Ross donates $200 million to University of Michigan

[Vaark]

you wanna be dismissive because you're butthurt instead of introspective, I can give a flying **** - but if you don't think BR deserved that reputation, you're deluding yourself. And if you refuse to even concede that I have provided valid counterpoints and have gone further in proving them" than you have to the contrary, then again, it dovetails in nicely with the quality of BR's work product most everyone has come to expect. :idk:

 

[phins_4_ever]

@the notion that Ross grew up a Dolphins fan.
By the time the Dolphins were founded he was already in his 4th college.

Let's just rehash:
Ross was born 1940. 26 years before the Dolphins were founded. He grew up in Detroit and simply graduated in Miami. He went to UF and then to U of Michigan where he graduated in 1962. 4 years before the Dolphins were founded. Then he went back to Detroit and by 1966 he graduated from the NY University School of Law. The year the Dolphins were founded. Now where is the childhood connection to the Dolphins again?
As a matter of fact since the Jets were officially founded in 1960 as the Titans and took the name Jets in 1963 his connection are much closer to the Jets than the Dolphins.

Now does a home in Florida (anywhere) make you a Dolphins fan? Heck no. One of the reasons the rich and mighty keep homes down here is: NO STATE INCOME TAX!!!!
Yep, you heard here first because now we enter John W Henry into the race. Some may remember him as the former Marlins owner who lived in Palm Beach County and was destined to build a new stadium to fulfill his childhood dream. But at the end he dumped the Marlins onto MLB (who dumped them onto Loria) and bolted quickly for Boston to fulfill his childhood dream and become owner of the Boston Red Sox.

Now we enter Ross' main company (The Related Companies) into the race who has many satellite offices but is headquartered in NYC.

I am not saying that Ross is a Jets fan but to say that he is an owner who was Dolphins fan because of his upbringing is absurd and nothing but grasping for straws.

 

[Zounds]

@the notion that Ross grew up a Dolphins fan.
By the time the Dolphins were founded he was already in his 4th college.

Let's just rehash:
Ross was born 1940. 26 years before the Dolphins were founded. He grew up in Detroit and simply graduated in Miami. He went to UF and then to U of Michigan where he graduated in 1962. 4 years before the Dolphins were founded. Then he went back to Detroit and by 1966 he graduated from the NY University School of Law. The year the Dolphins were founded. Now where is the childhood connection to the Dolphins again?
As a matter of fact since the Jets were officially founded in 1960 as the Titans and took the name Jets in 1963 his connection are much closer to the Jets than the Dolphins.

Now does a home in Florida (anywhere) make you a Dolphins fan? Heck no. One of the reasons the rich and mighty keep homes down here is: NO STATE INCOME TAX!!!!
Yep, you heard here first because now we enter John W Henry into the race. Some may remember him as the former Marlins owner who lived in Palm Beach County and was destined to build a new stadium to fulfill his childhood dream. But at the end he dumped the Marlins onto MLB (who dumped them onto Loria) and bolted quickly for Boston to fulfill his childhood dream and become owner of the Boston Red Sox.

Now we enter Ross' main company (The Related Companies) into the race who has many satellite offices but is headquartered in NYC.

I am not saying that Ross is a Jets fan but to say that he is an owner who was Dolphins fan because of his upbringing is absurd and nothing but grasping for straws.

You based you entire argument that one needs to grow up in Miami to be a fan of the Miami Dolphins. Look around these forums. There are people here that have never even been to FL. I know of a few people that post here that have never even been to the United States. Does that make them less of a fan?

And regardless of geography, I think buying a team pretty much seals the deal that you are a fan of that team, whether you have been since childhood or you became one through a business transaction. Stephen Ross is a fan of the Miami Dolphins. Because he donated money to a university instead of getting you a new beer holder at the stadium doesnt make him less of a fan.

 

[Nublar7]

You based you entire argument that one needs to grow up in Miami to be a fan of the Miami Dolphins. Look around these forums. There are people here that have never even been to FL. I know of a few people that post here that have never even been to the United States. Does that make them less of a fan?

And regardless of geography, I think buying a team pretty much seals the deal that you are a fan of that team, whether you have been since childhood or you became one through a business transaction. Stephen Ross is a fan of the Miami Dolphins. Because he donated money to a university instead of getting you a new beer holder at the stadium doesnt make him less of a fan.

Born and raised in Pennsylvania, and still live here and I am a diehard Miami Dolphins fan. You don't need to be a local to be a Dolphins fan and I think it is safe to say there are more out of area Dolphins fans than local Dolphins fans.

 

[phins_4_ever]

You based you entire argument that one needs to grow up in Miami to be a fan of the Miami Dolphins. Look around these forums. There are people here that have never even been to FL. I know of a few people that post here that have never even been to the United States. Does that make them less of a fan?

And regardless of geography, I think buying a team pretty much seals the deal that you are a fan of that team, whether you have been since childhood or you became one through a business transaction. Stephen Ross is a fan of the Miami Dolphins. Because he donated money to a university instead of getting you a new beer holder at the stadium doesnt make him less of a fan.

