The Dolphins Make Me Cry.com - Forums

Dan LeBatard on his 790 Miami radio show said he has been told after Alex Smith visited with Miami for 5 hours Smith wanted to fly back home. Ireland said stay a while, I will have an offer for you soon.  Alex said I don't want to make a big decision in a South Florida hotel room away from his people. After more convincing, Smith said ok and the Fins put him up in a hotel for the night. No offer came that day or ,the next morning so Smith said where is the offer you promised. Ireland didn't have an answer, so Smith flew home. When he got back to California, Ireland called to say no offer is coming they aren't interested and moved on.

This is the crap that gets Ireland in trouble! Don't lie to the guy, force him to spend a night in Miami when he just wants to go home, and then come off as a liar in the end.

Oh please. PUT ON YOUR BIG BOY PANTS ALREADY!!!!

This is a business. You're talking about millions of dollars at stake. You telling me that Smith is all upset that that he was told that an offer was coming and then it didn't come?

I've been a contractor for a long time. The number one rule is that until you have signed the dotted line you aren't OWED ANYTHING. They are gonna tell you what you WANT to hear and YOU have to be the one telling them to put it in writing. It's not about respect or anything else, it's about a contract negotiation. You mean to tell me that Smith never went and ate a steak on someone else's dime and then said "No thanks"? BULLSHIT. That's the nature of the beast. That's why they have these things called agents. If you don't want to deal with it then let your agent run interference for you.

I'm sick to death of these namby pamby pretty boy players getting their feelings hurt like they are 6. GROW A PAIR ALREADY!!!!

Still doesn't make it right to lie to the guy. The man flew in from California on short notice, Ireland should have handled it better. This is why he gets a bad rap among players. Stuff like this.

I take it MikeO that you've never negotiated a contract. Would I be right?

I have but the NFL is a unique business and you have to realize that

I can see why nobody wants to play for Miami (unless they have no other options), Ireland doesn't respect the players. Of course the prostitute question should have been a dead giveaway about how he would conduct business with players.

Matt Flynn said one of the reasons he went to Seattle is that "it's being led by the right kind of people".

The NFL isn't a contracting business, you NEED to look good to land players here. There is a reason Peyton Manning, who has a home here, didn't even consider signing here for one second.

Pappy13, the question at hand is not "Is Jeff Ireland legally entitled to jerk a player's chain?"  If that were the question, then you would be correct: until you sign a contract, you are owed nothing.

The question is whether Ireland's continued assholery is having a negative impact on the organization's ability to recruit personnel.  And this offseason (starting with the failure to hire Jeff Fisher) has clearly shown that it is.

I just tweeted with a SF beat writer about this story. He said it has some truth in it, but Smith never spent the night in Miami. So LaBatard might not 100% accurate with his report

take it with a grain of salt

Yeah, it's a business where half the businessmen are a bunch of overpaid steroided out pampered children. What's your point?

Yes, there's a reason. No you have no idea what it is.

know who you are dealing with an adjust normal business practices!

They did. They told Smith they were gonna offer him a contract, so he should stick around. He did. They didn't. Big story in the NFL, news at 11:00, etc. The rest of the world...couldn't care less. You don't understand MikeO, it's not that they told Smith what he wanted to hear that is the shocking thing, it's that Smith actually bought it and was upset about it when they didn't come through. Why do you think the Dolphins flew out to Indy to meet with Peyton? Do you think they did that because they wanted to or do you think it was because Peyton said he wasn't flying to Miami to meet with them and if they wanted to talk to him they needed to fly to Indy. Was Peyton leading them on? Certainly. Why? Probably so he could get a better contract out of Denver or someone else. Is this a shock? Was he lieing to Miami? Nope, just business. Somebody needs to explain this stuff to Smith.

Maybe that same person can explain "business" to Ryan Clark and Matt Flynn and Jeff Fisher and Jim Harbaugh, too.

LOL

I guess that means that nobody is ever going to sign as a FA with the Jets after they lied to Drew Stanton.  Of course we all know how much trouble NE has with recruiting players after what they did to Richard Seymour. 

Oh please this is a non issue. 

From this article (http://miamiherald.typepad.com/sports-buzz/2012/03/exploring-reasons-for-fins-lack-of-money-incentive-to-make-big-free-agent-splash.html#storylink=cpy):

"Alex Smith, who re-signed with the 49ers, implied to Bay Area writers he never seriously considered Miami and visited the Dolphins because “I had never been to Miami Beach and thought it was a good way to see it.”

Who was lieing to whom?  ;D

This whole thing is yet another example of the previously referred to "sky is falling" mentality shared by many fans who apparently wish to blow up the whole team and start over. -EK

Dan LeBatard who broke the story is a reporter and not a fan. The guy from the Mercury News who cleared up his story, also a reporter not a fan.

I don't see how this story ties into "fans" wanting to break up/blow up the team and start rebuilding it over honestly.

Which "reporter" proffered this bit of analysis? 

Sorry, I should have been more direct- I meant YOU, Mike, posting this in yet another effort to substantiate the end of the world in Phin-land. It's one thing for a reporter to report it, it's another for fans (ie, you) to comment that Ireland is a liar and that this is what "gets him in trouble." What is he, a six-year-old? In trouble? No one in the office obviously cared about this or the Dez Bruant thing or any other decision, because he still has a job. If he was "in trouble" he would've been gone with Sparano. No one cares about these things but some doom and gloom fans. -EK

LOL, effort by me posting a story from a legit reporter and commenting on it on a board with 12 or 13 regular message board posters is the problem. But Dan LeBatard with his radio show that reaches millions and on ESPN where he reaches tens of millions talking about this and actually reporting it as fact isn't the problem, its MIKEO!

You have a sick obsession with me bro, seek help! Seek serious help.

Dan LeBastard is as unprofessional of a reporter as any of you guys.  He showed that during the Ricky Williams episodes.  He has a history of embellishing the truth to make a point.  In this case, his point is to make Ireland look bad.

He has ZERO credibility in my book.  Period.

He has more than ZERO....lol

The Ricky thing was tough for him because he had a book deal lined up with Ricky and became Ricky's BFF the day Ricky arrived in Miami. So when the crap hit the fan, Dan didn't do his job and went into "SPIN" mode! Defended him to the bitter end no matter how wrong Ricky was.

I have only listened to clips of his show a couple of time.  He strikes me more of an "off the cuff commentator"/"shock jock"/"comedian" than anything I would call a "reporter."  Both Howard Stern and Rush Limbaugh comment on the news on their shows, I don't consider either of them reporters.  Likewise, I feel the same about LeBastard, he can be funny to listen to, but I don't consider him a source for news.

He has been a reporter/columnist for the Miami Herald for like 20+ years though. The TV and radio stuff is more recent in his career

^^ yes, he has, but the TV/radio stuff has ruined his objectivity as a journalist and pushed him more into "a famous local guy pushing an agenda to gain ratings."  When you're fighting to appeal to the fans, it compromises the unbiased nature of your reporting.

I like Lebatard.