The Dolphins Make Me Cry.com - Forums

After the 1st 3 preseason games I can't help but notice how jerky Sparano appears on the sideline, particularly toward his players.  He only gets in the face of his back-ups, which in itself isn't right since the #1's haven't done anything all that great themselves.  He lays into players in a way that seems more annoying than affective. 

Don't you think Hilliard knows his roster spot is on the line and a fumble is an epic negative toward that chance?  But Sparano thinks it is best to belittle him on top of that.

And don't act like you can't read his lips, because I can and most of what he is saying has nothing to do with football and a lot to do with using profanity and threats.  I like a disciplinarian, but he looks ignorant and out of control at times.  I appreciate Tony's passion and decision making (situational), but IMO he needs to take it down a notch because it looks like it is close to a point that is not good for the success of the team.

Keep in mind, I like Sparano; I just think this is an area he should consider adjusting in the interest of team success.  At the very least, he could handle his business when the cameras aren't rolling.

I did notice several F-Bombs, and I'm no lip reader.

Doc, this is EXACTLY what this team needs.  If a player knows he's gonna get an ass-chewing and possibly a boot in his ass if he lets down, he aint gonna let down. 

Do you think even ONE player from Wanny's time ever felt that boot?

This will get you going...

Wanny wasn't bad with player motivation or relations, in fact he was mostly good in this area.  Wanny was a horrible strategist and game planner (or idiot may be more to your liking).  Accountability is a bigger boot than any amount of frustration venting. 

I can't believe I said something good about him!

I have to agree with Tommy (may the lord have mercy on my soul)...I absolutely LOVE Coach Sparano's sideline behavior. I want Tony to show by example the passion he wants his players to lay out on the field. I want to know that his head (and all appendages) are still in the game regardless of the game situation. I want nothing less from Tony Sparano than Mickey wanted out of Rocky Balboa... I want him to eat lightning and crap thunder. I want him to be that greasy fast Italian monster. And then I want his team to go out there and knock Apollo Creed on his ass...or tackle him or something. ;D

I also have to agree with Doc. Having met him, I just think Doc's personal style clashes with Sparano's and in this case I think it is a good thing. No offense Doc, but Sparano is exactly what this team needs. I couldn't disagree more that Wanny was a good motivator. He was good with relations, but that doesn't equate to motivation in my book. This teams hasn't really had anyone in its face since Marino quit yelling at receivers.

I will never understand why many fans like it when players get anger taken out on them.  What I saw wasn't just passion and it wasn't coaching.  I didn't see a lot of motivating (some, but not a lot), mostly expression of frustration.

I like some of the vocal stuff, but there have been points in each game that I saw as counterproductive, not to mention unprofessional and potentially embarrassing to the organization.  I guess I will just have to leave it at that.

I understand those who disagree.  After all, I don't want a softee coaching this team either.  The question is, can you have the best of both worlds?  I would answer with yes, especially if you are compensating a person with millions of dollars in salary.

Always enjoyable to see how one person interprets another person's behavior...whether it's accurate or not.

True.  Observations nearly always include error in interpretation.  Then again, some people observe closer than others.

Agreed... Have you been hanging out on the Dolphins' sideline or inside Tony's cranium lately?

;)

Why?  Did you see me there?  I find the only way to observe somebody is to stand next to them or actually go inside their head.  Luckily, my psychic abilities allow me to do just that.

Two confessions, Doc...

1) I like ya well enough, but couldn't pick you out of a line-up to save my life...so if you were on the sideline, I wouldn't know it until you told me.

2) My psychic accreditation expired this past month...I have to go with my gut until I can get that renewed. My gut tells me that I want Tony's boiler room to keep the heat turned up high on this young Dolphins squad.

I understand, and I just prefer to stay more or less anonymous.  No slight meant toward anyone.  I am simply a big Dolphins fan who likes the escape that this gives me on free moments during the day and I don't have many NFL enthusiest friends.  I also have no problem if nobody agrees with me, I still feel a little better saying it.  I wasn't sure if I was the only one that saw/thought this, perhaps I am. 

But don't get worried about the psychic thing, it is a lifetime membership.   ;)

I disagree with your take on Sparano's mannerisms, but you do have a valid point.  You gotta know when to go off on someone and when not to.  These guys are young and need to learn not to make mistakes like that on the field.

On a personal note, where do you live?  Phishfan says he met you.  If you live in Central FL, hop on by one of our get togethers.

I like his mannerisms just fine.  I think his attitude in practice may be more important during games.  The drive to succeed is more important because it becomes infectious and his players seem to catch that.  Hopefully it will continue to spread.  A coach's affect on you will depend more on your personality anyways.  The two best examples that I know of are Tony Sparano (screamer, always wound up) and Wade Phillips (coddles his players, about as exciting as watching paint dry).  Either approach can work, but I would like to point out that Sparano is equally excited when something good happens as he is pissed off when someone screws up.  As long as he continues like that, I think the players will be able to handle it. 

