Monday, July 2, 2007

FAQ's on Florida's Open Government Laws

First discovered this wonderful resource on Attorney General Bill McCullom's office website - http://myfloridalegal.com/ - which much like like the one I later discovered at
http://myfloridalegal.com/sunshine , proved invaluable prior to some recent visits to Hallandale Beach city hall, where I sought some reasonable answers to some nagging questions of interest to my two blogs, South Beach Hoosier and Hallandale BeachBlog,
http://www.hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/

(To keep up with the latest Consumer news coming out of the AG's office in Tallahassee, you can subscribe to the Attorney General's weekly Electronic Newsletter, which I started receiving about two months ago. You'll be pleasantly surprised.)

I suspect that for many of you, this information may prove somewhat helpful in discerning just what civic-minded folks like you can -and can't- obtain from the myriad state, regional and city goverments and independent agencies who ostensibly work for us, not themselves, though that wasn't the case with the City of Miami.

In my particular case, as I've mentioned in previous posts on Hallandale Beach Blog, being Hallandale Beach, despite my best hopes, I hit a series of rather predictable and proverbial brick walls in the form of official buckpassing and obfuscation, when what I was entitled to was some cooperation and transparency, to say nothing of accountability, from city employees who draw their paychecks from me and the rest of this town's residents.

In the long run, though, as you'll soon see, that will prove to be a very costly mistake to a few
officials in Hallandale Beach, who, even as I write this, have no idea how soon their life is going to get turned upside-down and become MUCH more complicated than they ever bargained for.

All by the simple infusion of some well-placed doses of "sunshine" and "law."
___________________________________________________________
http://myfloridalegal.com/pages.nsf/main/df6796c2c498743985256cc7000ad5cb!OpenDocument
FAQ's on Florida's Open Government Laws

