Greg Cote: Miami Dolphins should try to bully opponents, not teammates

Miami’s three biggest teams had the biggest national stages in the past week, from the champion Heat’s banner-raising opening night Tuesday against Derrick Rose’s Chicago Bulls to the Dolphins in prime-time on a Halloween Thursday to the University of Miami at Florida State in a top-10 duel Saturday night.

Can’t remember a stretched-out tripleheader so compelling for so many reasons.

LeBron James and team setting sail in search of a three-peat and the UM-FSU matchup riveting college football were the bigger national stories, but it was the Dolphins in the middle who gave us the best local soap opera this week.

Any NFL team going from 3-0 to a four-game tailspin would be drama enough, but that was just the start of it here.

Mike Pouncey got served with a subpoena in the Aaron Hernandez murder case, and then fellow lineman Jonathan Martin abruptly left the team under emotional duress after angrily reacting to ribbing from teammates that had coach Joe Philbin answering questions about a “bullying” problem on his team.

(Dear Dolphins: You’re 4-4. Leave your teammates alone and try to do a better job of bullying your opponents.)

Reports of dissention in the locker room and even on the coaching staff arose.

Then, in an exquisite stroke of what-else-can-go-wrong, the Dolphins cheerleaders’ website was hacked by a porn site.

That, or the Dolphins cheerleaders’ website has pushed the boundaries on “premium content.”

• Two new TV ads featuring James were shot in Miami and seem to show how much he loves living here. Means nothing in terms of what he might do next summer, but it keeps the tea-leaf readers busy.

• Despite the excitement of new ownership the Florida Panthers had won only three of their first 12 games and had the third-fewest points in the NHL entering the weekend. Buyer’s remorse, anyone?

•  Parting thought: Cleveland Browns executive Jon Sandusky was pulled over on suspicion of driving under the influence. He’s Jerry Sandusky’s son. You’d drink, too.

Visit Greg’s Random Evidence of a Cluttered Blog daily at MiamiHerald.com and follow on Twitter @gregcote, Instagram/upsetbird, Vine/Greg Cote and Facebook/Greg Cote.

This story was originally published November 2, 2013 at 4:59 PM with the headline "Greg Cote: Miami Dolphins should try to bully opponents, not teammates."