Well, that was awesome. Despite the best efforts of Airtran and their inability to actually get people onto their connecting flights (rental car to the rescue) Mrs Phillyfinfan and I made it to our first ever Dolphins game on Thursday. Her parents live outside of Charlotte, so we started planning the trip this summer, as soon as we saw the Panthers on the schedule. It was more than worth the effort.  I really wasn't prepared for how much more intense it was to see a game in person--faster, louder, more visceral. Absolutely incredible.

But I promised you pics, and pics you shall get (starting after the jump).

After the game. I almost asked a Panther fan to shoot this photo of us basking in victory-flavored joy, but decided he might just toss our camera onto the field in spite. Wasn't that hard to find an obliging Dolphin fan, though--the stadium was almost all aqua and orange when the final seconds ticked away.

should have made the o-line's jerseys with erasable ink, the way they were going down and shuffling around. And yes, that is an aqua and orange painted cat-mask on her head.

The Robot warming up, with Pat White. As if robots need to warm up.

I'm always nervous on gameday.

no brawls during warm-ups.

I was hoping Steve Smith would catch on fire coming out of the tunnel. Not bad or anything, just singe his hands a little:)

The more yards Ricky piled up, the more this sign pissed off all the Panther fans around us.

This was about two minutes after Ricky's last td. Needless to say, all those seats had been occupied by Carolina fans until that run.

Got more pics, but I think that's plenty for one post.

It was a great experience all around. The stadium was a breeze getting in and out, parking and whatnot. Nearly every Carolina fan was really nice to us, and to the two other Fin fans in our section (thanks for joining forces with us guys)--in fact, I think the couple behind us was ready to adopt Mrs Philly by the end of the night, opposing team or no. REALLY glad we got a W for our first game, and I can't wait to go to another one.