The following questions and answers are intended to be used as a reference only -- interested parties should refer to the Florida Statutes and applicable case law before drawing legal conclusions.
Q. What is the Sunshine Law?
A. Florida's Government-in-the-Sunshine law provides a right of access to governmental proceedings at both the state and local levels. It applies to any gathering of two or more members of the same board to discuss some matter which will foreseeably come before that board for action. There is also a constitutionally guaranteed right of access. Virtually all state and local collegial public bodies are covered by the open meetings requirements with the exception of the judiciary and the state Legislature which has its own constitutional provision relating to access.
Q. What are the requirements of the Sunshine law?
A. The Sunshine law requires that 1) meetings of boards or commissions must be open to the public; 2) reasonable notice of such meetings must be given, and 3) minutes of the meeting must be taken.
Q. What agencies are covered under the Sunshine Law?
A. The Government-in-the-Sunshine Law applies to "any board or commission of any state agency or authority or of any agency or authority of any county, municipal corporation or political subdivision." Thus, it applies to public collegial bodies within the state at both the local as well as state level. It applies equally to elected or appointed boards or commissions.
Q. Are federal agencies covered by the Sunshine Law?
A. Federal agencies operating in the state do not come under Florida's Sunshine law.
Q. Does the Sunshine Law apply to the Legislature?
A. Florida's Constitution provides that meetings of the Legislature be open and noticed except those specifically exempted by the Legislature or specifically closed by the Constitution. Each house is responsible through its rules of procedures for interpreting, implementing and enforcing these provisions. Information on the rules governing openness in the Legislature can be obtained from the respective houses.
Q. Does the Sunshine Law applies to members-elect?
A. Members-elect of public boards or commissions are covered by the Sunshine law immediately upon their election to public off ice.
Q. What qualifies as a meeting?
A. The Sunshine law applies to all discussions or deliberations as well as the formal action taken by a board or commission. The law, in essence, is applicable to any gathering, whether formal or casual, of two or more members of the same board or commission to discuss some matter on which foreseeable action will be taken by the public board or commission. There is no requirement that a quorum be present for a meeting to be covered under the law.
Q. Can a public agency hold closed meetings?
A. There are a limited number of exemptions which would allow a public agency to close a meeting. These include, but are not limited to, certain discussions with the board's attorney over pending litigation and portions of collective bargaining sessions. In addition, specific portions of meetings of some agencies (usually state agencies) may be closed when those agencies are making probable cause determinations or considering confidential records.
Q. Does the law require that a public meeting be audio taped?
A. There is no requirement under the Sunshine law that tape recordings be made by a public board or commission, but if they are made, they become public records.
Q. Can a city restrict a citizen's right to speak at a meeting?
A. Public agencies are allowed to adopt reasonable rules and regulations which ensure the orderly conduct of a public meeting and which require orderly behavior on the part of the public attending. This includes limiting the amount of time an individual can speak and, when a large number of people attend and wish to speak, requesting that a representative of each side of the issue speak rather than every one present.
Q. As a private citizen, can I videotape a public meeting?
A. A public board may not prohibit a citizen from videotaping a public meeting through the use of nondisruptive video recording devices.
Q. Can a board vote by secret ballot?
A. The Sunshine law requires that meetings of public boards or commissions be "open to the public at all times." Thus, use of preassigned numbers, codes or secret ballots would violate the law.
Q. Can two members of a public board attend social functions together?
A. Members of a public board are not prohibited under the Sunshine law from meeting together socially, provided that matters which may come before the board are not discussed at such gatherings.
Q. What is a public record?
A. The Florida Supreme Court has determined that public records are all materials made or received by an agency in connection with official business which are used to perpetuate, communicate or formalize knowledge. They are not limited to traditional written documents. Tapes, photographs, films and sound recordings are also considered public records subject to inspection unless a statutory exemption exists.
Q. Can I request public documents over the telephone and do I have to tell why I want them?
A. Nothing in the public records law requires that a request for public records be in writing or in person, although individuals may wish to make their request in writing to ensure they have an accurate record of what they requested. Unless otherwise exempted, a custodian of public records must honor a request for records, whether it is made in person, over the telephone, or in writing, provided the required fees are paid. In addition, nothing in the law requires the requestor to disclose the reason for the request.
Q. How much can an agency charge for public documents?
A. The law provides that the custodian shall furnish a copy of public records upon payment of the fee prescribed by law. If no fee is prescribed, an agency is normally allowed to charge up to 15 cents per one-sided copy for copies that are 14" x 8 1/2" or less. A charge of up to $1 per copy may be assessed for a certified copy of a public record. If the nature and volume of the records to be copied requires extensive use of information technology resources or extensive clerical or supervisory assistance, or both, the agency may charge a reasonable service charge based on the actual cost incurred.
Q. Does an agency have to explain why it denies access to public records?
A. A custodian of a public record who contends that the record or part of a record is exempt from inspection must state the basis for that exemption, including the statutory citation. Additionally, when asked, the custodian must state in writing the reasons for concluding the record is exempt.
Q. When does a document sent to a public agency become a public document?
A. As soon as a document is received by a public agency, it becomes a public record, unless there is a legislatively created exemption which makes it confidential and not subject to disclosure.
Q. Are public employee personnel records considered public records?
A. The rule on personnel records is the same as for other public documents ... unless the Legislature has specifically exempted an agency's personnel records or authorized the agency to adopt rules limiting public access to the records, personnel records are open to public inspection. There are, however, numerous statutory exemptions that apply to personnel records.
Q. Can an agency refuse to allow public records to be inspected or copied if requested to do so by the maker or sender of the documents?
A. No. To allow the maker or sender of documents to dictate the circumstances under which documents are deemed confidential would permit private parties instead of the Legislature to determine which public records are public and which are not.
Q. Are arrest records public documents?
A. Arrest reports prepared by a law enforcement agency after the arrest of a subject are generally considered to be open for public inspection. At the same time, however, certain information such as the identity of a sexual battery victim is exempt.
Q. Is an agency required to give out information from public records or produce public records in a particular form as requested by an individual?
A. The Sunshine Law provides for a right of access to inspect and copy existing public records. It does not mandate that the custodian give out information from the records nor does it mandate that an agency create new records to accommodate a request for information.
Q. What agency can prosecute violators?
A. The local state attorney has the statutory authority to prosecute alleged criminal violations of the open meetings and public records law. Certain civil remedies are also available.
Q. What is the difference between the Sunshine Amendment and the Sunshine Law?
A. The Sunshine Amendment was added to Florida's Constitution in 1976 and provides for full and public disclosure of the financial interests of all public officers, candidates and employees. The Sunshine Law provides for open meetings for governmental boards.
Q. How can I find out more about the open meetings and public records laws?
A. Probably the most comprehensive guide to understanding the requirements and exemptions to Florida's open government laws is the Government-in-the-Sunshine manual compiled by the Attorney General's Office. The manual is updated each year and is available for purchase through the First Amendment Foundation in Tallahassee. For information on obtaining a copy, contact the First Amendment Foundation at (850) 224-4555.

