numbers here, so make sure you type them in the right order or label them. (4 points) Answer: For this question I accepted two different answers. If you put 4/1 or 5/1 you got the points. That's right, this guy is an elite return specialist, as long as he doesn't have any blockers drawing penalties.

3. Who will be the next rookie signed by the Dolphins? (6 points) Answer: Andrew Gardner. Quite a few people got this one right.

4. The Dolphins have another OTA open to the media next week. This means another Tony Sparano press conference. Sparano is known for using 3 or 4 phrases several times in his 20 minute sessions. Multiple choice question: Which phrase will Sparano use the most? (4 points) Choose one:
a. "one way or another"
b. "at the end of the day"
c. "starting to feel"
d. "with that being said"
Answer: D. "with that being said" Sparano was impressively cliche-free for most of the interview, but he did say this one 3 times.

5. The Dolphins tied 2 NFL records in 2008. Name them. (4 points) Answer: 1. Least turnovers in a 16 game season. They tied the Giants, but then in the playoffs it all came undone. 2. Best turnaround in NFL history, ten games. tied the Colts.

6. There are 3 current Miami Dolphins that were Wildcats in College. Name them. (6 points)
Answer: This was a trick question. There were actually FIVE Wildcats: Tearrius George, Lionel Dotson, JD Folsom, Ike Ndukwe, and Jared Bronson.

7. The dude below is a Miami Dolphin. Name him. (5 points)
Answer: Well I feel bad because I think I jinxed him, but this was the now former Dolphin, Todd Lowber. I was shocked only 3 people got this one right. But don't worry, he was cut days after becoming question # 7, so you don't need to recognize him anyway.

8. "We're in the air, We're on the ground, we're always in control, and when you say Miami, you're talking Super Bowl, cause we're the Miami Dolphins, Miami Dolphins, Miami Dolphins number one!" This fight song came into being before the 1972 season. How many games did the Dolphins win in the first two years of its use? (2 points) Answer: This was also a slightly tricky question. The Dolphins won the SuperBowl in both years and more than a few of you tripped up on that assuming that the records did not include the playoffs. Though these days we never say the Bears went 17-1, or the Dolphins went 11-6, back then they counted all the games. 17-0 and 15-2 were the final records, including playoffs/super bowl. So the answer was 32.

As an extra tribute to the song that Jimmy Buffet recently called 'god-awful' while singing the 89th verse of Daquiri-ville, one of our contestants actually owns the original record and was kind enough to send in a couple of photos. He bought it in 1972. Looks like he played it once, thought it was god awful, then put it away for the last 27 years.

9. Bryan Clay is the reigning Olympic Champion in the Decathlon. Great job, Bryan! But there's a Miami Dolphin who can jump higher than him. In fact, he registered the second highest vertical jump ever recorded at a pro-football test (i.e combine/pro day). Name this player. (3 points) Answer: The answer is Cameron Wake. He posted a 45.5" vertical, which was more than Chris Chambers

10. Which member of the Miami Dolphins Staff has not used his real name in over 50 years? (6 points)
Answer: I was worried this was too easy of a question but I was shocked by how many people don't know this one.
Bill Parcells' real name is Duane Charles. He was mistakenly called Bill by a teacher repeatedly, and he decided he liked the sound of it and has used it ever since.

TIE-BREAKER QUESTION

11. Tin's Fins is nearing 5 months on the 'net. I like to think of myself as having created almost all of the pre-draft buzz about Connor Barwin in Miami Dolphins'land. I did such a good job that Houston drafted him. The most visits ever recorded in one day was when I posted video of Connor Barwin's pro day workout. I can say with near-complete confidence I was the only Dolphin blogger to do so, and as a result, the article was linked to by a couple of much more well-known blogs. For the tie-breaker, without going over, guess how many hits that one article received on that one day.
Answer: 816 unique visitors in the first day. It's no longer the most-visited article all-time, but it still holds the record for most-visited in one day.


And the winner is...drumroll...UKFINFAN!! (37)

Once he converts his prize money into pounds it's about 75 pence, but good job anyway!

Second was C-Holmes! (34)

Third was a tie, but with the tie-breaker the prize goes to Gina_C! (30 + tie-breaker guess of 577)

Honorable mention to Canamdolphin. (30 - tiebreaker guess of 1500).

I will have the prizes out by the end of the day. Thanks to everyone who participated and a warning to all of you, the next one is going to be a DOOZY!

CONTEST # 2 - UPDATE

This is exciting, I've added up the scores based on all the questions besides the #3 question which was which rookie will be signed next.

There is a leader, and a close pack behind this leader but due to question #3 being worth 6 points, any of 7 entrants have a shot at taking the top prize.

Quite a few of the answers were either hilarious or disappointing. I'll quote some of the best later when we have the results, but I thought I'd let you know that I will be able to announce a winner pretty much immediately upon news of a rookie-signing.

I'll leave you with this teaser...there was a possible 42 points to be scored here. The difference between the current leader and the current 'Mr Irrelevant' is 32 points.

