Dave Hyde | Sun Sentinel blogs

Cecil Collins, Shawshank and me

Sun, 12 Jul 2009 09:37:13 -0500

I've only seen Shawshank Redemption a few hundred times, and so as soon Cecil Collins began talking about what a young idiot he had been my mind flashed back to the Morgan Freeman scene in the parole board. That's how I began the column today on Collins. Collins was as personable as I remember back in Dolphins camp when he was the preseason flash and early-season hope. This was when the Dolphins couldn't find a running back. Just in Jimmy Johnson's time, they had gone through Karim Abdul-Jabbar, Jerris McPhail, John Avery, J.J. Johnson, Irving Spikes ... As for the next movie scene to morph into a local sports moment, I hope for Tony Sparano, asked if he's telling the truth about a player's injury, answers: "You can't handle the truth."

Chill out on the lack of Heat moves

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 10:40:48 -0500

There's nothing like watching over-reaction take hold. Headlines get bigger. Fans get louder. And perspective? Forget it. Here's the point: If the Heat doesn't bring in Chris Bosh or maybe Amare Stoudamre this off-season, they're not moving toward a championship in a big way.Pat Riley seems to recognize that. For the past few weeks, the Heat has watched teams improve. Them's the facts. But since the Affaire d'Dwyane Wade involves building a championship team, how many of these teams that are making deals have done that? Not Detroit. Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva don't make you a contender. In fact, a few years from now people will ask why the heck Detroit is paying so much for Gordon. Not Cleveland. Shaq is a nice addition. Cleveland had to do it, if just to prove to LeBron James it's trying (and to make everyone forget for the moment all the dumb additions they've made, from Ben Wallace to Wally Szazerbiak). But does Shaq, at 38 next year, make this team any more of a contender -- and, furthermore, is he a liability if he keeps pounding the table (as he is) for more years on his contract? Not Orlando. This year's finalist essentially traded Hedo Turkoglu and Courtney Lee (and Rafer Alston) for Vince Carter. Ouch. Los Angeles made a nice move in the short term for Ron Artest, I guess. But the cost was giving up a developing 24-year-old in Ariza who fit in nicely on its championship team this year. Is that an improvement? Toronto got Turkoglu, which helps. But they overpaid for a guy who averaged 16.8 points and 5.3 rebounds. He's a good player to have. Let's just not go crazy about Toronto being on any championship path. So, if you're counting title-advancing moves like Wade, two teams are in the conversation: Boston got a great piece in Rasheed Wallace to go with a veteran team ready to win -- assuming Kevin Garnett is healthy. But anywhere else - 35 in September - he's not a guy who could make a long-term difference with the Heat. San Antonio got Richard Jefferson. That helps because of what they already have. The Heat can make some moves this year to improve the team. Here's a thought: Caron Butler from Washington. The Wizard has plenty of scoring power now, is over the cap and probably would move Butler for some cap relief and free-agent mobility in 2010. But as far as championship-flexing moves? You've got to get Bosh or, maybe, Stoudemire. It looks like Bosh is staying in Toronto for the time being. Stoudemire? Phoenix hasn't played that card yet. Either way, settle down, Heat fans. There's time to get something done. In the meantime, grab some perspective about what's at work here.

Why Dwyane Wade's case is different than Bosh, LeBron

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 00:42:04 -0500

Chris Bosh hasn't won anything in Toronto or even come close. LeBron James has been subjected to awful moves camouflaged as help, from Ben Wallace to Wally Szczerbiak. Now Shaquille O'Neal is the cavalry. Well, Shaq is entertaining, anyhow. Only Dwyane Wade has won a title among his class. That's what Pat Riley said to him in the locker room before Game 6 of the 2006 Finals as he went around the room with one line for everyone. "Be the first,'' Riley said to Wade. That meant of his draft class. He's still the only one to win, too. That brings up something forgotten in Wade's desire to go to the limits of free agency. It's his right to do so. But as I wrote in my column today, Pat Riley has proven ability to build contenders. He did it with Alonzo Mourning and Tim Hardaway. He would have done it with Wade, Lamar Odom and Caron Butler, but instead went the route of the O'Neal trade. See, Wade's situation should be different enough that he can say it's good for him and he can sign early. That would allow Riley to follow a proper blueprint of building - incorporating next off-season, in addition to this one. Instead, out of fear of losing Wade, the Heat might have to use its $40 million in expiring contracts now in hope so assuring he stays. This is a weird predicament for the Heat and Riley. The game's in Wade's hands, as it always is on the court. And if he wants to win a title, as I wrote, he links up with James somewhere and together they can win several. Unless that's his motivation, why wouldn't he sign here? The city, the club's ownership and the front office led by Riley are as good a combination as it gets. And by signing now he can let Riley make deals with the mindset of building around his star and not hedging bets that he might skip town.

