Showing posts with label Stephen Ross. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Stephen Ross. Show all posts

Saturday, November 8, 2014

Insufferable, butt-kissing Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross seems willing to repudiate own fans, give up '15 home game vs Jets and play it in London for slight hypothetical possibility of landing Super Bowl. Someday. Maybe. With the right breaks

ICYMI: Butt-kissing Dolphins owner Stephen Ross perfectly willing to repudiate own fans, give up '15 home game vs Jets and play it in London for slight hypothetical possibility of landing Super Bowl. Someday. Maybe. 
With the right breaks.




Miami Dolphins In Depth blog
Bad idea: Dolphins yield Jets home game in '15,
Armando Salguero,
November 7, 2014 9:24 a.m
  
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/dolphins_in_depth/2014/11/i-like-the-idea-of-the-nfl-playing-games-in-london-i-even-like-the-idea-of-the-miami-dolphins-occassionally-doing-their-leag.html

There are many positive and negative things I'll never forget about my time living and working in the Washington D.C. area from 1988-2003.
One of those was that regardless of whether the Redskins were Super Bowl Champs, a very competitive team or just plain mediocre-to-awful -the Richie Pettibon years!- there was never any doubt in the mind of anyone I knew that the team genuinely was THE focus of the community's
hopes and dreams every Fall.

Just like you've heard/read/watched for decades back when CBS used to do NFC games and you could predict that before a big game against the Giants, we'd see a segment lauding Redskins fans and making the point that they had a direct connection with their fans that most NFL cities never have. (And still don't have.)
But it's true.



You didn't have to take a poll when I was living there to know that the Redskins genuinely were THE glue that held the community together, regardless of race, gender, political party, ideology or economic class.
I saw that for myself for years in tangible ways that even the South Florida I grew-up in during the Dolphins' heady era of dominance in the 1970's could never possibly replicate.

I know because I saw I witnessed it everyday in the Fall and Winter when I was on the Metro train on my way into work in the morning, esp. on Monday mornings after big Redskin wins or Friday afternoons before big games, and looked at the faces of the other commuters around me.
And even though I'd lived in Chicago when the Bears won the title in the mid-1980's, and knew well of their decades of suffering, especially when I was at IU, it was even more tangible than what I saw every morning in the Fall when I'd board an El train in Evanston down to The Loop.

It was noticeable at the hot dog stand on K Street with a Redskins pennant flying above it that played the Redskins fight song on an endless loop on their boombox on Friday afternoons. 
Noticeable precisely because it didn't surprise you,
You simply took it in stride.



Noticeable, too, at the CVS on Eye Street near the NY Times' Washington bureau, where I'd frequently run into the MPAA's Jack Valenti heading there mid-afternoon to solve a sugar or caffeine fix.
And while that weekend's weather forecast was always somewhat iffy, what wasn't iffy was knowing that once you walked into that CVS, that 99% of the employees had on a Redskin cap or skullcap.
You could take that to the bank!

So, that said, in 2007 when the Dolphins gave up a VERY RARE Dolphins home game against the NY Giants -the Giants being the team the Dolphins have played THE LEAST in the team's existence, with just 5 games prior to that one in 42 years- in order to appease the NFL execs on Park Avenue and play the game in London, like many Dophin fans, I watched the game with more than a little anger, since every single legit Dolphins fan my age or older -esp. ones like me who were actually from South Florida- knew EXACTLY what that home game represented.
A very rare opportunity: completely squandered.

And also understood what a major customer slap in the face that decision was to Dolphin fans, given the unique history and peculiar demographics of South Florida.
To Dolphin fans who had already been stuck with a listless, punchless team for many years at that point, it felt like once again a decision had been made NOT for what was best for the team or for the fans but for... something else.
Once again stabbed in the back, even as we nursed our cold beers and chowed down on finger foods and pizza throughout South Florida.

Well, Friday's blog post by the Miami Herald's Armando Salguero suggests that clueless, disconnected-to-reality Dolphins owner Stephen Ross has really learned nothing at all from history...
It looks like decisions are once again being made NOT for the benefit of the team that's on the field or for the fans in the stands but for something else entirely.
For his benefit.