CONTEST # 2 - UPDATE

NOTE: Due to unforeseen circumstances, and certain rumblings, I've had to move up the deadline to enter to Tuesday afternoon. So all you stragglers, need to step your game up. The new deadline is June 2nd, 1pm Pacific/4pm Eastern.

I thought I'd be able to contain myself until training camp, but the truth of the matter is, I had too much fun with the last one and can't wait that long. I will do one closer to training camp/pre-season, but I thought it would be nice to have a little mini-contest during the slow times.

PRIZES:

Since this is a 'mini-contest' the prizes aren't as big as the first contest, but they will still be deliverable by e-mail and they will still be NFLshop girt certificates (here's the chance for previous winners to increase their spending limit):

1st place - $30
2nd place - $15
3rd place - $10

RULES:

All entries MUST be e-mailed to me at tinshaker@gmail.com no later than TUESDAY afternoon (June 2nd) at 1pm Pacific/4pm Eastern. Use the phrase "Contest #2" as the subject. You can either just type out your answers, or you can cut and paste, or send me an attached file if you want to use one of the forms that are attached below for your convenience.

Each question has a maximum point value in parentheses. Keep in mind, it does you no good to skip a question, because then you'd get zero points, whereas a guess might actually net you a fraction of the maximum. Based on the experience of the first contest, the winners all managed to get partial points on all the questions, rather than laying goose eggs on some and maxing out on others.

Tie-Breakers:

In the event that there is a tie, the first tie-breaker will be the tie-breaker question below (#11). This question does not have any points assigned to it. It is only used to break a tie. In the event that the even parties are STILL tied after using this method, then time of entry will be used, i.e. a contestant who e-mailed me their form on Sunday would beat out the one who e-mailed it theirs on Tuesday.
Good Luck!

CONTEST # 2 - "THE SPRING FLING"

1. Let's start with an easy one. Jake Long wears the number 77 for the Dolphins. He also wore this number at Michigan. But in OTAs in 2008, he started with a different number. What was it? (2 points)

2. Let's see if you've been following/reading with a keen eye. Ted Ginn, Jr was drafted in 2007 to bring 'family' values and special teams prowess to the Dolphins. How many special teams touchdowns has Tedd Ginn had called back by officials in his NFL career, and how many special teams TDs has he had stand? We are looking for two numbers here, so make sure you type them in the right order or label them. (4 points)

3. Who will be the next rookie signed by the Dolphins? (6 points)

4. The Dolphins have another OTA open to the media next week. This means another Tony Sparano press conference. Sparano is known for using 3 or 4 phrases several times in his 20 minute sessions. Multiple choice question: Which phrase will Sparano use the most? (4 points) Choose one:
a. "one way or another"
b. "at the end of the day"
c. "starting to feel"
d. "with that being said"

5. The Dolphins tied 2 NFL records in 2008. Name them. (4 points)

6. There are 3 current Miami Dolphins that were Wildcats in College. Name them. (6 points)

7. The dude below is a Miami Dolphin. Name him. (5 points)

8. "We're in the air, We're on the ground, we're always in control, and when you say Miami, you're talking Super Bowl, cause we're the Miami Dolphins, Miami Dolphins, Miami Dolphins number one!" This fight song came into being before the 1972 season. How many games did the Dolphins win in the first two years of its use? (2 points)

9. Bryan Clay is the reigning Olympic Champion in the Decathlon. Great job, Bryan! But there's a Miami Dolphin who can jump higher than him. In fact, he registered the second highest vertical jump ever recorded at a pro-football test (i.e combine/pro day). Name this player. (3 points)

10. Which member of the Miami Dolphins Staff has not used his real name in over 50 years? (6 points)

TIE-BREAKER QUESTION

11. Tin's Fins is nearing 5 months on the 'net. I like to think of myself as having created almost all of the pre-draft buzz about Connor Barwin in Miami Dolphins'land. I did such a good job that Houston drafted him. The most visits ever recorded in one day was when I posted video of Connor Barwin's pro day workout. I can say with near-complete confidence I was the only Dolphin blogger to do so, and as a result, the article was linked to by a couple of much more well-known blogs. For the tie-breaker, without going over, guess how many hits that one article received on that one day.

Contest # 1 - Was it too hard?

Let's be honest, it was only hard because it was about the draft. And the draft not only was hard to predict, but once it actually got going, it went all out of control. There were more trades on the first day than anyone could've expected, and there were at least two players who jumped a good 20 spots or more on the first day. There were several players who dropped like stones, some, including a few tight ends who dropped two or three rounds. A few tight ends who were projected 3rd to 5th round didn't even get drafted. Several mid-round players weren't drafted at all.


Well the next contest will likely happen during training camp/pre-season and will have at least one question meant to stump you but at least it will be focused on just the Dolphins, rather than hundreds of prospects.

Let's take a quick look at contest #1.

CAD, canamdolphin, who claims to be both in New York and in Canada at the same time and has cute nicknames given to him by burly construction workers, creamed the rest of the entrants, scoring a 38. He scored the 38 on the first day, and a big goose egg on the second day.

In fact, almost everyone scored a goose egg on the second day, though believe it or not, one contestant, Craig, actually picked the Dolphins to draft Chris Clemons.