John Edwards model behavior on cover of Mens Vogue magazine; Les Habs & Tracey Geffin


Photo by Annie Leibowitz
Article:
http://www.mensvogue.com/business/politics/feature/articles/2007/06/john_edwards

Was running some errands last Thursday afternoon before we were scheduled to be hit with a so-called "wave" of rain that all of the local South Florida TV weather talking-heads had been predicting ominously for days, but which took its sweet time in showing up.
I stopped off at the Publix supermarket here in Hallandale Beach on Hallandale Beach Blvd., east of me towards the beach, a store that is so polyglot that even during the slow and steamy days of summer, they still carry the main 6-8 Montréal and Toronto daily newspapers, in English & French, along with their usual American cousin suspects.

I bought some of the Montréal papers last March, the day after #5, Bernie "Boom-Boom" Geoffrion of Les Habs died, when Le Journal de Montréal, had a beautiful color 8'' X 11'' glossy photo of the beloved Hall of Famer, the day after his jersey was to be raised to the rafters of the Belle Centre, which is, to say the least, no "Fabulous Forum."
In many ways, his wife Marlene tied together all the generations of Montréal hockey fans, because of her father, legendary Habs superstar Howie Morenz, her marriage to Bernie as well as her link to post-exapnsion NHL thru her son Danny, who was good enough to have been the Canadiens first round draft choice in 1978, at age 20, playing in the NHL for 3 years.

I was surprised -pleasantly so- to see that the best hockey story that I've read in years on hockey's neverending hold on Montréal was a story in le Journal, http://www2.canoe.com/jdem/abonnement/index.html/ by the player I most loved to watch and cheer for in the mid-to-late '70's, when his long hair flowed like the proverbial Stanley Cups a la Belle Province: The Flower, Guy LaFleur.

I can still recite that championship Habs roster as easily as I can roll off the Dolphins' Super Bowl championship teams, in part because so many of their players achieved such great success off-the-ice as head coaches and general managers with other teams, as well as the Canadiens.
I will try to find that article of his and run it in the future, because it was so insightful and heartfelt that I actually found myself getting teary-eyed reading it in the original French.
I suppose that sounds a little crazy to read in print, but trust me, when you read it for yourself, you'll see exactly what I mean.
LaFleur's article gets to the heart of what it means to be both a French-speaking player and fan in Montréal.
If you're not already familiar with it, a really great hockey blog, with a Montréal Canadiens-orientation is called, not surprisingly, http://wwwrealitycheckeyesontheprize.blogspot.com/
It's written with a lot of insight and understanding in the ways of the Canadiens and their fans, who while not "long-suffering" like Cubs and Red Sox fans, still have an obvious anxious gene that is not found in quite so many of the devout fans of other hockey teams.
(It's sort of like how Dolphin fans felt in '75 and '76, wondering what had happened to the methodical planning and execution they'd become used to, suddenly seeing -more often than not- other teams doing that, namely the Steelers and Raiders, and seeing something unrecognizable in the aqua, ornage and white Dolphins: road losses to the Oilers and late
collapses against so-so teams that you're used to beating nine times out of ten.
That's when the anxious gene really kicks in!)
The blog also consistently has great photos and illustrations, and really speaks to someone who knows the history of the NHL and the Habs in particular.

(When I run the LaFleur story in the future, I'll also explain how and why it came to be that a guy growing up in North Miami Beach came to root for the Canadiens, have a subscription to The Hockey News and have a large classic Canadiens bumper sticker near his bedroom sports wall, right near the team photo of the undefeated 1972 Dolphins.
Part of this can be chalked up as simply another ripple of the Tracey Geffin Effect.
That was my nickname, once I got to IU, for the small but subtle ways that I noticed I'd changed for the better while at North Miami Beach Senior High School, NMBHS, as a result of all my time around Tracey Geffin, my cool, stylish and urbane not-to-mention adorably gorgeous friend and classmate from Montréal.
I sat next to Tracey everyday for two and a half years, at the same large desk in the front row of our home room class at NMBHS, which was always our French class, my favorite class.
That class room, with the passionate and enthusiastic Pearl Chiari at the helm, was one of the best learning experiences of my life, due in large part to the fact that, simply put, "Pearl" was one of the best teachers Dade County ever had.
This simple fact was proven by her being named Dade County "Teacher of the Year" once I was at IU, though it was hardly news to any of Pearl's past students, who were very motivated to do well in large part because of all the hard work they saw her put into making it easier for us to learn French and assimilate aspects of French culture.
While yours truly eagerly fled the state of Florida entirely and headed north to beautiful Bloomington, in search of a place where logic and reason held sway, Tracey went down to Coral Gables and the U-M, for both undergrad and law school, becoming a terrific attorney in South Florida like her talented and brilliant younger brother and sister who followed her, Alan & Samantha. More on Tracey & Pearl in the future.)

