tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60647608424121726112024-03-13T13:58:54.701-04:00South Beach Hoosierhttp://www.southbeachhoosier.blogspot.com/South Beach Hoosierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05775460691562107804noreply@blogger.comBlogger188125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064760842412172611.post-84074382785076538722013-11-02T16:51:00.001-04:002013-11-02T16:54:32.878-04:00#HoosierNation mourns loss of seminal family member as Gold Medal-winning Olympian and Naismith Hall of Famer Walt Bellamy died this morning at the age of 74; #iubb, #Hoosiers<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23HoosierNation&src=hash">#HoosierNation</a> mourns loss of seminal family member as Olympian, Hall of Famer Walt Bellamy died this morning, <a href="http://t.co/irn7BbgR7s">http://t.co/irn7BbgR7s</a>
<a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23iubb&src=hash">#iubb</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">— HallandaleBeachBlog (@hbbtruth) <a href="https://twitter.com/hbbtruth/statuses/396734006546280448">November 2, 2013</a></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>A starter on the b<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">asketball team from 1959-61, Bellamy was also IU's Most Valuable Player, an All-Big Ten and All American in his junior and senior seasons of 1960 and 1961, the starting center of the Gold Medal Olympic team at the 1960 Rome Olympics, and remains IU's all-time IU rebound leader. 1982 Inductee into the IU Athletics Hall of Fame</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><b>Rookie of the Year Roommates: Bellamy's freshman roommate was IU football star Earl Faison. Their first year away from IU, Faison, of the San Diego Chargers, was named AFL Rookie of the year while Bellamy, with the Chicago Packers, was voted NBA Rookie of the Year. </b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">More at: </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Bellamy"><span style="color: blue;">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Bellamy</span></a></b></span><br />
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South Beach Hoosierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05775460691562107804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064760842412172611.post-70064210707121658432012-12-11T13:55:00.002-05:002012-12-11T13:55:21.797-05:00The #8thStar fell in Alabama! Hoosiers’ Quest For Eight is Mission Accomplished! Hoosier goalie Luis Soffner pitches third shut-out in a row in leading Hoosiers to 1-0 win over Georgetown to earn their 8th NCAA soccer title; Jordan Hulls shows Hoosier Pride!; #Q48, #8thSTAR, @JordanHulls1<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today, when you go to the <b><span style="color: #660000;">IU Athletic Dept.'s</span></b> website, you're now greeted by this great photo of lots of happy<b><span style="color: #660000;"> Hoosiers</span></b> celebrating their well-deserved NCAA title Sunday afternoon.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The way that <b><span style="color: #660000;">IU</span></b> was dominating <b><span style="color: blue;">Georgetown</span></b> in the first-half with their sharp, up-tempo offense that saw them control the ball in front of the Hoya goal for minutes at a time, I actually thought the score could very well turn out to be something like a 4-0 rout.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But 1-0, on <b>Nikita Kotlov’s</b> lone goal in the 64th minute of play yesterday off a nice header by <span style="color: #2c2c2c; line-height: 24px;"> </span><span style="color: #2c2c2c; line-height: 24px;"><b>Eriq Zavaleta</b>, </span>proved more than enough with <span style="color: #2c2c2c; line-height: 24px;"><b>Luis Soffner</b> in goal for the Hoosiers to shut-out the Hoyas, his third shut-out in a row.</span></span><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One minute-video of title game highlights at: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://www.ncaa.com/sports/soccer-men/d1"><span style="color: #660000;">http://www.ncaa.com/sports/soccer-men/d1</span></a></b></span><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I must admit to feeling very dumbfounded at how little actual video of the game was available online yesterday, as the Indy TV stations have nothing and neither does <b><i><span style="color: blue;">ESPNU</span></i></b>, despite the fact that they were the ones who televised the game.</span><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></b><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Defense drives Indiana's title run</b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By Greg Ostendorf, ESPN.com</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Updated: December 9, 2012, 8:05 PM ET</span><br />
<b><a href="http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/8730456/with-stingy-defense-little-luck-indiana-won-national-title-men-soccer-college-cup"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #660000;">http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/8730456/with-stingy-defense-little-luck-indiana-won-national-title-men-soccer-college-cup</span></span></a></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><a href="http://www.indystar.com/article/20121209/SPORTS0601/121209010/College-soccer-IU-captures-8th-national-title-1-0-win-over-Georgetown" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: blue;">http://www.indystar.com/<wbr></wbr>article/20121209/SPORTS0601/<wbr></wbr>121209010/College-soccer-IU-<wbr></wbr>captures-8th-national-title-1-<wbr></wbr>0-win-over-Georgetown</span></b></span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://btn.com/2012/12/09/track-live-indiana-plays-georgetown-for-ncaa-soccer-title/"><span style="color: #783f04;">http://btn.com/2012/12/09/track-live-indiana-plays-georgetown-for-ncaa-soccer-title</span>/</a></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/RpJAVPws_qE?rel=0" width="560"></iframe></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Andrew Wittry YouTube Channel: Indiana Men's Soccer National Championship Reception Postponed. Uploaded December 9th, 2012. <a href="http://youtu.be/RpJAVPws_qE">http://youtu.be/RpJAVPws_qE</a></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Above, the great </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Chuck Crabb</b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> , IU Assistant Athletic Director, explains to some disappointed Hoosier fans Sunday night why the planned 8:30 p.m. reception for the team at Assembly Hall was postponed, owing to bad weather in Nashville, where the team stopped on their way from Birmingham back to Bloomington. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">More on Chuck at bottom.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was great to see that <b>Hoosier</b> basketball star <b>Jordan Hulls</b> was in the stands for yesterday afternoon's game, and drove the 8 hours down to Alabama after the Hoosier basketball game Saturday night against Central Conn. State, the school that my friends and I had never heard of, but which at Spring Break in FTL during early 1980's boasted a disproportionate amount of the most good-looking coeds.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Jordan Hulls</b> @JordanHulls1 <a href="http://twitter.com/JordanHulls1"><b><span style="color: #660000;">twitter.com/JordanHulls1</span></b></a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i><span style="color: #660000;">IU</span></i></b> soccer championship gear is here: </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://iuhoosiers.cbscollegestore.com/store.cfm?store_id=406"><span style="color: blue;">h</span><span style="color: blue;">ttp://iuhoosiers.cbscollegestore.com/store.cfm?store_id=406</span></a><span style="color: #660000;"> </span></b><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #660000;"><br /></span></b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-----</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is what I wrote about Chuck on my other blog, <b><i><a href="http://southbeachhoosier.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: #660000;">South Beach Hoosier</span></a></i></b>, when I started it in 2007: </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The IU sports administrator most responsible for helping me make sense of all things Cream & Crimson, was IU's do-it-all, 24/7 Renaissance man, <b>Chuck Crabb</b>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With equal amounts of enthusiasm, hard work and patience, Chuck lovingly and masterfully managed IU's Student Athletic Board, an organization to which I devoted many thousands of hours to -and loved every minute.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Both the more difficult times, like trying to manage things and stay dry during downpours at IU soccer games at <b>Bill Armstrong Stadium</b>, and those that were more fun, like helping out with the logistics of running the lengthy IU cheerleader and pom squad tryouts, up on the HPER's beautiful second floor wooden gym, with very precise routines all set to <b>Prince's </b>genius music, circa 1982, which was blaring out of the speakers. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i><span style="color: #783f04;">Fun and hard work!</span></i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After all those hours and hours of watching those carefully choreographed routines to his music -<b><span style="color: blue;">routines that I can STILL see in my head</span></b>- I could never hear <b>Prince's</b> songs again without thinking of those tryouts and smiling. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And of all those eager but flushed and exhausted Hoosier faces, anxious to help project Hoosier Pride to Hoosier Nation.</span><br />
South Beach Hoosierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05775460691562107804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064760842412172611.post-66745653987553998732012-09-03T17:12:00.000-04:002012-09-03T18:46:28.366-04:00re Margaritaville Hollywood Beach Resort - Sara Case of Hollywood's Balance Sheet Blog weighs in on the plausible merits of the City of Hollywood CRA's plan to increase their stake in the Johnson Street project from $10 million to $23 million; Starwood Capital Group jumps on board, but why now?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XAUsK2awHkc/UEPzWCTo5kI/AAAAAAAAMz4/UqHjGg80Iw8/s1600/Hollywood+City+Hall,+2011-09-20,+A+033.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XAUsK2awHkc/UEPzWCTo5kI/AAAAAAAAMz4/UqHjGg80Iw8/s400/Hollywood+City+Hall,+2011-09-20,+A+033.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Above, looking west at Hollywood City Hall, where Tuesday night's very important Hollywood CRA meeting will be held at 6 p.m. September 20, 2011 photo by South Beach Hoosier. <span style="background-color: white;">© 2012 Hallandale Beach Blog, All Rights Reserved.</span></b></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">re Margaritaville Hollywood Beach Resort - Sara Case of Hollywood's Balance Sheet Blog </span></b><b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">weighs in on the plausible merits of the City of Hollywood CRA's plan to increase their stake in the </span></b><b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">project on Johnson Street from $10 million to $23 million; </span></b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Starwood Capital jumps on board, but why now?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Over the weekend, well-informed Hollywood civic activist and blogger <b>Sara Case</b> posted some thought from her point-of-view on the city's new proposal to stanch the bleeding in the Johnson Street project known as <b>Margaritaville Hollywood Beach Resort </b>and mentions why she, rather counter-intuitively, supports it, despite the large number of CRA dollars involved.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I urge you to read it before Tuesday night's meeting, which I will be at.</span></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>Balance Sheet Blog</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>MARGARITAVILLE FINANCING</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By Sara Case</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">September 1, 2012, 4:08 PM </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Hollywood residents in need of tax and fee reductions and City employees in need of salary increases …Time to Pay Attention!</b><b><br /></b><b></b></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As we all know by now, the Margaritaville project has been unable to secure funding from foreign investors as the original plan required. So now we have a new proposal in which the CRA is to give the developer $23 million for construction financing. When I learned of this plan, I initially opposed it as one more boondoggle — a massive developer subsidy like Radius, Hollywood Station, WSG, Great Southern, and Block 55, to name a few.</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Read the rest of the post at:</span></div>
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<a href="http://balancesheetblog.wordpress.com/2012/09/01/margaritaville-financing/" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://balancesheetblog.<wbr></wbr>wordpress.com/2012/09/01/<wbr></wbr>margaritaville-financing/</span></b></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My post on this topic from Friday, August 31st, was titled, </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Important public forum on the proposed Margaritaville Hollywood Beach Resort is scheduled for Tuesday Sept. 4th at 6 p.m. Chief among topics will be whether the Hollywood CRA should increase their investment in the Lon Tabatchnick project on Johnson Street and the Broadwalk from $10 million to $23 million</b></div>
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<a href="http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2012/08/important-public-forum-on-proposed.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>http://hallandalebeachblog.<wbr></wbr>blogspot.com/2012/08/<wbr></wbr>important-public-forum-on-<wbr></wbr>proposed.html</b></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Saturday also brought forth this news, which is interesting in ways that I can't get into the details of now, but which I may be able to get into after Tuesday night, depending upon what gets said.</span></div>
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<b style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>The Miami Herald</i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Hollywood’s Margaritaville project gets new funding source</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By Carli Teproff</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">August 31, 2012</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Margaritaville — the $130 million beach resort Hollywood city leaders have been dreaming about for years — has a new funding source: Starwood Capital, the investment group which once financed high-end hotels such as the St. Regis, W, Westin and Sheratons around the globe.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>“We now have the necessary funds to complete the project,” developer Lon Tabatchnik said Thursday. “This is what we were waiting for.”</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/08/30/2977506/hollywoods-margaritaville-project.html"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/08/30/2977506/hollywoods-margaritaville-project.html</span></a></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After reading the above, you're more than reasonable if you ask whether or not anyone from <b><i><a href="http://www.starwoodcapital.com/Overview.aspx"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Starwood Capital Group</span></a><span style="color: blue;"> </span></i></b>will be making themselves available for some serious questioning by Hollywood taxpayers at Tuesday night's meeting -besides City Manager </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Cathy Swanson-Rivenbark</b>, some city staffers and developer </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Lon Tabatchnick </b>or one of his reps</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, and, most likely, every single candidate challenging a City Hall incumbent.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Like, well... </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">were they interested in the project much earlier and turn it down because of concerns about some aspect of the overall plan, marketing concept or the strength of the financing, or were they always biding their time in the bushes waiting for <b>Tabatchnick</b> and Company to get desperate enough to finally agree to meet their demands for whatever concession it was they weren't given originally?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It would also be great if someone asked <b>Mr. Tabatchnick</b>, given how over-confident he has appeared to many observers to be, when was the last time that he and his group actually met two of his promises, guarantees or legal deadlines <b><span style="color: blue;">(to the city and its taxpayers) </span></b>in a row regarding this project?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>Isn't that sort of history animating at least some of the opposition in Hollywood to this project getting more CRA funds now?</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: blue;">Yes, it is.</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>March 21, 2012 CNBC video: Maria Bartiromo interviews Starwood Capital's CEO Barry Sternlicht.</b></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.executiveinterviews.com/delivery/v1/mini/default.asp?order=U14414"><span style="color: #783f04;">http://www.executiveinterviews.com/delivery/v1/mini/default.asp?order=U14414</span></a></span></b></div>
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<a href="http://www.starwoodcapital.com/Overview.aspx"><b><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://www.starwoodcapital.com/Overview.aspx</span></b></a></div>
