The biggest loser? Stephen Ross

[CF DolFan]

Someone else said it in another post but this article explains it. While Ross was able to bring all the fans back together it may not have been how he wanted. I really had no idea how he has left Sparano hanging.




Armando Salguero


Joe Robbie had issues and some of them came out of bottles of alcohol. Wayne Huizenga was duped by Jimmy Johnson, Dave Wannstedt, Rick Spielman, Nick Saban and then duped Bill Parcells.

Stephen Ross?

He's the worst of all.

In the past week, Dolphins owner Stephen Ross has turned the bitter disappointment of a 7-9 season into the good ol' days. He has lacked wisdom. He has misled and deceived. He has overestimated. And those were his resoundingly good moments.

Mostly he has embarassed the Miami Dolphins, his coach, his fans, and himself.

In a nutshell, he has stunk like a skunk.

Ross arrived back in South Florida early Friday morning and landed his private jet at Opa Locka Airport. He had spent the previous 30 or so hours trying repeatedly trying to convince Jim Harbaugh to become Miami's new head coach. By all reliable reports, he failed.

Ross couldn't sway Harbaugh in northern California.

Ross couldn't sway Harbaugh's agent David Dunn in southern California.

Ross took a giant swing and whiffed. He also whiffed on Jon Gruden. He also whiffed on Bill Cowher before that.

So Ross returned to South Florida a defeated person. But he mostly returned to South Florida a reviled person.

Reviled, you might ask? Yup.

Consider:

Remember I have reported to you Ross met with Bill Parcells on Saturday to ask his opinion of what to do with Jeff Ireland and Tony Sparano. He left that meeting after indicating to Parcells that he was keeping both the general manager and coach. And then he went about the business of trying to replace the coach.

So Ross has crossed Bill Parcells.

It obviously can be argued Ross changed his mind after that Saturday meeting and reacting to Sunday's 38-7 defeat at New England. That one, after all, could have caused the owner to reconsider what he had told Parcells.

Wrong.

You see, Ross met with Sparano for several hours on Monday. And when he left that meeting, he gave Sparano the strong feeling that he would be retained. And then Ross went about the business of wooing several coaches, particularly Harbaugh.

That's his prerogative right? He's just doing his due diligence, right?

Well, sure. But why mislead and misdirect? Why give an indication that points north and then go south? Why sully the honor of your word with men who value honor and the bond of one's word, men like Parcells and Sparano?

Ross could have easily left his meeting with Sparano by saying, "Coach, I understand you had issues this year and I understand everything you've just explained, but it's my duty as owner to go look around for the best coach I possibly can. So I'm going to take the next couple of days to do exactly that. I hope you understand and can be patient while that process plays out. If you can't be, I understand that, too."

Sparano would have had no choice but to accept that. And he would have respected the way Ross was handling it. But Ross never uttered words even remotely close to that. He just smiled and glad-handed Sparano and upon leaving his company, went about the business of trying to replace him.

However you feel about that -- even if misdirection doesn't bother you -- the process Ross then undertook was, well, kooky.

He approached Cowher and reportedly offered mega-bucks to get the Super Bowl winning coach. But he wanted to saddle Cowher with an unaccomplished general manager and defensive coordinator Mike Nolan.

Is anyone surprised Cowher turned Ross down? Please speak now if you are suprised. (You are alone if you raised your hand. Go face the wall.)

Ross also reportedly contacted Gruden or his "people" to gauge his interest. Gruden's interest is said to have been located at around the $10 million range. Outrageous, right? Even for a great offensive mind and former Super Bowl winning coach, that price tag is exorbitant.

But Ross is a billionaire three times over. He just offered around $7 millionish to Cowher. What's another $3? That's a total of $12 million over four years. That was too much for a multi-billionaire? That's like shopping for a Rolls Royce but walking away for not wanting to pay extra for the air conditioning.

Then came the Harbaugh debacle. This one makes 38-7 seem palatable.

Ross made a run at him here in South Florida and got rejected. And then Ross flew across country to San Jose, California to make a run at Harbaugh at his home turf. And despite offering more money than anyone else, Ross still couldn't close the deal.

A warning: When or if Ross finally speaks on this topic -- he refused to do that Friday morning when his plane landed -- he will likely say he never really offered Harbaugh a deal. He will probably paint this fiasco of a trip as an exploratory mission to feel out Harbaugh. It was, he may say, an interview of Harbaugh.

In truth, it was a Harbaugh interview of Ross. And Ross failed the interview if nothing changes in the next couple of days and Harbaugh does not run back to the Dolphins to become their coach.

So now Ross goes back to Sparano. I would tell you that was his fall-back plan the whole time. Not true because that would require you to believe Ross had any plan to begin with. I will not insult you with that.

Ross told Sparano upon leaving that meeting that he would get back with him on Tuesday and it would all be resolved by then. Tuesday came and went. Wednesday came and went. Thursday came and went. And the two had not talked.

Sparano was reading accounts of what was happening in the media. Of course, Ross may tell Sparano those accounts were wrong and he never talked to three different potential replacements. The owner may tell Sparano he has his confidence and it's always been that way.

Sparano is smart enough to know better.

And here's the kicker:

When Ross went on his cross-country coach search, even as he hung Sparano out to dry by offering a job that was still filled, the owner was something of a hero to one segment of the fan base. Fans that wanted Sparano out appreciated what Ross was doing regardless of the slimey manner in which he was doing it.