Do you honestly think the Baltimore Ravens would give up a home game against the Steelers so that Baltimore maybe, perhaps, someday, possibly host the Super Bowl? 
Or that the Seattle Seahawks would give up a home game against the S.F. Forty Niners for the same remote possiblity? Nope.
Neither do I.

The prescient statue dedicated to FDR outside The National Archives' entrance on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington is very much to the point: "The past is prologue."
For most people, but apparently not Stephen Ross.

His insufferable ownership is just another burden for true Dolphin fans to bear who've already had to endure so many other indignities and embarrassments the past 15 years. 

To no tangible change for the better

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Omar Kelly says before today's Dolphins loss to Panthers that IF Dolphins don't finish the season 9-7, they must be blown-up. Everyone. I agree, but thought that it needed to be blown-up BEFORE season started, when I wrote they'd likely finish 5-11; #boomgoesdynamite




Time for Steve Ross to start over if Dolphins don't finish 9-7
The Dolphins have fallen short of expectations so far, squandering close games. Will this troubling trend continue, spoiling Miami's playoff chances?
By Omar Kelly, Commentary
3:18 p.m. EST, November 21, 2013
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/miami-dolphins/fl-omar-kelly-dolphins-1122-20131121,0,6544218.story
Accompanying video at:
http://landing.newsinc.com/shared/video.html?freewheel=69016&sitesection=sesunsentinel&VID=25380114
South Florida Sun-Sentinel


Meanwhile, back in September...

SEPTEMBER 8, 2013
#Finally! 2013 NFL season is finally here! My counter-intuitive predictions for the 2013 Miami Dolphins season is they stumble to 5-11; Over-valued, under-performing players plus a very tough early schedule may well render Dolphins winless by Bye week in Week 6; USA Today, Dan Patrick and Peter King's Super Bowl picks; Say hello again to our old friend, NFL East Coast/Cowboys bias!; @nfl, @SI_PeterKing, #Lombardi
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2013/09/finally-2013-nfl-season-is-finally-here.html


Saturday, May 4, 2013

While Miami Dolphins stadium renovation deal was going south in Tallahassee, rather bravely, in between all this week's downpours, DJ Boris and his friends managed to party at the Surfcomber Hotel in South Beach, as part of Winter Music Conference 2013.; @MiamiDolphins Stephen Ross, his media flacks & pols at #MiamiFirst lost the battle and the war -both FL House Speaker and FL Senate President were against it; Time for Ross to open his own checkbook or sell the team; South Florida pols who supported Ross will find that comes with a downside that voters won't forget!; @willweatherford, @PhinPhanatic


fashiontv YouTube Channel video: DJ Boris and Friends Party at Surfcomber Hotel in Miami, Winter Music Conference 2013, FashionTV, Uploaded May 3, 2013. http://youtu.be/ahr0QNQKFPw

I wasn't there myself, but I hear that... afterwards, they gathered around in small groups and talked amongst themselves about: the reluctance of the Obama Administration to arm the rebels in Syria, the death-spiral trajectory of the Gang of Eight's pro-amnesty immigration reform legislation in Congress, and what they liked the most about their favorite U.S. and foreign fashion bloggers.

But when they were finished talking about global issues, the got local and while the beer was still cold, they got together in and around the pool, threw the beach balls out, and argued over why billionaire Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross, one of the world's richest men, won't pay for the stadium improvements himself that he claims that HIS stadium needs to host another Super Bowl, or, at least get a loan for the improvements for HIS stadium from a reputable bank in Miami. But he doesn't want to do that, does he?


Is it because Ross didn't think any banks in Miami are reputable, or because he just preferred to avoid the paperwork and fees and instead get an interest free loan from taxpayers?