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South Beach Hoosierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05775460691562107804noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064760842412172611.post-63272640785533655632011-11-27T16:18:00.005-05:002011-11-27T16:27:40.815-05:00Unless you have a long extension cord... Electric Cars could be nothing but paperweights in So. Fla. as govt. bureaucracy stalls re-charging stations<div><script type="text/javascript" src="http://video.miami.cbslocal.com/global/video/videoplayer.js?rnd=905093;hostDomain=video.miami.cbslocal.com;playerWidth=385;playerHeight=288;isShowIcon=true;clipId=6486316;flvUri=;partnerclipid=;adTag=News;advertisingZone=CBS.MIA%252Fworldnowplayer;enableAds=true;landingPage=;islandingPageoverride=false;playerType=STANDARD_EMBEDDEDscript;controlsType=fixed"></script></div><div><br /></div><div><div><b>CBS4/WFOR-TV video: CBS4's Al Sunshine investigates how "Electric Cars" could be largely useless without high-voltage re-charging stations that even its supporters acknowledge are years away in South Florida.</b></div><div></div><div></div><div><br /></div><div>Article at:</div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span"><a href="http://miami.cbslocal.com/2011/11/23/cbs4-investigates-electric-cars-could-be-stalled-by-paperwork/">http://miami.cbslocal.com/2011/11/23/cbs4-investigates-electric-cars-could-be-stalled-by-paperwork/</a></span></b></div><div></div><div></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Unless you have a long extension cord... how Electric Cars could be nothing but large paperweights in South Florida as govt. bureaucracy stalls high-voltage re-charging stations. </b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>And should the U.S. government even be in the business of giving grants or loans to some syndicates given how poorly the selection process is in this sort of crony capitalism, given the recent experience with<b> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solyndra"><span class="Apple-style-span">Solyndra</span></a></b>?</div><div></div><div></div><div><br /></div><div>I'm still waiting for the hard-hitting multi-part investigation by local Miami-area TV stations into how it came to be that in the year 2011, South Florida <b><i><span class="Apple-style-span">doesn't</span></i></b> have a single successful solar power, wind power or thermal power company down here that employs a reasonable amount of people paying good upper-middle class salaries and that <b><span class="Apple-style-span">AREN'T</span></b> dependent on government handouts for its very existence.</div><div></div><div></div><div><br /></div><div>Certainly more than even I would have guessed while living up in Washington all those years, the <b><i><span class="Apple-style-span">Miami Herald</span></i></b> has gone out of its way since I returned to the area in late 2003 -<b>esp. its business reporters!</b>- to avoid publicly asking such basic yet troubling questions of the local business community and its so-called leadership, since if the newspaper was, the answers to those simple questions would be known by the majority of the well-informed populace here.</div><div></div><div></div><div>For those of you reading this who live far from Area Code 305 & 954, the fact that many American states much farther north in latitude are <b>MUCH</b> farther along in developing solar power capabilities than its natural capital, South Florida, should tell you plenty about the inadequate government/venture capital vision, planning and leadership in this part of the Sunshine State.</div><div></div><div></div><div><br /></div><div>No, in this area, people with more money than sense still prefer to sink money into real estate and take advantage of out-of-state and foreign buyers.</div><div><b><i>You know, since they can't sell you swamp land any more.</i></b></div><div><b><i></i></b></div><div></div><div><br /></div><div>-----</div><div><b><i>EPA</i></b> worksheet: <b>Clean Alternative Fuels: Electric Vehicles</b></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span"><a href="http://www.epa.gov/otaq/consumer/fuels/altfuels/420f00034.htm">http://www.epa.gov/otaq/consumer/fuels/altfuels/420f00034.htm</a></span></b></div><div></div><div></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></b></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span">South Florida Regional Planning Council: </span></b><b><span class="Apple-style-span"><a href="http://www.sfrpc.com/">http://www.sfrpc.com/</a></span></b></div><div></div><div></div><div><br /></div><div>Map of Broward County electric vehicle charging facilities; 14 as of 2011.</div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span"><a href="http://www.sfrpc.com/fgcccc/ev_stns.jpg">http://www.sfrpc.com/fgcccc/ev_stns.jpg</a></span></b></div><div><b></b></div><div></div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i>EV Ready Broward</i></b>: <b><span class="Apple-style-span"><a href="http://www.sfrpc.com/evready.htm">http://www.sfrpc.com/evready.htm</a></span></b></div></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>This post was previously at my other blog, <b style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-style: italic; ">Hallandale Beach Blog</b>:</div><div><a href="http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/</b></span></a></div><div><b><br /></b></div>South Beach Hoosierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05775460691562107804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064760842412172611.post-79475265383170286592011-10-07T00:15:00.011-04:002011-10-07T00:33:45.647-04:00Video: Mediabistro's "Cubes" tours the MLB Network HQ in Secaucus, N.J. as post-season heats up<div><object id="flashObj" width="570" height="321" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,47,0"><param name="movie" value="http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1&isUI=1"><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF"><param name="flashVars" value="videoId=1202634000001&playerID=948980741001&playerKey=AQ~~,AAAAAFP7imE~,adjWW6LzUUoJ_o9F--4mmz-l77PGcp-O&domain=embed&dynamicStreaming=true"><param name="base" value="http://admin.brightcove.com"><param name="seamlesstabbing" value="false"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="swLiveConnect" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1&isUI=1" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" flashvars="videoId=1202634000001&playerID=948980741001&playerKey=AQ~~,AAAAAFP7imE~,adjWW6LzUUoJ_o9F--4mmz-l77PGcp-O&domain=embed&dynamicStreaming=true" base="http://admin.brightcove.com" name="flashObj" width="570" height="321" seamlesstabbing="false" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" swliveconnect="true" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash"></embed></object></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Mediabistro video: "Cubes" tours the MLB Network HQ in Secaucus, N.J. October 6, 2011. </b><b><span class="Apple-style-span"><a href="http://bcove.me/6w600dab">http://bcove.me/6w600dab</a></span></b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Article at: </b><a href="http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/cubes-check-out-mlb-networks-field-of-dreams_b90981"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" >http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/cubes-check-out-mlb-networks-field-of-dreams_b90981</span></b></a></div><div><br /></div><div>-----</div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" ><a href="http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/">http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/</a></span></b></div>South Beach Hoosierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05775460691562107804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064760842412172611.post-84603495447500780952011-10-07T00:04:00.001-04:002011-10-07T00:06:55.512-04:00Hollywood civic activist Sara Case's spot-on take on the latest move by Eleanor Sobel, Munilytics, and the need for meaningful audits; Margaritaville<div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fnCY7KObdcU/To30PZr41II/AAAAAAAAD3I/88oS8r7gVhI/s1600/2011-09-20%252C%2BA%2B033.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fnCY7KObdcU/To30PZr41II/AAAAAAAAD3I/88oS8r7gVhI/s400/2011-09-20%252C%2BA%2B033.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5660448852104762498" /></a><b>Above, looking west at Hollywood City Hall. September 20, 2011 photo by <i><span class="Apple-style-span">South Beach Hoosier</span></i></b></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><b><blockquote>Hollywood civic activist Sara Case's spot-on take on the latest move by Eleanor Sobel, Munilytics, and the need for meaningful audits; Margaritaville</blockquote></b></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span"></span></div><div></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">As a follow-up to my blog post of Monday titled, <b><i>Pol who wanted -and got- Hollywood taxpayers to pay $30k for her new FL State Senate office in 2009 now asks FL legislature for audit of Hollywood!</i></b></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><a href="http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2011/10/pol-who-wanted-and-got-hollywood.html"><b>http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2011/10/pol-who-wanted-and-got-hollywood.html</b></a></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">I strongly suggest you read <b>Sara's</b> perspective on the rather-sudden concern shown by FL State Sen. <b>Eleanor Sobel</b> -<b><span class="Apple-style-span">who represents me as well in Tallahassee</span></b>- on city spending and expenditures at Hollywood City Hall.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"></span></div><div></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>Sara</b> also explains what the much-discussed <span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span">Munilytics</span></i></b> report did and <b><span class="Apple-style-span">DIDN'T</span></b> say, since there seems to be a great deal of not only genuine confusion by some Hollywood residents about its representations, but also, sadly, some intentional misrepresentation being floated about by supporters of the Hollywood Police, Fire/Rescue Dept. union members who are <b>SORE LOSERS</b> about Hollywood voters rejecting their arguments in last month's referendum on government pensions.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b>They keep wanting to fight the battle but the war is over -they lost.</b></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "></span></span></div><div></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">I know because many of these same people have written me angry emails, thinking that I'd post whatever they said about the <b><a href="http://www.hollywoodcra.org/default.html">Hollywood CRA</a></b> and its spending and legality, regardless of what sort of mis-information they attempted to peddle, perhaps assuming that I didn't know the facts.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><b><i>That was their mistake.</i></b></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"></span></div><div></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">I've been to more <b>Hollywood CRA </b>meetings and workshops than 99.99% of Hollywood residents.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"></span></div><div></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">Hell, I not only posted the information about the pre-bid information workshops here on the blog but also posted the city's public notices here so that more residents and concerned people would show-up for the meetings and get educated about what was and was not happening.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"></span></div><div></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium; ">I even wrote here about who some of the candidates were to be the new <b>CRA</b> chief under the newly-restructured organizational chart when the <b><i>Herald</i></b>, <b><i>Sun-Sentinel </i></b>and local TV stations were completely ignoring it. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium; "><b>(In case you didn't know, Jorge Camejo is the CRA Executive Director.)</b></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"></span></div><div></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium; ">I not only took notes but videotaped the meetings to make sure that my notes were correct and so that I was ready in case somebody said or did something of note, good or bad, whether <b>Mayor Bober</b>, the City Commissioners, city staff, the public or the competing developers for the six-acre <b>Johnson Street</b> project at Hollywood Beach and <b><i><span class="Apple-style-span">The Broadwalk</span></i></b>, that was ultimately won by the <b>Jimmy Buffett</b>-themed <b><i><a href="http://www.hollywoodfl.org/html/johnsonstbeachrfp.htm"><span class="Apple-style-span">Margaritaville</span></a></i></b>, despite my own preference for <b><i><span class="Apple-style-span">The Hard Rock</span></i></b> proposal as a concept and tourism magnet, however imperfect that was.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium; "></span></div><div></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium; ">I <b>didn't</b> stop attending once <b><i><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WnxiSuPkz2c/S70quGo9l9I/AAAAAAAACeI/8R76YCLnCYA/s1600/034.JPG"><span class="Apple-style-span">Margaritaville's</span></a></i></b> won the bid unanimously despite my own reservations about it. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium; "></span></div><div></div><div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium; "><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium; ">Yet despite this, I received emails from people who clearly <b><span class="Apple-style-span">DIDN'T</span></b> do their homework and thought I'd just pass along their nonsense that failed both the common sense and smell test.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium; "><b><i>Sorry, no sale.</i></b></span></div></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium; "></span></div><div></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium; ">-----</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><b><i>Balance Sheet Blog</i></b></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>STATE SENATOR’S AUDIT </b></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">October 4, 2011, 2:33 PM </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">Filed under: Budget, City Commission </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"></span></div><div></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><b></b></span></div><blockquote><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>State Senator Sobel – who in 2009 sought and was granted a $30,000 interest-free, non-recourse loan from the City of Hollywood to renovate 5,000 square feet of office space for her use – has suddenly expressed great concern with the City’s finances. She’s requested that the State of Florida audit Hollywood’s finances and her request has been granted.</b></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><b></b></span></div><div></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>Read the rest of Sara's post at:</b></span></div></blockquote><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><b></b></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><a href="http://balancesheetblog.wordpress.com/2011/10/04/state-senators-audit/">http://balancesheetblog.wordpress.com/2011/10/04/state-senators-audit/</a></span></div><div></div><div></div><div><br /></div><div>For more examples of that often-inaccurate, anti-Hollywood CRA mis-information being pushed that I noted above, see some of the reader comments to this article:</div><div></div><div></div><div><div><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></i></b></div><div><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span">South Florida Sun-Sentinel</span></i></b></div><div><b>Margaritaville resort brings optimism to Hollywood Beach</b></div><div>By Carli Teproff, The Miami Herald</div><div>12:00 a.m. EDT, October 5, 2011</div></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span"><a href="http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/fl-margaritaville-resort-hollywood-20111005,0,3194149.story">http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/fl-margaritaville-resort-hollywood-20111005,0,3194149.story</a></span></b></div><div></div><div></div><div><br /></div><div><b><a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/10/04/2437130/future-resort-brings-optimism.html">http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/10/04/2437130/future-resort-brings-optimism.html</a></b></div></div>South Beach Hoosierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05775460691562107804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064760842412172611.post-47686451183416767272011-09-04T04:17:00.003-04:002011-09-04T04:22:47.463-04:00Oklahoma's plays in his head, but IU's players on the field: ex-Sooner OC Kevin Wilson begins his coaching reign at Indiana rather ignominiously<div><iframe width="560" height="345" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/GPRkx_-9eXU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div><div><b>
<br /></b></div><div><b>IU Athletics video: Indiana University football head coach Kevin Wilson's press conference after the Hoosiers 27-20 loss to Ball State at Indy's Lucas Oil Stadium, his first game as Hoosier head coach. September 3, 2011.</b></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span"><a href="http://youtu.be/GPRkx_-9eXU">http://youtu.be/GPRkx_-9eXU</a></span></b></div><div>
<br /></div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dDb0zfDqlQ4/TmMYq78B3cI/AAAAAAAADyg/ZS-Km-Igbv0/s1600/Win%2Bwith%2BWilson%252C%2BIU%2Bt-shirt%252C%2Bcrimson%252C%2Badidas.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 350px; height: 350px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dDb0zfDqlQ4/TmMYq78B3cI/AAAAAAAADyg/ZS-Km-Igbv0/s400/Win%2Bwith%2BWilson%252C%2BIU%2Bt-shirt%252C%2Bcrimson%252C%2Badidas.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5648385483575778754" /></a>Above, the crimson-colored <b><i>"Win with Wilson"</i></b> <b><i><span class="Apple-style-span">IU</span></i></b> t-shirt I decided <b>NOT</b> to buy a few weeks ago. I decided that I would sit on my enthusiasm just a bit longer and wait and see via <b><i>ESPN3</i></b> how my "Great Expectations" looked against Ball State Saturday night at <b>Lucas Oil Stadium</b> in Indy, five months before the Super Bowl is played there. <div><div>After all, you can't judge these things based on watching video and practices via the <b><i>Big Ten Channel</i></b> and the official <b><i><a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/IUAthletics">IU Athletics YouTube Channel</a></i></b>. </div><div>Good thing my intuition is so good!<div><b><i>Shirt is available at</i></b> <a href="http://iuhoosiers.cstv.com/"><b><span class="Apple-style-span">http://iuhoosiers.cstv.com/</span></b></a><div><div><div><div><div><div>
<br /></div><div>Well, he's got Oklahoma's plays in his head, but <i>IU's</i> players on the field: former Oklahoma OC <b>Kevin Wilson</b> opens the <b>Wilson</b> coaching era at Indiana in rather ignominious fashion, losing to Ball State and looking lackluster in doing so.</div></div></div></div></div><div>But then me being me, the optimist, I remember that things started out <b>VERY BADLY</b> for <b>Joe Gibbs</b> his first year with the Redskins, too, losing his first five games in 1981.</div><div>
<br /></div></div></div><div><div><b><a href="http://www.indystar.com/section/SPORTS15"><span class="Apple-style-span">Bob Kravitz</span></a> </b>of the <b><i><span class="Apple-style-span">Indy Star</span></i></b> starts his Sunday column on the ballgame in a rather droll way, perhaps to ward off the uncomfortable silence of a losing effort that was closer on the scoreboard than it was on the field. </div><div>
<br /></div><div><b>Wilson era opens with dud</b></div><blockquote><div><b>In theory, the Kevin Wilson era at Indiana could have started in a more ignominious fashion. </b></div><div><b>
<br /></b></div><div><b>For example, the team bus could have gotten lost on the way from Bloomington to Lucas Oil Stadium, or the club could have arrived with its red uniforms instead of its road whites.</b></div><div><b><div>
<br /></div><div>But this was pretty ignominious.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>Embarrassing is another word.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>Ball State 27, IU 20.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>It wasn't just the result; it was the way it was achieved.</div></b></div></blockquote><div><b></b></div><div>Read the rest of the column at:</div><div><b><a href="http://www.indystar.com/article/20110904/SPORTS15/109040362/Wilson-era-opens-dud"><span class="Apple-style-span">http://www.indystar.com/article/20110904/SPORTS15/109040362/Wilson-era-opens-dud</span></a></b></div></div><div>
