Bob Ryan's take on Miami this morning on ESPN made me think of this: I live just outside of Boston. I'm not going to quantify how many years I've been a Dolphin fan because I'm not getting into a "my dick is bigger than yours" thread of who's a better or longer fan. I was listening to sports radio up here and they were talking Manning. And then Miami came up. It was a cordial discussion, no Miami sucks jokes or anything. BUT the hosts brought up a great point. They share the national perspective on the Dolphins. and that perception is: this organization is a bunch of clowns. Ross trying to get Harbaugh with Sparano under contract. Then keeping Sparano. Then winning pointless games that took them out of the top of the draft, leading to this QB mess that's happening now. Flat out throwing Matt Moore under the bus. Those were some of the football decisions they touched on. The other was the "entertainment" side of the Dolphins. Perception is that Ross and Co want the Dolphins to be an entertainment based franchise. Clubs, orange carpets, celebrities, etc. The game seems less important than the "experience." and you know what, I have to agree. Why does Ross want Manning? He's a NAME. Celebrity. Seat seller. I get Ross has to make money. But you know what fills seats more than glitz and glam? Winning. And it seems hell or high water on Manning. All i see is Pennington. 1 good year and then done. But it seems Ross doesn't care. I'm shocked Philbin would agree to this, but what do I know? 0I go to the Pat's/Dolphins game at Foxboro every year. There's no carpet. No club. No celebs. Nothing. Football. Winning football. Think there's a carpet and celebs in Green Bay? Nope. Just winning football. How about with the Giants? nah. Just Winning football. There's a pattern here. People go to games to see winning teams. I could care less what "celeb" is at any game. I want to see my team win. That's all. everything else is poo poo. And I'm starting to believe the national perception of our team. We're a joke. And it goes further back than Ross and Ireland. Look at all the players this team has passed on over the years. They've tried bandaids, "acorns" and 2nd rounders. None have worked. Sensing a pattern here? Winning franchises have Take No BS coaches. They have owners who "get it." They have GM's who get the right players and then turn them into winners. Honestly, Miami needed a QB, passed on Mallett 3 times and the Pats took him. Really? Bellichik's drafts are very hit or miss, but he doesn't just draft a QB for no reason. He clearly saw something that our crack staff didn't. And it's not all about Mallett, it's just a glaring example. That leads me to Manning. Be prepared to lose on Manning. How many people knew he had a wife and 2 kids leading up to last week? Indy reported on his onfield life and that was all. Miami is like Boston, media wise. Celebs, slam and glam. The OJ-esque car chase was nuts. Don't think things like that don't play into decisions. You think manning wants to be followed 24/7 paprazzi style? Nope. Think that'll happen in Denver or Arizona? Doubt it. And forget the weather. Weather doesn't mean crap. If his best chance to win is in Russia, he's going there. Denver has cap space. They can bring Manning, Wayne, Saturday and Clarke if Manning wants that. It's an easy division. KC, SD and the Raiders? Come on. Cake walk. Easy wins, good defense, decent line. What's not to like there. Think Manning wants to go head to head with the Pats and jets twice a year or KC and the Raiders? You know the answer. As for Flynn, he's going where the $ is. It's his first and potentially only big contract. Cleveland has the cash and can show him they have 2 1st round picks that they can build with and have a HEALTHY franchise player in Joe Thomas. Cleveland looks perfect for him. RG3 is gone. Getting my point. I don't want to be negative, but facts are facts and perception is reality. We may get nothing of the "Big 3" and look like clowns AGAIN. And in the end, I think you'll find Ross and Ireland are the problem. People view our team as a joke and that orange Carpets and in stadium night clubs are more important than winning. I hate that I feel this way going into another offseasnon. I could be way off and Manning and Wayne will come here and everything will be great for years to come. But history ends up doomed to repeat itself. And who doesn't see Ireland looking at Tannehill as a reach at 8. Ugh. i was excited for the offseason, now I'm stressed. Sorry for the long read, but I wanted you guys to know what people outside of Miami are thinking abut our team.
When you speak of the celebrity with Ross it will get shot down like it doesn't matter but in reality Ross is lost on how to own a football team. The guy clearly doesn't have a clue and as fans we are in handcuffs. It's his team and there is not a damn thing we can do about it.
Difference between New England/Green Bay and Miami is that in those other smaller towns, there is nothing competing with the customer's attention. Ultimately, it does come down to winning in the end, yes... but if you're not winning, you have to find other ways to put people in the seats. Tim Tebow day...