It's like talking with door knobs here. My post was nothing but to counter a point one of the posters here made that because Ross grew up here and went to high school here he is more of a Dolphins fan than a Jets fan. I did not make that original argument.

Go read this thread again. The posters name starts with V. Have that discussion with him.

 

[dlockz]

I think some ownes are considered more of fans of thier team than others. Any owner better at least pretend to be a fan of his own team lol.
Most owners I dont think buy teams because they are fans of them, they are investments.
I really don know the total history of fandom of all the owners.
I know Jones has always been a Cowboys fan and Robert Kraft was a season ticket holder of Pats since 1971.

 

[HarryBagpipe]

South floridians are pretty good judges of owners since we are stuck with the worst owner in sports with Jeffrey loria but we are also fortunate to have one of if not the best owner in Mickey arison

 

[ckparrothead]

@the notion that Ross grew up a Dolphins fan.
By the time the Dolphins were founded he was already in his 4th college.

Let's just rehash:
Ross was born 1940. 26 years before the Dolphins were founded. He grew up in Detroit and simply graduated in Miami. He went to UF and then to U of Michigan where he graduated in 1962. 4 years before the Dolphins were founded. Then he went back to Detroit and by 1966 he graduated from the NY University School of Law. The year the Dolphins were founded. Now where is the childhood connection to the Dolphins again?
As a matter of fact since the Jets were officially founded in 1960 as the Titans and took the name Jets in 1963 his connection are much closer to the Jets than the Dolphins.

Now does a home in Florida (anywhere) make you a Dolphins fan? Heck no. One of the reasons the rich and mighty keep homes down here is: NO STATE INCOME TAX!!!!
Yep, you heard here first because now we enter John W Henry into the race. Some may remember him as the former Marlins owner who lived in Palm Beach County and was destined to build a new stadium to fulfill his childhood dream. But at the end he dumped the Marlins onto MLB (who dumped them onto Loria) and bolted quickly for Boston to fulfill his childhood dream and become owner of the Boston Red Sox.

Now we enter Ross' main company (The Related Companies) into the race who has many satellite offices but is headquartered in NYC.

I am not saying that Ross is a Jets fan but to say that he is an owner who was Dolphins fan because of his upbringing is absurd and nothing but grasping for straws.

Wow...I don't know how the hell I missed that. Steve Ross was already in college and out of Miami by the time the Dolphins even came into existence.

There goes that theory.

 

[ckparrothead]

You based you entire argument that one needs to grow up in Miami to be a fan of the Miami Dolphins. Look around these forums. There are people here that have never even been to FL. I know of a few people that post here that have never even been to the United States. Does that make them less of a fan?

Not quite. You're kind of ignoring the context. I brought up that Steve Ross tried to buy the Jets ten years before he bought the Miami Dolphins and that he owned a USFL team in Philadelphia, that he's regarded as an absentee owner and is up in New York for most of the year. My point was obvious, that he looks on the ownership of an NFL team as an investment, and he didn't particularly care which one, and this might explain why he's not particularly interested in doing good works for the city of Miami whereas he clearly has a lot of desire to be charitable toward University of Michigan.

Vaark responded to that with the theory that Steve Ross is a lifelong Dolphins fan since he graduated high school in Miami, that he probably grew up a Dolphins fan, and that how he looked at the Jets ownership was somehow different (a cold investment) from how he looked at the Dolphins ownership.

Well apparently no Ross could not have possibly grown up a Dolphins fan. He was already in New York by the time the Dolphins even came into being.

And regardless of geography, I think buying a team pretty much seals the deal that you are a fan of that team, whether you have been since childhood or you became one through a business transaction. Stephen Ross is a fan of the Miami Dolphins. Because he donated money to a university instead of getting you a new beer holder at the stadium doesnt make him less of a fan.

I agree with you to some extent. He bought the team as an investment and now he's a fan of the team. I'm not questioning that. I'm questioning how committed he is to the team. He's clearly a lot more interested in giving free money to Wolverines football than Dolphins football. When the public-private funding deal fell through, did Steve Ross decide to engage in SOME stadium upgrades? No. He agreed to repay I believe $170 million or something along those lines of the funds used to upgrade the stadium, so he was willing to pay for some stadium upgrades. But when the bill failed he scrapped it all. Then gave $100 million to Wolverines football.

 

[TealAttack13]

It's a nice gesture, but you need to fix our stadium and swear you need public money. Good luck convincing anyone of this once the politicians have a field day with this.

 

[MRojas4]

It's a nice gesture, but you need to fix our stadium and swear you need public money. Good luck convincing anyone of this once the politicians have a field day with this.

To my knowledge Ross has never stated that he NEEDS public money.

It is a pure business move, when will people understand this. City of Miami invests in a new Dolphins stadium which correct me if I am wrong Ross is splitting the upgrade cost and has "repayment" plans in place etc. In return, City of Miami gets 30 years of sales tax off Miami Dolphins ticket sales, merch, concessions, etc etc......