I think I messed up on that one. I might have thought this was someone else.

You probably confused him with Doctor D.  That meeting I can vouch for.

 
He seems like a passionate man and I've seen him high five players and smack them on the backside with the clipboard as much as I've seen him yell at them. He needs to rip these guys a new one(especially special teams) when they screw up. Way too many Rookies to let shit go.

I would apprciate it if he would spit out the gum before a sideline interview though......... ::)

 I guess you would rather have Sparano acting like  Camoron who looked  really lost at times

Me Too.  We gotta do that again.

No, I would rather him act like Jeff Fisher.

And I see substantially more negativity than positivity, then again that is just what I see maybe others see different.  My problem with this whole thing is more of an over-reaction issue.  I guess I have a punishment fitting the crime mentality and a tendency to treat men as men.  I believe if you treat a man as a child, he will act like a child.

Since none of us are in the locker room we only know what the TV shows us. Maybe Sparano is one of the nicest guys you can meet, as long as you didn't screw something up. We only have part of the story and anything else is speculation.

Personally, I always responded better to coaches who were aggressive. It was easier to be motivated if you knew there were consequences. If a coach was just an "awe shucks" type of guy I felt players developed that attitude as well.

OK, so I am getting a little freaked out...  I pull up the Sun Sentinel online stuff and notice a headline that says "Coach Sparano Knows How To Motivate His Guys".  I have noticed that a fair amount of articles seem to correlate fairly closely with this forum.  I am not saying that the actual articles are inclusive of our commentary, but I do notice that topics seem to pop up really close to the time they are discussed here.

Anyone else notice this?  Anyone think there is something to it?  

Maybe it is more of a coincidence that our observations match up with Journalist observations, but it still gets spooky at times.  With that said, I don't really mind.  I think it is nice to have topics covered by the media that are of particular interest to me/us.  I also like to think that true fans (like most of us) have a good beat on the team and our discussion is worthy of deeper investigation.  Still, I wonder if somebody is watching or listening in the less classic sense of the phrasing.

Here is another way to think about my point, which is not the above.  I know that we have limited observations, but they are the ones that are public.  Public tongue lashings are different than private, I am only referring to the public stuff.  I also never supported an "awe shucks" mentality.

So here it is...

Who are your top 3 rated coaches?  How was/is their sideline manor?  To keep it consistant with todays player, I would encourage you to list current coaches.  

Would any of your top three curse at a player on the sideline for a fumbled punt with a broken hand?  Would any of them curse at a player in public for fumbling a ball after a taking a huge hit when he recently was your player of the game?  Would any of them curse on the sideline for not getting on and off the field as fast as they wanted even when there was no delay of game?  Does/did your pick act like Tony Sparano has in the first 3 preseason games this year?

My 3...

Fisher - No to all.
Dungy - No to all.
Belichick (Damn I hate to say it) - No to all. 

So far he's 11-5 . Lets give him another season before we decide if he motivates them or not. Right now its an astounding, YES!!

MANNERISM!!!

manorism would have something to do with an estate....

I think it's a combination of things.  Sometimes, we have the same thoughts as journalists, having watched the same things, and sometimes, I'll see an interesting story on TV and bring the same question here to form our own discussion.

I do it a lot with PTI, especially.

And maybe, journalists look over forums for ideas, too.

They definitely do. Forums and sports blogs are the pulse of sports.

Actually Belichick will curse out his players.  Just not in public. 

Moss has told a story about his first day of camp.  Brady has messed up an easy dump off pass in practice.  It was the first play viewed in film session and BB absolutely ripped into him, "you are suppose to be some sort of all pro QB.  I can get a fucking high school kid to make that pass."   After BB ripped apart Brady for the play he addressed the whole team starring directly at Randy and said, something to the effect of "nobody gets special treatment on this team and everyone can improve their game."

It was a shocking eye opener for Moss.

According to reports from many player F-bombs are a normal part of BB's speech.   

My apologies...  I am not much of a English/Lit guy.  Thanks for the correction.

I definitely was referencing public behavior.  I really don't have an issue with what I saw when it is in a team practice setting.  I really won't elaborate on why I feel differently on private vs. public behavior but I do feel they are different and have different affects.

I am really not trying to continue this thread.  What I saw wasn't all that bad IMO, but I did feel it was worth a minor discussion.  I just wanted to address a few last comments in the thread that appeared directed toward me.

Side note... I noticed in preseason game 4 that Sparano was toned down and much more in the spirit of how he was throughout last season.  To me, this is good to see and I was just hoping that the first 3 games were not the beginning of a new trend for Sparano.