<br /></div><div><b>Terry Hutchens</b> at the <b><i><span class="Apple-style-span">Star's</span></i></b> <b>Hoosier Insider blog</b> doesn't bother trying to humor IU fans and gets right to what bothered them -us- the most.</div><div><b><blockquote>Where do we begin? The new Indiana under Kevin Wilson Saturday night looked a lot like the old Indiana.</blockquote></b></div><div>Read the rest of the post at:</div><div><b><a href="http://blogs.indystar.com/hoosiersinsider/2011/09/03/looking-back-at-iu-ball-state/"><span class="Apple-style-span">http://blogs.indystar.com/hoosiersinsider/2011/09/03/looking-back-at-iu-ball-state/</span></a></b></div><div>
<br /></div><div>You don't have to know much about Indiana Hoosier football to know from reading those two sentences above to know that isn't a good thing, and if you do know the subject like I do, it's like a chill going down your back. </div><div>That sense of unknown dread out there lurking below the surface...</div><div>The history of choking in the clutch... an errant throw right when you are close to pulling off the upset...the dropped pass in the end-zone in the first-half that you never get back...the huge second-half leads that you blow in consecutive weeks on the road against Northwestern and Iowa -last year.</div><div> </div><div>
<br /></div><div>This coming Saturday is the football home opener at Memorial Stadium against <b><a href="http://www.virginiasports.com/">UVA</a></b>, where niece #2 goes to school. They beat William & Mary 40-3 Saturday, so they must be looking forward to coming to Bloomington.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>IU-Ball State highlights video: <b><span class="Apple-style-span"><a href="http://btn.com/2011/09/03/ball-state-knocks-off-indiana/">http://btn.com/2011/09/03/ball-state-knocks-off-indiana/</a></span></b></div><div>
<br /></div><div>Recap of IU-Ball State game: </div><div><a href="http://iuhoosiers.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/recaps/090311aae.html"><b>http://iuhoosiers.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/recaps/090311aae.html</b></a></div><div>
<br /></div><div><b><a href="http://iuhoosiers.cstv.com/">http://iuhoosiers.cstv.com/</a></b></div><div>
<br /></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/IUAthletics">http://www.youtube.com/user/IUAthletics</a></span></b></div><div><b>
<br /></b></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span"><div style="font-weight: normal; "><b><span class="Apple-style-span"><b><a href="http://blogs.indystar.com/hoosiersinsider/">http://blogs.indystar.com/hoosiersinsider/</a></b></span></b></div><div>
<br /></div><div style="font-weight: normal; "><b><a href="http://twitter.com/#!/indystar_hutch">http://twitter.com/#!/indystar_hutch</a></b></div></span></b></div><div><b>
<br /></b></div><div><b><a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/InsideIndiana">http://www.youtube.com/user/InsideIndiana</a></b></div><div>
<br /></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span"><a href="http://indiana.247sports.com/">http://indiana.247sports.com/</a></span></b></div><div><b>
<br /></b></div><div><b><a href="http://btn.com/">http://btn.com/</a></b></div><div>
<br /></div><div><b><a href="http://btn.com/schools/indiana/">http://btn.com/schools/indiana/</a></b></div><div><b>
<br /></b></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span"><a href="http://bleacherreport.com/indiana-hoosiers-football">http://bleacherreport.com/indiana-hoosiers-football</a></span></b></div></div></div>South Beach Hoosierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05775460691562107804noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064760842412172611.post-69318350738570628512011-06-28T15:46:00.003-04:002011-06-28T15:49:36.941-04:00Coral Gables planning firm Dover, Kohl & Partners is focus of mounting taxpayer anger in Arlington County (VA) -their charrettes are "charades"<div><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/IUGPi9ggVBw" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="349" width="425"></iframe></span></span></div><div><a style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);" href="http://youtu.be/IUGPi9ggVBw"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></a><span style="display: block;" id="formatbar_Buttons"><span class=" down" style="display: block;" id="formatbar_CreateLink" title="Link" onmouseover="ButtonHoverOn(this);" onmouseout="ButtonHoverOff(this);" onmouseup="" onmousedown="CheckFormatting(event);FormatbarButton('richeditorframe', this, 8);ButtonMouseDown(this);"><img src="http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif" alt="Link" class="gl_link" border="0" /></span></span><span id="eow-title" class="long-title" dir="ltr" title="Columbia Pike Neighborhoodsplan Charrette, June 25, 2011" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-width: 0px; background- letter-spacing: -0.5px;font-size:0.9166em;color:transparent;"> </span><span style="font-family: georgia; "><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); "></span></span></div><div><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); ">Well-meaning but gullible Arlington County residents attending a charrette on Saturday in the </span><span id="eow-title" class="long-title" dir="ltr" title="Columbia Pike Neighborhoodsplan Charrette, June 25, 2011" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; letter-spacing: -0.5px; color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-family: georgia; ">Columbia Pike </span><span id="eow-title" class="long-title" dir="ltr" title="Columbia Pike Neighborhoodsplan Charrette, June 25, 2011" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; color: transparent; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-family: georgia; ">neighborhood of Arlington County (VA), who don't understand that their role in this particular "planning" process: cameo appearances. The pro-development and patronizing Arlington County Board is going to ram high-intensity development down their throats whether they like it or not, regardless of how many suggestions they make on the docs and maps at this charrette or how impassioned and logical their comments. The narrative has already been written </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); "><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-family: georgia; ">-they're just props!</span><span style="font-family: georgia; "> </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-family: georgia; ">And in this case, it's been captured on video here by a front group that's paid for by Arlington County Government. i.e the taxpayers. IF Arlington residents in this neighborhood don't want the unhappy future of more people and traffic congestion that the County Board has in store for it, that's tough. That's how they roll.</span></span><div><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0); font-weight: bold; "><a style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);" href="http://youtu.be/IUGPi9ggVBw">http://youtu.be/IUGPi9ggVBw</a></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"></span></span></div><div><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Coral Gables-based planning firm </span><a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);" href="http://www.doverkohl.com/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Dover, Kohl & Partners</span></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> is the focus of mounting taxpayer anger in Arlington County (VA), where beleaguered residents believe they are trying to</span><span style="display: block; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" id="formatbar_Buttons"><span class=" down" style="display: block;" id="formatbar_CreateLink" title="Link" onmouseover="ButtonHoverOn(this);" onmouseout="ButtonHoverOff(this);" onmouseup="" onmousedown="CheckFormatting(event);FormatbarButton('richeditorframe', this, 8);ButtonMouseDown(this);"><img src="http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif" alt="Link" class="gl_link" border="0" /></span></span><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> ruin their neighborhoods along the <a style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);" href="http://www.arlingtonva.us/departments/CPHD/forums/columbia/current/Columbia_Pike_LandUse_Housing_Study.aspx"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Columbia Pike Corridor</span></a> with <span style="font-weight: bold;">MORE</span> intense development in the future, altering the fundamental nature of the neighborhoods and the reasons why some people move into them -<span style="font-weight: bold;">and leaving them hefty living expenses tabs in the meantime</span></span>.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><a style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);" href="http://www.doverkohl.com/">http://www.doverkohl.com/</a></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://www.arlingtonva.us/departments/CPHD/forums/columbia/current/Columbia_Pike_LandUse_Housing_Study.aspx"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">http://www.arlingtonva.us/departments/CPHD/forums/columbia/current/Columbia_Pike_LandUse_Housing_Study.aspx</span></a></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://www.blogger.com/Columbia%20Pike%20Form-Based%20Code:%20http://www.doverkohl.com/project.aspx?id=9&type=1"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);" class="pagetitle">Columbia Pike Form-Based Code</span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">: </span></a><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/Columbia%20Pike%20Form-Based%20Code:%20http://www.doverkohl.com/project.aspx?id=9&type=1"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">http://www.doverkohl.com/project.aspx?id=9&type=1</span></a></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family:georgia;">The savvy, well-informed and heavily-taxed citizens of Arlington County, including many of my friends still living up there, have already been calling the company-led charrettes "<span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">charades</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">" for quite a while now, and when taxpayers are paying $5,000 a day in hotel costs for the visitors from </span></span><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family:georgia;">South Florida, as some opponents allege, it's <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">REALLY</span> galling.</span> <span></span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(153, 0, 0); ">Hallandale Beach Blog</span> favorite <a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-weight: bold; " href="http://arlingtonyupette.blogspot.com/">Arlington Yupette</a> and her blog's readers are all over the story and they are <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 0, 0); ">NOT</span> mincing words about their disgust and anger, even as the <b><i><span class="Apple-style-span">Washington Post</span></i></b> is -<b><span class="Apple-style-span">surprise</span></b>- completely under-reporting the depth of that animus. <a href="http://arlingtonyupette.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">http://arlingtonyupette.blogspot.com/</span></a> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"></span></div><div><br /></div><div>Monday's post is a perfect example, but there are ample examples:</div><div><blockquote><span style="font-weight: bold;">Pike Corridor Post-Redevelopment 'Open Space' : Your Front Lawn</span></blockquote></div><div><br /></div><div>Hi, Yupette,</div><div><br /></div><div>Talk about a planning charade, tonight's open space planning meeting at the Career Center was a hoot. The County's open space planning consultants talked parks and playgrounds, but the reality is that there won't be much open space left after in-fill yuppification for anything but Pike Corridor residents to hie to existing parks and recreation centers (including the future aquatic center, indoor soccer area, and boathouse) and use single family residential neighborhoods for their parks and recreation.<span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Read the rest of the post at:</span></div><div><a href="http://arlingtonyupette.blogspot.com/2011/06/pike-corridor-post-redevelopment-open.html"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">http://arlingtonyupette.blogspot.com/2011/06/pike-corridor-post-redevelopment-open.html</span></span></a></div><div><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family:georgia;">According to reports, Arlington County Yuppie/Infill Czar and Commissioner </span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family:georgia;">Chris Zimmerman </span><span style="font-family:georgia;">was present at some of these meetings in order to keep the high-paid consultants in line and not veer from County Board orthodoxy, which is Moscow-on-the-Potomac, circa 1974.</span> <span style="font-family:georgia;"></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; "><span style="font-weight: normal; font-family: georgia; font-size: 13px; "><span style="font-size:100%;"><a style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);" target="_blank">http://audreyclement.org/2011/<wbr>06/21/recycling-on-columbia-<wbr>pike/</a></span></span></span></span></div><div><a style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);" target="_blank"><br /></a></div><div><span style=" color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;">While it's true that a</span><span style=" font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: georgia; "><span style="border-collapse: separate; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; font-size: medium; ">collaborative community process yields better communities, what you have in Arlington County is a</span><span style="border-collapse: separate; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; font-size: medium; "><b> top-down planning process</b></span><span style="border-collapse: separate; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; font-size: medium; "> that allows unelected people to have far too much power and influence, and since those people are selected by elected officials to do their bidding, where's the checks-and-balances?</span></span></div><div><br /></div><div>And more importantly, what's the point of participating if you are just a prop and the process is a charade?</div><div><br /></div><div>The above is not just the favorite template of Arlington County but also the favored plan here of Hallandale Beach under the ruinous reign of Joy Cooper/Mike Good/Mark Antonio & Company.</div><div></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></b></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span">In Arlington County, because the county government don't miss a single trick -</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-weight: bold; font-family: georgia; ">and wants to try to crowd=out opposing points of view</span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: georgia; ">- they have even created a 'front' organization that is supported by taxpayer dollars called the </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; font-family: georgia; ">Columbia Pike Revitalization Organization</span></span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: georgia; "><span class="Apple-style-span"> -<span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153); ">CPRO</span>. They made the video at the top of this post.</span></span></div><div><a href="http://www.columbia-pike.org/" target="_blank" style="font-size: 100%; "><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">http://www.columbia-pike.org/</span></a></div><div><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">I've told you all before in this space a little about about the over-size ego and relentless patronizing and condescending tone of<span style="font-weight: bold;"> Zimmerman</span>, and what's happened to Arlington under his reign of ruin, where middle-class people have to flee.</span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">In South Florida over the past year-and-a-half there have been all sorts of newspaper articles, TV newscast segments and blog posts, esp. by Big Labor-types, calling for liberals to create a group that would be the liberal alternative to the popular <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Tea Party </span>movement that has fundamentally changed American politics.</span> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"></span></div><div><br /></div><div>But the problem they have is that when you gather lots of people who actually believe in<span style="font-weight: bold;"> LOTS </span>of government spending -<span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">if not more than current</span>- without lots of scrutiny and oversight, much less, a stacked deck of a public policy process, you quickly chase away anyone who knows how to run a successful small business because they know what the reality is of more rules and regulations -<span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">less jobs</span>.</div><div><span style="font-weight: bold;">And what are you left with?</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Lots of patronizing people who want to tell others how to live their lives. </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"></span></div><div><br /></div><div>Arlington County is full of these sorts of people, befitting one of the most liberal places in the entire country, but even there, liberal people with successful businesses of their own and who actually have to meet a payroll, have come to see see the reality that the Arlington County government's spending and chronic <b>edifice-complex</b> is beyond out-of-control as that term is generally understood in the U.S., and seems more Soviet-like than even I and others have pointed out from different political and writing perches over the past 15 years. <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"></span></div><div><br /></div><div>At some point, as no doubt some of you are already saying to yourself, you run out of people to tax to build your castles in the sky.</div><div>And who are tired of being told what to do by others.</div><div></div><div><br /></div><div>Fo<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">r all their talk about diversity, how is shutting-down one of the few low-to-middle class housing sites in the county so that wealthy people can move in -<span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">and build and pay lots of taxes to the county</span>- an actually strategy?</span> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"></span></div><div><br /></div><div>But there it is and was discussed by <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Yupette</span> in the recent past.</div><div></div><div><a href="http://piketowncenter.com/2011/03/plenary-group-eyes-greenbrier-apartments-for-redevelopment/"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">http://piketowncenter.com/2011/03/plenary-group-eyes-greenbrier-apartments-for-redevelopment/</span></span></a></div><div><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"></span></div><div><br /></div><div>What happens when liberals who are forever patting themselves on the back with their boasts about their commitment to diversity, chase all the actual living and breathing diversity out of the county, only making it Richer and Whiter?</div><div><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">A lot of things, but in Arlington, heartfelt remorse is <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">NOT</span> one of them.