Dolphins: Warner's the model for Pennington deal

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 10:21:15 -0500

Chad Pennington moves into the final year of his two-year contract with the Dolphins, and it's rare for winning NFL quarterbacks not to get re-signed at this point unless there are extenuating circumstances. Which there are here. Pennington turned 33 on June 26. That's a deal-delayer, just as it was in the case of Kurt Warner last season, which might be a good model to understand what the Dolphins are going to do with Pennington. Their games aren't the same. Warner has more pop in his arm and so is more valuable. But they're both winners, both stand-up leaders, both players you want on the team if their games hold up. Like Warner, Pennington has an injury history that gives some pause considering the age. Warner turned 38 this summer, and the question was when to turn the team over to Matt Leinart. Again, that parallels the Dolphins' question with second-year player Chad Henne.. Let's recall what the Cardinals did with Warner. They let him play through the last year of his contract last season, when he led the Cardinals to the Super Bowl. Warner looked around a little this off-season, getting an offer from San Francisco that was more than the two years and $23 million he eventually re-signed with Arizona ($19 million of which was guaranteed). Like Arizona with Warner, the Dolphins want to see more of Pennington. And, like Arizona, the the Dolphins are smart to keep all options open, as opposed to previous regimes which commited so heavily to a quarterbacks there was no turning back. Nick Saban did to Daunte Culpepper. Dave Wannstedt did with Jay Fiedler. The great unknown here is what Pennington wants and at what price. He's a bargain at the $3.9 million guaranteed that he's signed for this upcoming season. Evidently, he's not going to make that an issue, or he would've done so by now. He has to appreciate, as much as he helped resurrect the Dolphins last year, that they helped resurrect his career. These situations typically sort themselves out with time, if you're patient and able to keep lines of communication open. The smart move is the one the Dolphins are doing: Nothing. At least for now. Do you agree?

Heat: Turkoglu to Toronto simply depressing

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 14:00:41 -0500

There's just one word for Toronto's signing of Hedo Turkoglu. Depressing. That's not the kind of word you typically use regarding the NBA in July. But this one hurts the Heat in all kinds of ways compared to other signings. it wasn't just that Turkoglu, who had a breakout playoff run for Orlando, signed with Toronto instead of Portland, where he visited late last week. Portland would have been a harmless matter for the Heat, a team in the West, out of view, off the radar, not even in any conversation. But Toronto? Depressing. Forget even that it means Toronto pulls even or possibly leap-frogs over the Heat as far preseason playoff picks as things now stand. But you'd have to say it would. Turkoglu is such a 6-10 shooting/ball-handling perimeter presence that it should allow Chris Bosh the kind of freedom he didn't get last year. But that's not so much why it's depressing for Heat fans. There two other factors, both involving Bosh, the player considered the Heat's main attraction either this or the following off-season. First of all, this suggests Bosh isn't moving anywhere this offseason. It already had been deduced that Toronto wasn't going to trade him to the Heat right now. When USA Basketball architect Jerry Colangelo left Beasley off a group of 25 developing players brought into the Team USA camp this summer with an eye toward the 2012 Olympics, that was a connect-the-dots signal. Colangelo, after all, is the the father of Toronto GM Bryan Colangelo. If the father didn't like Beasley, would it be fair to say the son doesn't? Here's the bigger point: Toronto might have bought itself another season to sell Bosh on the franchise. Torkoglu doesn't make Toronto championship fodder. But it suggest they're moving in the proper direction. With another move next season, they might be there. Could Bosh be convinced to stay? Who knows? February in Canada isn't February in Miami. But who knows how motivated Bosh is by that? Or by his Olympic-bonding friendship with Wade? Now for the biggest part. Why would Wade sign this off-season, as Pat Riley stated was his No. 1 priority? Bosh doesn't look to be coming. All the other big names seem to have moved. So freeing up salary-cap moving by signing Wade doesn't have any effect. Riley has to have some move to tweak the roster in him, just to do something this off-season. But the way it looks from July, this coming season will be one of treading water more than moving forward for the Heat. Yes, depressing.