Field of Schemes blog
Dolphins are proposing to turn the $120 million public subsidy into a $120 million 30-year interest-free loan
By Neil deMause:
March 26, 2013
http://www.fieldofschemes.com/2013/03/26/4792/dolphins-reportedly-offer-to-trim-subsidy-demands-to-136m/










Or, as I wrote in the subject hearder of an email the day I came across this very curious bit of news from Tallahassee -news that not a single Miami TV station mentioned on-air that day or the next- and which none of the Dolphin "experts" and media types said anything at all about, "And boom goes the Dolphins charade

Palm Beach Post
Why the Senate president voted against the stadium deal
By Dara Kam
April 29th, 2013
http://www.postonpolitics.com/2013/04/why-the-senate-president-voted-against-the-stadium-deal/

Hmm-m.. do they not want to make permanent enemies of both Gaetz and Weatherford, only Weatherford?

In the next few days, if everything works out, I'll be posting the most egregious example of the dozens seen by South Florida residents in recent weeks of the Miami news media's sycophancy disguised as journalism during the Dolphins Stadium PR debate.

The debate that had support for the question in Miami-Dade County at 22% according to a poll I read about this week, much lower than even the paltry 30% I thought it might get, which would've been a landslide defeat for Ross.
Florida House Speaker Will Weatherford saved him from that embarrassment.

That post will include what I personally believe to be THE worst example of all, which came from an unexpected source -a usually-reliable person with a great voice.

Though it may be hard for younger Dolphin fans or people who have moved to South Florida since the 1990's to believe... Once Upon a Time, the Miami Herald had a Dolphins beat guy who was not only a a great writer who penned pieces with genuine insight and nuance, but who was also scrupulously fair and could almost always back up what he said with solid facts and reason. 
His name was Michael Janofsky.

He was so good and so fair-minded and insightful -yet opinionated- that he left the Herald for the N.Y. Times and was one of their best correspondents for 24 years.

Anyone thinking that current Herald Dolphin beat reporter Armando Salguero @Armando Salguero was ever going to report on the stadium renovation fight either accurately or without bias, has clearly been proven wrong over the past few weeks. 
How many mistakes can you make in one column or a single Tweet?

Me, I don't think Salguero will be going to the N.Y. Times in the future.
Just saying...  

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FashionTV YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/fashiontv

PhinPhanatic @PhinPhanatic  https://twitter.com/PhinPhanatic
http://phinphanatic.com/ 

Friday, July 6, 2012

Depending on their ages, ebullient Manchester City fans agree that new home kit from Umbro is smexy, boss, gear, cool beans - great new video shows it flying high over Manchester. Meanwhile, Dolphins fans are justifiably nervous at what owner Stephen Ross may do to uniforms and classic logo next year.


Manchester City Football Club video: NEW CITY KIT: Umbro "Show Your City" July 6, 2012. http://youtu.be/O8hqPd4m1RM  
Depending on their ages, ebullient Manchester City fans agree that new home kit from Umbro is smexy, boss, gear, cool beans - great new video shows it flying high over Manchester. Meanwhile, Dolphins fans are justifiably nervous at what owner Stephen Ross may do to uniforms and classic logo next year. 
Here's some photos from the Umbro blog of Man City's new maroon-colored away kit as worn by one of Man City's most famous fans, singer Noel Gallagher, and the captain of the Premier League champions, Vincent Kompany
http://www.umbro.com/en-us/blog/city-smart-noel-and-kompany-reveal-manchester-city-away-jersey-2012/
See also: http://www.umbro.com/en-gb/


My last (video-filled) entry on Man City was my May 1st post titled, Jubilant! Liam Gallagher's best day of the year! Watches his Man. City beat Man. United, take over top of Premier League in global telecast seen by 650 million, tweets about meeting Maradona, and then crashes press conference
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2012/05/jubilant-liam-gallaghers-best-day-of.html


I can't even conceive of the Miami Dolphins, as presently constituted under Stephen Ross and Mike Dee, ever doing a video this clever, since up 'til now, subtlety has not proven their strong suit. But a fan video featuring the Dolphins logo/helmet and a camera flying high above South Florida and the shoreline and then winding its way towards the stadium, showing how insignificant the Orange Carpet really is, from near or far, would be most appreciated, especially if they finished by using that ridiculous carpet as the landing strip, like a Space Shuttle landing, well, that I'd like to see.

Under no circumstances should the Dolphins' logo or uniforms be drastically changed.