Obviously, because of the heavy NY/NJ/CT influence on this area, this particular Publix also receives more than the normal amount of copies of the New York Times, The New York Post and the New York Daily News -sometimes it seems like they have more than Ft. Lauderdale Airport- which is good for a newspaper junkie like me.
If only they got the Boston Globe, Baltimore Sun or Philadelphia Enquirer, but you can't have everything, I suppose.

Eventually I found my self over near the magazine area, and what do you know but I found "Mr. Two Americas" peering at me on the newstand from the cover of Mens Vogue, and not just anywhere on the newstand, but in a nice neighborhood there, too, situated right next to the Robb Report, "For the Luxury Lifestyle." Yes, even on newstands, John Edwards enjoys a bit of a charmed life.
But lest you think that he's going to wax rhapsodic, no, the headline assures us that -ironic in light of recent events- he's going to talk about yes, "his wife's battle with cancer, taking on the terrorists, and his surge in the polls."
But apparently not on why he can stand up to terrorists but NOT appear on FOX News.
Frankly, after seeing the magazine myself and perusing it, I wonder if seeing this at an airport newstand is what got under Ann Coulter's skin the other day, when she was blindsided by Elizabeth Edwards by the master manipulator Chris Matthews, who preposterously claimed something along the lines of ""we've got a caller to the show..."

Yeah, on a show that never has call-ins, guess who decided to place a "spontaneous" call and immediately got through. That's normal!

If you didn't already know from my earlier posts, I was a VERY early supporter of John Edwards in 2002, even before the WaPo's Style section immortalized him and his wife Elizabeth, with a front page story that hit you right in the gut and read like it had been written by edwards publicists.
I even voted for Edwards in the 2004 FL primary, just months after moving here from Arlington, because of my own personal experiences in Washington with John Kerry's wading pool shallowness, overwhelming smugness and faux glibness and intelligence.

In short, my Edwards vote stemmed as much from my great desire to keep Kerry as far away from real power as possible as for anything Edwards said or did, though he did have certain innate gifts and strengths that other Dem candidates didn't possess.
As some SBH readers know, after seeing him up close and personal many times and hearing
horror stories from two women I had dated who'd each previously worked for Kerry's senate office, we all ended up voting for Bush 43 in the general election, our first time voting Republican for president.

I've since turned on Edwards -with a vengeance!- but still receive the Edwards campaign's daily email because it's so unintentionally funny and reeks of desperation.
I'm a DLC-er, a longtime Bill Richardson supporter from 1990, but I also strongly support the war, despite Bush's poor execution of it, so... despite the fact that he's far from perfect, Fred Thompson is more likely to be getting my vote in 2008 unless something completely unexpected happens.
(Like Richardson finally becoming the smart, charming and persuasive candidate that I know he can be, complete with a Clintonian Sister Souljah moment of clarity where he rips into someone in a nano-second on policy grounds.)
But I'm not holding my breath.

http://www.mensvogue.com/business/politics/feature/articles/2007/06/john_edwards

In the Heart of a Great Country, Beats the Soul of Hoosier Nation

In the Heart of a Great Country, Beats the Soul of Hoosier Nation
"In the Heart of a Great Country, Beats the Soul of Hoosier Nation." -South Beach Hoosier, 2007

#IUBB, #bannersix

#IUBB, #bannersix
Assembly Hall, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana; Click photo to see video of Straight No Chaser's version of Back Home Again In Indiana, 2:37
The South Florida I Grew Up In

Excerpts from Joan Didion's Miami, 1987, Simon & Schuster:

In the continuing opera still called, even by Cubans who have now lived the largest part of their lives in this country, el exilo, the exile, meetings at private homes in Miami Beach are seen to have consequences. The actions of individuals are seen to affect events directly. Revolutions and counter-revolutions are framed in the private sector, and the state security apparatus exists exclusively to be enlisted by one or another private player. That this particular political style, indigenous to the Caribbean and to Central America, has now been naturalized in the United States is one reason why, on the flat coastal swamps of South Florida, where the palmettos once blew over the detritus of a dozen failed booms and the hotels were boarded up six months a year, there has evolved since the early New Year's morning in 1959 when Fulgencio Batista flew for the last time out of Havana a settlement of considerable interest, not exactly an American city as American cities have until recently been understood but a tropical capital: long on rumor, short on memory, overbuilt on the chimera of runaway money and referring not to New York or Boston or Los Angeles or Atlanta but to Caracas and Mexico, to Havana and to Bogota and to Paris and Madrid. Of American cities Miami has since 1959 connected only to Washington, which is the peculiarity of both places, and increasingly the warp...

