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Ross offering job to 13

Discussion in 'Miami Dolphins Forum' started by Vinny Fins, Mar 31, 2014.

  1. Phins_Fan_87

    Phins_Fan_87 Phins and Heat fan Club Member

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    Weston
    good
     
  2. Fin D

    Fin D Sigh

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    Hopefully it will be a job with no real power, but a whole lot of fake power which will be good for the fan base. Also, let's hope he doesn't get drunk at events like he appeared to be at the new uniform unveiling.
     
  3. Stringer Bell

    Stringer Bell Post Hard, Post Often Club Member

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    Amazing lesson in management.
     
  4. SICK

    SICK Lounge Moderator

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    "Cheif Football Czar Fonzy Dude"
     
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  5. Fin D

    Fin D Sigh

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    What's wrong with that?

    Its not like there's a specific open position waiting to be filled. It will be a created position tailored to Marino's skills and comfort level. There's no way Ross would know what that was until he talked with him.
     
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  6. Stringer Bell

    Stringer Bell Post Hard, Post Often Club Member

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    I would hope that if you plan on hiring someone, you're already aware of how their skills can add value to your organization?
     
  7. Fin D

    Fin D Sigh

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    First of all, the article doesn't state that he plans to hire him. Secondly, he knows marino provides one skill already and that's being Dan Marino. That's enough to hire the guy, but not enough to say what his position would be. This is not complicated stuff, I'm not sure why you're talking the tack you are.
     
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  8. Stringer Bell

    Stringer Bell Post Hard, Post Often Club Member

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    Again, if this is the approach, then I consider that an amazing lesson in management. How do you measure success in such a situation? How do you measure value-added? How do you determine the appropriate compensation for someone who's skills are "Dan Marino"?
     
  9. djphinfan

    djphinfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Why hasn't construction on renovations started...lets go.

    I don't think it's smart to say on the record you wanna hire him yet you have no idea what that would be..

    You know who he is, you've talked with the guy before, Marino isn't gonna take a charity case hire, and Ross trivializing the hire isn't a good look..you've got to know what position is for hire, if it's vp of football ops so be it, that means dan should have the power to fire coach and GM.
     
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  10. cuchulainn

    cuchulainn Táin Bó Cúailnge Club Member

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    Not sure how he is going to mesh with Aponte, Hickey, and Philbin. Definitely sounds like strictly a PR move to have a fan ambassador on site to help increase ticket and merchandise sales.
     
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  11. Fin D

    Fin D Sigh

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    Ticket sales, positive fan reaction, positive media reaction, Q scores, etc.

    First and foremost, this is a PR move. Positive PR is practically invaluable for this franchise at this point in time.

    I'd imagine if the position was less nebulous and more traditional, that would depend on Dan's willingness and more importantly if he can convince Ross he has the tools necessary to have more responsibility (IMO he doesn't). If that all occurred then you'd imagine judging his success level and compensation would be more in line with the rest of the league. Again though, how can you determine that before you talk to Marino at length about it?

    Should Ross have said, "Depending on Marino's interest and ability levels, we could offer him anything from Team Pharaoh to an empty powerless title for PR reasons." ?
     
  12. LI phinfan

    LI phinfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Like that thought even remotely popped in my head. Dan Marino having one too many at an event ,pales in comparison, to all the other nonsense and egg on our face we have had to endure. HOF QB with numerous charities in his name gives me MUCH more confidence to make this organization proud than some of the players,coaches and GM's we have allowed to stain us in the media.
     
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  13. the 23rd

    the 23rd a.k.a. Rio

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    make him the president of the hostess committee & public the decimeter of team news & the front piece for public relations.
     
  14. Fin D

    Fin D Sigh

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    Dan has his fair amount of skeletons in his closet.

    What if, for example, he gets hired and fully endorses the current staff and we still miss the playoffs......will that tarnish how you feel about Marino's abilities in the FO?
     
  15. MonstBlitz

    MonstBlitz Nobody's Fart Catcher

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    There's a dozen different things Ross could say that sound better than "no idea". How about something like, "We're going to talk to Dan about a potential job." If pressed he could say exactly what you're saying, "We have to talk to him and see how he can best help the Miami Dolphins." I can't find the entire quote by Ross, it would be good to have the whole context, but to say "no idea" just doesn't sound good. Especially for an owner who has displayed lack of preparation very recently. The uncertainty of retaining/firing Jeff Ireland at seasons end and the fiasco of a GM search that ensued. I agree with you that it's not a huge deal that they don't know how to employ Dan Marino until they talk to him, but as an owner, Ross could at least pretend that he has some vision for how to use Dan Marino as an asset to the team.
     
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  16. Fin D

    Fin D Sigh

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    Ross is not a public speaker. Most owners don't have to talk to the media. Being a good public speaker should have no bearing on being a good owner.
     