It angered fans that saw it as a classless, low-life, back-stabbing move. But it made fans of change enthusiastic about Ross.

But having failed to successfully make change, Ross has now alienated fans that didn't appreciate the manner he was going about trying to make this coaching change ... and he has now alienated fans that wanted the change he seemed to be working on but failed to accomplish .. and he has now aliented fans that didn't want any change to begin with even though there is no change being made.

He's solidified the entire Dolphins fan base! Everyone hates Ross for one reason or another.

He either embarrassed you or he embarrassed you.

Maybe Ross should offer to sell the team back to Huizenga. Or even Robbie. Either would be better than him. And, yes, I know Robbie is dead. He still had a better week than Ross.



Read more: http://miamiherald.typepad.com/dolphins_in_depth/2011/01/the-biggest-loser-stephen-ross.html#tp#ixzz1AM9ZYlHS

[masterfins]

In spite of the short term embarassment I think Ross has handled this the right way.  Many of the members on this site have clamored for Sparano's replacement. So if Ross made no effort to look at other coaching options you guys would be complaining.  Since he did look at other coaching options, but didn't fire Sparano first you guys are complaining.  If Ross had fired Sparano first, and then had not gotten the one or two high profile coaches you wanted you guys would have been complaining that he shouldn't have fired Sparano before he had a viable replacement.  Incredible how much some of you guys complain, it's like a bunch of old ladies.  Furthermore, some of you guys that have spoken so badly about Sparano are now upset that Sparano's feelings may be hurt.  Just incredible!

[Sunstroke]

^^^ If I heard someone in a bar say those words...I'd buy him a beer.

[masterfins]

^^^In that case I'm drinking Heinekin.

[dolfan13]

i think its good that at the very least ross comes back and offers the guy a contract extension.

they didn't have to do that, but i think it makes things square between sparano and ross.

now sparano still has to be freaking pissed at ireland and probably wants to give him a big kick in the nuts for being such a douchebag.

[MikeO]

i think its good that at the very least ross comes back and offers the guy a contract extension.

they didn't have to do that, but i think it makes things square between sparano and ross.

now sparano still has to be freaking pissed at ireland and probably wants to give him a big kick in the nuts for being such a douchebag.

No it doesn't. It just puts Sparano in the SAME position next year. If he wanted to make it square, give him a 3 or 4 year extension. The 1 year extension is a token move that is meaningless.

[MikeO]

In spite of the short term embarassment I think Ross has handled this the right way. 

He put his head coach in a position where NOBODY respects him. His team doesn't, they run to the press to badmouth him. They know the owner doesn't want him and doesn't respect him and is trying to replace him. The fans dont' want him nor respect him, they are upset he is coming back.

Ross handled so bad it can't be put into words

[dolfan13]

whats his contract, 3 mil per year?

if they fire him next year, they still have to pay him that extra year contract. extra 3 mil in you pocket seems pretty cool to me.

i mean all they were doing was exploring a potential "upgrade". they didn't go about it in the best way, so come back and give the guy some extra cash.

first guys want him to leave his 3 million owed to him this year on the table and walk away, now people think that getting an extra 3 million on top of it isn't enough. people must think money grows on trees around here.

[MikeO]

The Dolphins have a tentative press conference on Saturday. WHY?!!!

You don't hold press conferences to announce you AREN'T firing a guy!! This might be the dumbest move yet!

What, hold a press conference to announce a stinkin 1 year extension? If it were a 2-3 or 4 year extension ok. But a 1 year extension it means nothing in NFL circles! That is laughable.  Ross and all of his billions needs to hire a PR director or PR firm to tell him how to spin this the right way.

Give Sparano his extension. Issue a public statement (written), appologize to the fans and Sparano for this past week. Say you didn't handle it well and have learned from it.  Do something for the fans, whether slash ticket prices by a couple bucks or hold a free autograph session with a bunch of players one day at the stadium or something. Go sign a big free agent or make a splash in the draft to win back some fans and get the focus back on football. Then Mr. Stephen Ross you go into friggin hiding till Next September!! Out of site out of mind!

You DO NOT hold a press conference unless you are firing him. You don't hold one to announce you AREN'T firing him! If its even possible now (and I didn't think it was) but you are gonna make Sparano look even worse than he does now by having a press conference!

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

The only possible explanation for the Dolphin's off season moves is Ross was over at Ricky's place sharing a joint when Ricky double dog dared Stephen to do something even more bizarre than Rex Ryan's toe sucking video.  

[MikeO]

The only possible explanation for the Dolphin's off season moves is Ross was over at Ricky's place sharing a joint when Ricky double dog dared Stephen to do something even more bizarre than Rex Ryan's toe sucking video.  

It's unbelievable. Just when you think they hit rock bottom, they go friggin lower.

If they hold a press conference to announce esentially nothing but the fact they acted like fools this past week.....then they really are clueless on every level.

[StL FinFan]

In spite of the short term embarassment I think Ross has handled this the right way.  Many of the members on this site have clamored for Sparano's replacement. So if Ross made no effort to look at other coaching options you guys would be complaining.  Since he did look at other coaching options, but didn't fire Sparano first you guys are complaining.  If Ross had fired Sparano first, and then had not gotten the one or two high profile coaches you wanted you guys would have been complaining that he shouldn't have fired Sparano before he had a viable replacement.  Incredible how much some of you guys complain, it's like a bunch of old ladies.  Furthermore, some of you guys that have spoken so badly about Sparano are now upset that Sparano's feelings may be hurt.  Just incredible!