"The general wildness, the eternal labyrinths of waters and marshes, interlocked and apparently neverending; the whole surrounded by interminable swamps... Here I am then in the Floridas, thought I," John James Audobon wrote to the editor of The Monthly American Journal of Geology and Natural Science during the course of an 1831 foray in the territory then still called the Floridas. The place came first, and to touch down there is to begin to understand why at least six administations now have found South Florida so fecund a colony. I never passed through security for a flight to Miami without experiencing a certain weightlessness, the heightened wariness of having left the developed world for a more fluid atmosphere, one in which the native distrust of extreme possibilities that tended to ground the temperate United States in an obeisance to democratic institutions seemed rooted, if at all, only shallowly.

At the gate for such flights the preferred language was already Spanish. Delays were explained by weather in Panama. The very names of the scheduled destinations suggested a world in which many evangelical inclinations had historically been accomodated, many yearnings toward empire indulged...

In this mood Miami seemed not a city at all but a tale, a romance of the tropics, a kind of waking dream in which any possibility could and would be accomodated...
Hallandale Beach Blog
http://www.hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/

Hallandale Beach Blog is where I try to inject or otherwise superimpose a degree of accountability, transparency and much-needed insight onto local Broward County government and public policy issues, which I feel is sorely lacking in local media now, despite all the technological advances that have taken place since I grew-up in South Florida in the 1970's. On this blog, I concentrate my energy, enthusiasm, anger, disdain and laser-like attention primarily on the coastal cities of Aventura, Hollywood and Hallandale Beach.

IF you lived in this part of South Florida, you'd ALREADY be in stultifying traffic, be paying higher-than-necessary taxes, and be continually musing about the chronic lack of any real accountability or transparency among not only elected govt. officials, but also of City, County and State employees as well. Collectively, with a few rare exceptions, they couldn't be farther from the sort of strong results-oriented, work-ethic mentality that citizens here deserve and are paying for.

This is particularly true in the town I live in, the City of Hallandale Beach, just north of Aventura and south of Hollywood. There, the Perfect Storm of years of apathy, incompetency and cronyism are all too readily apparent.
Sadly for its residents, Hallandale Beach is where even the easily-solved or entirely predictable quality-of-life problems are left to fester for YEARS on end, because of myopia, lack of common sense and the unsatisfactory management and coordination of resources and personnel.

It's a city with tremendous potential because of its terrific location and weather, yet its citizens have become numb to its outrages and screw-ups after years of the worst kind of chronic mismanagement and lack of foresight. On a daily basis, they wake up and see the same old problems again that have never being adequately resolved by the city in a logical and responsible fashion. Instead the city government either closes their eyes and hopes you'll forget the problem, or kicks them -once again- further down the road.

I used to ask myself, and not at all rhetorically, "Where are all the enterprising young reporters who want to show through their own hard work and enterprise, what REAL investigative reporting can produce?"

Hearing no response, I decided to start a blog that could do some of these things, taking the p.o.v. of a reasonable-but-skeptical person seeing the situation for the first time.
Someone who wanted questions answered in a honest and forthright fashion that citizens have the right to expect.

Hallandale Beach Blog intends to be a catalyst for positive change. http://www.hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/

Hallandale Beach's iconic beachball-colored Water Tower, between beach and A1A/South Ocean Drive

Hallandale Beach's iconic beachball-colored Water Tower, between beach and A1A/South Ocean Drive
Hallandale Beach, FL; February 16, 2008 photo by South Beach Hoosier

Hollywood in Cartoons, The New Yorker

Hollywood in Cartoons, The New Yorker
"Gentlemen, I am happy to announce that as of today we are closing down our Washington news bureau and moving the entire operation to L.A."

Hollywood in Cartoons, The New Yorker

Hollywood in Cartoons, The New Yorker
"O.K., so I dig a hole and put the bone in the hole. But what's my motivation for burying it?"

Hollywood in cartoons, 10-21-06 Non-Sequitur by Wiley, www-NON-SEQUITUR.COM

Hollywood in cartoons, 10-21-06 Non-Sequitur by Wiley, www-NON-SEQUITUR.COM
The Magic of Hollywood: A motion has been put forth that we should seek to create rather than imitate. All in favor of killing this silly notion, nod in mindless agreement...

Miami Dolphins

Miami Dolphins
South Beach Hoosier's first Dolphin game at the Orange Bowl came in Dec. 1970, aged 9, a 45-3 win over Buffalo that propelled them into their first ever playoff appearance.