What's scarier, what they might look like if Ross changes them based on his unproven track record and intuition, or, what some Dolfans might do to Ross if he messed with them?
It's a tie, but just so everyone outside of the south Florida area knows in advance, IF bumbling Dolphins owner Stephen Ross drastically messes with them, I honestly don't think there's enough law enforcement in Florida to protect him from the wrath of angry fans.

The Miami Dolphins logo of my youth, the look of champions, not cellar-dwellers.


The reader forums here tell the story -if there are to be any uniform changes, fans want it to be a return to the mid-1970's or early '80's: aqua, NOT teal! 
No orange jerseys!

ROOKIES ON THE RISE  Dan Marino: Miami's Hot Quarterback, November 14, 1983

The Business & Pleasure of Sports blog
South Florida Sun-Sentinel 
Miami Dolphins consider altering logo, look for 2013
By Craig Davis, April 4, 2012 11:00 AM
http://blogs.trb.com/sports/custom/business/blog/2012/04/miami_dolphins_consider_alteri.html

The Phinsider blog
Miami Dolphins Considering Logo Change for 2013?
by Kevin Nogle on Apr 5, 2012 2:00 PM EDT



The 1972 17-0, Undefeated Miami Dolphins, a team for the ages and my first year as a Dolphins season-ticket holder, where I missed not a minute of any home game: preseason, regular season or playoff at the Orange Bowl.
For over six years I had a copy of this photo resting in a simple black frame on top of my bedroom dresser at my home in North Miami Beach, south of the 163rd Street Shopping CenterThere it stayed 'till that fateful day in August of 1979, when I began packing for my new life and the cream and crimson of Indiana University in Bloomington. 


The photo made the trip to Bloomington intact, where it remained on my desk in Briscoe Quad 427-A for two very eventful years at IU, the latter, '80-'81, the latter being the year we beat North Carolina for the NCAA title. I placed it right below my 8' x 11' b&w glossies of the Miami Herald's All-County Boys and Girls Gymnastics team. 
That was a tremendously-talented team that featured many friends of mine from all around Dade County, as well as my own friends and classmates at North Miami Beach Senior High School, home of the Chargers in case you forgot.
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http://www.mcfc.co.uk



Friday, April 27, 2012

Will Miami Dolphins' selection of Ryan Tannehill in first-round of 2012 NFL Draft result in Dolphin season ticket holders calling a timeout, too, and total number of subscriber tickets getting below 30,000 for first time since pre-Don Shula? Yes.



The Jason Taylor "Thank you" sign going up on U.S. 441/N.W. 2nd Avenue, Miami Gardens, FL. The area that my friends and I in NMB in the '70's always just called "around Norland," which was everything from I-95 north to the Broward county line, back when the county line really meant something. Long before there was a city called Miami Gardens. December 30, 2011 photo by South Beach Hoosier© 2012 Hallandale Beach Blog, All Rights Reserved


The workers pinch here, and pull there... the fabric ads are so much easier to put up than the old-fashioned ones requiring experienced painters. But then I'm old-fashioned, having grown-up, like my two sisters, with the sight of the iconic motorized Coppertone billboard -with the black terrier puppy pulling the Coppertone girl's bikini bottom down to expose her tan line- at the I-95/Golden Glades Interchange/Cloverleaf exit on N.W. 167th Street greeting us every time we returned from trips elsewhere in South Florida -or out-of-state. For my sisters and I, that amazing Coppertone sign was always the sign that we were finally home. http://www.pbase.com/image/77098090
And the perfect landmark for directions, since it was impossible to miss.
December 30, 2011 photo by South Beach Hoosier© 2012 Hallandale Beach Blog, All Rights Reserved




I was never a big fan of Jason Taylor's, per se, like many other devout Dol-fans, as I have noted a time or two here before, but this was a very classy thing to do.
December 30, 2011 photo by South Beach Hoosier© 2012 Hallandale Beach Blog, All Rights Reserved


Rather than my going on-and-on after 1 a.m. about the myriad problems associated with the Dolphins selecting Texas A&M QB Ryan Tannehill with their eight pick in the NFL draft's first- round about five hours ago, with the idea of keeping him in cold storage for the next year or so, instead of selecting a proven play-maker who can immediately help them win more games this year -I suggested Quinton Coples, who wound-up being drafted at #16 by the Jets- I will ask you this simple question.


