Opposition to Salguero's thoughts on the Fish

I first want to comment that I have a lot of respect for Miami Herald, Miami Dolphins columnist, Armando Salguero. I believe he has a great grasp of the Miami Dolphins organization and unlike me, he shares a professional view of the Dolphins.

However... I have philosophical differences in how I view the Miami Dolphins, in particular to two of his recent 'Miami Dolphins in Depth' blog posts. In these posts he shared his thoughts on GM Jeff Ireland and the search for a franchise QB.

First, in a post titled, 'Jeff Ireland is not the Devil', Salguero shared his sentiments that despite the desired replacement of Ireland from all of "Phins Nation", Salguero feels Ireland hasn't done as bad as a job as many Dolphin fans believe. In the post, he states that Ireland made wise choices in not signing Flynn, resigning Soliai, signing Garrard and trading Brandon Marshall.

He also defended Ireland against onslaughts from Ryan Clark and Joey Porter who claim free agents are avoiding playing for Miami because of Ireland. This could be a hangover from 2010, when during the draft process, when interviewing WR prospect Dez Bryant, Ireland asked Bryant about his Mom's past of prostitution. Salguero's defense of Ireland was that Porter specifically has a history of ripping front office personnel that has either cut or traded him (Porter was cut from the Dolphins after the 2009 season).

I agree with Salguero with all accounts. Garrard can provide QB stability throughout the 2012 and maybe 2013 season. They did resign Soliai for a bargain and trading Marshall alleviates any future headaches when he inevitably gets into trouble again. I'll go one further, Ireland has DRAFTED considerably well. After years of other Dolphins GMs missing on first round draft picks, Ireland has hit on every single first rounder he's selected in Jake Long, Vontae Davis, Jared Odrick and Mike Pouncey. He's also found undrafted free agents in Davone Bess and former CFL standout, Cameron Wake.

However, Ireland has just as many misses in the draft and in free agency. Here's a list of misses:

• Justin Smiley (free agent Left Guard in '08)
• Ernest Wilford (free agent Wideout in '08)
• Jake Grove (free agent Centre in '09)
• Pat White (Drafted Quarterback in '09)
• Patrick Turner (Drafted Wideout in '09)

Is he the only GM in the league that has missed in the draft and free agency? HELL NO. But, despite any spitefulness from Joey Porter, his comments shared by Ryan Clark show, "where there's smoke, there's fire".

I ask Salguero, why should the Dolphins retain his services? He's been an average GM, AT BEST!

Salguero's other post, titled, 'Dolphins don't seem done at Quarterback' goes into detail a draft strategy for QBs going into the 2012 draft. Salguero states that while he likes Texas A&M prospect, Ryan Tannehill, he would not reach to draft him in the first round. The earliest Salguero would select Tannehill is in the 2nd round.

My dispute to Salguero is that if the Dolphins think he can be a franchise QB, you can't reach for him at any position. So Armando can put whatever grade on him, but if Jeff Ireland, Head Coach Joe Philbin and Offensive Coordinator (also former coach and mentor of Tannehill at Texas A&M) believe he's a legitimate franchise QB, you draft him if he's available at 8, 40 or 268.

I believe while still VERY raw, Tannehill possesses all the physical skills and QB accumen to be a franchise QB. If he's available at #8 when the Dolphins are on the clock, they should sprint to Commish Godell to make that selection.

Ideally, going into the 2013 season, I'd love to see the Dolphins have a new GM and Ryan Tannehill as their starting QB. I guess Armando has different opinions. Either way, I feel bad for both of us as fan and columnist, 2012 will be UGLY!

A Week's Worth of What I love - WWE, Dolphins, Kings, more

Upadate***Thursday, March 15th

It's a great time of year to love the things I love. The NHL is wrapping up its regular season and heading into the playoffs, the NFL free agency, draft and MLB season are just around the corner and most importantly Wrestlemania 28, "the Grand-Daddy of them all" is mere days away. Here's a look into a week's worth of happenings.

WWE: The Road to Wrestlemania

- The Rock v. John Cena is heating up on our television screens and on our social platforms. Bringing their feud into the social space has added an entirely new dimension to their program. While Cena has got the "one-up" on The Rock on back to back episodes of Monday Night Raw Supershow, I expect the Rock to "bring it" for tonight's Rock Concert v. Cena's Battle Rap. As far as the in-ring product is concerned, from what we saw of  "The Great One" back at the Survivor Series, I feel they will deliver a Wrestlemania Moment. 


***Aside from the "We Will Rock You" finale of the Rock Concert, I was thoroughly amused from both Cena & Rock's outings. I'm under the impression, the Rock won't be on Raw this coming week, so we'll see where the war of words leads us on the go home episode of Raw leading into 'Mania.

Many are getting after the Rock, most notably Arda Ocal of Aftermath on The Score, for reading lyric sheets on paper and on the TitanTron. Ocal has mentioned how the Rock is "phoning it in". I don't think that's the case at all. Although I do concede the "We Will Rock You" finale was awfully cheesy and unnecessary, I would say whether he's reading lyrics on a music sheet and potentially not even writing his own material, it doesn't matter. The Rock's performance on Monday was fantastic and the delivery of the "Cleveland Rocks" song was indication why the WWE has lacked the type of performer The Rock is. Cena is a legit star but no one on the current roster can have fans eating out of their palms like "Dwayne" can. 

