A rule of thumb that is generally used throughout journalism is to keep an unbiased opinion and stay away from things that would be considered a conflict of interest.
This is why you will not find very many things on this blog dealing with the Miami Dolphins or the Tampa Bay Rays.
Those are my favorite two teams in sports and I can get a little...passionate...when writing, speaking, or shouting about the two of them.
However, the actions of the Dolphins front office staff over these last few weeks cannot go ignored, not even by this biased, crappy piece of publication.
And, Hell, if Bill Simmons can get away with writing about all things Boston all the time, I should be allowed a freebie every now and again.
So, quick recap, Miami ends what should have been a promising season with a 7-9 record, compounded worse by the fact that they only won one game at home all year long.
Naturally, rumblings starting coming about that head coach Tony Sparano would probably be losing his job.
Enter into the mix things like retired coach Bill Cowher stating to the media that he would be interested in coaching the Dolphins and Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh announcing that he was ready to go to the NFL and now we have ourselves a few options to the heir apparent in Miami.
So, Stephen Ross, the owner, flies out to California to meet with Harbaugh and to reportedly make him an offer that would make him the highest paid coach in the NFL.
Now, here's where if you were my editor you would point out to say that I forgot a huge chunk of information here. The only problem is, I didn't
Ross never fired Sparano.
He went to find Sparano's replacement, while Sparano was STILL on the job. This is the kind of shady, under-handed stuff you could get away with in the 60's and 70's when the media was severely limited but in this day and age, you get your bullshit called on you.
What a tasteless, gutless act by Ross. It reminded me of those jerks in high school who would be dating a girl and then see a prettier one and go up to her and say, "Hey, when I dump her, you wanna go out?"
Poor Sparano didn't do anything but sit there with the mud on his face, waiting day and day for somebody to decide his future for him.
And in the end? Harbaugh went to the 49ers and Sparano was resigned for another year extension.
Are you kidding me? How are we supposed to believe that he's going to go ahead and give himself 100% to a team that clearly has no interest in reciprocating?
The whole situation is a nightmare. Ross was never man enough to bite the bullet and do what he wanted to do and now we're stuck in this weird "we're married but we sleep in separate beds" scenario.
Look, Sparano is a good coach. It wasn't his fault that Chad Henne had some sort of embolism and regressed about fourteen years in his progress as a quarterback. Plus, the offensive coordinator last year was ancient and out of touch with today's NFL and didn't know how to utilize the weapons he had. He's already gone and Henne most certainly won't be the starter next year.
But would you blame Sparano for mailing it in next year as some big eff you to the ownership?
I sure wouldn't.
Ross would certainly have it coming to him.
It just sucks that, in like most marriages on the brink of divorce, the ones who suffer the most are the children.
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