Sebastian the Ibis, the Spirited Mascot of the University of Miami Hurricanes

Sebastian the Ibis, the Spirited Mascot of the University of Miami Hurricanes
Before going to my first U-M game at the Orange Bowl in 1972, a friend's father often would bring me home an extra 'Canes game program. That's how I came to have the Alabama at U-M game program from Nov. 16, 1968, which was the first nationally-televised college football night game in color. (A 14-6 loss to the Crimson Tide.) After that first ballgame against Tulane, as l often did for Dolphin games if my father wasn't going, I'd get dropped off at the Levitz parking lot near the 836 & I-95 Cloverleaf in NMB, and catch a Dade County Park & Ride bus, going straight to the Orange Bowl. Onboard, I'd get next to the window and listen to WIOD's pre-game show on my Radio Shack transistor radio. A few times, I was just about the only person onboard besides the bus driver, which was alright by me. Once at the Orange Bowl, if I didn't already have a ticket, I'd buy a game program for myself and one or two for friends or teachers before heading to the ticket window, since you usually couldn't find a program vendor once inside. I probaly had a friend or my father with me for just under 40% of the U-M games I ever went to, but you have to remember that the team, though blessed with several talented players, like Chuck Foreman and Burgess Owens, was just so-so to average at best, and the games were usually played on Friday nights, so it wasn't exactly high on everyone's list of things to do. Depending upon the opponent, if I was alone, I'd often have entire areas of the Orange Bowl to myself. (Wish I had photos of that now!) For instance, I had a good portion of the East (open) End Zone to myself against Oklahoma in the mid-70's, when the Boomer Schooner and the Schooner Crew went out on the field after an Oklahoma TD, and the Schooner received an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty from the refs, as would happen years later in an Orangle Bowl Classic game. (Against FSU?) I was there for the wins and losses under Pete Elliott, Carl Selmer & Lou Saban, and the huge on-field fight in '73 when under eventual national champion Notre Dame (under Ara Parseghian), they called a time-out with less than a minute to go, and already up 37-0. Their rationale? To score another TD and impress the AP football writers; final score 44-0. Well, they got their wish and beat Alabama 24-23 for the title at the Sugar Bowl. A year later, thanks to my Mom's boss, she and I saw Ara's last game as head coach of the Irish in the Orange Bowl Game from the East End Zone -in front of the Alabama cheerleaders!!!- in an exciting 13-11 Notre Dame win over Alabama and Bear Bryant, a rematch of the '73 national title game. I was also present for the U-M's huge 20-15 win under Pete Elliott against Darrel Royal's Texas Longhorns, the week Sports Illustrated's College Football preview issue came out with Texas on the cover, below. I was also present for lots of wins against schools called College of the Pacific, UNLV and Cal-Poly San Luis Obsispo, which I'd then never heard of before.

Miami Dolphins Cheerleaders, April 28, 2007

Miami Dolphins Cheerleaders, April 28, 2007
Photo by Mario J. Bermudez. April 28, 2007 at Dolphins NFL Draft Party at Dolphin HQ, Davie, FL