  17. LI phinfan

    LI phinfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    I dont think so. And by no means do I think he should be given a very powerful position. I think he could definatly add some value to this organization. I just thought you took a little bit of a cheap shot at him,
     
  18. Serpico Jones

    Serpico Jones Well-Known Member

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    "I would like to...uhhh...bring back....uhhhhh...the Shula years...(clears throat)uhhhhh....that they had in the past...uhhhh...winning tradition....uhhhhhh..." -Stephen Ross
     
  19. Fin D

    Fin D Sigh

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    Fair enough.

    FTR though, it wasn't a cheap shot. We've seen video of him losing his **** on TV sets, he's had a love child, there's numerous reports about him being a bit of a douche to people, and he didn't have enough forethought to not get hammered at a pretty big team event where he was not just on stage and camera but front and center. Those aren't necessarily giant votes of confidence, IMO.
     
  20. MonstBlitz

    MonstBlitz Nobody's Fart Catcher

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    If he's not interested in presenting himself well to the media he should stop talking to the media. It's the stuff Ross says, whether he says it well or not, that gives us some insight as to why he has such a long ways to go to actually being a good owner.
     
  21. Paul 13

    Paul 13 Chaotic Neutral & Unstable Genius Staff Member

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    it feels fake... like that whole advisory committee thing that Ross said he was starting last season (With Dungy, Marino, Shula, Taylor and Martin). There will be no substance here... this is just to give everyone positive warm fuzzies.
     
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  22. Fin D

    Fin D Sigh

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    He'd get crucified by the local media for not talking to them. They crucify the team now for not making people available to them.
     
  23. thisperishedmin

    thisperishedmin Well-Known Member

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    You can be a poor public speaker but still show a clear idea whats going on. Ross is neither so far.

    Things like this make it sound like someone blundering along through a play project / hobby. "No idea" is the kind of answer a homebrewer gives when they express excitement at the idea of eventually having a fully automated solution, but its a pipe dream. Or someone who works on cars, and dreams of building a custom motor but hasn't read more on it besides the fact that "people have done it before". I could go on on and on, but the impression it gives me is someone with big ideas and no clue how to execute them yet. Thats fine if youre talking among good company and friends, but it gets weird when you're taking that in front of the media.

    It just seems like unbridled enthusiasm for a play time project you don't devote full time or attention to, or simply haven't fully explored in order to understand various nuances.

    Just my impression.
     
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  24. GreysonWinfield

    GreysonWinfield Release The Hounds

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    Dancing Monkey.
     
  25. CrunchTime

    CrunchTime Administrator Retired Administrator

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    This is so much hot air.He didnt offer a job to Marino .He said he would talk to him about a job but there does not seem to be a timetable for such a meeting and its likely Marino has not even been contacted about it.

    IMO its a PR move designed to keep the reporters aNd fans at bay .I am sure Ross has been asked numerous times about this possibility .At this stage its not a serious effort IMO.
     
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  26. Stringer Bell

    Stringer Bell Post Hard, Post Often Club Member

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    And as I said, it will be a valuable lesson how Stephen Ross assigns a value to those things. You stated those things are "invaluable", which essentially means Marino could name his own price?

    Personally, I'm very dubious as to how much those factors truly affect the team's value. Ticket sales are really the only avenue in which popularity can affect the team's value, and even then the effect on the bottomline is minimal.
     
  27. ckparrothead

    ckparrothead Draft Forum Moderator Luxury Box

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    The fact that Ross doesn't know what the job would entail is a simple function of the fact that Ross hasn't spoken directly to Dan yet, nor has he spoken to his other department heads (Hickey, Philbin, Aponte).

    The nature of those conversations will help Ross establish what the role will be and what his job function will be.

    Ross just wants to be careful here because Dan very famously did quit a job that ended up being in practice something completely dissimilar from what his idea of the job would be in theory. Part of the reason for that disconnect was Huizenga and Marino weren't specific enough about his role and what he would do, and perhaps most importantly Huizenga did not get everyone else in the organization on the same page.

    Wannstedt was the guy that ousted Dan Marino in the first place, leading to a situation in which Huizenga himself had to step in, hold a press conference, and publicly announce that Dan Marino will receive a contract to play for the Miami Dolphins if Dan Marino has any interest in making that happen, that as long as Dan feels ready and willing to continue playing football, he will be the Dolphins quarterback. Huizenga said all this after Wannstedt ignored Marino all off season which led to a public controversy.

    Wannstedt had held the GM title for all that time after, until the off season Dan was hired. Then the power was given to Spielman and Spielman was no more on the same page with Marino than Wannstedt. He wasn't anxious to have Dan looking over his shoulder and actually for all intents and purposes he tried to order Marino around and give him assignments as if he were an assistant on his staff.

    Meanwhile you have everyone among Dan's media contacts whispering in his ear, get out. That place is a dumpster fire. Get the hell out of there.

    I think anyone would want to avoid that happening second time. So naturally Ross is going to have to actually communicate with everyone in order to shape the job title and functions. That includes Marino himself. What is his interest level and commitment? What's his time commitment? What does he view himself as bringing to the table?

    I think the idea of Ross wanting to add Marino and having no idea what he would do does look humorous on the surface and I appreciate the comedy of it. But at the same time it's not really unusual. In fact it happens all the time in my business. You know a person, you know his areas of expertise and what kind of person he is, and you want to add him to your organization. You can figure out the particulars after you've established the interest. Hell, that's how I got hired to my company...twice.
     
