Buccaneers co-Chair Joel Glazer yesterday said that ownership "takes full responsibility" for the team's recent lack of success. Glazer added, "There's no question we have to take responsibility. Not being in the playoffs for five years, there's no question that is a contributing factor [to poor attendance]. So we have to get it right on the field and we're committed to doing that." Glazer: "We've got great fans in the area. The economy is still difficult. That hasn't changed over night. ... But it's incumbent upon us to put a team on the field this community can be proud of and they will respond. I have no doubt" (TAMPA BAY TIMES, 3/20).
LIGHTNING STRIKES: Chargers President & Chair Dean Spanos yesterday said that hiring coach Mike McCoy and GM Tom Telesco, who both happen to be more than 20 years his junior, has "given him new vigor." He said, "Changes were made, and there [is] a new energy around the club right now, a new attitude. You can see it. It’s at a very high level right now. There is more enthusiasm than I’ve seen in a long time. It’s not like, ‘Oh well, back to work today.’ It’s enthusiasm.” In San Diego, Kevin Acee writes everything heard "from all corners of the building is how inclusive and positive and full of life the new Telesco-McCoy tandem is" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 3/20).
ROLE PLAYING: Browns Owner Jimmy Haslam III yesterday said that Pro Football HOFer Jim Brown will "have a formal role" with the organization. Meanwhile, Haslam added that the team "won’t sign up" for HBO’s "Hard Knocks" after participating in a similar show on the Travel Channel this past season. He said, “I think it interferes with your basic football operations." Haslam also said that he "hopes to make enhancements to FirstEnergy Stadium by 2014, but nothing major will be done before then" (OHIO.com, 3/19). Haslam regarding his role in player evaluations said that he "won't go to private workouts or watch tape, because that doesn't fit his skill set" (CLEVELAND.com, 3/19). Haslam is profiled in this week's SportsBusiness Journal.
GO WEST: Redskins GM Bruce Allen yesterday said that newly-hired Senior Exec A.J. Smith will "serve the Redskins as a San Diego-based consultant." Smith's role with the team will "center on internal evaluations." His responsibilities "had not been publicized by the team." Allen and Smith's friendship "dates from the early 1980s when they worked together with the Chicago Blitz of the USFL" (WASHINGTONTIMES.com, 3/19).
FISH MARKET: Images of the Dolphins' purported new logo are floating around the Internet, and ESPN's Tony Kornheiser said he did not care for it because the new logo "doesn’t even look like a dolphin." Kornheiser: "It looks like a shark actually, and it has a certain meanness to it. The old Dolphins logo has everything you want in a friendly dolphin. It’s got a helmet, it’s jumping up out of the water, it’s jumping through a hoop. It’s doing things that actual dolphins do, and I love the old Dolphin logo.” ESPN’s Michael Wilbon asked how the new logo is "any different from” the old logo. Kornheiser pointed out the new logo does not have a helmet like the old logo and said, "In an era of player safety, you need a helmet!” (“PTI,” ESPN, 3/19).