Of cheerleaders past and present

Given South Florida's unique version of the melting pot -con salsa- demographics and mindset, these women in the photo above are surely what most South Floridians would consider attractive women. But for this observer, who's spent hours & hours at IU cheerleader tryouts and who has known dozens of cheerleaders -and wannabes- in North Miami Beach, Bloomington, Evanston and Washington, D.C., the whole time I was watching these members of the Dolphins' squad perform, I couldn't help but compare them and their routines to those of some IU friends of mine who ALWAYS showed true Hoosier spirit & enthusiasm. Sitting at my table right near the stage and still later, while watching the long lines of Dolphin fans of all ages waiting to snap photos of themselves with the cheerleaders, I couldn't help but think about those friends who always left me and other Hoosier fans feeling positive & optimistic. Was there anyone I saw in Davie who possessed these valuable intangibles: the dancing precision of IU Red Stepper -and Captain- Gail Amster, my talented and spirited Phi Beta Kappa pal from Deerfield (IL), who always sat next to me in our Telecom. classes as we took turns entertaining the other; the ebullient spirit & energy of two Hoosier cheerleaders -and captains- from Bloomington, Wendy (Mulholland) Moyle & Sara Cox; the hypnotic, Midwestern, girl-next-door sexiness of Hoosier cheerleader Julie Bymaster, from Brownsburg; or, the adorable Southern girl-next-door appeal of former Hoosier Pom squader Jennifer Grimes, of Louisville, always such a clear distraction while sitting underneath the basket? Nope, not that I could see. But then they were VERY tough acts to follow!!! And that's not to mention my talented & spirited friends like Denise Andrews of Portage, Jody Kosanovich of Hammond & Linda Ahlbrand of Chesterton, all of whom were dynamic cheerleaders -and captains- at very large Hoosier high schools that were always in the championship mix, with Denise's team winning the Ind. football championship her senior year when she was captain -just like in a movie. That Denise, Jody & Linda all lived on the same dorm floor, just three stories above me at Briscoe Quad our freshman year, was one of the greatest coincidences -and strokes of luck for me!- that I could've ever hoped for. You could hardly ask for better ambassadors of IU than THESE very smart, sweet and talented women. In a future SBH post, I'll tell the story of one of the greatest Hoosiers I ever met, the aforementioned Wendy Mulholland, the Bloomington-born captain and emotional heart of the great early '80's IU cheerleading squads, and the daughter of Jack Mulholland, IU's former longtime Treasurer. The acorn doesn't fall far from a tree built on a foundation of integrity & community service! (After he retired, Mr. Mulholland was the first executive director of the Community Foundation of Bloomington and Monroe County. I used to joke with Wendy that her dad's name was the one that was permanently affixed to the bottom of my work-study checks for years, while I worked at the Dept. of Political Science's Library, first, at the Student Building in the old part of campus, and then later, after it was refurbished, in magnificent Woodburn Hall, my favorite building on campus.) In that future post, I'll share some reflections on Wendy's great strength of character and personality; my intentions of returning to Bloomington a few weeks before Fall '82 classes started, so I could help Wendy train and work-out to rehab her knee, so she'd feel confident in trying-out for the squad again, following a bad knee injury that'd left her physically-unable to try-out for the squad the previous spring, a big disappointment to those of us who cared about both Wendy and the team; my incredulity at, quite literally, running into Wendy while walking down a sidewalk one afternoon a few years later in Evanston, IL, when we were astonished to discover we were both living there, with me trying to hook on with a Windy City advertising agency, and Wendy then-attending Kellogg (KGSM) at Northwestern, right when the WSJ had named Kellogg the #1 Business School in the country. I'll also share a story about Wendy performing a true act of kindness towards me in 1982, when I was having a real emergency, and she went above-and-beyond what I had any logical reason to expect. Yet, Wendy, along with her very helpful dad, Jack, came through for me when I was in a very bad time crunch. I've never forgotten Wendy's kindness towards me, and her true Hoosier spirit. There's NOTHING I wouldn't do for Wendy Mulholland.

It's All About "The U"

It's All About "The U"
South Beach Hoosier's first U-M football game at the Orange Bowl was in 1972, age 11, against Tulane in the infamous "Fifth Down" game. In order to drum up support and attendance for the U-M at the Orange Bowl, that game had a promotion whereby South Florida kids who were school safety patrols could get in for free IF they wore their sash. I did. Clearly they knew that it was better to let kids in for free, knowing their parents would give them money to buy food and souvenirs, perhaps become a fan and want to return for future games. The ballgame made an interesting impression on The New York Times, resulting in this gem from the "View of Sport" column of Oct, 14, 1990, labeled 'Fifth Down or Not, It's Over When It's Over.' -"In 1972, aided by a fifth-down officiating gift in the last moments of the game, Miami of Florida defeated Tulane, 24-21. The country and the world was a much different place that fall because The New York Times took time and space to editorialize on the subject. ''Is it right for sportsmen, particularly young athletes, to be penalized or deprived of the goals for which they earnestly competed because responsible officials make mistakes? The ideal of true sportsmanship would be better served if Miami forfeited last week's game.' South Beach Hoosier hardly needs to tell you that this was YET another New York Times editoral that was completely ignored!

The issue I took with me the night of U-M's 20-15 upset of #1 Texas at the Orange Bowl

The issue I took with me the night of U-M's 20-15 upset of #1 Texas at the Orange Bowl
College Football, Texas No. 1, Hook 'em Horns, Sept. 10, 1973. Living in North Miami Beach in the '70's, my Sports Illustrated usually showed up in my mailbox on the Thursday or Friday before the Monday cover date. And was read cover-to-cover by Sunday morning.

The Perfect Storm

The Perfect Storm
U-M QB Ken Dorsey, Miami Hurricanes Undefeated National Champions 2001, Jan. 2002

Miami's Romp in the Rose

Miami's Romp in the Rose
Miami running back Clinton Portis, Jan. 7, 2002

Why the University of Miami should drop football

Why the University of Miami should drop football
June 12, 1995

REVENGE!