- Speaking of the Rock and John Cena. Who could have ever imagined when the Rock called Cena "Fruity Pebbles" last year, that it would lead to a cereal endorsement for Cena. I doubt it would have ever happened if they didn't integrate social media into the drawn out program of two wrestling mega-stars. Engaging the fans into their program on the social space certainly was a big factor in getting Cena that endorsement; it's a really cool story.

- Looking elsewhere into the Wrestlemania 28 card, while nothing will receive the hype as the year-long program between the Rock v. John Cena, CM Punk and Chris Jericho will be escalating their war of words in the go-home episodes of the Raw Supershow. While I think and hope the Rock v. John Cena will translate into a great match at the "showcase of the immortals", I know Punk and Jericho will deliver a 5-star classic if given a good amount of time, which I think it will. Jericho's return shows his presence isn't replaceable. He's been a breath of fresh air onto the Raw Supershow over the last eight weeks. He's a first-ballot Hall-of-Famer

Miami Dolphins: Live and Die by Peyton Manning

- A few weeks back, I wrote about a growing optimism for Miami Dolphins fans. With the hiring of Packers offensive guru, Joe Philbin, as the team's new Head Coach and the search for a true franchise Quarterback, things were looking sunny for the team from the, "Sunshine State".

Particular to the QB search, I detailed three viable solutions to the decade-long plague that has tortured Dolphins fans alike. Whether it be the newly-minted free-agent, Peyton Manning the jaw-dropping and Heisman-winning prospect, Robert Griffin III or the up-and-comer, Matt Flynn, the Dolphins had several options to solve their QB problem. In a span of three days, all three options may have vanished.

On Saturday, March 10, the Washington Redskins traded a boat-load of draft picks to the St. Louis Rams to move up two spots and secure the ability to land Griffin III. A day later, despite being heavy favourites by many analysts and fans, the Miami Dolphins seemed to have fallen out of the Manning sweepstakes.

So what about Flynn? While as of writing free-agency has yet to start and Flynn is still available, I just don't see how they can sell fans on Flynn after a public pursuit of Manning. Holy consolation prize Batman! I was a Flynn booster; despite his low ceiling for potential, I really thought Philbin and staff could mold him to be this decade's Matt Hasselbeck (also a former Packer and West Coast Offense disciple). However, if the Dolphins do swing and miss the home-run  opportunity to sign one of the greatest QBs of all-time, I cannot fathom how Dolphins front-office turn around and try to sell to Dolphin fans the "seeing-eye single" that is Matt Flynn.

Dolphins will do anything they can to "bring his talents to South Beach"

I'm a solutions guy though and have come up with a FOURTH solution to the QB conundrum. Ryan Tannehill. The Texas A & M product is bolting up draft boards and has the potential to be a true franchise QB in the league. His ceiling is higher than Flynn's. He is a raw QB product, a converted wide-receiver with only 30 starts on his belt. I'd advise the Dolphins live with incumbant Matt Moore for another season and groom Tannehill to take over in 2013. Certainly not what Fin fans want to hear, but it's a better solution than the band-aid option of Matt Flynn.

 ***It looks like the Miami Dolphins are a dead horse in the Manning sweepstakes. That leaves two pivotal pieces and three teams in the QB carousel. The Seattle Seahawks, Cleveland Browns and Miami Dolphins will be jockeying for the rights to sign Matt Flynn or draft Ryan Tannehill. Dolphins fans, be prepared to enter the 2012 with Matt Moore as the starting QB for the Miami Dolphins. 2013 may end up being the year they make a legitimate push to land their franchise QB. With that said, I'm absolutely shocked GM Jeff Ireland has been rewarded the opportunity to rebuild the Dolphins. He's had 4 years at his first attempt and failed completely. Ireland should have been shown the door with Coach Sparano.

L.A. Kings: Disappointment is only the start

2011-2012 was supposed to be the year the L.A. Kings made the "big jump" into the elite of Western Conference teams of the NHL. Suffice to say, that hasn't happened, AT ALL! If it wasn't for the over-hyped Washington Capitals and the all-of-a-sudden stumbling San Jose Sharks, the Los Angeles Kings would be the NHL's most disappointing team.

The Kings currently sit tied for 8th place in the Western Conference; if the playoffs were to start today, The Kings would be hitting the golf courses early. Scoring has plagued the team all year; they currently sit 29th in the league in goals for. If the Kings can't pull it together over the last 13 games, it may and SHOULD spell the end of GM Dean Lombardi's impressive run with the franchise.

Despite the MVP season Quick is having, the Kings are a  massive disappointment

Lombardi is one of the reason's why this franchise has rebounded to respectability after a decade of bottom-feeding. The drafting of Drew Doughty and the trade for Mike Richards are at the hands of Lombardi. However, when the team struggled to score goals early in the season and went on a hideous losing streak, he fired former Head Coach Terry Murray. Who did he hire as Murray's successor? Darryl Sutter. Those of you in the NHL circles would know that explosive and high-scoring offenses aren't the first things to come to mind when you think of Darryl Sutter. Suffice to say, the team has yet to find any scoring touch. That is on Lombardi. He HAS to live and die with Sutter.

If the Kings can't scramble to make the playoffs, I don't see how they retain Sutter as Head Coach. Subsequently, that would end the Lombardi experiment. For your sake Dean, I hope the Kings can turn it around. However, you may want to peak at the schedule, it doesn't look likely.