Given whom the team has chosen to draft with their first-round selection, a player who will likely not play significantly this year, do you believe the number of Dolphin season tickets will actually go below 30,000 before Ryan Tannehill ever starts three games in a row as a pro?  
Until three months ago, I would never have imagined I'd be saying this, but I now believe the correct answer to that question is YES.


As i stated here recently, I believe that the Dolphins will only sell-out two home ballgames this year, the Jets and the Patriots, which is good news I suppose for the Hurricanes' ticket office.


I also have a very bad feeling that some people in South Florida will be receiving a letter EXACTLY like this one very soon from Dolphins owner Stephen Ross, with only the dates and names changed from the one I received last year.


Yes, it's really starting to feel a lot like IU football circa 2009 around here with the Dolphins, and you know that is NOT a good thing.


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Dolphin Delusions: from my email inbox of July 26, 2011 


BACK TO FOOTBALL |

Letterhead_Top.jpg

Dear David,

Welcome back to football! We are ecstatic that we can now turn our attention to the 2011 season that lies ahead.

I want to assure you - as both a fan and as the owner of the Dolphins - that we share the same goal. We  want to bring a Super Bowl Championship back to South Florida. That's always been my commitment. I feel even stronger about it now. You deserve nothing less.

Our coaches and players are eager to kick off the 2011 campaign in a big way. Thanks to the hard work of Jeff Ireland and our football staff, we were able to infuse our squad with a potent combination of speed, power and athleticism during the 2011 NFL Draft. With Coach Sparano's relentless dedication leading the way, we will build a smart, tough and disciplined team. We will continue to be active and aggressive in our ongoing effort to assemble a strong, championship caliber team.

Thank you for all you do for the Miami Dolphins. I am proud and honored to be a part of this storied franchise and appreciate your loyal support of our team. I look forward to seeing you at Sun Life Stadium in 2011.

Go Dolphins!

Sincerely,

Steve Ross



This message was transmitted on behalf of:
Miami Dolphins Sales and Marketing
347 Don Shula Drive
Miami Gardens, FL 33056

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http://www.agilitynut.com/roadside.html

Thursday, April 19, 2012

7 Days for the Miami Dolphins to end or add to their reputation for terrible NFL Draft selections. A last chance for sanity and common sense for long-suffering Dol-fans? We want Quinton Coples, DE from North Carolina


DE Quinton Coples on ESPN Sport Science with John Brenkus, April 8, 2012.
http://youtu.be/n6JO299HD4w

7 Days for the Miami Dolphins to end or add to their reputation for terrible NFL Draft selections. A last chance for sanity and common sense for long-suffering Dol-fans? We want Quinton Coples, DE from North Carolina.


Knowing that "only victory would suffice they produced a performance short on ambition, low on energy and looked and acted like a team that knew the game was up." 


And he's NOT describing the Miami Dolphins of the past dozen years!


No, BBC Sports chief football writer Phil McNulty was actually describing the flat tire on the road that has been City -Manchester City- of late.
But admit it, his spare and unwavering description reads like the true story of almost every upsetting Dolphins loss of the 21st Century, doesn't it?


(I subscribe to Phil's blog about the Premier League and all thing England National Team, et al.)


Rhetorical question of the week:
Q: Dave, will you be mocking the majority of the 2012 NFL Mock Drafts that have the Dolphins "overdrafting" and drafting Aggies QB Ryan Tannehill
A: Wish I could, but sadly, I DO think the Dolphins will likely screw this up, too -if only out of habit!


Bleacher Report
Ryan Tannehill and Overdrafting Quarterbacks: An NFL Epidemic
By Dan Hope, April 14, 2012
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1145779-ryan-tannehill-and-overdrafting-quarterbacks-an-nfl-epidemic


Here's what longtime Dolphin fans know from first-hand experience, year-after-year.
Continuing the pattern that has seemingly existed since Joe Thomas left the Dolphins for the Baltimore Colts in the mid-1970's and drafted Bert Jones, Roger Carr, Lydell Mitchell and a host of very talented and exciting players to watch, thereby depriving Don Shula of a savvy partner in planning the Dolphins' future, this year's NFL Draft -starting at 8 p.m. on Thursday April 26th- will likely feature at least 8-10 players who are drafted AFTER the Dolphins first-round selection at #8 who will have more to do with their respective teams winning in 2012 than whomever the Dolphins select with the pick.

