Thursday, April 3, 2008

Tallahassee Rules Against HB Mayor Cooper and Comm. Ross

Posted earlier on Hallandale Beach Blog www.HallandaleBeachBlog.blogspot.com

Wednesday April 2, 2008
1:00 p.m.

The State of Florida's Dept. of Management Services http://www.dms.myflorida.com/
ruled decisively Monday against the boisterous and all-too-often, self-serving claims of Hallandale Beach Mayor Joy Cooper and Commissioner Dorothy Ross, who voted along with Commissioner William Julian on March 5th to deprive the city's citizens of the opportunity to serve on the Hallandale Beach Police Officers' and Firefighters Retirement Fund.

This decision follows weeks of bitterness and allegations of parochialism and plain-old selfishness against both Cooper and Ross by active duty Hallandale Beach police officers and firefighters at a series of contentious and highly combative City Commission hearings, which featured dozens of members at the night meeting in February.

What was voted on:
An Ordinance of the City of Hallandale Beach, Florida, Amending Ordinance 2004-09, The Hallandale Beach Police and Fire Pension Plan to Provide for the Authority for Two Commissioners to Serve as Members on the Police and Fire Pension Board of Trustees; Providing for Conflicts; Providing for Severability; Providing for an Effective Date (Second Reading)(City Attorney)(see backup) CAD# 002/07

After Julian's Feb. 20th swing vote against the city's first-responders led to a 3-2 decision to amend the city's charter at the first of two hearings, threats of union lawsuits against the city to reverse the decision and members seeking political payback, has animated and roiled much of HB's small political chattering class for the past two months.

The Benefits Administrator further ordered that the original language be reinstated to comply with statutory provisions and warned Mayor Cooper, "No further restrictions or conditions may be placed on these two resident appointees without jeopardizing receipt of future premium tax moneys."




In the near future, Hallandale Beach Blog will seek to discover how much money city taxpayers paid for the privilege of having outside attorney David Tolces sit at the dais for those hearings.
While his legal advice went sour pretty fast, Tolces wasn't without his comic element, as when he said in response to a citizen's question at a hearing asking how much he was charging the city -for telling the mayor what she wanted to hear according to critics- he quipped that the information would be easy enough for someone to find out by simply filing the requisite Public Records request paperwork.

Well, we'll see about that now, won't we, since we know that at least one person will, in fact, try to ferret out that information. For history's sake.

As it happens, the DMS decision was never mentioned at Wednesday morning's regular HB City Commission meeting, which featured city commissioners recommending votes against most of the Broward County Charter Review Committee's recommendations to voters in November.

With rare exceptions, the City Commission largely belittled the efforts and political handiwork of the committee that's worked for months throughtout the state's second-largest county to bring Broward County firmly into the 21st Century, and seeks to take ethical and member districting decisions out of the hands of county commissioners.

As is so often the case at HB city hearings and forums, the agenda ran behind schedule and had the usual procedural screw-ups, as when the mayor plowed thru the agenda items and the City Clerk twice failed to remind her to seek public comment.
So they did a do-over twice.
_________________________________
http://www.miamisunpost.com/archives/2008/03-13/031308newshallandalebeach.htm

Miami Sun Post
Hallandale Beach
Power Play
Firefighters, police rail against amendment to pension board
By Claudia Boyd-Barrett
March 13, 2008

Vigorous protests from police, firefighters and concerned citizens were not enough to sway the Hallandale City Commission last week from approving an amendment that would permanently assign to commissioners two seats on the five-member Police and Fire Pension Board permanently to commissioners.

City Mayor Joy Cooper and Commissioner Dorothy Ross already sit on the board, but its governing ordinance states that city residents, rather than officials, should hold those seats.

The amendment that passed on first reading last Thursday changes that language to specify city commissioners.

Mayor Cooper defended her backing of the amendment, arguing that the pension board needed her and Ross' presence and expertise.

Vice Mayor William Julian, who also voted to pass the amendment, said having commissioners on the board helps protect the interests of citizens, whose taxes fund the pensions.

Their arguments did not sit well with the police, firefighters and some citizens gathered at the commission meeting.