Heat: Watching other teams have the fun

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 08:25:35 -0500

Story after story, signing after signing, the torture increases for Heat fans. Teams aren't just reloading in other cities. Hope is being had. Fun, too. Look at the East now. Boston offered Rasheed Wallace a contract. He hasn't accepted. But he'd be another piece. Detroit revamped its lineup with Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva, giving them a team just good enough to maybe win a playoff series. At least it's a couple of steps toward rebuilding a team. In Cleveland, the predictable was happening as a city was fawning over Shaquille O'Neal - the nation, too. Shaq was on PTI last night, though the disappointing part was neither Michael Wilbon nor Bob Ryan asked him anything more than softballs, including the ridiculous one about whether he'll miss Arizona's trainers (furthering the inanity that Heat trainers were to blame for him being injured when anyone with a mind knows it was just Shaq not wanting to work). Hey, I like the humor in Shaq, but let's be honest at this point about what's going on. Why not also ask about his now-vagabond career? How he keeps dumping team after team, getting coach after coach fired (two in Arizona alone)? The Knicks are in the running for Jason Kidd -- whew, earlier I read a bogus report that they'd signed him. Thanks to the alert blogger for noting it's not finalized and, in fact, Dallas might have the inside track. Orlando is worse for the trade of Turkoglu for Vince Carter. But at least it repaired that hole. The Heat has to do something besides talk with Allen Iverson and Ron Artest, right? And Artest has now signed with Los Angeles. That's just what we're missing -- and by "we" I mean sports columnists writing in a summer drought. In Los Angeles, the question of dumping Trevor Ariza for Ron Artest is being debated. Here? Nothing is happening. Not with the Panthers, either, though that's expected by now. Oh, they've signed a few players, but none coming in match the talent of Jay Bouwmeester going out. Besides, too few care by this point. Everyone's been beaten down by this past decade. People care about the Heat, though. And it's tough watching other teams re-arm themselves in various ways while we wait until July 12 to see if Dwyane Wade is going to re-up his contract and give the Heat some room to maneuver or ... this is about all there is to the off-season.

So we're the worst sports city - NBA players love us

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 08:12:06 -0500

So Men's Magazine ranks South Florida as the worst sports market of them all (Cue the "We're No. 1!." chants). So what? It's not like we don't have broad, apathetic shoulders to take such a hit. Besides look at their Top 10 of sports cities: 1. 1. Arlington, Texas; 2. Aurora, Colo.; 3. Colorado Springs; 4. Indianapolis; 5. Columbus, Ohio. 6. Jacksonville. 7. Fort Worth, Texas; 8. Dallas, Texas; 9. Charlotte, NC; 10. Anchorage, Alaska. The short version: Three Dallas-area cities, a Florida city that smells and a few places you don't want to be within 50 degrees of in February. Besides, NBA players love us.Sports Illustrated ranks the top free-agent spots for NBA players and puts the Heat at No. 2 behind the Los Angeles Lakers. The reason: "What's not to like? There's no state income tax, South Beach, balmy weather all winter long, Dwyane Wade, first-class travel and facilities, the competitive backdrop of Pat Riley to keep ambitions on track. Oh, and did we mention South Beach?" By the way, Men's Magazine ranks cities based on tickets sold to events, not on trendy clubs players can visit. And if you're a true sports fan there isn't a better place to watch sports than South Florida because: 1. Every major sport plays here, from the pro teams to golf, tennis and auto racing. 2. You can get a ticket at any time to any game -- often with little traffic and plenty of elbow room. 3. You have a majors-best odds of getting a foul ball. 2. Dwyane Wade ranks 12th on a Sports Illustrated list of American athletes' incomes. The bottom-line of his bottom-line is he is makes $14.4 million in salary and $12 million in endorsements. Tiger Woods ($99.7 million) and Phil Mickelson ($56.2 million) are the top two earners. 3. I wrote about Emlio Bonifacio today, saying he's the kind of player the low-cost Marlins have to hope come through. That doesn't mean he will. And it doesn't mean he won't make the kind of mistakes (trying to steal third Wednesday immediately after getting on second against a pitcher he's never seen). But who's there to replace him? It's not like they're going out to get a proven replacement. And the bullpen remains a bigger concern. 4. That said, Philadelphia remains the team to beat in the NL East. The Phillies aren't as bad as they've shown. 5. For someone nothing is happening around, Michael Beasley is causing a lot of talk. And talk. There was the fact he was left off the Olympic tryout team -- despite rookie classmates Derrick Rose, O.J. Mayo, Kevin Love, D.J. Augustin, Jerryd Bayless receiving invites. There was the rumor he was offered to Memphis for the No. 2 draft pick - a rumor shot down by the by the No. pm- shot down by the Heat.

