Sept. 16, 2012; Miami, FL, USA; Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross (right) talks with Dolphins general manager Jeff Ireland (left) during the fourth quarter against the Oakland Raiders at Sun Life Stadium. The Dolphins won 35-13. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

It seems as though the stadium referendum death won’t simply go away and die peacefully.  Perhaps this could be proof that ghosts really do exist.  Failing to move into the light and instead destined to hang around and haunt those that had caused them harm.  It’s no secret that many Miami Dolphins fans are irate over the decision by Florida House Speaker Will Weatherford’s refusal to bring the stadium bill to the floor for vote.  The repercussions have made Weatherford look like an idiot liar and at the same time has made Dolphins owner Stephen Ross and CEO Mike Dee look like two kids who got their ball taken away.

A 10 million dollar ball.

The lead in goes like this.  The Dolphins spend around 10 million dollars to campaign for the referendum to pass locally.  In the Florida State Senate the bill flew through with little to no opposition.  It was a foregone conclusion that the bill would also be passed at the House level.  Weatherford denied the introduction of the bill to the House floor and thus the bill died, along with the 10 million Ross invested into his campaign.  The locals in Miami never go to vote and even some who were against the vote to begin with have complained about the injustice of not having the right.

Complicating the issue is that two individuals who do not work with the Dolphins were present when Weatherford made promises not once but apparently four times to bring the bill to vote.  Something he has denied.  Now, it appears that the denial by Weatherford may have been politically motivated and assisted by one of the Dolphins more fierce deterrers.  Norman Braman.

Braman was the loudest most outspoken person against the bill.  He and Mike Dee continued to publicly call out each other and Dee called Braman a hypocrite after Braman had used public money to upgrade his stadium when he owned the Philadelphia Eagles.  Braman campaigned against the use of public money to help Stephen Ross get the stadium upgrades that he wanted.  Often saying that a billionaire could buy his own improvements.  Now it seems there could be yet another twist to this bizarre situation.

There has been little doubt that Weatherford wants to expand his political agenda to the entire state of Florida.  ProFootballTalk.con has thrown a log onto the still smoldering pit and has suggested that Braman may have promised Weatherford his assistance if the deal died.  The deal died.  According to the Miami Herald, Braman refused to answer the Herald regarding the speculation and that it was “over and done with”.

The question now becomes, or should become, did Braman in fact influence Will Weatherford in an attempt to keep the vote from happening in Miami?  There is no question that Braman wanted the bill dead so it’s not out of the question to think that he could very well have taken his opinion to the top and thus prevented local Miamians the right to even vote on the referendum.  Furthermore if it were discovered that Weatherford did in fact “torpedo” the Dolphins attempt to get local money in an effort to gain a political advantage what does that say about Weatherford?  Is this a man that the state of Florida would want to trust?

The fact that allegations like this are creeping up says this issue isn’t yet ready to go away.  What is for certain is that the Dolphins are making a blind bid for a Super Bowl that will be held in one brand new stadium and one far newer than the one that the Dolphins play in.  It’s also a certainty that barring public assistance, the stadium bill is dead but only dead enough to haunt those parties directly involved.  At least for a little while longer.

Photo Credit: Miami Dolphins/360 Arc

When the Miami Dolphins kicked off this off season with big signings such as Mike Wallace, Dustin Keller, Dannell Ellerbe and Phillip Wheeler, exciting rang through the minds of Miami Dolphin fans. Not only were the Dolphins aggressive in free agency, but they were just as combative in the draft after they traded up to the third pick in the draft to select Dion Jordan. This aggressiveness out of the Dolphins front office has been a new thing for us fans to witness. Jeff Ireland is finally making the right transactions and it appears that the Dolphins future in Miami is going to be a marvelous one.

With all eyes towards the future and possible present talent that this team has, there seems to be only one issue; a stadium. After all the Miami Dolphins have done in the past couple of months to ensure the team stadium upgrades have seemed to fail. Before I continue, I am not stating that the Dolphins decided to finally sign Pro-Bowl caliber players just to get themselves stadium upgrades, but the moves that were made should have increased their chances of getting approved for the upgrades. Unfortunately, they failed to get approved and now everyone is starting to wonder “what’s next?”