</span> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"></span></div><div><br /></div><div>And seriously, when almost all of the county administrators involved in the planning and bureaucratization of normal social life in Arlington live elsewhere, how can there not be a real dis-connect between County Hall and the average Arlington taxpayer, who seems to be paying for everyone else's needs but their own? <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"></span></div><div><br /></div><div>Well, we will see the answer to those questions in Arlington County, because eventually, the people with the golden goose get tired of gold-plating everyone else's neighborhood but theirs.</div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">Keep up the good work, Yupette!</span></div></div>South Beach Hoosierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05775460691562107804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064760842412172611.post-62970926673596857832011-05-10T01:23:00.010-04:002011-05-10T01:38:13.468-04:00Miami Heat owner, one of U.S.'s wealthiest citizens, continues to stiff Miami-Dade County taxpayers for tens of millions of dollars for YEARS!<script type="text/javascript" src="http://video.miami.cbslocal.com/global/video/videoplayer.js?rnd=306254;hostDomain=video.miami.cbslocal.com;playerWidth=385;playerHeight=288;isShowIcon=true;clipId=5822910;flvUri=;partnerclipid=;adTag=News;advertisingZone=CBS.MIA/worldnowplayer;enableAds=true;landingPage=null;islandingPageoverride=false;playerType=STANDARD_EMBEDDEDscript_EMBEDDEDscript"></script><br /><br />It's <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">NOT</span> exactly <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Breaking News</span> that <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">Miami Heat</span> majority owner <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Mickey Arison</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">, one of the U.S.'s richest citizens, </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">chairman and CEO of</span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> Carnival Corp</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">, the world's largest cruise line operator, and <span style="font-weight: bold;">THE</span> wealthiest person in the state of Florida according to <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Forbes</span> magazine, </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">continues to stiff Miami-Dade County taxpayers for tens of millions of dollars and promised improvements for <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">YEARS</span>.</span> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br /><a href="http://blogs.forbes.com/joselambiet/2010/09/23/florida-boasts-third-highest-number-of-billionaires-in-2010-forbes-400/"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size:85%;">http://blogs.forbes.com/joselambiet/2010/09/23/florida-boasts-third-highest-number-of-billionaires-in-2010-forbes-400</span>/</span></a><br /><br />But <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Channel 4</span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"> I-Team </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">reporter </span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Jim DeFede</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">, in his impressive spot-on marshaling of facts will no doubt open the eyes of many South Florida residents who were previously in the dark, and show the true character of the influential individual that the <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Miami Herald</span> regularly lionizes, with little criticism of him ever making it into print.</span><br /></span><blockquote style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-weight: bold;">The most fascinating aspect of that answer is the willingness of the county to simply abdicate any responsibility they might have in making sure they are not losing a possible source of money.</blockquote><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">The new Miami-Dade County mayor, to be elected in two weeks, on May 24th, needs to use the bully-pulpit and let everyone who is anyone know that taxpayers down here won't be played for suckers in the future.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">The last time I saw a good fact-filled report on this topic, which emphasized the <b style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">missing </b>bayfront public park that<span style="font-weight: bold;"> Arison</span> was<span style="font-weight: bold;"> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">required</span></span> to construct as part of his agreement, was probably 4-6 years ago by <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Channel 10's</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">Glenna Milberg</span>.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Related article is at:</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" ><br /><a style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;" href="http://miami.cbslocal.com/2011/05/05/i-team-county-receives-nothing-from-heat-arena-revenue/" target="_blank"><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"><span style="font-weight: normal;">http://miami.cbslocal.com/<wbr>2011/05/05/i-team-county-<wbr>receives-nothing-from-heat-<wbr>arena-revenue/</span></span></a></span>South Beach Hoosierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05775460691562107804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064760842412172611.post-49649872182545587072011-01-30T19:31:00.005-05:002011-01-31T12:50:18.413-05:00Finally something to smile about for Hoosier fans in a season of wasted opportunities<div class="post-header"> </div> <span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" ><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WnxiSuPkz2c/TUOPvN-Bc0I/AAAAAAAADPA/tbg0BMqEMso/s1600/IU%2Bpennant.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 250px; min-height: 250px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WnxiSuPkz2c/TUOPvN-Bc0I/AAAAAAAADPA/tbg0BMqEMso/s400/IU%2Bpennant.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Been a little under the weather this weekend so my plan to drop a cache of posts here to get things stirring has taken a back seat to my health.</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br />I did want to post this one, though, before <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">IU's</span> upcoming game in a few minutes against a reeling <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">Michigan State</span> team at East Lansing that I'll be watching on<span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">The BigTenNetwork</span></span>, <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"><span style="font-style: italic;">DirecTV</span> Channel 610</span>. </span><br /></span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" ><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WnxiSuPkz2c/TUOO21IjSBI/AAAAAAAADO4/iX_16XjD6Wc/s1600/IU%2BAssembly%2BHall%2B%2526%2BNCAA%2BBanners.jpg" target="_blank"><br /></a></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" ><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">IU 52, U of I 49 - First win against ranked team while Tom Crean's been head basketball coach at IU.</span><span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span>Video highlights at:</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span><span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.bigtennetwork.com/generic/sports/video?autostart=true&bcpid=60234638001&bckey=AQ%7E%7E,AAAAAEBQhU8%7E,kLn_EtefUBn-jd4QuQdKKKEE0M4y3HUj&bctid=766801782001" target="_blank">http://www.bigtennetwork.com/<wbr>generic/sports/video?<wbr>autostart=true&bcpid=<wbr>60234638001&bckey=AQ~~,<wbr>AAAAAEBQhU8~,kLn_EtefUBn-<wbr>jd4QuQdKKKEE0M4y3HUj&bctid=<wbr>766801782001</a><br /></span><br />It's not by mistake that I've chosen not to write much about this disappointing college basketball season, the third in the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Tom Crean</span> regime in <span style="font-weight: bold;">Bloomington</span>.<span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"> (Or even said anything about <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Kevin Wilson</span> being hired as the new football coach, a move I welcomed.)</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">There's a lot of misgivings and discomfort among some </span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">Hoosier</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> fans I know and communicate with on a regular basis, not only over players that have failed to develop as expected (or in some cases, even regressed) but about <span style="font-weight: bold;">wasted opportunities</span> on nationally-televised games, cementing the idea among key high school players -</span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">and some fair-weather fans</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">- that </span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">IU</span> </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">can't show more toughness and grit in close games, and emerge victorious.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">While this victory over the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">Fighting Illini</span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">was</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> certainly nice, especially at a packed </span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Assembly Hall</span> where devout fans have been eyewitness to more losing than at any time since I've been a <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">Hoosier</span> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">-<span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">and more since these students </span></span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">have been alive</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">- I still find that a lot of very frustrated </span><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0); font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">IU</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> fans living far from the Midwest, are having a hard time accepting "<span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">moral victories</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">."</span></span><br /><br />You can count me among them, and you can see that in the agitated and exasperated emails from <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">Hoosier</span> faithful that are sent to the <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">Hoosiers</span> homepage of the <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Indy Star</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">http://www.indystar.com/section/SPORTS0601?odyssey=nav|s|hoosiers&nav=2</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">That's especially the case with knowledgeable fans whose base of understanding for <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">Hoosier</span> basketball, both history and personality context, extends decades, many of frequently respond to <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Indy Star</span> reporter <span style="font-weight: bold;">Terry Hutchens'</span> <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">Hoosiers Insider</span><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"> </span>blog at<br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">http://blogs.indystar.com/hoosiersinsider/</span></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"><br />Hoosiers Insider </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">remains a great resource for</span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span>Hoosier</span> fans living far from the rolling hills of Bloomington, and remains one of the few places that I can consistently go and find out something, from either <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Terry</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> or a reader, that I didn't already know or had considered about the team and its history. </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br /><br />People with an institutional memory about the team that recall things that happened before I got to Bloomington in the fall of 1979 the way I <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">STILL</span> remember things about the 1972 Dolphins Perfect Season -<span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-size:100%;" >whether scores of the games, the team roster, mini-controversies, et al</span>- which was my first year as a Dolphins season ticket holder. </span></span><br /><br />When<span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"> </span></span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 0, 0); font-style: italic;">IU</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> plays </span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-style: italic;">Kentucky</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> in mid-December, that's almost always been a nationally-televised Saturday afternoon game that got lots of eyeballs coast-to-coast. Now, it's almost forgotten and on <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">ESPN2</span> or wherever it was, and not even brought up until late into <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">ESPN's </span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">SportsCenter</span> or into their radio programming -<span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">an after-thought</span>.</span> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br /><br />The annual <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Michigan</span> at <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">IU</span> ballgame which had so many memorable and clutch finishes from 1980-2000 while a <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">CBS</span> nationally-televised staple, has also become a victim of the recent mediocrity.</span> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br /><br />When I watched it recently on </span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-style: italic;">TheBigTenNetwork</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">, it was hard not to think of all those games with <span style="font-weight: bold;">Coach Knight </span>getting the better of whomever was patrolling the sidelines for the Wolverines, and the confidence <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">IU</span> fans had with<span style="font-weight: bold;"> Damon Bailey</span> or <span style="font-weight: bold;">Steve Alford</span> bringing the ball up-court with less than thirty seconds to play against those excellent Wolverine teams.<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">You knew that the fundamentals would be there and that guys would come thru in the clutch, and if they lost, it would <span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">NOT</span> be for lack of a proper understanding of what they needed to do and where they needed to be on the court for that last shot.</span></span><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br />Now, I have absolutely no idea what is going to happen from play to play, and whether a player will repeat the same mistake twice before getting pulled from the game.</span> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />Rebuilding is definitely a bitch.</span> </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br /><br />The </span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">IU</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"> </span>homepage at</span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"> The BigTenNetwork</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> website, full of</span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"> IU</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">-related stories & videos: <a style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);" href="http://www.bigtennetwork.com/subindex/schools/indiana" target="_blank">http://www.bigtennetwork.com/<wbr>subindex/schools/indiana</a></span></span>South Beach Hoosierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05775460691562107804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064760842412172611.post-3393267133086252612011-01-10T13:15:00.008-05:002011-01-10T13:26:40.510-05:00Worse than sad, it's true: Playboy's Hugh Hefner engaged to 24-year old woman -who has never been alive when Dolphins were playing in Super Bowl game!<object height="340" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://tv.expressen.se/swf/swf/satellit/satellite.swf?e=1&xmlUrl=http%3A%2F%2Ftv%2Eexpressen%2Ese%2Fnoje%2F1%2E2269295%2Fhugh%2Dhefner%2Dfriade%2Dtill%2D24%2Daring%3Foutput%3Dxml%26standAlone%3Dtrue"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://tv.expressen.se/swf/swf/satellit/satellite.swf?e=1&xmlUrl=http%3A%2F%2Ftv%2Eexpressen%2Ese%2Fnoje%2F1%2E2269295%2Fhugh%2Dhefner%2Dfriade%2Dtill%2D24%2Daring%3Foutput%3Dxml%26standAlone%3Dtrue" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" allowfullscreen="false" allowscriptaccess="always" height="340" width="480"></embed></object><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Expressen TV</span> video: Hugh Hefner friade till 24-<span title="Click for alternate translations">å</span>- ring</span><br /><a style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);" href="http://tv.expressen.se/noje/1.2269295/hugh-hefner-friade-till-24-aring" target="_blank">http://tv.expressen.se/noje/1.<wbr>2269295/hugh-hefner-friade-<wbr>till-24-aring</a><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:100%;" >Worse than sad, it's true: <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">Playboy's</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">Hugh Hefner</span> engaged to 24-year old </span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:100%;" >Crystal Harris</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:100%;" >, a woman who has never been alive when Dolphins were playing in a Super Bowl game.<br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br />Perhaps that thought will sharpen in your mind the amount of time that has transpired since the Dolphins were very relevant to any serious discussion of elite <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">NFL</span> teams competing for the <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">Lombardi Trophy</span>.</span><br /><br />Meanwhile, in other news affecting <span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-weight: bold;">Playboy Enterprises</span>...<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">TheWrap</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Playboy to Go Private</span></span> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br />Published: January 10, 2011 @ 6:06 am</span> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br />By Dylan Stableford</span> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br /><br />Playboy is going private.</span> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br /><br />The board of directors for the iconic but struggling men's brand has agreed to 84-year-old founder Hugh Hefner's $6.15-per-share offer to take the company private.</span> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br /><br />Hefner first made a $5.50-per-share offer in July. The $6.15-per-share price represents an 18.3 percent premium over the stock price at close on Friday and a 56 percent premium over the closing price at the time of Hef's initial offer.</span> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br /><br />The new offer puts the value of the company at about $207.3 million. On Monday morning, Playboy's stock price jumped more than 16 percent on the news.