Since taking over 95 percent ownership of the Miami Dolphins in 2009, Stephen Ross has tried to reclaim the South Florida sports market that used to be the exclusive property of Don Shula's former football team.
He's talked of making the team more "fan friendly" and of improving "the game-day experience."
He's added some high-profile ownership partners from the entertainment world embedded in the South Florida culture, such as Marc Anthony, Gloria Estefan, Emilio Estefan, Serena and Venus Williams, and Fergie.
But the Dolphins are losing fans because they don't win at home. They were 1-7 last year and began this season with two home losses. Attendance fell off 15,000 for the second game.
All of which makes their trip to Cleveland this weekend a welcome relief to them.
"All I know is when I go on the road I have my team's full attention," coach Tony Sparano said this week. "I'm with them longer, I get to be around them longer, they get to be around the coaches longer. That's what I know. If that's a good thing then that's a good thing.
"We're going to take the team on the road and we're going to do everything. It doesn't matter where we're playing. We can be playing in the middle of the street this week. We need to find a win and that's what we're going to try to do."
Sparano has been on the "hot seat" since Bill Parcells bailed out as chief football executive last year. Parcells put the management team together that transformed the Dolphins from 1-15 to 11-5 seemingly overnight. But they're 7-9, 7-9 and 0-2 since.
After last season, Sparano dangled in the wind as Ross courted Stanford's Jim Harbaugh to replace him. Sometime during this awkward period, Ross took a call from fired Browns coach Eric Mangini to arrange a meeting. It was reported in South Florida that Mangini would "consult" with Sparano and General Manager Jeff Ireland about the franchise's "vision" going forward.
Ultimately, that meeting was canceled and Sparano was retained and given a two-year contract extension. He wound up replacing retired offensive coordinator Dan Henning with Brian Daboll, who was Mangini's coordinator two seasons with the Browns.
The offense hasn't been the problem through two games. The Dolphins' defense has been strafed by the likes of New England's Tom Brady (517 passing yards) and Houston's Matt Schaub (230).
After their visit to Cleveland, the Dolphins have games at San Diego and then at the Jets before returning for the next home game Oct. 23 against Denver. Yes, you can call this a big game for them.
Original article:
http://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ssf/2011/09/post_97.html
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