Ok some of the points may be valid but of course we have orange carpets and the pats dont. Um its the color of the team. Would u prefer teal?While I agree that the coach handling has been poor I dont think the franchise is a "joke." If we are the only team that is waiting for Manning to throw than the big name only concept also seems unlikely. Moreover the "OJ chase" theory is silly. We were the first stop after the press conference and a potential landing spot. It wasnt just local media. The Circus was also following him in Den and AZ so I dont see that this means anything. Not sure if we are the top target for Peyton but I would bet we are not out of the race.
This has nothing to do with celebrity owners. Showtime and the Lakers did pretty well for a long time. It has everything to do with a lack of leadership at the top between Ross and Ireland. We need a VP level executive above Ireland and below Ross that runs the teams. Problem solved.
TL;DR but the title is correct..we are no longer a "premier" franchise and have joined the middle of the pack as far as recruiting goes.
Ross wants to win. It's priority #1. He wants a Miami Heat/LA Lakers atmosphere, but he realizes that you can't have that without winning. Ross can only do so much. He can't snap his fingers and instantly have a contender... but he does everything he can to win. How this is lost on some people is beyond me. People act like Ross is like "**** winning and having a franchise QB... I want orange carpets.". It's ridiculous...
Orange grass and sparklers handed out at the door. Please this franchise is one QB away from real competition! And the idea that PM would shy away from Mia because he fears competition from NE and NY is a joke!
Here we go with the violin playing that is the Dolphins again... 1st) The NFL is ENTERTAINMENT, all players know this. There is no player who's caught off guard about the fame that comes with the NFL. It's kinda why they wanted to be in the NFL. They are exposed to this in COLLEGE. 2nd) Steve Ross has done nothing out of the ordinary. Denver is actively trying to get PM when they have a QB they were "committed" to. Now he's nothing, discarded if Manning so chooses. This year Indy was looking at new coaches before Caldwell was even fired...but that's swept under the rug. Let's put Harbaugh-gate behind us. We signed Philbin who is being praised all over despite that situation happening. 3rd) People....WE....CANT...SIGN...EVERY....BODY!. We have signed Brandon Marshall (Trade), Reggie Bush (Trade), Kevin Burnett, Karlos Dansby who are all top flight players. But Dolphins fans are living in the past blaming Ross and Ireland for passing on Drew Brees of all people. It defies all logic. 4th) This is a question...what owner wouldn't want to fill seats? I mean....isn't that part of the point of owning a business...to make money off your product? 5th) If the Dolphins were a joke we wouldn't be in the 3 teams being considered by Peyton Manning 6th) Dolphins won their last 6 of 9 last year with Matt Moore. Scorched Earth scenario: We keep Matt Moore as QB1.....6 of 9 is 10-6 if you string it out over a season. Can we just step off the ledge....just a little bit.
Yes there is stop going to the games and the jerkoff will sell and maybe we get a real owner not an a..clown.
If you stop going to games Steve Ross isn't going to be able to sell the team because no one will want to buy it if they aren't going to make a profit.
This organization has made mistakes, no doubt about it. But unfortunately those mistakes have manifested themselves, probably unfairly, into this perception that the team is a joke. Welcome to the age of information. So then this perception that the organization is a bunch of bozos leads to such astute observations as "...winning pointless games that took them out of the top of the draft, leading to this QB mess that's happening now." Really? Granted, many wouldn't have minded finishing higher up in the draft order. But people are really criticizing an organization for actually winning games?? Damned if you do and damned if you don't, because if this team laid down and given up on the season then those same media types would have been calling us clowns for dogging it. As for what Ross is doing with the "orange carpet", big f**ng deal. He said when he took over he wanted to make Dolphin games a "happening" event, similar to what NBA game were becoming. It's marketing, and I fail to see how it truly effected the decisions that went on in the football side of the organization for the past 4 years. And while I don't necessarily agree with Ross' frothing pursuit of Manning, the apparent fact that nearly a dozen teams at least touched base with Manning's representatives is enough to tell me that the pursuit isn't just grounded in the idea of making a few bucks.
Show me a quote where Ross comments on Manning. Every single thing written about this is second/third/fourth hand info. Whilst i'm sure there may be some truth in there, i'm done making judgements about situations when we dont have any facts.
''Then winning pointless games that took them out of the top of the draft'' lol... Hey team??, you are not allowed to win this game..ok?? we went 6 and 3 in our last nine, not sure why that perception would be keeping players from wanting to come here.. The perception of our team is that when you play us, your gonna be in a dogfight.
As the OP stated "perception is reality" so perhaps if you perceive paragraphs to be there then they will be there.
yeah this one is just LOL honestly while I rather we didn't win 6 of the last 9 with how the season was going you can't knock a team for doing it that's honestly just ****ing dumb. The cardinals won a bunch of games late when there season was in the ****ter and there somehow a favorite to land Manning but we won games so were stupid ok..........