"I think this stinks of impropriety," police Officer Gary McVeigh said. "It looks unethical. We're just wondering why the adamant fight for this? It makes no sense to us."

Daniel Alford, a firefighter paramedic and pension board member, told commissioners he thought the amendment resulted in a conflict of interest for Cooper and Ross because they would be more interested in looking out for taxpayers than the police and firefighters on the pension plan.

Outside the meeting, firefighter union President Jim Bunce echoed concerns that the commission was violating the city charter by passing the amendment without a public vote.

The Hallandale City Charter prohibits commissioners from holding any other office during their term and says any amendments to the charter must be approved by referendum.

Bunce said he would prefer that the pension board seats in question be given to people from the community with professional expertise.

"Out of 50,000 people in this city who could sit on this board, they're saying they're the only two that should," Bunce fumed. "They're stealing power that the public has to give them — they're just taking it!"

However, City Clerk E. Dent McGough said the city was amending an ordinance and not the charter, so it did not need a referendum vote.

Commissioners Keith London and Francine Schiller both voted against the amendment.

It was London who initially questioned the legality of Cooper and Ross sitting on the board after he learned that it is unusual in Florida for commission members to hold such positions.

He said he feared the dual office-holding would open the city to potential lawsuits.

"By having two positions filled on both the Pension Board and the City Commission, we have consolidated the decision-making to fewer people, increasing the odds of a wrong decision being made," he wrote in an e-mail.

"Our City Commission should listen to what the people want."

London said the Police Benevolent Association was threatening to sue the city if the ordinance passes a second reading.

Commissioner Julian said that the $80 million fund is currently in good standing.
_________________________________
Miami Herald
March 6, 2008

Hallandale Beach commissioners on Wednesday voted to allow themselves to serve on the police and fire pension board.

The 3-2 vote angered many members of the police union who have threatened to file a lawsuit.

The union argues that city commissioners are serving two offices, which is against state law.But the city's attorney has said that as long as the city's laws allow commissioners to serve on the board there's no conflict.

Mayor Joy Cooper, Commissioner Dorothy Ross and Vice Mayor Bill Julian voted to keep Ross and Cooper on the pension board that oversees $80 million in investment funds.Commissioners Keith London and Fran Schiller voted against it.
________________________________________
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
STAFF REPORTS
March 6, 2008
Hallandale Beach
Commissioners can be on pension board

Despite the threat of a lawsuit from the Broward County Police Benevolent Association, city commissioners Wednesday approved a law allowing them to serve on the city's police and fire pension board.

The decision, approved 3-2, is mostly a housekeeping change because the mayor and one commissioner already serve on the board.

Under the city's charter, the board must have one police officer, one firefighter and two residents.

Commissioners must approve the appointment of a fifth member who is chosen by the four members.

Union officials say commissioners have a conflict of interest being on the board because they represent the city's interest.

"I do not agree with [the change in the law's language]," said Officer Alex Vera, a union representative. "

The [union's] legal challenge will come unfortunately at the great expense of the city's taxpayers."

Mayor Joy Cooper and Commissioner Dorothy Ross, who have been serving on the board, voted for the change, as did Vice Mayor Bill Julian.

"I don't believe there's a conflict of interest," Julian said.

Commissioners Keith London and Fran Schiller voted against it.

Vera said the union plans to sue the city, Cooper and Ross.
___________________________________________
Miami Herald
HALLANDALE BEACH
POLICE AND FIRE PENSION BOARD
BATTLE BREWS OVER A BOARD PROPOSAL
If passed, a Hallandale Beach law would ban residents from serving on a pension board, but a Broward police union is threatening a lawsuit.

By Jasmine Kripalani
March 1, 2008

A Broward County police union threatened to file a lawsuit against Hallandale Beach after the city introduced a law that would ban residents from serving on the police and fire pension board.

Instead, the law would allow only commissioners to serve.

But Jeff Marano, treasurer of the Broward Police Benevolent Association, said commissioners could be violating state law by holding two offices.