REVENGE!
Steve McGuire and Miami Overpower No.1 Notre Dame, Dec. 4, 1989

How Sweet It Is!

How Sweet It Is!
Miami Whips Oklahoma For The National Championship, Pictured: Dennis Kelleher, Jan. 11, 1988

My, Oh My, Miami!

My, Oh My, Miami!
Steve Walsh and the Canes Stun FSU, Oct. 12, 1987

Why Is Miami No. 1?

Why Is Miami No. 1?
QB Vinny Testaverde, Nov. 24, 1986

Miracle In Miami

Miracle In Miami
The Hurricanes Storm Past Nebraska, Halfback Keith Griffin, Jan. 9, 1984

Special Issue: College Football

Special Issue: College Football
The Best Passer, George Mira of Miami, Sept. 23, 1963

1984 College & Pro Spectatcular

1984 College & Pro Spectatcular
A Pair Of Aces: U-M QB Bernie Kosar & Miami Dolphin QB Dan Marino, Sept. 5, 1984

Pro Football Hall of Fame Special Issue

Pro Football Hall of Fame Special Issue
Dan Marino, Class of 2005, Aug. 2005

FACES OF THE NFL

FACES OF THE NFL
A Portfolio by Walter Iooss Jr., Ricky Williams, Miami Dolphins, Dec. 9, 2002

Coming Back

Coming Back
Jay Fiedler rallies Miami to a last-second win over Oakland, Oct. 1, 2001

Dan's Last Stand

Dan's Last Stand
At 38 and under siege, Dan Marino refuses to go down without a fight, Dec. 13, 1999

The War Zone

The War Zone
In the NFL's toughest division, the surprising Dolphins are on top, Lamar Smith, Dec. 11, 2000

Down and Dirty

Down and Dirty
Jimmy Johnson's Dolphins Bury The Patriots, Steve Emtman, Sept. 9, 1996

The Sunshine Boys

The Sunshine Boys
Now Playing in Miami: The Dan Marino and Jimmy Johnson Show, May 11, 1996

HOT & NOT

HOT & NOT
Miami loves Pat Riley but wants to give Don Shula the boot, Dec. 11, 1995

NFL PREVIEW 1995

NFL PREVIEW 1995
Which of today's stars are locks for the Hall of Fame? Dan Marino for sure. But who else? To find out, we polled the men who do the voting. Sept. 14, 1995

Sportsman Of The Year

Sportsman Of The Year
Don Shula, Dec. 20, 1993

Dan The Man

Dan The Man
Dan Marino Saves The Day For The Dolphins, Jan. 14, 1991

Dangerous Dan

Dangerous Dan
Dan Marino Passes Miami Into The Super Bowl, Jan. 14, 1985

Super Duper!

Super Duper!
Wide Receiver Mark Duper Of The Undefeated Dolphins, Nov. 19, 1984

Air Raid! Miami Bombs Washington

Air Raid! Miami Bombs Washington
Mark Clayton (burning Darryl Green) Sept. 10, 1984

Rookies On The Rise

Rookies On The Rise
Dan Marino: Miami's Hot Quarterback, Nov. 14, 1983

New Life In The WFL

New Life In The WFL
Warfield, Csonka and Kiick of Memphis, July 28, 1975

Zonk! Miami Massacres Minnesota

Zonk! Miami Massacres Minnesota
Larry Csonka, Jan. 21, 1974

Pro Football, Miami Is Rough And Ready

Pro Football, Miami Is Rough And Ready
Larry Csonka & Bob Griese, Sept. 17, 1973

Miami All The Way

Miami All The Way
Bob Griese, Jan. 22, 1973

It's Miami and Washington

It's Miami and Washington
Mercury Morris Speeds Past The Steelers, Jan. 8, 1973

Kiick and Csonka, Miami's Dynamic Duo

Kiick and Csonka, Miami's Dynamic Duo
Larry Csonka & Jim Kiick, Aug. 7, 1972

Sudden Death at Kansas City

Sudden Death at Kansas City
Miami's Garo Yepremian Ends the Longest Game; (kneeling) placekick holder Karl Noonan, Jan. 3, 1972

New Pro in a New Town

New Pro in a New Town
Miami's Frank Emanuel, Aug. 8, 1966

Old-style "Obie" the Orange Bowl Committee mascot

Old-style "Obie" the Orange Bowl Committee mascot
The iconic image I grew-up with in Miami, before FedEx got into the picture