The Lakers did well because the won! They were showtime because they had Magic, Worthy, Kareem and were the greatest fast break team in NBA history. Championships matter. That's different than trying to bring in celebrities and other crap and think that's going to get fans to dole out thousands of dollars every year to fill the seats of a bad team. Ross has no clue and it's obvious Manning has no confidence in him or Ireland. It's too bad for us Dolphin fans. We're cursed like the Cardinals were once cursed with Billy Bidwell.
They share the national perspective on the Dolphins. and that perception is: this organization is a bunch of clowns. Ross trying to get Harbaugh with Sparano under contract. Then keeping Sparano. Then winning pointless games that took them out of the top of the draft, leading to this QB mess that's happening now. Flat out throwing Matt Moore under the bus. Those were some of the football decisions they touched on. I said this at the end of last season and now we are on the outside looking in. if we dontwin a playoff game or win it all then i would rather get the best position . this middle of the road is the highway to nowhere.
The reality is that we do this crap basically every year, and it's not just at the QB position. It's every year we are either passing over the right talent, or not signing the right free agents, or throwing money at the wrong ones. I wouldn't blame Manning if he does go out West to AZ or Denver. I lived in Arizona for a few years and the sport organizations out there from baseball, football, and basketball are all just super classy organizations. If you watch the NBA you look at the way the Suns are handling Steve Nash and it's been done with class. I really hope that if Manning doesn't come to the Fins he signs with the Cardinals. If any team deserves him it's them. Back to us, it's just the same story every year since I can remember. Duante Cullpepper over Drew Brees was mind blowing when it happened! Horrible signings like the Kevin Burnett one or the money we threw at Gibril Wilson..I mean CMON! I also was all about drafting Matt Ryan over Jake Long..It made zero sense to me to pass on a franchise QB. The Tedd Ginn draft was just about as awful as it could get! I don't think we drafted one impact player in that draft while still managing to pass on oh so many others. I can go way back if you want me too...Drafting Yatil Green in the first round! Never played a down for us! Drafting John Avery in 98 to be the running back! In conclusion i'm expecting the worst and hoping for the best.
Bumrush you are a genious . i agree with you but I think Ireland should be fired if we don tget a qb and in truth I cant stand watching Matt Moore
What other teams put so much emphasis on celebrity, clubs and so on? None!!! I agree that this owner is all about hype and not necessarily about winning. I agree with him that all this offseason has done thus far has made me sick to my stomach and dumbfounded. How the heck do you get rid of an owner who doesn't have a clue or care? Please someone tell us....
I don't agree with every point, but I do agree with that being the national perception of our team. And it doesn't matter whether Ross really did anything wrong or not. That's the perception. I listen to a sports talk that is not based in Miami and when they do mention us, more of than not it's negative.
Perception, in the end, means nothing. New England was a laughing stock, with the same owner and coach. New Orleans was a laughing stock. San Fran went from GOAT to goat and is now respectable again. Tom Coughlin is on the hot seat every year he doesn't win the SB. When we hired Parcells, the perception was we'd be returned to greatness and respectability. Perception is bull ****.
Thats exact! Adding the Bills!! They were the absolute laughing stock until finally in the 90's they found a Qb named Kelly! The Bucs as well.. The Dolphins however, are far from the laughing stock. They have become irrelevant
Ok going to throw out another idea, and i'm in agreement with the perception is bs sentiments above. Why do we care so much what people who arent dolphin fans think about our team? The only group outside of us that matters are prospective players we might add, and they always fall into two categories, either they want money or the best chance to win. If other teams have better rosters than us or cap situations then some players wont pick us. Oh well. Crying about it and thinking that our franchise is somehow broken beyond repair, and that our owner should be rectifying the situation through some magical powers of persuasion is nonsense. We draft better, coach better, play better, and those free agents who want to win will come. Thats all it is. The idea that there is some kind of mystique or sense of history? When was the last time anybody anywhere chose a team because of that? Why dont we stop giving a crap what everyone else thinks. Stand by your fellow dolphin fans and tell everyone else where to stick it. If a player doesnt want to come to us, his loss.
Because Ross is supposed to snap his fingers and like by magic we acquire a franchise QB. The fact is at the end of the day the owner has very little to do with player acquisition. His job is to sign checks and hire the right front office people to handle football affairs. If he wants to try and create excitement through celebrity owners and events, by all means let him. It has nothing to do with us having or not having a franchise QB.
I thought did he good job threw the head coaching search, and seemingly found us a well respected mind who seemingly hired a strong staff..where has he gone wrong since, whats he on the record for thats so bad??
Somebody reboot DJ again...His syntax is all jumbled again, thanks...I mean, I know what he means and all it's just sometimes..well, that and I keep reading the second sentence in a cockney accent in my mind (What's he on the record for guv'nah?)