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  28. ckparrothead

    ckparrothead Draft Forum Moderator Luxury Box

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    It's not BS. There's mutual interest here. They're trying not to ruffle feathers.
     
  29. djphinfan

    djphinfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    That's well said, just wished he didn't say "no idea".... Guess it really isn't a big deal in the big pic.
     
  30. djphinfan

    djphinfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Can we figure out what position can be created or what position is actually available for him at this point knowing what we know.?
     
  31. MonstBlitz

    MonstBlitz Nobody's Fart Catcher

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    Well put. It's a simple analogy but I think it does a lot to explain Ross's failures as an owner so far. Usually people who get these half baked ideas never get their half baked ideas off the ground because they lack both money and ambition. Ross as owner of the Miami Dolphins is what you get when a billionaire gets a half baked idea. He has the money, so he does it. But the ambition seems to be sorely lacking.
     
  32. djphinfan

    djphinfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    I think his ambition is in the right place and I for one appreciate what he's been trying to do since he got here..I'm not sure if he knows how to identify staff talent, but we'll see.
     
  33. ckparrothead

    ckparrothead Draft Forum Moderator Luxury Box

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    I don't think Dennis Hickey or Joe Philbin (or Dawn Aponte for that matter) want him involved in the official goings on of the organization unless it's in a very subserviant role. This is only natural. There's already too many cooks in the kitchen and a year ago that ended poorly. This GM search went poorly in large part because of the perception (real or imagined) that they had too many cooks in the kitchen.

    If I were Marino, I would position myself on the ownership/board of directors side of things. I don't know what his financial situation for an official ownership buy-in is, but if he could get on the Board in place of Don Shula (whose health is not great) then I think he should look to do that and essentially end up being Matt Higgins. Except instead of being Matt Higgins he's Dan Marino, Hall of Fame player, NFL ambassador extraordinaire. Perhaps instead of a Matt Higgins I should say he would be taking the place of Carl Peterson, who has been functioning in this role on a very LIMITED basis unofficially purely out of friendship to Ross.

    Once Marino is in position to be whispering in Steve Ross' ear, it's up to him to impress him enough to be given more important tasks.

    Dawn Aponte would/should feel threatened by this role because she's also been serving as an unofficial member of this cadre of counsel for Steve Ross.

    The thing that is probably missing most from this organization is football knowledge at the very top. The very top is Steve Ross, and he's clueless about the sport. He's surrounded himself with people that may be insufficient at providing proper counsel for various reasons.

    Matt Higgins is another guy that has only one foot in the door, being involved with Ross in his real estate stuff and also having a history with the Jets organization. Dawn Aponte has been finance and franchise incidentals (e.g. going to London to make sure everything is set for our trip there this year), and she's been such a lightning rod for controversy that they keep having to explicitly say that she will never ever given an opinion about personnel or players. The guy who is in position to be Ross' football expert is Carl Peterson who isn't really an official anything with the organization and only gets involved once in a blue moon when Ross is in a bind and needs some credibility attached to what he's doing.

    There's no expert on the game itself within Steve Ross' counsel, other than the underlings like Dennis Hickey and Joe Philbin whom we all know (despite best intentions) end up cycled in and out of the organization on average something like once every four years. That's just the way the NFL is.

    So if I were Dan Marino, that's how I would look to approach it. Seek the safety of the part of the organization that is stable, and bend the ear of the guy who is TRULY at the top of the organization, and has a lot more desire to make decisions than he lets on publicly. Put yourself in position to make HIM look like an expert and he'll love you for it.
     
  34. Stringer Bell

    Stringer Bell Post Hard, Post Often Club Member

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    What are Marino's areas of expertise? At this point we can say quarterbacking, and TV personality. Is that enough for you want to add someone to your organization? Hell, if that is the case, Ross would be better off going after Chad Pennington IMO.
     
  35. Tone_E

    Tone_E Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    CK has been watching too much House of Cards. :)
     
  36. ckparrothead

    ckparrothead Draft Forum Moderator Luxury Box

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    Why, specifically, do you think that a player that had been leading a team for two decades and then analyzing an entire league of teams for another decade-plus would not really know anything about the sport?

    Be specific.
     
  37. ckparrothead

    ckparrothead Draft Forum Moderator Luxury Box

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    I have no idea what that is.
     
  38. Stringer Bell

    Stringer Bell Post Hard, Post Often Club Member

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    "Analyzing an entire league of teams" is also a very generous characterization. Being an analyst for a few hours on TV really doesn't entail very in-depth knowledge of how organizations are operating.

    "Knowing something about the sport" is worth what exactly? You could apply that to plenty of people on this very forum. Of course he knows a lot about the sport, but that sure as hell doesn't mean he is good enough to add value to an organization.
     
  39. MikeHoncho

    MikeHoncho -=| Censored |=-

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    Mouth. Meet: Foot.

    Clown shoes ownership strikes again.
     

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