That is, unless they inexplicably wind-up with a chance to get their hands on future All-Pro RB Trent Richardson or the player we want.

To me, that particular scenario is likely unless the Browns beat the Dolphins to the overdraft punch and select Texas A& M QB Ryan Tannehill with their pick at #4, in which case they will also probably try to move up via a trade with a team with their #22 first-round pick for the 5th-7th selection, so they can get whatever WR St. Louis doesn't draft, either Oklahoma State's Justin Blackmon or Notre Dame's Michael Floyd, so that Browns QB Colt McCoy will have a game-breaker to thrown to.

The Dolphins have floundered on the field and off for the past decade, and like Los Angeles  Dodger fans and their genuine, deep-seated animosity towards soon-to-be-former owner Frank McCourt, which explains why they are NOT using the parking lots that he still owns and a "record number of Dodger fans took public transportation" on Opening Day, to their dismay, Dolphin fans wake-up each morning with a buffoonish villain of an owner of their own in billionaire Stephen Ross,.


As has been written elsewhere in South Florida a million times the past few years, Ross
STILL seems far too fixated on extraneous matters fans don't care about, even if female Miami-area TV reporters do.
Frankly, most troubling of all, despite his recent PR moves to reach out to Dolphin season ticket holders, Ross seems genuinely unable to learn from his own past mistakes.


Yes, the very same upsetting personality trait that I complain about with great specificity on this blog with respect to how the City of Hallandale Beach, Broward County and the Sunshine State are, seemingly, regularly mis-managed in a world where serious decisions with lasting ramifications need to be made by serious, hard-working people who are focused on both the short-term and long-term.
We don't expect perfection, really, we don't.


But we don't think it's unreasonable to keep the financial and policy screw-ups to a bare minimum, to not actually be the rule rather than the exception, and not keep stepping into the same pot-hole over-and-over, like it was just put there.


Except here, at the city, county and state level, people in charge seem to studiously avoid solutions with a demonstrated track record of working in other multiple cities, counties or states, and instead, lamely insist that there's a unique quality here -too warm, too poor, too Hispanic, too car-loving, too many Homeless, too-something- that rules out using  those solutions here, so instead, elected leaders form task forces where they appoint friends and cronies, many of whom have serious self-evident conflict-of-interests, and we end up re-inventing the wheel.
It's so f-ing frustrating!


Watching Dolphins owner Ross is the same thing, exasperating in the extreme, and unlike many of what is now an army of critics, I actually want Ross to improve as an owner, not just keep screwing-up because it's such a great conversation starter around South Florida that instantly produces shaking heads in people.


Dolphin season ticket sales are at the lowest point they've been in in roughly thirty years, and with what can only be described as an ugly home schedule in an area where something being an "event" is not only well known but common knowledge, even among kids, I believe only the Jets and Patriots home games are likely to sell-out.


Consider this home slate and you'll see why I'm right:


NFL Week 2, Sept. 16: vs. Oakland, 1 p.m.
Week 3, Sept. 23: vs. New York Jets, 1 p.m.
Week 6, Oct. 14: vs. St. Louis, 1 p.m.
Week 9, Nov. 4: at Indianapolis, 1 p.m.
Week 10, Nov. 11: vs. Tennessee, 1 p.m.
Week 12, Nov. 25: vs. Seattle, 1 p.m.
Week 13, Dec. 2: vs. New England, 1 p.m.
Week 15, Dec. 16: vs. Jacksonville, 1 p.m.
Week 16, Dec. 23: vs. Buffalo, 1 p.m.

That means it's probably even-money that six games will NOT be televised in South Florida, this season, which perhaps helps the Hurricanes sell some game tickets to folks who believe Al Golden is selling.


The fact that all Dolphin home games are at 1 p.m., when the South Florida sun will bake you just as soon as look at you, will not help the Dolphins and Ross one bit.