Parcells interested in Vick? Dennis Green thinks so

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 22:32:53 -0500

Dennis Green is out of the Minnesota cold, so it can't be mental frostbite. He isn't in the Arizona desert, so he can't attribute it to a post-Chicago-Bears meltdown. But on Sirius radio he had one of the stranger thoughts about some impending marriage between the Dolphins and Michael Vick, according to ProFootbal Talk.com. I have a hard time believing that Michael Vick is not going to wind up with Bill Parcells,” Green said, “simply because he has that creativeness that says that no matter what it takes, he’s going to find a way to get Michael Vick. Now, whether it means convincing the Commissioner or whatever it takes, Michael Vick is probably going to wind up at Miami because of the fact that Bill Parcells is Bill Parcells.” Would Vick the the No. 1 player to run the Wildcat? Absolutely. Would I be surprised if Parcells brings in Vick? Absolutely. But that's not so much about Vick. Remember, I've written before that all this hoo-ha about "character guys" and "solid citizens" doesn't carry much credence. It's good until you're tempted with a guy full of talent. Like Vick. No matter what he's been through, the guy has talent. So the real question is why in the world Parcells would be interested in Vick if he used a second-round pick on Pat White. The Dolphins knew Vick was going to be there. So why dreaft White? Here's the only explanation to back up Green's claim: The Dolphins have seen enough in the off-season workouts to realize White has such a flawed throwing motion -- and it does have some mechanical problems -- that he's going to be a longer project than expected. Vick would be a one-year stop-gap, assuming he's even allowed to play football by the commissioner. Whattya think of Green's comments? Or of Vick to the Dolphins?

Video: Dolphins' Pennington a cover boy

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 08:54:14 -0500

Hyde Five: 1. He's cool. He's nice. He's ... posing shirtless? Even Dolphins quarterback Chad Pennington couldn't escape the fun of camera and cover-boy shoots this off-season. No, you don't get the Joe Model feel of Jets rookie Mark Sanchez. And there's not an Alex-Rodriguez-kiss-the-mirror moment. Then again, SoBefit magazine isn't GQ. But here's a video of Pennington smiling, posing and, oh, yeah, ripping off some push-ups for the cover shoot. 2. Trent Green's retirement, announced this week, started the day against Houston when his cerebrum was deposited into the turf while attempting a block. That was just the final act in a series of concussions. He came in an era when too many Dolphins players arrived at the wrong time of good careers. Call them the Trent Green All-Stars, those guys like David Boston and Jamie Nails who were too old or battered to do enough here (though Nails at least had one good season). The proof of this is that Green wouldn't even have been a starter on the Trent Green All-Stars, giving the name even more impact. Daunte Culpepper gets the nod ahead of him considering the second-round pick that went into bringing Culpepper. Other nominations for the team. 3.. The Marlins beat the Nationals last night, 4-2, meaning they got a good start to the 98-pound weakling part of their schedule. It's about time, too. They've spent the previous 15 games against the AL East. In fact, 41 of their past 48 games have been against teams with winning records. But before the All-Star break come series with last-place Washington and last-place Arizona (with Philadelphia and San Francisco in between). Now would be a good 4. The Panthers keep being the Panthers, looking lost and depressing those of us who remember what it was like in '96 when hockey mattered. 5. Can we see what the Heat does this off-season before over-reacting that the East has past them by? Free agency begins Wednesday. Everyone understands part of the Heat's decision is Dwyane Wade's contractual decision, which couldn't be made until July 12, even if he would decide to sign. Besides, Orlando got Vince Carter and lost Hedu Turkoglu. That's a positive? Let's see give the Heat this off-season -- this full off-season -- before coming to any conclusion about where they stand in the East.