Ross could demolish the stadium and build a new one with the flick of a pen, would it be a smart business move? No.

People are acting like the guy is threatning to jump ship and leave town if the city doesn't "cooperate".

 

[Vaark]

My point is not that he's definitely a Fins fan but it's a convenient unfounded shortcut to make the assumption that he's not one in order to build the foundation resulting in a negative agenda's premise. I merely pointed out that he grew up and graduated from North Miami HS and then attended UofF - not Forest Hills HS in Queens and then NYU, so that without knowing one way or another, assuming someone who went to HS and a few years of college in Florida has rooting interests embedded in the area is more logical - especially as a long term resident paying property taxes on a 11thousand sq foot mansion in Palm Beach where he holds political fund raisers than painting him with a blanket label of being a carpetbagger and jets fan.

Now, is he in it for the money and will he sell the team now that he's not getting his way? I can't say whether he is or will - but then no one outside of his inside circle is able to either. All I'm saying is, it's okay to editorialize and speculate so long as the ammo used to further that hypothesis is more than shaky speculation. Omit it and I'd have had no problem.

Now I've been lazy too not googling documentation of Ross's "fandom." So thank you toeJam (and Earl). I was just reacting to the linear conclusion from assumptive Point A to Conclusive Point C without the corroboration necessary in a Point B. In this case, it just struck me as a disingenuous exercise to reinforce a negative Ross agenda :idk:

I respect CK's knowledge and obviously have as little use for BR as most people here do - as they've earned it over the years. Hopefully CK and an infusion of more informed writers will eventually alter this widespread perception. But again, whether I agree with an editorial POV or not, I'll respect the differences - if a salient case is made to justify the speculation along the way to forming that editorial conclusion.

 

[Dmarino110]

and This all started because I said I agreed with crowder...

Crowder said, ross doesnt love the dolphins the way jerry jones loves the cowboys...jones paid 2/3rds of the cost of his new stadium 650 Million+ (I thought I read once he paid 90% and only took th 10% for the NFL assistance)...

Crowder went on to say he wouldnt have had a problem with Ross doing that, building a new stadium and asking for 1/3 of the money from the state or city...because you know then he has his own money involved and he isnt going to just bail one day...If he builds a new stadium you know hes in it til hes dead...

He went on to say that the upgrades were "putting Lipstick on a pig" and was just trying to get some free money from the city and the NFL so he could try and get his money out of the team when he goes to sell it. I agree with this. Ross is looking to flip the team and stadium and get some tax breaks while doing it...

I went on to say that he is not a real dolphins fan. I based this on his attempted purchase of the jets, and I said he just wanted to be apart of the NFL Billionaire club to stroke his ego.

Now Im glad he says he was a fan of th team in the shula marino years...thats nice...I was a fan of the cowboys durring their superbowl run...you see what I did there, i said something that isnt true...Ross couldnt have figured that out...

in the end ross gave the state, the city, and the fans a big middle finger. He didnt ask Michigan to help support his donation to the school...If ross cared about the team and the fans as much as he cares about michigan and stroking his ego by having his name on a building he would have upgraded the stadium...

 

[MRojas4]

I went on to say that he is not a real dolphins fan. I based this on his attempted purchase of the jets, and I said he just wanted to be apart of the NFL Billionaire club to stroke his ego.

I'm a Snickers fan, but attempted to buy a Milky Way last week...does this apply to me too?

 

[Vaark]

It's absolutely so precious how Chowderhead has now become a sage in the eyes of some, who when he played, considered him an idiot because it now form-fits their closed-minded negative agenda. Mark Cuban grew up in Pittburgh - so he's not a real Mavericks fan, nor would he have been a real Cubs or Dodgers fan if the short-sighted MLB would have approved his bids. No way Bud Adams out of Houston or Ralph Wilson out of Detroit are real Titans or Bills fans - especially Adams who had the audacity to move his team out of his own city.

Oh and as far as an astute, successful businessman making a bid for jest, how about even long before that?

Ross attended Miami Beach High School and the University of Florida, then earned degrees from Michigan and Wayne State law school. He began his career in Detroit as a tax attorney, and the Michigan business school bears his name.

Once a minority partner with the New York Islanders, Ross was part of a group in 1990 that tried to bring baseball to Miami before Huizenga became founding owner of the Florida Marlins. He also made an unsuccessful bid for the New York Jets in 1999.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3847012

IMO, a refusal to concede the possible, let alone obvious, says more about those who dismiss Ross's motivations out of hand, than it comes close to saying about Ross.

"Having grown up in South Florida, Dolphins football has been a lifetime passion for me," Ross said. "I am energized by this opportunity, and look forward to being able to once again watch the Dolphins win a Super Bowl alongside all the other loyal Dolphin fans."

http://www.yp-forums.net/topic/12129-new-york-developer-steve-ross-buys-50-stake-in-the-dolphins/