In my opinion, the Dolphins should draft someone with playmaker ability who will play a lot in his first year and could blossom opposite Cameron Wake -UNC DE Quinton Coples, #90, who is 6' 6", 291 pounds, was First Team All-ACC, 24 sacks in 4 years. 

For those of you who question his desire, seems that I recall that Dan Marino's senior year wasn't so great, either, but unlike Marino's final year, the Tar Heels' head coach, Butch Davis, was fired just a few weeks before the season started, a lot of starting players were suspended for multiple games, so, the season was essentially over before it ever started.



Palm Beach Post
Brian Billick, Mike Golic agree: Miami Dolphins shouldn’t draft Ryan Tannehill just for the sake of taking a QB
by Ben Volin, April 12, 2012


As regular readers of the blog know, I was at the Dolphins HQ in Davie in 2007 when they passed on selecting Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn at pick #9, after he had already been ignored by his hometown Browns with the #3 pick, and instead drafted Ohio State WR Ted Ginn, Jr., now with the 49ers, which caused the huge crowd of fans in the 'bubble' to explode in anger.
Above, the surprised look says it all. Brady Quinn at the 2007 NFL Draft HQ in NYC when Ted Ginn, Jr.'s name was formally announced. This is prior to Quinn dating U.S. Olympic gymnast captain Alicia Sacramone, whose moxie and spirit have long made her a personal favorite of yours truly. Screenshot by Mario J. Bermudez.
I was actually standing less than 15 feet from Dolphin broadcasters Jimmy Cefalo and the late Jim Mandich and their WQAM producers while they were doing their LIVE coverage of the NFL Draft, and when that announcement was made -and listening to them via my Walkman- when the cascade of boos reached a crescendo, it literally drowned-out what I was listening to.

The public's mood did not improve when then-Dolphins first-year head coach Cam Cameron came out and addressed the public on why the organization had chosen to make that decision.

As always, to quote myself in my last sentence of my 2011 pre-NFL Draft post of April 28th, 2011, where I called on the Dolphins to draft Arkansas QB Ryan Mallette

That's not a chill, that's a Draft: With Dolphin fans at emotional nadir, will team continue frustrating at NFL Draft? Pick Mallett!
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2011/04/thats-not-chill-thats-draft-with.html
"The past is prologue."


Just saying, that's NOT good news for long-suffering Dolphin fans.


Ever since the Super Bowl ended, surprisingly from my p.o.v. with a Giants win over the Patriots, I've had a Google Alert for 2012 NFL mock drafts.
As you might imagine, though it started off with a trickle, for weeks it's been a veritable torrent, and I've looked at most of the citations.


Of all of these, though, as far as a Dolphins-related mock draft, the best I've seen thus far is the one done by the Palm Beach Post, and mostly Ben Volin and Brian Biggane, and not just because they agree with me on drafting Quinton Coples.


http://www.nfl.com/videos/auto/09000d5d8280330b/On-the-Beat-Dolphins-No-8


http://blogs.palmbeachpost.com/thedailydolphin/2012/04/10/the-palm-beach-posts-2012-nfl-mock-draft/


Tannehill definitely makes more sense for Kansas City at #11, backing-up Matt Cassell and Brady Quinn.

Kansas City Star Video Star NFL correspondent Adam Teicher on Chiefs draft choices. 
http://videos.kansascity.com/vmix_hosted_apps/p/media?id=undefined
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Saturday, August 6, 2011

LA Dodgers questions great & small: wither McCourt, padding of attendance; Alyssa Milano's +1 is most heartening Dodger news; McCourt = Steven Ross


Above, thru thick and thin, actress & activist Alyssa Milano remains TRUE BLUE!

Los Angles Times
Dodgers Blog
Will we ever know had badly Dodgers' attendance is down?
By Steve Dilbeck
July 29, 2011 | 9:16 am

Oh, we know it’s down. Have evidence that it’s way down.

But the published numbers don’t tell the full story; not even close.

Buoyed by a pair of 50,000-plus bobblehead crowds (for Andre Ethier and Fernando Valenzuela), the Dodgers are averaging 36,623 per game.