Dolphins: Who's the top Dolphins' assistant of all time?

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 07:46:51 -0500

While doing a recent column on Dolphins offensive coordinator Dan Henning, I was struck by the good work he performed last year and wondered who the best Dolphins' assistant of all-time was. And that might speak of problems in the down cycle of a couple decades: It was tough finding many noteworthy assistants. But here's a short list of the all-time candidates: * Bill Arnsparger. In two stints as defensive coordinator (1970-72 and 1976-83), Arnsparger was part of three Super Bowl teams, including the '72 Perfect Season, and contributed mightily to the other two franchise Super Bowls, as they occurred the season after he left (1973 and 1984). He came up with the "53" defense. He masterminded the "Killer B's" defense. He had two top-ranked defenses (1972 and 1982) in points allowed and total defense. * Mike Westhoff. Special teams coach from 1986-2000, he created consistently strong units. Also, he was responsible for finding kickers like Pete Stoyanovich and Olindo Mare, as well as inventing a lollipop onside kick to Mare that other teams have adopted. * Monte Clark. Offensive line coach from 1970-75, then returned for an encore in 1995. Clark didn't just mold the unit that was the engine to the great Dolphins teams. From 1970-75, the run offense ranked first, first, third, fourth, fourth and fourth in the NFL. But Clark also discovered some of these players. Jim Langer, he grabbed when Cleveland tried to slip him through waivers ini 1970. Wayne Moore, he grabbed when San Francisco tried to hide him on the waiver wire with his given name, Solomon Moore. * Gary Stevens, offensive coordinator or passing-offense coach from 1989-1997, when the Dolphins ranked in the Top 5 of passing offenses nine times. Also, they had little running attacks in those years, so defenses keyed for the pass. Of course, he did have Dan Marino to work with. Who's your vote?.

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Dolphins: Judge Ed Newman another success story