</span> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:85%;" > <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><br />Read the rest of the post at:</span></span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"> <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">http://www.thewrap.com/media/column-post/breaking-playboy-goes-private-23768</span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Playboy's</span> </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">press release at:</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0); font-weight: bold;">http://www.playboyenterprises.com/home/content.cfm?content=t_template&packet=7006C185-E06B-679F-4140890A93180DBD&MmenuFlag=news&ArtTypeID=0002043D-FF53-1C7B-9B578304E50A011A&CFID=8461596&CFTOKEN=41304166</span> </span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br /></span><span><object height="385" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/jrKJJge66YI?fs=1&hl=en_US&hd=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/jrKJJge66YI?fs=1&hl=en_US&hd=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="385" width="480"></embed></object><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">What's my Line? Hugh Hefner</span><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrKJJge66YI</span><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">http://www.playboyenterprises.com/</span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br />See also:<br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">New York Times</span> <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">Opinionator</span> blog<br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-style: italic;">Last Call at the Bunny Roundup</span><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">By Timothy Egan,<br />January 6, 2011, 9:00 pm</span></span> <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 51, 0);"><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/06/last-call-at-the-bunny-roundup/#more-76009,</span> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/playboy-enterprises-inc/index.html?scp=2&sq=Playboy&st=cse,</span><br />and</span></span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 51, 0);"><br />http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/galleries/hugh_hefners_many_women/hugh_hefners_many_women.html</span><br /></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WnxiSuPkz2c/TSsxqNxPERI/AAAAAAAADMU/0DGIe_bcFv0/s1600/Dolphins%2527%2B2%2BSuper%2BBowl%2Btrophies.jpg.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 265px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WnxiSuPkz2c/TSsxqNxPERI/AAAAAAAADMU/0DGIe_bcFv0/s400/Dolphins%2527%2B2%2BSuper%2BBowl%2Btrophies.jpg.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5560592766239445266" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-weight: bold;">Above, May 1, 2007 photo by </span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Mario J. Bermudez</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-weight: bold;"> of </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-weight: bold;">Vince Lombardi</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-weight: bold;"> Championship Trophies won by Miami Dolphins for Super Bowl VII and VIII, taken at </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-weight: bold;">Miami Dolphins HQ, Davie, FL.</span><br /><br /><br /><object height="288" width="512"><param name="movie" value="http://www.hulu.com/embed/3BZue7WuvGpvdWIh9Xpr2A"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed src="http://www.hulu.com/embed/3BZue7WuvGpvdWIh9Xpr2A" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" height="288" width="512"></embed></object><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br />Super Bowl Highlights, January 20, 1985, San Francisco 49ers vs. Miami Dolphins.</span> <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">January 20th, 1985, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California. </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">http://www.hulu.com/watch/123666/super-bowl-highlights-1985-super-bowl-xix-san-francisco-49ers-vs-miami-dolphins</span></span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Ten days from now will mark </span><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">26 YEARS</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> since the Dolphins were relevant to the discussion of elite <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">NFL</span> teams. We got proof positive on Saturday that this isn't likely to change with the current </span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Stephen Ross</span> regime in place, as </span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Miami Herald</span> </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Dolphins beat reporter</span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> Armando Salguero</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> confirms here:</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><br />The Saturday meeting with the media (w/ audio)</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);font-family:georgia;font-size:85%;" ><br />http://miamiherald.typepad.com/dolphins_in_depth/2011/01/the-so-called-round-table-the-dolphins-planned-to-set-the-record-straight-for-what-has-happened-over-the-past-week-and-announ.html</span><br /></span>South Beach Hoosierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05775460691562107804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064760842412172611.post-39345820178006848582010-10-04T12:15:00.004-04:002010-10-04T12:18:11.819-04:00"The 2,100 gun salute" is about to begin. The shells start firing on Hallandale Beach City Hall on Wednesday.<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WnxiSuPkz2c/TKlzBHPEZ6I/AAAAAAAAC6Q/YZoWg71U7TQ/s1600/2010-09-15+C+003,+HB+City+Hall.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 246px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WnxiSuPkz2c/TKlzBHPEZ6I/AAAAAAAAC6Q/YZoWg71U7TQ/s400/2010-09-15+C+003,+HB+City+Hall.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5524072880905938850" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Above, September 15, 2010 photo of </span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Hallandale Beach City Hall</span> by <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">South Beach Hoosier</span>.<br /><div class="post-body entry-content"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 100%;"><br />See </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">2,100 gun salute</span> at<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 100%;"><span style="font-size: 85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"><span><a href="http://www.myactsofsedition.com/my_acts_of_sedition/2010/10/2100-game-salute.html" class="smarterwiki-linkify">http://www.myactsofsedition.com/my_acts_of_sedition/2010/10/2100-game-salute.html</a></span></span></span></span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: georgia; font-size: 100%;">Hallandale Beach mayor <span style="font-weight: bold;">Joy Cooper's</span> own version of the <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">Battle of Waterloo</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">-the last of the battles of the Waterloo Campaign of 1815-</span> is about to begin this week, with her self-cast as the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Little Napoleon</span> of our area, thanks to her towering ego, overweening ambition and juvenile intransigence in the face of <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">ALL</span> of the known facts and <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">FL STATE LAW</span>.<br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: georgia; font-size: 100%;">Not to mention, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Weiss Serota's</span> curious legal advice, which you and I and all Hallandale Beach taxpayers are already paying for in order for <span style="font-weight: bold;">Cooper</span> to continue to defy the <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">STATE LAW</span> -<span style="font-weight: bold;">and common sense</span>.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">Her ego, our tax dollars!</span><br /><br />Me, well, this week, I'm channeling one of the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Duke of Wellington's</span> top generals -<span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">and I have a very strong intuition about how it all will end</span>.<br /><br />See more prior recent posts about Hallandale Beach City Hall <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">senselessly</span> fighting against both the spirit and letter of the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Florida Constitution</span> at <span style="font-weight: bold;">Chaz Stevens'</span> blog: <a style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);" href="http://www.myactsofsedition.com/" target="_blank">http://www.myactsofsedition.com/</a><br /><br />There is plenty there about Hallandale Beach to make your jaw drop, and wonder exactly what</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: georgia; font-size: 100%;"> <span style="font-weight: bold;">Mayor Cooper</span> thinks she is accomplishing, other than to continue to embarrass the citizens of this community and make the outside counsel happy to have the City of Hallandale Beach as a very dopey client.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Plain and simple, <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Joy Cooper</span> is <span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">NOT</span> above the law.</span></span> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: georgia; font-size: 100%;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">Period.</span><br /><br />See also: <a style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);" href="http://fsne.org/news/sunshine-sunday/sunshine-sunday-2010/" target="_blank">http://fsne.org/news/sunshine-sunday/sunshine-sunday-2010/</a></span> </div>South Beach Hoosierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05775460691562107804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064760842412172611.post-82118887564799714412009-08-22T00:16:00.018-04:002009-08-23T05:32:58.378-04:00Latest news on Chicago's 2016 Olympic hopes<span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" ></span><table width="670" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td><br /></td></tr><tr><td bg="" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><br /></td></tr><tr><td align="center" valign="bottom"><a href="http://www.chicago2016.org/ioc_ques.aspx"><img alt="Chicago 2016" src="http://www.chicago2016.org/Portals/0/Email_System/images/emblem_FTAF.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><span class="gI"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Chicago 2016 Candidate City<br /><info@chicago2016.org></info@chicago2016.org></span></span><br /><table width="670" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tbody><tr><td><table width="651" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td width="651"><a href="http://chicago2016.rsys1.net/servlet/cc6?JopJHnhQSUYQSTVkhmloILHJoohhkpLjxnuHptQJhuVaVST" target="_blank"><img alt="2016 Banner" src="http://cdn.rsys1.net/ig.rsys1.net/responsysimages/chicago/__RS_CP__/ENewsletter_cityscape_0608.jpg" width="650" border="0" height="140" /></a></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </td> </tr> <tr> <td bg style="color:#ffffff;"> <table width="650" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tbody> <tr> <td width="200" bg valign="top" style="color:#ffffff;"> <table style="border: 1px none ;" width="181" border="0" cellpadding="10" cellspacing="0"> <tbody> <tr> <td bg style="color:#ffff99;"> <p style="color: rgb(74, 177, 131);"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;" ><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-size:14px;" >August 21, 2009</span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 51);"><br /> <br /> <span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;" >New Online</span></span><br /> <span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:78%;" ><a href="http://chicago2016.rsys1.net/servlet/cc6?JopJHnhQSUYQSTVkhmloILHJoohhkpLjxnuHptQJhuVaVS" target="_blank">Back the Bid from Chicago</a><br /> <br /> </span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:78%;color:#2b82b1;" ><a href="http://chicago2016.rsys1.net/servlet/cc6?JopJHnhQSUYQSTVkhmloILHJoohhkpLjxnuHptQJhuVaVT" target="_blank">Back the Bid from Anywhere </a><br /> <br /> <a href="http://chicago2016.rsys1.net/servlet/cc6?JopJHnhQSUYQSTVkhmloILHJoohhkpLjxnuHptQJhuVaVU" target="_blank">Start a Virtual Baton Relay</a><br /> <br /> </span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 102, 0);font-size:14px;" ><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;" >Upcoming Chicago Events</span></span><br /> <br /> <span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:78%;" ><a href="http://chicago2016.rsys1.net/servlet/cc6?JopJHnhQSUYQSTVkhmloILHJoohhkpLjxnuHptQJhuVaVSU" target="_blank">AVP Pro Beach Volleyball in Chicago, 8/27-8/30 </a></span><br /> <br /> <span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:78%;" ><a href="http://chicago2016.rsys1.net/servlet/cc6?JopJHnhQSUYQSTVkhmloILHJoohhkpLjxnuHptQJhuVaVSW" target="_blank">Chicago Triathlon, 8/28-8/30</a></span><br /> <span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:78%;" ><a href="http://chicago2016.rsys1.net/servlet/cc6?JopJHnhQSUYQSTVkhmloILHJoohhkpLjxnuHptQJhuVaVSY" target="_blank"><br /> "Back the Bid" night at the Chicago Fire game, 8/29 </a></span><br /> <br /> </span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:78%;" ><a href="http://chicago2016.rsys1.net/servlet/cc6?JopJHnhQSUYQSTVkhmloILHJoohhkpLjxnuHptQJhuVaVSB" target="_blank">Support the bid at the Cubs game from the Skybox on Sheffield, 9/14</a></span><br /> <br /> <span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:78%;" ><a href="http://chicago2016.rsys1.net/servlet/cc6?JopJHnhQSUYQSTVkhmloILHJoohhkpLjxnuHptQJhuVaVSC" target="_blank">Golf outing at White Deer Run Golf Club to support Chicago 2016, 9/14</a></span><br /> <span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:78%;" ><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;" ><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 102, 0);font-size:14px;" ><br /> Connect with Chicago 2016<br /> </span></span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:78%;color:#2b82b1;" ><a href="http://chicago2016.rsys1.net/servlet/cc6?JopJHnhQSUYQSTVkhmloILHJoohhkpLjxnuHptQJhuVaVW" target="_blank">Facebook</a></span><br /> <span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:78%;color:#2b82b1;" ><a href="http://chicago2016.rsys1.net/servlet/cc6?JopJHnhQSUYQSTVkhmloILHJoohhkpLjxnuHptQJhuVaVY" target="_blank">Twitter</a><br /> <a href="http://chicago2016.rsys1.net/servlet/cc6?JopJHnhQSUYQSTVkhmloILHJoohhkpLjxnuHptQJhuVaVA" target="_blank">YouTube</a></span><br /> <span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:78%;color:#2b82b1;" ><a href="http://chicago2016.rsys1.net/servlet/cc6?JopJHnhQSUYQSTVkhmloILHJoohhkpLjxnuHptQJhuVaVB" target="_blank">2016 Blogs</a><br /> </span><br /> <span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:78%;color:#000000;" >Visit the <a href="http://chicago2016.rsys1.net/servlet/cc6?JopJHnhQSUYQSTVkhmloILHJoohhkpLjxnuHptQJhuVaVC" target="_blank">Chicago 2016 e-store</a> to buy your official gear and support the bid </span><br /> <br /> <span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:78%;color:#000000;" >Support the bid and <a href="http://chicago2016.rsys1.net/servlet/cc6?JopJHnhQSUYQSTVkhmloILHJoohhkpLjxnuHptQJhuVaVSR" target="_blank">volunteer!</a> </span></span></p> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </td> <td width="20"><br /></td> <td width="454" valign="top"> <table width="451" bg border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="color:#ffffff;"> <tbody> <tr> <td width="451" bg valign="top" style="color:#ffffff;"> <p><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /><br /><span style="margin-top: 10px; color: rgb(255, 102, 0);font-size:18px;" ><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;" >Letter from Pat Ryan</span></span></span> </p> <p><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:100%;color:#000000;" ><span style="margin-top: 10px; color: rgb(255, 102, 0);font-size:18px;" ><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;color:#000000;" ><span style="margin-top: 10px; color: rgb(255, 102, 0);font-size:18px;" ><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;color:#000000;" ><span style="margin-top: 10px; color: rgb(255, 102, 0);font-size:18px;" ><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;color:#000000;" ><span style="margin-top: 10px; color: rgb(255, 102, 0);font-size:18px;" ><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;color:#000000;" ><img alt="Photo of Pat Ryan" style="padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px;" src="http://www.chicago2016.org/Portals/0/Email_System/images/pat_ryan_newsletter_mug.jpg" vspace="6" width="105" align="left" border="0" height="126" hspace="6" /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:100%;color:#000000;" >Dear 2016 Supporter,</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:100%;color:#000000;" ><br /> <br />I’m writing to you from the IAAF World Championships in Berlin, where I witnessed history in the making with Usain Bolt’s world record performance in the 100 meters. A few weeks ago, I was with the Chicago 2016 team in Rome for the FINA World Championships and saw Michael Phelps and a host of others set 43 world records. In addition to giving me the opportunity to continue to tell the story of our bid to international sport leaders, these events have given me a glimpse into what a Games in Chicago could be like.<br /> <br />As I thought about what I’d seen, I imagined the effect it would have on young people who watched these athletes—on television, on the Internet—and read about their feats. And I also thought about the citywide track meet that capped off Chicago’s Summer Track Program. More than 300 youth from across the city participated in the event, which included a parade of athletes. They have already begun to pursue their dreams.<br /> <br />That’s why I got involved in this bid—for the youth of our city and to support sport. Chicago 2016 has laid a foundation for what we can accomplish if we’re awarded the 2016 Games. As we come down the home stretch, we should emulate Usain Bolt in Berlin—eyes on the finish line with no intention of letting up.<br /> <br /> Your support is more important than ever. <a href="http://chicago2016.rsys1.net/servlet/cc6?JopJHnhQSUYQSTVkhmloILHJoohhkpLjxnuHptQJhuVaVSD" target="_blank">Click here</a> to find out how you can support bringing the Games to Chicago. Together, we can achieve this dream.<br /> <br /> All the best,<br /> <br /> Pat Ryan<br /> Chairman and CEO<br /> Chicago 2016<br /> </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;" ><br /> 3,600 attend USOC Hall of Fame to Support Chicago 2016</span></span></span></span> <span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:100%;color:#000000;" ><br /> <br /> </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><img alt="Stage at the U.S Olympic Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony" src="http://cdn.rsys1.net/ig.rsys1.net/responsysimages/chicago/__RS_CP__/newsletter_hof.jpg" width="449" height="134" /><br /></span> <span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:100%;color:#000000;" ><br />Chicago youth and communities were the big winners at the 2009 Induction Ceremony for the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame, which also served as a fund-raiser for Chicago 2016. Most of the money raised will be devoted to World Sport Chicago, the legacy organization created by Chicago 2016 to engage young people in sport, promote Olympic values and produce a lasting legacy of Chicago’s bid for the Games.