Phinatic and The Knight found themselves in a four-way tie for secondwith 24 points bringing us to the tie-breaker where their moderate guesses beat out the more extreme 25 from herdfan and 312 by Johnathan.

There was a six-way tie behind this group with 22 points. The extra cocky C-Holmes managed a noble 19 points. And bringing up the rear was someone who possibly wishes to remain anonymous, with 16.

The prizes are on their way to the lucky top three, and may be put towards the purchase of brand new Pat White jerseys. Could the Dolphins be the first team to have a 3rd string QB outsell the starter?

On a side note, two of my favorite players from USF did make it into the NFL. Linebacker Tyrone McKenzie was drafted in the 3rd round by the Patriots. He'll be tackling Ronnie Brown soon. And Wide Receiver, Taurus Johnson, signed as a free agent with the Chiefs. Offensive linemen, Matt Huners (49ers) and Ryan Schmidt (Titans) also signed as free agents. One thing I can say about the Bulls o-line, was that they were some tough SOBs. I've never seen such injured players go every game like that. Schmidt started 25 of 25 games played at USF, most of the time in his senior year looking like he had been attacked repeatedly by someone with a chainsaw. I also never saw a football player have his helmet off on the field, limping, rolling around in pain on the ground, or wincing quite so much. Yet he never came off the field. If anyone deserves to get a shot in the NFL, even if it doesn't pan out, it's guys like Schmidt. They definitely worked for it. Before injuries got the better of him, he was projected as a 2nd to 3rd round talent.

So for all the guys who actually deserve a shot, good luck.

CONTEST # 1

Welcome to the first-ever Tin's Fins NFL Draft Competition.

First Prize is a $75 gift certificate to NFLshop.com.

Second Prize is a $25 gift certificate to NFLshop.com.

Third Prize is a $15 gift certificate to NFLshop.com.

OK, here's how this will work.

All entries MUST be e-mailed to 'tinshaker@gmail.com' with the subject "CONTEST".

All entries must be in my inbox by midnight Eastern time on Friday night.

Ok, now the actual contest.

Every site has got a mock draft contest so I thought I'd do something a little different.

Below are ten questions/challenges. In parenthesis are the point values for each question. The fan with the most points wins, with the second most points comes in second and so on. In the case of a tie for first place, the tie breaker question #11 will be used to break the tie, and the loser of the tie-breaker then becomes the second place finisher. This would push the second placer down to third, etc. The same tie-break formula would be used for a 2nd or 3rd place tie-breaker. If there is a three-way tie (or more) and the first tie-break results in two or more people still being tied, then the order in which I received the e-mail entry will be used to number the entrants, and I will then use a random number generator to choose a winner. Only other rule is that Tinshaker can't play.

Here are the questions:


1. Predict the first five picks in correct order. It doesn't matter if a team trades the pick, the number of the pick is what's important. (1 point for each name, 1 point for being the correct number/name combo, and bonus 3 points for getting all five picks perfect).note: you may get a couple of free points here.

2. Predict the teams that will draft a QB in the first round. (1 point for each correct team)

3. Predict how many WRs will be drafted in the first round w/ bonus if you can name them. (1 point for getting the number right, 1 point for each name you list, however, you will lose a point if you list someone who is not chosen in the first round, ie if you get 5 right and 1 wrong, you will end up with 4 (correct names minus wrong name) + 5 (being the number chosen).

4. Predict the first cornerback chosen. (1 point for name, 1 bonus point if you name the team)

5. Predict the first safety taken in the draft. (1 point for name, 1 bonus point for team).

6. Predict the longest clock time between picks 15-20. Which team in that range (including 15 and 20) will take the longest time to announce their choice? (4 points for naming the team. If there are trades in that range, then we will stick to the number rather than the team).

7. Predict all 9 Miami Dolphin draftees. (since there maybe trades, I have to grade this by each pick. 2 points for each player correctly identified in any order. No matter how many picks we end up with, a bonus of 10 points will be given to each entrant who correctly predicts at least 50% of the players).

8. Predict the top 8 offensive linemen drafted. (1 point for each name, 8 bonus points if you get them in the right order).

9. Will the Dolphins trade up, down, or stick with the #25 pick? (3 points)

10. Predict the position of the first Miami pick, ie DT, WR, CB, etc. All pass-rushers under 265lbs will be considered an OLB for this question. (10 points)


Tie-Breaker:

11. Guess how many combined-college-career touchdowns were scored by all of the 2009 Miami draftees. (The closest wins, and TD passes count, whether it be a QB or a halfback option, as do special team TDs, and defensive TDs). Yes I know this is hard but that's why I said 'GUESS'. The best way to do this would be to take your answers from question # 7 and add up the TDs for those players.

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As you can see, it's very unlikely there will be any ties, but #11 is the tie-breaker so think about it for 5 seconds and make a guess. If two entrants are tied, and one fails to answer #11, but the other does answer it, the latter would automatically win. Even if he/she put 3000.

Any questions should be addressed in the comments section so everyone can see the question/answer.

Once again, entrants must e-mail their entries to me by midnight Friday. Good luck!

Below is a printable version in pdf format:

Contest PDF