Sun, 28 Jun 2009 09:05:47 -0500

One of the fascinations of this job is watching what players become after retiring. Do they add some perspective to what made them athletic successes -- showing smarts, drive, discipline, ambition in another field? Or do they spend the next 30 years looking back at their previous 30 years? That's why the Dolphins teams of the early-1970s have fascinated me. So many defined off the field what made them so great on the field. Nick Buoniconti ran a Fortune 500 company and started The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis. Dick Anderson was a state senator, then an entrepreneur. Tim Foley became one of Amway's biggest producers, Bob Griese a network voice of college football, Jim Mandich a construction company president and talk-show host, Earl Morral the mayor of Davie ... and on. And on. Ed Newman became a judge. In my column today, I wrote about Newman. I sat in his courtroom. I went to his chambers where he took off his robe. "When I was playing ball, using my head for something else, I never figured I'd be wearing a dress,'' he said. Newman wasn't part of the '72 Dolphins. He was a sixth-round pick in 1973. But he fits in with the group that I've come to follow through the years, since (shameless plug alert) writing a book on the '72 Dolphins called, "Still Perfect." He was an overachiever more than a supreme talent. He found innovative ways to further his game, for instance being an assistant coach of the Florida International University wrestling team in the off-season so he could sharpen his mano-a-mano skills (he was a high-school wrestler). Newman also was one of the first to work out with weights. Fellow guard Bob Kuechenberg remembers once setting the team bench press record at 485 pounds during testing at the start of training camp. "That lasted about 10 minutes,'' Kuechenberg said. Newman broke it. All of which helps understand on some level why he sits behind a bench in a Miami-Dade courtroom now. Like many of the overachievers on those Dolphins teams, he wasn't going to be defined only by football. "I can't imagine some kid saying, 'Poppa, what'd you do with your life?' and the guy answering, 'I was an All-Pro football player, and then I golfed for 50 years,' '' Newman said. So he entered law school in 1984, the year of the Dolphins last Super Bowl. He remembers some "anti-intellectualism," in the football world then. Some coaches, for instance, would tell him on the team plane as he was studying law that he should be studying the playbook. But when he blew out his knee in the 1985 preseason, his next path was being cleared. He graduated from University of Miami law school, worked for a private law firm, started his own firm and then was elected a judge in 1995. And there he remains, another success from those old Dolphins teams. I asked Newman why so many from those teams were so successful. He said it was random. "If you flip a coin 100 times, odds say it'll land heads 50 times and tails 50 times,'' he said. "But in those 100 times you might have a stretch where it lands seven straight times as heads." So those Dolphins teams got seven straight heads as far as post-career fortune? "I think that's just how it worked out,'' he said. So he worked each day on the sixth floor of the courthouse. "The feeling I used to get running out in the Orange Bowl between the cheerleaders as the crowd cheered my introduction is the same feeling I get now when the bailiff says, "All rise," and I walk in the courtroom,'' he said.

Dolphins: Stephen Ross and the Celebrities

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 14:35:35 -0500

There have been a couple celebrities-as-owner types in South Florida. Danny Thomas was the original partner with Dolphins owner Joe Robbie. He got so excited at Joe Auer's franchise opening kickoff return for a touchdown that he ran down the sideline, trying to keep up as Auer ran ino the end zone. But within a couple of years, he had enough. Julio Iglesias was a small partner at the start with the Heat. His concert was the first event held in Miami Arena. But he wasn't active in basketball stuff or even around the games much. Now comes Stephen Ross and his courting of celebrities. Here's what I tried to do in today's column that I've pasted below: Walk the line between giving a new owner some space to do waht he wants to do and scratch my head over why anyone should care about signing up some musicians to be on his team. If he thinks it's fun, so be it. It doesn't hurt anyone. It shouldn't make anyone angry. But it really doesn't have anything to do whether he'll be a success or not. This fascination with signing up Jimmy Buffett, the Estefans and whoever's coming next (Jon Bon Jovi was with Ross at the final Dolphins game last year; as was Dwyane Wade) doesn't tell us what kind of an owner Ross will be. Does it? Here's the column: On Thursday morning, standing between his latest free-agent signings, Stephen Ross beamed like a 67-year-old teenager, suggesting again how he was achieving his noble quest as a team owner. Everyone should have such a quest in life. Slay a dragon. Find the Holy Grail. Rescue a damsel in distress. Something. Ross is intent on bringing 1980s pop-style entertainment to the Dolphins. You probably don’t care. Wait, you definitely don’t care, as long as the new owner stays out of the boiler room where Bill Parcells conducts football. All of which makes this noble project by Ross, and what he’s exactly about, a bit confusing. It’s not controversial. It’s nothing to get upset about or wary of. Who knows, landing the Estefans and Jimmy Buffett might even help if NFL tiebreakers are decided by a battle of the bands? And the new team slogan can be: “We’re gonna party like it’s 1989!” But does anyone really understand the purpose of this? It’s like, after a lifetime of collecting real-estate property, Ross is now collecting celebrities. Like he doesn’t understand that, in this venue, he’s the celebrity. The rainmaker. The Godfather, to follow through with these decades-ago, pop-culture references. People will kiss his ring, if he wins. Celebrities will flock to his luxury box, if he wins. And, to be fair, Ross always points out winning is the most important piece. But why go out and buy names and act star-struck around them, which is what seems to be going on here? It was one strange enough to give Buffett’s Land Shark beer the naming rights to the stadium for, well, nothing. But to give the Estefans as much as a 1 percent stake in the team, worth maybe $10 million depending on the accountant, for, well, uh … “How much did Buffett pay?” a businessman who knew the deal said Thursday. “That’s about how much real money (the Estefans) put up compared to what it’s worth. It’s a business deal for them.” So what do the Dolphins get? “The Estefans’ involvement,’’ he said. Meaning, what, Ross gets to hang out with them? OK, there’s more. Gloria did a Monday Night Football video with Hank Williams Jr., which was a nice touch, especially where Hank sings, “Estas listas para football?” (Are you ready for some football?) And Gloria telling of being a 15-year-old in Miami who followed the ’72 Dolphins brought some history. And Emilio saying he’ll help with stadium entertainment suggested some involvement. Look, there’s nothing but respect for the Estefans and the entertainment empire they’ve built. And Buffett could be elected mayor of Key West. But, again, what’s the purpose, except for Ross to bring celebrities into his personal playpen? It’s his world. If that’s what he wants, fine. But this isn’t like Jack Nicholson showing up at Los Angeles Lakers games. Nicholson was an organically grown. A real fan. He came because he liked basketball and the Lakers won. These celebrities coming around the Dolphins have the cold, hard feel of business being conducted. Every sports owner goes through a learning curve. H. Wayne Huizenga thought sports were simply another business. He found out the hard way they also were a public trust. Ross, for his part, gets that much. And he says he’s trying to reach out to all segments of the community by bringing in, I guess, a white Southerner like Buffett and Latin names like the Estefans. If this is to build a fan base, the Marlins tried that smartly and failed. They bought star pitchers Alex Fernandez and Livan Herandez, and attracted no more fans to games. So why would any more come to see someone sitting in a corporate suite? You know what’s next on the checklist: The black entertainer. Luther Campbell, anyone? “Keep mid-July open on your calendar,’’ reporters were told Thursday. Until this off-season, the Dolphins’ affiliation with music was limited to (1) That time-piece of a fight song, (2) Dan Marino appearing in Hootie and the Blowfish’s, “Only Wanna Be With You;” and (3) Bob Baumhower getting on stage with Van Halen after knee surgery and jumping so wildly to the song, “Jump,” that Don Shula heard and became irate. Now the rhythm is gonna get you. Or just confuse you. The Dolphins might not be tops in the AFC East this year. But let’s see any team challenge them on the 1980s Billboard chart.