<br /> <br />Nearly 3,600 guests enjoyed dinner and saw a who’s who of Olympic and Paralympic inductees such as Michael Johnson (athletics), Picabo Street (alpine skiing), Sarah Will (skiing), the 1992 men's basketball “Dream Team,” and many others.<br /> <br />The ceremony was held at McCormick Place, Chicago 2016's proposed site for eleven Olympic and eight Paralympic sports and the International Broadcast Center and Main Press Center.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:100%;color:#000000;" > The event will be broadcast nationally on NBC on Saturday, September 5 at 2pm EST.<br /> <br /> </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;" ><br /> 30-Day Countdown Event in Hyde Park</span></span></span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:100%;color:#000000;" ><br /> <br /> <img alt="30 Day Countdown " src="http://cdn.rsys1.net/ig.rsys1.net/responsysimages/chicago/__RS_CP__/30_day_count.jpg" width="163" align="left" height="177" />Chicago 2016 will celebrate the 30-day countdown to the IOC’s October 2nd decision with an evening of networking, drinks and hors d’oeuvres on Wednesday, September 2 at Park 52 restaurant in Hyde Park.<br /> <br />Athletes and members of the Chicago 2016 bid team will be on hand to discuss how the Games will continue to positively benefit the South Side community.<br /> <br />Located at 5201 South Harper Avenue, Park 52 is just a few blocks from Washington Park, where the proposed Olympic Stadium and aquatics venue would be located.<br /> <br />The event is hosted by Chicago 2016’s Next Generation Leadership Advisory Council. Tickets are $30. All proceeds benefit Chicago 2016. To purchase tickets in advance, go to <a href="http://chicago2016.rsys1.net/servlet/cc6?JopJHnhQSUYQSTVkhmloILHJoohhkpLjxnuHptQJhuVaVSA" target="_blank">www.chicago2016.org/park52</a>.<br /> <br /> </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;" ><br /> Chicago 2016 Summer Sports Roundup</span></span></span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:100%;color:#000000;" ><br /> <br /> Summer in Chicago saw an array of Olympic sport sponsored by Chicago 2016 and its legacy organization, <a href="http://chicago2016.rsys1.net/servlet/cc6?JopJHnhQSUYQSTVkhmloILHJoohhkpLjxnuHptQJhuVaVTR" target="_blank">World Sport Chicago (WSC).</a><br /> <br />In June, 200 men and women across a range of weight classes took part in the Pan American Weightlifting Championships. The athletes competed over three days at the UIC Forum at the University of Illinois at Chicago.<br /> <br /> <img alt="Youth boxers competeing in Ireland" src="http://cdn.rsys1.net/ig.rsys1.net/responsysimages/chicago/__RS_CP__/boxers.jpg" width="217" align="right" height="149" hspace="5" />June also saw the kickoff of Mayor Daley’s Summer Track Program, a free, citywide program for 8- to 14-year-olds. The track program featured instruction and inspiration from Olympians Bob Beamon and Gail Devers and introduced kids to one of the oldest Olympic sports. More than 300 kids from across Chicago participated in a series of track meets that culminated in a city championship on Sunday, August 16.<br /> <br />The month of July featured the WSC Youth Soccer Championships. Premier under-15 club teams from Canada, Germany, India, Mexico, Nigeria, Peru, South Africa and the United States competed over five days at locations throughout Chicago. Teams from Nigeria won first and second places, with Chicago coming in third.<br /> <br />Also in July, WSC partnered with the Chicago Park District to send a contingent of 11 young –boxers to Ireland to compete. The young athletes fought an Irish team in Cork and Galway. The teams split the first match, 5-5, and Ireland won the second 5-4.<br /> <br />WSC also sponsored the Chicago Park District’s 41-member, Junior Olympic–qualifying water polo team to Stanford, California to compete in the national championships.<br /> <br />To cap off the summer, WSC, in concert with Badminton Chicago and the Chicago Park District, provided badminton camps for more than 1,000 children ages 6–12.<br /> </span></p> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" valign="bottom"> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:78%;color:#5b5d5c;" ><br /><br /></span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:78%;color:#5b5d5c;" ><br /><br /><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: bold;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:130%;color:#5b5d5c;" >Chicago 2016<br />200 E. Randolph, Suite 2016<br />Chicago, IL 60601</span></span></p></td></tr></tbody> </table><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-family: times new roman;font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" >I've been on the <span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0); font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Chicago 2016</span> mailing list since they<br />made the first cut, and think it'd be great to have the<br />Olympics in the American Midwest, in an area with<br />as much over-sized personality and enthusiasm as<br />Chicago, where I lived for a few years in the mid-'80's,<br />in Evanston, Wilmette and Chicago proper, which<br />included the Bears' Super Bowl-winning year.</span><br /><object width="445" height="364"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/SODWRicA3_s&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6&border=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/SODWRicA3_s&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="445" height="364"></embed></object><object width="445" height="364"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/BlTcFaAs8Sk&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6&border=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/BlTcFaAs8Sk&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="445" height="364"></embed></object><br /><object width="580" height="360"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/rikkWPHhIB8&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6&border=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/rikkWPHhIB8&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="580" height="360"></embed></object><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" >This is the p.s.a. that </span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(153, 0, 0); font-family: times new roman;font-size:100%;" >WGN-TV</span><span style="font-family: times new roman; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-size:100%;" > has been showing<br />a lot starring </span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: times new roman; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:100%;" >Michael Jordan</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">, which I see at</span> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">least<br />a few times a day on average.</span><br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/c26Anl6JpKI&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/c26Anl6JpKI&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></span> <span style="font-family: times new roman;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-family: times new roman;font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" >As usual, who else but wonderful actor and Chicago<br />native </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: times new roman;font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">Joe Mantegna</span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-family: times new roman;font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" > could put it all in its proper<br />perspective: </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-family: times new roman;font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" ><br /><br /></span><span style="font-family: times new roman;font-size:100%;" ><object width="580" height="360"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/inhyutkGhjI&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6&border=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/inhyutkGhjI&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="580" height="360"></embed></object><br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" >For more information on <span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(153, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">Chicago 2016</span>:</span><span style="font-family: times new roman;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0); font-family: times new roman;font-size:100%;" >http://www.chicago2016.org/</span><span style="font-family: times new roman;font-size:100%;" ><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">To keep up with news on Chicago's bid as the<br />October 2nd announcement approaches, go to </span><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">http://news.google.com/news/search?um=1&ned=us&hl=en&q=%22Chicago+2016%22&cf=all&scoring=n</span></span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>South Beach Hoosierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05775460691562107804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064760842412172611.post-90305939863011796602009-03-29T19:06:00.012-04:002010-08-18T03:35:28.413-04:00Miami Herald's first online story about Lou Saban's death -wire copy without U-M record. Typical!<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"></span></span><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px;font-size:100%;" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: normal;"><div style="margin: 8px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px;font-size:100%;" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);"><span style="color: rgb(26, 39, 50);"><div style="margin: 10px 0px; padding: 2px 0px 0px; display: block; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);font-size:10px;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-collapse: collapse; white-space: pre;"><img src="http://graphics.fansonly.com/schools/ind/graphics/hof/saban.gif" alt="Photo of Lou <span class=" style="padding: 4px; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);" /></span></div></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px;font-size:100%;" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);"><span style="color: rgb(26, 39, 50);"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Lou Saban, IU football, 1941, 1942, 1942 MVP as QB</span>.</span></span></span></span>
<br /><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px;font-size:100%;" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);"><span style="color: rgb(26, 39, 50);"><span style="border-collapse: collapse; white-space: pre;">
<br /><a href="http://iuhoosiers.cstv.com/trads/ind-trads-hof-1982.html" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">http://iuhoosiers.cstv.com/<wbr>trads/ind-trads-hof-1982.html</span></a></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);"><div style="margin: 0.5em 0px 1.5em; border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(204, 204, 204); padding-bottom: 1.5em;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">
<br />Wrote this first just a little while ago at my other blog, <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">Hallandale Beach Blog</span>.</span>
<br />
<br />
<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">The Herald's first online story about <span style="font-weight: bold;">Lou Saban's</span> death came at 4:40 pm via some wire copy that neglected to include his record at U-M in 1977 and '78 of 3-8 and 6-5, and with a photo that wasn't even of him at Miami, a photo that goes un-credited, like so many photos at the Herald these days not taken by Herald photographers.</span>
<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> I guess the photos just magically appear out of thin air!-</span>
<br />
<br /><div style="margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; line-height: 1.6em;"><span style="color: rgb(26, 39, 50);">
<br />The former IU Hoosier player (IU Hall of Fame, Class of 1982; while I was there) and Hurricanes head coach certainly deserved much better than this crummy lite story, but then so do the much-abused Herald readers!
<br />
<br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">(A forthcoming blog post here and at South Beach Hoosier, already written, will count the myriad ways that the Herald's sports section has become a veritable laughingstock</span>
<br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">over the past five years to any serious sports fan.)</span>
<br />
<br />And in case you forgot or never knew, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Lou Saban's</span> last game as head coach of the Hurricanes was a 22-21 defeat of the Gators in 1978.
<br />At Gainesville.
<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">That's how you do it!</span>
<br />
<br />My guess is that when <span style="font-weight: bold;">Randy Shannon</span> finally gets fired early next year, one year too late, it'll be after another in a long line of the very confusing and half-assed losses that have become commonplace under him, begging once more the inevitable question that never really quite goes away: <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">why was someone without any prior major college head coaching</span>
<br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">experience ever hired in the first place?</span>-
<br />
<br />
<br /><div style="margin: 10px 0px; padding: 2px 0px 0px; display: block; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);font-size:10px;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/614/story/973815.html" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">http://www.miamiherald.com/<wbr>614/story/973815.html</span></a></span></div><div style="margin: 10px 0px; padding: 2px 0px 0px; display: block; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);"><div>
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<br /></b></div></div><h1 style="margin: 5px 0px; padding: 0pt; line-height: 30px;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Longtime football coach Lou Saban dies</span></h1><h3 size="17px" style="margin: 0px 0px 3px; padding: 0px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 11px; text-transform: uppercase;">
<br /></h3><h3 size="17px" style="margin: 0px 0px 3px; padding: 0px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 11px; text-transform: uppercase;">BY SPORTS NETWORK</h3><h3 size="17px" style="margin: 0px 0px 3px; padding: 0px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 11px; text-transform: uppercase;">
<br /></h3><h3 size="17px" style="margin: 0px 0px 3px; padding: 0px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 11px; text-transform: uppercase;">THE SPORTS NETWORK</h3><div>March 29, 2009</div><div>
<br /></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><p style="margin: 0px 0px 12px; padding: 0px; line-height: 19px; font-size: 14px;">Lou Saban, the longtime college and pro football coach who led the Buffalo Bills to a pair of AFL championships, died early Sunday morning at the age of 87.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 12px; padding: 0px; line-height: 19px; font-size: 14px;">Saban coached professional football for 16 years, and most notably led Buffalo to back-to-back AFL titles in 1964-65. He also coached the Boston -- now New England -- Patriots for their first two seasons, in 1960-61 before moving on to Buffalo from 1962-65.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 12px; padding: 0px; line-height: 19px;font-size:14px;">He spent five seasons with Denver (1967-71), overseeing the team through the AFL-NFL merger, and returned to the Bills from 1972-76. Saban's pro teams went 95-99-7.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 12px; padding: 0px; line-height: 19px;font-size:14px;">Away from football, Saban was also president of the New York Yankees from 1981-82.</p><p size="14px" style="margin: 0px 0px 12px; padding: 0px; line-height: 19px;">"He has been my friend and mentor for over 50 years, and one of the people who helped shape my life," Yankees owner and chairperson George M. Steinbrenner said in a statement. "Lou was tough and disciplined, and he earned all the respect and recognition that came his way. He spent a lifetime leading, teaching and inspiring, and took great satisfaction in making the lives around him better. This is a tremendous loss to me personally, and I extend my deepest condolences to his wife, Joyce, and the entire Saban family."</p><p size="14px" style="margin: 0px 0px 12px; padding: 0px; line-height: 19px;">Saban's coaching career also included stints at numerous colleges, Northwestern, Western Illinois, Maryland, Miami, Army and Central Florida.</p><p size="14px" style="margin: 0px 0px 12px; padding: 0px; line-height: 19px;">Saban played college football at Indiana and was with the Cleveland Browns from 1946-49 before moving onto coaching.</p><p size="14px" style="margin: 0px 0px 12px; padding: 0px; line-height: 19px;">___________________________</p><p size="14px" style="margin: 0px 0px 12px; padding: 0px; line-height: 19px;">Former <i><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">Herald</span></i> sports writer <b><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Jim Martz</span></b> sets some folks straight who seem</p><p size="14px" style="margin: 0px 0px 12px; padding: 0px; line-height: 19px;">confused about the role of <i><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);"><b>Hurricane</b></span></i> QBs in their modern football history.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 12px; padding: 0px; line-height: 19px;">My first <i><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);"><b>Hurricanes</b></span></i> home game was in 1972, and until I left for Bloomington</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 12px; padding: 0px; line-height: 19px;">in August of 1979, I went to well over 95% of their home games at the</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 12px; padding: 0px; line-height: 19px;">Orange Bowl.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 12px; padding: 0px; line-height: 19px;"><b><i>
<br /></i></b></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 12px; padding: 0px; line-height: 19px;"><b><i>Miami Herald</i></b></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 12px; padding: 0px; line-height: 19px;"><b><i><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-style: normal; line-height: normal;">An open letter to UM quarterback Jacory Harris</span></i></b></p><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">By Jim Martz,</span> </span></span><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">Canesport </span>magazine</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><i><span style="font-style: normal;"><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">October 30, 2008</div><div>
<br /></div></span></i></div></div></div><div style="margin: 10px 225px 0px 0px; padding: 5px 0px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">An open letter to Jacory Harris:
<br />
<br />Allow me to invite you to a new history course: Miami Hurricanes Quarterbacks 101. You can bring along fellow freshman quarterbacks Cannon Smith and Taylor Cook. This class should be required for all incoming quarterbacks at the "U." It's not about X's and O's, it's about learning how the great UM quarterbacks became great, how they all needed to be patient and wait their turn.