"You cannot serve two masters," he said in a written statement. "How can we expect a commissioner to put pension issues first when they represent the city's interests?"

Commissioners are scheduled to take a final vote on the issue at a 10 a.m. March 5 commission meeting at City Hall, 400 S. Federal Hwy.

The city has hired an outside firm to counsel it on the issue.

"Based upon the attorney general's opinion, it allows public officials to serve on other boards if there's an ordinance that grants them that authority," David Tolces, the attorney hired by the city.

City Commissioner Dorothy Ross, who has served on the pension board for 10 years said there's nothing illegal about it.

She argues that residents lack the experience in overseeing the pension's $80 million investment fund.

"I would be concerned for new people to suddenly be placed on this board making decisions," she said.

Mayor Joy Cooper, who could not be reached for comment, published an editorial in a local newspaper that appeared Thursday.

In the South Florida Sun-Times, Cooper blamed Commissioner Keith London, who brought up the problem of dual office-holding at a commission meeting in January.

"I have been at a loss over this whole circumstance and am not sure of the commissioner's intent," she wrote.

London said his only agenda is to raise the issue before the public.

"When I went to a conference, I learned that this was not best practice throughout the Florida Retirement System," he said.

"This is not the norm, not even close to the norm. It needed to be discussed."
_________________________________
http://www.miamisunpost.com/011708newshallandalebeach.htm

Miami Sun Post
Hallandale BeachBreaking the Law?
City commissioner accuses his colleagues of illegally holding two offices
By Nicole Alibayof
January 17, 2008

A Hallandale Beach city commissioner accused the mayor and one of his colleagues of breaking the law.

Commissioner Keith London raised the question last week about whether or not Mayor Joy Cooper and Commissioner Dorothy Ross can be charged with holding two offices.

Cooper and Ross sit on the city commission and the pension board of the city's police and fire departments.

City Attorney Dave Jove said technically it is not illegal, though holding two offices can be perceived as a conflict of interest.

The commission will discuss whether an amended ordinance or a special election is needed to rectify any problems at its Jan. 22 meeting.

"Certainly I don't believe there's any credibility on concerns that were raised, but I am willing to sit down and talk about the issues that were brought up," Cooper said during the Jan. 9 commission meeting.

"No shame or any bad name has ever been associated with me," Ross said.

"If they ask me to step down, fine, but no one knows more about the pension plan than me."

The pension board consists of five members, two of whom must be residents of Hallandale Beach appointed by the commission, according to the Hallandale Beach City Charter.

Currently Cooper and Ross sit as those Hallandale Beach residents.

However, another section of the city charter forbids the mayor and commissioners from holding any other position, city employment or elected public office during their terms.

Three-year contracts between the city and the police and fire unions have to come before both the commission and the pension board, giving Cooper and Ross greater leverage to negotiate them.

"If that doesn't reflect two bites out of one apple I don't know what does," London said.

The commission wants to amend that ordinance by changing the terminology to refer to elected officials serving on the pension board as ex-officio voting members.

By changing the terminology, elected officials will be allowed to serve on both the pension board and the commission, City Attorney Jove said.

Jim Bunce, union president for Hallandale firefighters, didn't think the language change would be enough.

"An ordinance cannot supersede the charter," he said.

"The charter is clear and there are prohibitions; they should amend the charter and do it right if they want it to be legal."

Bunce worked as a firefighter in Davie for 27 years.

He said the same issue was addressed in Davie and the commissioners were removed from elected office.

His argument worried some commissioners who felt that the charter might have to be amended by referendum.

Cooper, though, said it would take months to create a code to address the problem.

"My primary goal and objective is to make the pension plan successful," she said.

"I don't think you could get more experience or more efficiency than with a commissioner."

A representative for the police union disagreed.

"We are not in favor of commissioners on pension boards," said Michael Braverman, attorney and spokesman for the Police Benevolent Association.

"As the certified collective bargaining agent, it's problematic to go to the same place twice; manipulation by government skews the process."

Vice Mayor Bill Julian and Commissioner Francine Schiller proposed discussing the pension board in greater detail on Jan. 22.

"Let's see how it plays out," Jove said

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