Gloria, Dolphins and Hank Jr. video: Estas listas?

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 13:06:58 -0500

Nothing like hearing Hank Williams Jr. gringo-ing, "Estas listas para football?" That's one of the sidelights of the marriage between Gloria and Emilio Estefan and the Dolphins. As someone who tried to learn Spanish listening to Gloria sing songs like, "Si voy a perderte," I don't have any problem with it. I don't understand why it's a big deal or anyone should much care. But if it keeps new owner Stephen Ross out of Bill Parcells' office and gives him some sense of importance, go for it, big guy. Meanwhile, check out a slice of video between Williams Jr. and Gloria that's no doubt going to highlight the Monday opener against Indianapolis.

Shaq Trade: How it helps Cavs - and motivates Heat

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 08:41:21 -0500

What's Shaq now, The Big Mistake By The Lake? Funny, the guy who once couldn't wait to leave Orlando for a big market has now barked his way to Cleveland. Still, Cleveland's completed trade for Shaq on Wednesday night is a good, final attempt to bring a title next year and keep LeBron James around after it. Shaq, at 37, isn't what he was in winning a title with the Heat three years ago with three years ago, when he wasn't the player he was with the Lakers. But he still occupies space, still puts up decent numbers (17.8 points, 8.4 rebounds last year) and still will be a good counterbalance to James. Most important: He'll be on his mock-good behavior, unlike at the end with the Heat (and Lakers and Suns and Magic). It'll be interesting to see if the national image of O'Neal starts to sink as he trashes (as he will) another franchise he left or his championship rings and good sense of humor will again carry him through. Two parsels of good news for the Heat in this: 1. This is a short-term solution, not a long-term one, for James. If it works for a year, that's all Cleveland can hope. So it's not like the Cavs went out and got Chris Bosh to set up a run for years. 2. It begs the Heat to make a move to answer. Pat Riley was surely going to do something to shake up the roster this off-season. But having a turncoat like Shaq back in the East demands it. He won't burn a year to watch Shaq make a run at a title Question is: What's the best move now?

