Big Story:
This is the final agenda of the week as yours truly has a couple days off. So we'll try to dive into everything we can. The Panthers are starting to falter, losing three in a row; the Dolphins begin preps with a new coach; why is Stephen Ross so tone deaf; and the Heat take to the court for a scrimmage Thursday; and money is still the name of the game in the NBA.
Let's hit this agenda harder than James Harrison does against the Cleveland Browns.

Miami Dolphins:
Due to technical malfunctions (read Outlook crashed) no agenda went out yesterday, so I'm making up for lost time.
The Miami Dolphins will take the field this weekend with another head coach after Tony Sparano was fired Monday afternoon.
Let's look at a couple of angles here:
First, why now?
The answer is that Ross was afraid of more fan backlash in the coming weeks. It wasn't football reasons, it was simply Ross was afraid of losing what's left of his fans to the Heat, Panthers, and Marlins.
But second, what does it mean for the Miami Dolphins?
In simple terms, the Fins are pretty much screwed.
Let me explain why.
It starts at the top with Stephen Ross. He's a brilliant businessman, but he has no clue on the nuances of being a successful NFL owner.
From the trying to entice celebrities to be here to his failed pursuit of Jim Harbaugh; Ross has been the epitome of a bumbling owner in the last year.
Let's put it this way, in the last year, Ross has made Mike Brown of the Cincinnati Bengals look like a quality owner. Yikes.
So now, Ross' brilliant idea is to fire Sparano and keep general manager Jeff Ireland.
Remember, this is the same Jeff Ireland who said on Monday that he was very sad to have to fire Tony because he was a good friend.
Really? REALLY?
So you will go behind your friends back to submarine him as you and the owner try to entice a new coach to take over?
Then you'll insulate yourself from the coach by constantly telling the owner that the talent is there so as to keep your job and let Sparano take the fall.
Man, if that's how he treats his friends; I'd hate to see how he treats his enemies.
So we have Jeff Ireland for an indefinite period of time.
Yes, the same Jeff Ireland who asked Dez Bryant if his mother was a whore.
The same Jeff Ireland who undercut his coach multiple times.
The same Jeff Ireland who is obviously more out for himself than the good of the franchise.
The same Jeff Ireland who has whiffed on more late round draft picks than San Diego did with the Ryan Leaf selection.
Now, here's where it gets really disheartening for Dolphins fans.
Ireland has shown a complete ineptitude to draft a franchise quarterback. I mean it's blatantly obvious he has no clue.
So, you need a strong coach who can get the right picks in; but Ireland theoretically has veto power.
If you're an NFL coach, why would you want that job?
As Parcells said, if they want you to cook the meal, they should at least let you shop for groceries.
So, a quality coach like Bill Cowher is going to look at the Dolphins fiasco and probably say….ummmm, No.
Jeff Fisher might be a possibility, but he might even balk at the likelihood of having to work with Ireland.
Even Don Shula said yesterday that the coach should have the ultimate say-so over the roster and he wouldn't take a job that wasn't like that.
Yet this is what Ross has put into place.
And it gets worse…
With each win, the Dolphins fall further down the draft board.
If they drop out of the Top 10, they have no shot at a decent quarterback without mortgaging the team's entire draft.
So the dreams of Robert Griffin, III may be out of reach soon if the Fins keep winning.
And so, unless something changes and Ross can cough up enough money to land someone like Jeff Fisher, the Fins streak of mediocrity will continue for the foreseeable future.
Sorry Fins fans.

Florida Panthers: (next game, vs. Phoenix Coyotes, Friday, 7:30 p.m.)
Just when I'm starting to get excited about the Panthers' prospects; they do their best Dolphins impersonation and drop three in a row.
The Panthers remain 6 points ahead of the second place Winnipeg J-E-T-S Jets Jets Jets.
Still, halfway through the month of December, the Panthers are 3-4.
Florida is currently tied for third place in the Eastern Conference.
But the Cats are only 4-3-3 in their last 10 games.
The Cats had better improve quickly or fans will tune them out starting December 25th when the Heat take the court.
Speaking of the Heat….

Miami Heat: (scrimmage set for Thursday, Sun Sports Florida, 7 p.m.?)
The Heat will hold a public scrimmage on Thursday and it's free to season ticket holders, or if you have Sun Sports Florida at home/work.
We probably won't see the Big Enigma of the Heat, center Eddy Curry.
He's been out for multiple practices dealing with a "hip flexor."
I'll say it again, if they can get 18-20 minutes out of Curry per night and he can say go 8 pts and 8 rebounds average for the year, this team is unstoppable.
Well, that is if Mario Chalmers can hold on to his job.
I'm hearing really good things about rookie point guard Norris Cole.
He's lightning fast based on the video I've found about him. Quick into the transition game and can shoot and rebound when needed.
Cole was a four-year player at Cleveland State and once had 40 pts and 20 rebounds in a single game.
I don't care what competition you're playing against, that's pretty darn good.
If Cole can come in and make an immediate contribution to the Heat, and his only competition is Chalmers; the Heat's point guard woes may be solved.
I just want to see if Cole can hold his own on the defensive end of the floor and how his long-range jumper is coming along.

Finally, a brief word on the NBA Lockout and what it accomplished….
Absolutely nothing.
The players still have the power to determine where they are going to go. (see Dwight Howard)
The NBA league office is still run poorly (see Chris Paul trade fiasco)
And teams are still giving out wildly inflated contracts to decent, but not phenomenal players (see Nene getting a max-contract deal)
So what was the lockout really for again?
Oh yeah, it was the same thing that Wall Street and the entire 1% is out for…..GREED…PURE UNADULTERATED GREED!
It was about billionaires wanting more and taking more with the threat of eliminating jobs.
Gee does that sound familiar to nearly every worker in the United States?
It's a reflection of American society and it's just as disgusting when it happens to the NBA as it is when it happens to every worker in America more afraid of losing their job than anything else and willing to sacrifice their entire lives for organizations that would just as soon throw them to the curb and move to China if they could.
Why?
Because in America it's not what's best for the country, the workers, or anything else. It's about GREED, pure and simple.