Over the past couple of days, speculation has swirled around what the Dolphins might possibly do. There have been talks about them moving north to the Palm Beach territory and there have also been rumors about a possible move to Los Angeles. While a move to Los Angeles might be a little bit far-fetched, a move to Palm Beach might seem quite realistic. Mike Dee, the CEO of the Miami Dolphins is actually keeping an open mind on a possible move up north. When asked about the possibility to moving the franchise to Palm Beach, Dee replied with “We’re open-minded to all long-term solutions.” He also added in that “All ideas – good, bad, indifferent –should be considered.”

It seems as if Dolphin fans aren’t the only people that would like to see the team stay in South Florida. NFL Commissioner, Roger Goodell, has already voiced his opinions on the Dolphins situation. After he played down the speculation that the franchise could possibly move across country to California, Goodell said “We do want to see the Dolphins stay in Miami,” he also went onto say “Steve Ross was doing the investing and was really the guy who was putting his heart and soul into this and his passion into this.”

Although a move to Palm Beach could be in the Dolphins plans, I really doubt that this team is going anywhere. The Mayor of Palm Beach County, Steve Abrams, has said that he has yet to be approached by the team about moving into Palm Beach County.

I myself am not worried about a move. In my opinion this is either just the media trying to come up with some new rumors to give themselves something to do or it could just be the Dolphins trying to call someone’s bluff. Regardless of what it is, I am confident that everything will eventually get sorted out and that that lot right in between Northwest 199^th St. and Northwest 203^rd St. will continue to be the home of our Miami Dolphins.

Thanks for Reading!

Sept. 16, 2012; Miami, FL, USA; Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross (left) shakes hands with Dolphins general manager Jeff Ireland (right) during the fourth quarter against the Oakland Raiders at Sun Life Stadium. The Dolphins won 35-13. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Jeff Ireland, Stephen Ross, and Joe Philbin are looking at this season as win it all type of year.  Speculation on Stephen Ross’ future as the owner of the team doesn’t expand far beyond this season and CEO Mike Dee eluded to a possible sale of the team depending on what happens this season.

Jeff Ireland has been on the media hot seat for several years now and his spending spree in free agency and his draft moves have made the target much bigger.  Philbin is only entering his second season and indications are that he will be a good NFL head coach.  But time isn’t on his side.  He still has to develop his players.  If Jeff Ireland goes there is a good chance Philbin will follow.  If Ross goes, they all go.

The key to this season which is marked by one of the toughest schedules in the NFL is not the additional pieces Ireland has added.  Mike Wallace is a part of the motor.  Ryan Tannehill is a part of that motor.  As are Wheeler, Ellerbe, Wake, Clabo, Keller, and all the other players on the team.  The key is how quickly they can become, a team.

It often takes new additions to a team months to get comfortable with those around them.  Personality clashes, ego’s, and even judgement.  Add to that the stress and strain of camp battles, veterans losing roster spots to rookies, and you have a mixture in boiling cauldron waiting to boil over.  Joe Philbin needs to keep stirring it to prevent it from happening.

Perhaps the biggest adjustment is timing.  How fast a player is equates to how soon to throw a ball or how late.  If a player runs a route or tracks the ball as a defender his teammates need to know where he will be in their same route or pursuit.  It takes time to get that nailed down.  Far more than a few two-a-day practices.

Bonding needs to happen quickly.  You have to know that if you are out of position, your teammate has your back.  If you miss a block, someone will pick it up.  You have to know that the guy next to you sees the same thing you see and will react the same way as well.

It’s hard to make these adjustments when you have one or two new key additions.  The Dolphins have many.  Consider they will have a new outside WR and new inside one.  They will have a new TE and a new starting RB as well as a new full time LT and a new RT.  Defensively they will have new LB’s, new CB’s, and a new DE.  It truly is an overhaul.

On the upside, the Dolphins have kept their core strengths intact.  Lamar Miller may be the new RB but he was here in the system last year.  As was Brian Hartline and while Jonathan Martin is moving to LT he finished the season there last year. Defensively the safeties stay the same as does the defensive front line.

This teams season does not rest in a poor schedule or even on the ability of Ryan Tannehill to progress.  It relies on the ability of this team to, once again, become a team.  If they can enter the season focused as a whole they could do some damage this season.  They have the talent on paper and many of these free agent additions have proven themselves to be capable at playing highly at this level.

Somewhere this team needs leaders and those leaders need to step up.  Offensively it has to be Tannehill.  Defensively it needs to be Reshad Jones in the secondary and Cam Wake needs to become a leader instead of just a sack artist.  Jason Taylor was a leader and the Dolphins have not replaced that.