Everyone should hear what Daequan Cook did

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 22:52:42 -0500

Sometimes you hear a story that’s so perfect at shrinking the big business of sports down to human size it needs to be shared. This story involves the Heat’s Daequan Cook and his summer basketball camp. It starts, not with the sadness of this week, but years before the NBA’s fame and money arrived with Cook’s mother always telling him to remember his roots. Embrace them. Your roots will keep you grounded, she said. Cook never forgot that, and so during his second Heat season he decided to hold a youth basketball clinic in his hometown of Dayton, Ohio. He planned it for this week. Word went out. A 12-year-old kid rode his bicycle to get an application at a local store and mailed it in. Albert Powell, who helps organize the camp, remembers setting aside that application after noticing the kid’s name: DaQuan Sales. Cook would get a kick out of meeting someone with a similar name, Powell figured. In fact, young DaQuan had followed his more famous namesake since Cook’s playing days at nearby Dunbar High School. Both were from the same west Dayton neighborhood. Both were nicknamed Da-Da (Sales by his family; Cook by Heat teammate Dwyane Wade). As Cook rose from Dunbar to Ohio State to the Heat within a few seasons, DaQuan adopted each team and would shoot game-winners on his home basketball hoop while pretending to be Cook. He’d ask people if he looked like Cook. They’d notice the similarly long arms. The slim builds. Yep, they’d say, you look like Cook must have at age 12. “When Daequan won the 3-point shooting contest at the All-Star Game this year, my son was running around the house shouting, ‘Mom, he did it! He won it! I knew he’d do it!’ ’’ his mother, Janell Sales, said Tuesday afternoon. “He had this smile on his face that night. “My father used to call it a million-dollar smile. It was something to see.” Used to. Was. The past tense is part of the story. On June 13, a couple of days after receiving the kid’s camp application, Powell was reading a local newspaper story about a 12-year-old boy on his bike who was killed by a hit-and-run driver. The driver, a 25-year-old with a suspended driving license and lengthy rap sheet, as it turned out, had tried passing another car in a no-passing zone. The boy, Powell read, was DaQuan Sales. He called Cook with the story. “We’ve got to do something,’’ Cook said. Powell suggested a couple of things. “No, we’ve got to really do something for this kid and his family,’’ Cook said. They set to work. Paying for last Friday’s funeral was a start. So was giving 10 of Sales’ friends a scholarship into the camp, which on Tuesday was attended by 180 kids and Cook’s former college teammate, Greg Oden. The camp isn’t expensive in Cook’s new world - $20, lunch included – but, again, he didn’t forget where he came from. And sending a personal invitation to these friends mattered. Cook also met with the Sales family on Monday for an hour. “He said, ‘You can’t get rid of me now; I’m part of your family,’ ‘’ Janell Sales said. “We’ve been pretty low, as you can imagine. That helped pick us up. Seeing how he cared helped us.” Looking ahead, Cook wants to hold a major fundraiser so a scholarship can be started in DaQuan Sales’ name. “Daequan’s a young person, and he thinks like all of us that this stuff shouldn’t happen to the young,’’ said Powell, a coach at Dunbar High. “He wants to make something good out of this, if that’s possible. Maybe each year a kid can go to college with that scholarship, let DaQuan’s name live on.” Cook finished his Tuesday’s camp by going through a pro workout before the kids. Shooting. Running. Constantly moving. Five minute. Ten minutes. “The kids were shocked how hard he was working,’’ he said. “That was a lesson for them about what it takes to be a pro.” They already had received a lesson on how to act like a pro. Embrace the community. Ease some pain, if possible. Cook told The Dayton Daily News he doesn’t understand the reason for any headline or attention regarding his reaching out to DaQuan’s family. “I’m just doing what anyone would do,’’ he said. Sometimes, in a sports world that’s too frequently loses its center, that’s the point.