<br />
<br />I'll be the instructor, and I'm not going to talk about reading defenses or calling audibles. I didn't play college football, unless you count being a wide receiver and cornerback on a fraternity flag football team at a Division III school in Michigan. But I have seen every Hurricane team since the 1970s, and I watched the program become Quarterback U, a tradition that has taken a hit lately.
<br />
<br />In the modern era of Hurricane football, beginning with 1979 and the arrival of Howard Schnellenberger as coach, there have been seven great quarterbacks: Jim Kelly, Bernie Kosar, Vinny Testaverde, Steve Walsh, Craig Erickson, Gino Torretta and Ken Dorsey. Five of them won national championships. Of the two who didn't, one (Testaverde) won the Heisman Trophy and the other (Kelly) was injured most of his senior year but went on make the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
<br />
<br />Here's your first quiz: Do you know what these quarterbacks had in common?
<br />
<br />True, they were all right-handed. But that's irrelevant. Answer: Each sat on the bench most or all of their freshman season. They waited their turn. Obviously none transferred. There have been several UM quarterbacks who did transfer. And each one virtually disappeared from the face of college football. The ones who stayed, who paid their dues, so to speak, saw their patience rewarded. You've been patient this season, too, and that paid off in a 49-31 victory at Duke. When Robert Marve struggled, you came in and led the Hurricanes to 35 unanswered points and threw four touchdown passes.
<br />
<br />I liked what you said after the game on the Hurricane Sports Network: "I appreciate all the times that Coach Shannon puts me into the game. Whenever it is I'm happy to go into the game, whether it's to bring my team back or keep them ahead. It doesn't matter when I get in or if I get in. I just want the team to win, that's all I worry about."
<br />
<br />That's the kind of patience the great ones at UM have needed. Take Testaverde, for instance. He sat for three years before he became "the man," then he led the Hurricanes to the Sugar and Fiesta Bowls, came within one play of winning the national championship and won the Heisman Trophy. He also went on to an NFL career that started before you were born and just ended after 22 years.
<br />
<br />Kelly, Kosar, Walsh and Torretta all were redshirted their freshman season. They didn't get quality playing time like you are getting in every game. Yet each one, when he got his chance, played well and took command of the offense.
<br />
<br /><b>KELLY'S ODYSSEY </b>
<br />
<br />I'll begin these history lessons with Kelly, who was part of Lou Saban's great recruiting class of 1978. That was in the days when the Hurricanes invariably had three quarterbacks -- one departing, one coming and one playing. One quarterback quit in the summer. One incumbent, a senior, was moved to receiver. Another, Kenny McMillian, was injured in the first game. Saban had three freshmen -- Kelly, Mark Richt (now coach at Georgia) and Mike Rodrigue. He went with Rodrigue, who spent most of the season handing off to senior tailback Ottis Anderson, who is still UM's all-time rushing leader.
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<br />Saban resigned after that 6-5 season, Schnellenberger took over and started Rodrigue the first seven games in 1979. For the eighth game, the coach decided at the last moment to go with Kelly, who barfed in the locker room before the game, then went on to lead a shocking 26-10 victory at Penn State. That was the genesis of Quarterback U.
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<br />The next year Kelly spearheaded the Hurricanes to the Peach Bowl, their first bowl game in 13 seasons. His junior year they went 9-2, losing only to fourth-ranked Texas and 16th-ranked Mississippi State on the road in close games. In the third game of his senior year, 1982, he sustained a dislocated shoulder at Virginia Tech in the third game and was lost for the season.
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<br />That same season, the Hurricanes had two freshmen quarterbacks, Kosar and a guy listed in the media guide as Vincent Testaverde. Neither was among the six quarterbacks on the Parade Magazine All-American high school team, but Schnellenberger and his staff rated them as two of the top three quarterbacks in the nation. Plus there was Richt, a senior, and Kyle Vanderwende, a redshirt freshman, who had been all-state at Palm Beach Gardens. That year the Hurricanes arguably had the greatest collection of college quarterbacks in history. Earl Morrall, a former Baltimore Colts and Miami Dolphins star quarterback, was their coach. He attended the flag football game between the Canes and Dolphins in the Orange Bowl's farewell several months ago and agreed this was the best quarterback group ever at one college.
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<br />And none transferred.
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<br /><b>WAITING THEIR TURN </b>
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<br />Jacory, if you want to learn about patience, talk to Kosar and Testaverde. Kosar, who had been Mr. Ohio Football, didn't play at all in 1982. Testaverde, an honorable mention All-American in high school, was fourth string and played briefly in the ninth and 10th games, completing 5 of 12 passes for 79 yards.
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<br />Going into the 1983 season, Vanderwende, who went 2-1 as the starter at the end of 1982, and Kosar and Testaverde were considered equal. Schnellenberger picked Kosar "by a whisker" based on "a combination of intelligence, leadership and ability." The Hurricanes lost the opener at Florida 28-3, but Kosar's performance convinced Schnellenberger he had made the right pick. They didn't lose another game, knocking off heavily favored Nebraska in the Orange Bowl Classic to win UM's first national championship.
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<br />Testaverde didn't play a down that season. And he was the backup in 1984, Jimmy Johnson's first season, playing in six games and completing 17 of 34 for 184 yards and no touchdowns.
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<br />In 1985, when Testaverde became the starter, Walsh arrived as a freshman and was redshirted. As the backup on the great 1986 team, he appeared in two games and completed 1 of 2 passes for 5 yards. He started every game in 1987 as the Hurricanes reloaded and went undefeated to win their second national title. In 1988 he was a first-team All-American as the Canes finished No. 2 behind Notre Dame, which beat them 31-30 at South Bend.
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<br />Then it was Erickson's turn. He had been Walsh's backup for two seasons, mostly seeing mop-up duties in lopsided victories. He completed 22 of 37 passes for 307 yards and two touchdowns in 1987 and went 26 for 49 for 379 yards and six TDs in 1988. When he got his chance in 1989 (Dennis Erickson's first year as coach), he led the Hurricanes to their third championship, and in 1990 they finished fourth in the nation.
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<br />Enter Torretta, who was redshirted in 1988. As a second-year freshman in 1989 he was thrust into the starting job for four games when Erickson was injured, and he played in six other games. He was Erickson's backup again in 1990, playing in nine games and completing 21 of 41 for 210 yards. When Torretta received his turn, he never lost in two years until his final game and he won the Heisman Trophy. The Canes won the 1991 national title and in 1992 their streak ended in the Sugar Bowl against Alabama.
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<br /><b>THE LEAN YEARS </b>
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<br />After Torretta, the program went into a lull at quarterback. The Hurricanes had good ones but not great ones -- Frank Costa, Ryan Clement, Ryan Collins, Scott Covington, Kenny Kelly. Also, NCAA sanctions in the mid-1990s cost the team several scholarships. At the end of the decade, Butch Davis built the foundation for the program's rise back to the top. Kenny Kelly might have been the quarterback to take them there, but he was doing double duty as an outfielder in the Tampa Bay Devil Rays organization and opted after the 1999 season to leave school for baseball.
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<br />And that opened the door for Dorsey, who in 1999 he became the first true freshman to start at quarterback at UM since Rodrigue in 1978 when he filled in for injured Kelly in three games. Then he started every game for three years, losing only once during the regular season (in 2000), winning the national championship in 2001 and nearly repeating in 2002 while winning the Maxwell Award as the nation's top quarterback. Jacory, you know the history since then, how Brock Berlin and Kyle Wright didn't live up to expectations, how the talent level dropped significantly and the program failed to sign a quarterback in 2005 and 2006.
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<br />Now you and redshirt freshman Marve are battling it out. Maybe battling is the wrong word. You guys call it a "partnership," which is rare and I believe is healthy competition. You sounded much older than an 18-year-old after the Duke game when you said, "Robert is a great quarterback and I want everybody to know, because Robert is one of my good friends, I love Robert. So whenever Robert is hot, I want him to stay in. That's how I feel. And vice-versa. We care about each other."
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<br />Over the years there have been several quarterbacks who became impatient or frustrated and decided to transfer. Can you name any of them?
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<br />Since 1980 they have included Bill Turkowski, Greg Jones, Joe Cole, Bryan Fortay, Alan Hall, Chris Walsh, Steve Kelly, Marc Guillon and even Kirby Freeman, who saw the handwriting on the wall when Marve and you became the heirs apparent.
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<br /><b>TRANSFER? PERISH THE THOUGHT </b>
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<br />A recent newspaper story quoting your father indicated you might transfer. I know this is a different era than the days of Kosar and Testaverde. These are the days of instant gratification.
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<br />But if you want to be one of the great Hurricane quarterbacks, if you want to help build something special with your former Miami Northwestern High School teammates who came to UM with you, eliminate "transfer" from your vocabulary.
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<br />I know it has been awkward at times. You started the opener because Marve was suspended for a disciplinary reason, and you looked great, though you beat a Charleston Southern team that your Northwestern Bulls might have defeated. Since then Marve has started every game, but you've seen action in the first half each week. That's meaningful game experience.
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<br />There's no way to predict how this will unfold. Marve might struggle so much that coaches have to start you.
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<br />Conversely, he might settle down and play great. And you might end up being redshirted next year, creating some separation between you. That's what happened in the Kosar-Testaverde situation. It also helped that Kosar earned his degree in three years and turned pro. Or you and Robert might develop into a two-headed quarterback. I'm sure you've heard the adage that if a team has two quarterbacks it really has none. That's not necessarily true. Florida State ranked sixth in the nation in 1979 and reached the Orange Bowl Classic led by the quarterback tandem of Jimmy Jordan and Wally Woodham. And Florida won the national championship two years ago with Chris Leak starting and Tim Tebow contributing significantly.
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<br />Jacory, you remind me and other veteran observers of Dorsey, who was as skinny as a freshman as you are. He was smart and tried to get the ball to the playmakers rather than win the game by himself.
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<br />You sounded just like him when you said after the Duke game: 'I'm just having fun running coach [Patrick] Nix's offense. It's a great offense to be in. It gives you a lot of opportunities to make things happen but also to put the ball in playmakers' hands."
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<br />You don't have the veteran playmakers he had, but you will. And you have something he lacked -- the ability to run. Just don't run from the "U." Your time will come.