That’s 8,102 fewer fans than last season, and actually better than the 9,319 it was down earlier this season. The Dodgers' total attendance is off 453,694 for the season...

Read the rest of the post at:

The above is not the Ghost of Christmas Past, but rather The Ghost of the Dolphins' Future.

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FYI: Fox owned the LA Dodgers from 1998 to 2004, and also owns the the sole national broadcast rights as well as the broadcast rights to 14 MLB teams on its regional sports channels -including the Florida Marlins- most of which I watch on DirecTV.


New York Times
TV’s Supporting Role in Dodgers’ Drama
By Richard Sandomir
July 3, 2011

The fight for control of the Los Angeles Dodgers that reached United States Bankruptcy Court in Delaware on Tuesday pits Frank McCourt, an owner desperate to keep his team, against Commissioner Bud Selig, who believes that McCourt has turned the iconic team into a financial wreck.

But away from the legal battle is the story of a long relationship between the Dodgers and Fox Sports, which underscores the rising value of sports television rights and what a media giant will do to keep them.

In the case of the Dodgers and Fox, it is a tale of mutual self-interest in which each side has taken turns at being the alpha male: the team knows it is valuable but needs money; Fox needs the team and has the cash.
Read the rest of the post at:

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Los Angeles Times
Frank McCourt has worn out his welcome
With Frank McCourt, the solution to his Dodgers dilemma is always somewhere over the rainbow. But fans aren't buying the loaves-and-fishes spiel. If he knew enough to exit quickly, he might earn some gratitude, but never forgiveness.
By Bill Dwyre, Times columnist
August 5, 2011, 2:14 p.m.

The most stunning aspect of the current Dodgers situation is not the greed of Frank McCourt, but the blind stubbornness.

Now, he is planning to sue his lawyers and projecting that, just maybe, the proceeds of that might be enough to pay off debts and get out of trouble. That's similar to his stance that, if he is just allowed to make his $1.7-billion-to-$3-billion deal with Fox, he'll be free and clear.

With McCourt, the solution is always somewhere just over the rainbow. He turned a Boston parking lot into ownership of the Dodgers and now wants us to believe he can keep them by multiplying loaves and fishes. He is a huckster's huckster, a poster boy for the buy-now-and-pay-later.
Read the rest of the column at:

Long before financially self-serving LA Dodgers owner Frank McCourt's antics finally kept devoted Dodger fans away from Dodger Stadium this year in droves, after he fired Davey Johnson as Orioles manager in the off-season after he was named AL Manager of the Year for 1997, after getting the Orioles to the '97 AL Championship Series against the Cleveland Indians, Oriole fans were loathing Peter Angelos and Co. and refusing to come to Camden Yards -my home away from home for most of the 1990's- and fork over one cent to him, preferring instead to watch all the games on cable channel HTS (Home Team Sports, now MASN) at home or sports bars.

Under current Dolphins owner Steven Ross, the Dolphins have morphed into the worst on-field aspects of the Detroit Lions and the worst off-field aspects of Frank McCourt's tenure as Dodgers owner.
Ross is an acute embarrassment to the teams most loyal fans -like me- and seems NOT to have learned a whit since becoming owner, continuing the Dolphins era of complete insignificance.

Dolphins use outside agency to chase season ticket holders
Posted by Mike Florio on August 6, 2011, 5:46 PM EDT


Touch by Alyssa Milano Miami Dolphins Women's Sleeveless Top
Orange you glad that I decided to add this one?

Although it hurts her to see her Dodgers so often used as a punchline this season, on her always amusing posterous website, one of my favorites, actress Alyssa Milano, is having the best year of all among celebrity Dodger faithful.
Check out the photo at the link, one I sent out to sports media friends within just minutes of her posting it.

#Dodgers I Love L.A. (picture)-->, from late July 2011

Like bambino-to-be, like mother...




I've written about or referenced Alyssa on the blog several times, the most popular post on her being this one form Sept. 18, 2010 titled, Proof positive that no photo of Alyssa Milano is without its magnetic CHARM. Not that we EVER doubted it!

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2012 Spring Touch collection: http://alyssa.com/?p=2569