Miami Dolphins – Stephen Ross

All style and no substance? That’s my takeaway on Ross 19 months into his tenure as the team’s controlling owner, and some of his peers have similar suspicions. When you’re looking for a celebrity minority partner or a VIP stadium experience that includes a South Beach-style club nfl jerseys
or cabanas, Ross is most definitely your man. If you’re looking for someone to set an organizational tone of excellence and integrity – well, I was hard on Wayne Huizenga in the last couple of years of his ownership, but I’m definitely missing the man right now. After I broke the news in April that Miami general manager Jeff Ireland had asked Dez Bryant(notes) in a pre-draft interview if the receiver’s mother was a prostitute – a great day for the Dolphins’ brand – I thought Ross might finally overcome his fear of executive vice president Bill Parcells’ shadow and assert his authority. But Ross, from what I can tell, did little more than throw out hollow rhetoric, which is one of his specialties. During a June appearance at Miami Beach High School, Ross proclaimed that the Dolphins would play in the Super Bowl next February, a prediction he upgraded to “going all the way” in an interview with the Miami Herald two months later. Hey, at least Rex Ryan is one of nfl football jersey
the game’s great defensive strategists; Ross is the guy in a suit talking smack about his football team. To his credit, Ross thinks big on an economic level, too – his plan is to leverage South Florida for improvements to Sun Life Stadium that keep it in the Super Bowl rotation. According to Forbes magazine, he recently refinanced his stadium debt to create a bigger cash reserve, anticipating the possible work stoppage next spring. Not all of his business moves have been so savvy. Ross purchased Kangaroo TV (since re-branded as FanVision), a mobile TV maker whose product, the owner believes, will enhance fans’ game-day experience. He then offered 5,000 free units to each of the NFL’s 31 other teams, in return for their pledge to promote and market the devices to their respective fans. So far, there have only been 12 takers. In the meantime, we’ll see if new jersey nfl
the Dolphins are worth watching in 2010 – or if chilling in the cabana would be preferable.