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<br />Jim Martz is editor of Canesport magazine.</div><div style="margin: 10px 225px 0px 0px; padding: 5px 0px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">Below, permanent anchors from my other blog, <i><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"><b>South Beach Hoosier</b></span></i></div><div style="margin: 10px 225px 0px 0px; padding: 5px 0px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);"><div style="border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><h2 style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0.75em; line-height: 1.4em; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 0.2em;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">IT'S ALL ABOUT "THE U"</span></h2><div><img alt="It\" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_rel9pM5SA5o/R3aVlf-4eQI/AAAAAAAAAkI/fpHsXlbs-sQ/S150/U-M+split+U.gif" style="padding: 4px; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);" width="100" height="100" />
<br /><span><i style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">South Beach Hoosier's</span></i> first U-M football game at the Orange Bowl was in 1972, age 11, against Tulane in the infamous "<b><i>Fifth Down</i></b>" 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<b>IF</b> they wore their sash. I did.</span></div><div><span>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 <b><i>'Fifth Down or Not, It's Over When It's Over</i></b>.' -"In 1972, aided by a fifth-down officiating gift in the last moments of the game, Miami of Florida defeated Tulane, 24-21.</span></div><div><span>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.</span></div><div><span>''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.'</span></div><div><span><i style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">South Beach Hoosier</span></i> hardly needs to tell you that this was<b> YET</b> another New York Times editorial that was completely ignored!</span></div></div><div style="border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><h2 style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0.75em; line-height: 1.4em; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 0.2em;"><b><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">SEBASTIAN THE IBIS, THE SPIRITED MASCOT OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI HURRICANES</span></b></h2><div><img alt="Sebastian the Ibis, the Spirited Mascot of the University of Miami Hurricanes" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_rel9pM5SA5o/R3pvFf-4emI/AAAAAAAAAm4/uuriYj1f5_s/S185/Sebastian+the+Ibis,+the+spirit+of+the+University+of+Miami.jpg" style="padding: 4px; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);" width="150" height="178" />
<br /><span>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. (<i><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">A 14-6 loss to the Crimson Tide.</span></i>) 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 State Road 836 & I-95 Cloverleaf in North Miami Beach, 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.</span></div><div><span>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.</span></div><div><span>Depending upon the opponent, if I was alone, I'd often have entire areas of the Orange Bowl to myself. (<i><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Wish I had photos of that now!</span></i>)</span></div><div><span>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.</span></div><div><span>(<i><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">A</span></i><i><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">gainst FSU?</span></i>)</span></div><div><span>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 (<i><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">under Ara Parseghian</span></i>), they called a time-out with less than a minute to go, and already up 37-0. Their rationale?</span></div><div><span>To score another TD and impress the AP football writers;</span></div><div><span>final score 44-0. Well, they got their wish and beat Alabama 24-23 for the title at the Sugar Bowl.</span></div><div><span>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</span></div><div><span>-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.</span></div><div><span>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.</span></div><div><span>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.</span></div></div></div><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);"><b><i><h2 style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0.75em; line-height: 1.4em; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 0.2em;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);font-size:85%;" ><b><span><span class="Apple-style-span">THE ISSUE I TOOK WITH</span></span></b></span></h2><h2 style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0.75em; line-height: 1.4em; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 0.2em;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);font-size:85%;" ><b><span><span class="Apple-style-span">ME THE NIGHT OF U-M'S</span></span></b></span></h2><h2 style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0.75em; line-height: 1.4em; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 0.2em;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);font-size:85%;" ><b><span><span class="Apple-style-span">20-15 UPSETOF #1</span></span></b></span></h2><h2 style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0.75em; line-height: 1.4em; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 0.2em;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);font-size:85%;" ><b><span><span class="Apple-style-span">TEXAS AT THE</span></span></b></span></h2><h2 style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0.75em; line-height: 1.4em; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 0.2em;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);font-size:85%;" ><b><span><span class="Apple-style-span">ORANGE BOWL</span></span></b></span></h2><div><span><span class="Apple-style-span"><img alt="The issue I took with me the night of U-M\" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_rel9pM5SA5o/R5Ohcv-4fKI/AAAAAAAAArY/vAnfGDfSC-c/S185/College+Football,+Texas+No.+1,+Hook%27em+Horns,+Sept.+10,+1973.jpg" style="padding: 4px; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);" width="142" height="185" />
<br /></span></span><span><b><span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span">Col</span></span></span></b><b><span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span">lege Football,</span></span></span></b></span></div><div><span><b><span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span">Texas No. 1,</span></span></span></b></span></div><div><span><b><span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span">Hook 'em Horns</span></span></span></b><span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span">,</span></span></span></span></div><div><span><span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span">Sept. 10, 1973.</span></span></span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span><span class="Apple-style-span">Living in North Miami</span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span><span class="Apple-style-span">Beach in the '70's,</span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span><span class="Apple-style-span">my Sports Illustrated</span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span><span class="Apple-style-span">usually showed up in</span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span><span class="Apple-style-span">my mailbox on the</span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span><span class="Apple-style-span">Thursday or Friday</span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span><span class="Apple-style-span">before the Monday</span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span><span class="Apple-style-span">cover date.</span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span><span class="Apple-style-span">And was read cover-</span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span><span class="Apple-style-span">to-cover by Sunday</span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span><span class="Apple-style-span">morning.</span></span></span></span></span></span></div></i></b></span><p style="margin: 0px 0px 12px; padding: 0px; line-height: 19px;"><i><b><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);"><span><span class="Apple-style-span">Canesports</span></span></span></b></i><span><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><span><span class="Apple-style-span">is at</span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"><span><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></span></span><a href="http://miami.rivals.com/" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"><span><span class="Apple-style-span">http://miami.rivals.com/</span></span></span></a></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 12px; padding: 0px; line-height: 19px;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span">
<br /></span></i></b></span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 12px; padding: 0px; line-height: 19px;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><i><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"><b><span><span class="Apple-style-span">Hallandale Beach Blog</span></span></b></span></i><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><span><span class="Apple-style-span"> is at </span></span></span></span><span style="line-height: normal;"><a href="http://www.southbeachhoosier.blogspot.com/" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"><span><span class="Apple-style-span">http://www.hallandalebeachblog</span><span class="Apple-style-span">.blogspot.</span><span class="Apple-style-span"><wbr>com/</span></span></span></a></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 12px; padding: 0px; line-height: 19px;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><span class="Apple-style-span">
<br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 12px; padding: 0px; line-height: 19px;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><span><span class="Apple-style-span">See also:</span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></span><span style="line-height: normal;"><a href="http://www.collegefootballhistory.com/index.htm" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"><span><span class="Apple-style-span">http://www.</span><span class="Apple-style-span"><wbr>collegefootballhistory.com/</span><span class="Apple-style-span"><wbr>index.htm</span></span></span></a></span></span></p></div></span></div></div></span></div></span></span></div>South Beach Hoosierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05775460691562107804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064760842412172611.post-80932562129840563702009-02-11T16:55:00.006-05:002009-02-11T17:08:01.402-05:00Michael Lewis of Miami Today on WQAM today @ 4:30 pm re proposed Marlins Stadium<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: 13px; "><h2 class="date-header" style="font: normal normal normal 78%/normal 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 1.4em; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 0.2em; color: rgb(153, 153, 153); margin-top: 1.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-family: Georgia; font-size: 17px; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 20px; text-transform: none; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">On the chance that you haven't already heard, one of</span></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">THE</span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> most well-informed </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">individuals on the subject of the proposed</span> Marlins Stadium,</span> </span></span></span><span><span style="font-style: italic; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; ">Miami Today<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; ">publisher</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "> </span></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; ">Michael Lewis</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; ">, </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; ">will be a guest of</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "> </span></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; ">Jim Mandich</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; ">on his daily</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "> </span></span></span><span style="font-style: italic; "><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; ">WQAM</span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; ">radio show this afternoon at 4:30 p.m.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br /></span></h2><div class="post hentry" style="margin-top: 0.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); padding-bottom: 1.5em; "><div class="post-body entry-content" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.75em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: 'times new roman'; font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-family: Georgia; font-size: 17px; font-weight: normal; "><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span><span style="font-style: italic; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; "><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Lewis</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> is that rare individual in South Florida who can actually speak to the issue from a knowledgable point-of-view, since he has actually read the entire contract, all the hundreds and hundreds of pages.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial; font-size: 13px; "><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">He can make both the logical and common sense argument against the stadium plan based on both the finances as well as the public policy ramifications. </span></span></span></div><div><a href="http://www.miamitodaynews.com/news/090212/story-viewpoint.shtml" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153); text-decoration: none; "><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; ">http://www.miamitodaynews.com/</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><wbr>news/090212/story-viewpoint.</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><wbr>shtml</span></span></span></span></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Yesterday on his afternoon program, after reminding his listeners about</span> Lewis'<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"> appearance </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">today, </span></span></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Jim</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"> posed a few logical questions that are entirely deserving of a thorough public response from the powers-that-be, people that have seemingly been in hiding, </span></span></span></span><span><span style="font-style: italic; "><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">before</span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"> a vote is cast on Friday.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br />Let me summarize those good points he made:</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br />Who are the principals involved in the shell companies that are specifically mentioned in the contract? </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">What is their relationship to Marlins owner </span></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Jeffrey Loria</span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">?</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Why does </span></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Loria's</span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"> name never appear in the contract?</span></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">The Marlins are actually going to be receiving money loaned to them by the govt</span>.:</span> </span></span></span><span style="font-style: italic; "><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; ">where is their collateral or supporting evidence of surety bonds or even a recent, accurate appraisal/valuation of Loria's personal holdings, whether art or real estate?</span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Why is it that it took a year for the contract to be drafted, yet the County Commissioners were supposed to read it and make sense of it in two weeks? </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">The irony of this awful deal is that with the possibility of actually having a convenient commuter train on the</span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; ">FEC</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">tracks</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> in a few years that quickly connects millions of people from Palm Beach County to downtown Miami, </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">MLB</span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> always in the default position that stadiums should be engines for real-not-fanciful economic</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">redevelopment in their new neighborhoods -<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">as was the case in San Francisco, which I saw ample evidence of for myself even months</span></span></span></span> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0); font-style: italic; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; ">BEFORE </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; "><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">the Giants stadium </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">opened</span></span>- in hindsight, </span></span><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0); font-style: italic; "><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; ">the general area near the site </span></span><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0); font-style: italic; "><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; ">of the old </span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Miami Stadium</span></span></span></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; ">, right next to the <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 13px; "><span><span style="font-style: italic; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">FEC</span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "> tracks, would've made infinitely more sense than this awful mish-mash of a plan that doesn't hold up to scrutiny. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; ">You could hardly claim you need to build a $100 million dollar garage if you made it possible for people to literally walk across the street to the stadium from a train.</span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; ">That's something I know about first-hand, from taking the "El' train from Evanston or Wilmette down to Cubs games at</span> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; ">Wrigley Field</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; ">or from taking the</span> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; ">MARC</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; ">train up to Baltimore from D.C.'s </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Union Station</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">.</span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0); font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; ">Dozens and dozens of times.</span><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Here are a few more things I've been wondering about that I've yet to see either mentioned or answered in local media coverage of the stadium deal, which I'm against, despite being a longtime and enthusiastic sports fan who was going to Baltimore Orioles spring training games at</span></span> </span></span></span><span><span style="font-style: italic; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; ">Miami Stadium</span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"> 35 years ago, and was both a Dolphin, Hurricanes and Toros season-ticket holder for their games at the</span></span> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; ">Orange Bowl</span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">before leaving for</span></span> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; ">IU</span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> in August of '79 .</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">The number of Marlin game tickets and parking passes per game/per year to be given to the City of Miami, Miami-Dade County and any other South Florida governmental entity?</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Where are those seats?</span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> Bleacher, reserved, box, suites? <br /><br />Have the Marlins intentionally under-estimated value of those tickets and passes?</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">I ask because I was living in the Washington, D.C. area when investigations were </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">conducted to see whether or not </span></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Abe Pollin</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">, the Washington Wizards owner,</span></span> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; font-weight: normal; "><span><span style="font-style: italic; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; ">intentionally</span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> mis-represented </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><wbr>the costs of certain arena tickets so that they would be just under the lobbying "gift" limits, </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><wbr>despite the fact that those tickets were clearly superior to similarly-priced tickets.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><br /></span></span></div><div><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Pollin's</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> goal was clear</span></span>: </span></span></span><span style="font-style: italic; "><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); "><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; ">he wanted D.C. lobbyists to buy LOTS of Wizards tickets.</span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">By intentionally pricing tickets at the value the Wizards did, they made it easier for lobbyists to dole them out to whichever pols or influential city, county, and state employees the lobbyists wanted to influence, knowing that the gift recipients</span></span> </span></span></span><span><span style="font-style: italic; "><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; ">wouldn't</span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">have to </span></span></span></span></span><span><span style="font-style: italic; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">publicly</span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> declare them.</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0); font-style: italic; "></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><br /></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-style: italic; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; ">Honestly, given South Florida government's sordid longstanding history of ethical problems, to me, t</span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-style: italic; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; ">hat sounds </span></span></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; ">EXACTLY</span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "> </span></span></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; ">like the sort of thing that would happen here!</span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Will existing city and county ethics procedures be changed to reflect this?</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">At each governmental unit that's given tickets, what official will decide who gets to use the tickets, or are they for the exclusive use of elected officials and their family and friends?<br />If for all employees, how will they be distributed?<br />Are individuals, including elected officials, limited to using a certain of tickets per season?<br /> <br />I'll be writing some things about the proposed stadium deal and the Marlins consistently awful marketing strategy over the next few days on my blog, much of which I've kept in draft form for months, and will also be attending the County's meeting Friday afternoon.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">By the way, not that you'd know it if you'd actually gone to the Marlins broadcast partner's website,</span></span> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; ">F</span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; ">ox Sports Net Florida<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">,</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> i.e.</span></span> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; ">FSN Florida</span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; ">,<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> but unlike last year, when the Marlins did</span></span> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; ">NOT</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">televise a single one of their spring training games back into their home market, this spring their games against the Twins on March 14th and March 23rd against the Astros will be televised at 1:00 p.m.</span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">I've already spoken this morning to someone at</span></span> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; ">FSN Florida</span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">and they will be updating their website to reflect this important fact.</span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Given their marketings miscues, last year, the only way I could see Marlin spring training games via TV was by watching the other teams' telecasts to their home market via</span></span> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; ">DirecTV</span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">.</span></span></span></span></span></div></span></div></span></span></div><div class="post-footer" style="margin-top: 0.75em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.75em; margin-left: 0px; color: rgb(153, 153, 153); text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 0.1em; font: normal normal normal 78%/normal 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 1.4em; "><div class="post-footer-line post-footer-line-3"><span class="post-location"></span></div></div></div></span>South Beach Hoosierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05775460691562107804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064760842412172611.post-44440853021914693232008-10-27T01:10:00.006-04:002010-08-18T03:13:45.319-04:00North Miami Beach Senior High School in the 1970's<div>I recently saw that someone went into Wikipedia and removed some of the more interesting facts and anecdotes I added in the summer of 2007 to give the existing webpage some needed history and heft, because it was previously embarrassingly shallow for a school that's produced so many proud graduates over the years, not least of all me, from the Class of 1979.</div><br /><div> </div><br /><div>I've used my entry from last year as a foundation and added some things to give anyone ever wanting to understand what NMB Senior High was all about thirty years ago, some much needed perspective on things, since the area has undergone so many changes since then, many of which are for the good, I suppose, but many for the worse.</div><br /><div> </div><br /><div>Frankly, I should've just posted my entry here in the first place, since the Wiki page was deadly dull, and I could've saved myself a lot of time conforming to their so-called "style." </div><br /><div>__________________________</div><br /><div>North Miami Beach High School<br />North Miami Beach Senior High School is located 1247 NE 167 Street, North Miami m in <a class="mw-redirect" title="North Miami Beach" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Miami_Beach" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">North Miami Beach</a>, <a title="Florida" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Florida</a>; Its current principal is Raymond L. Fontana. North Miami Beach was built in <a title="1971" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1971" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">1971</a> as an overcrowding reliever school for <a title="North Miami High School" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Miami_High_School" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">North Miami High School</a> to the south at 800 N.E. 137 Street, and <a title="Miami Norland High School" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miami_Norland_High_School" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Miami Norland High School</a> to the northwest at 1050 N.W. 195 Street. <a class="mw-redirect" title="North Miami Beach Senior High School" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Miami_Beach_Senior_High_School" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">North Miami Beach Senior High School</a> was also a pioneer in school construction, being the first high school in <a title="Dade County" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dade_County" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Dade County</a> ever to be built with no windows of any kind, and was, necessarily, completely air-conditioned.<br /></div><br /><div>NMBHS's creation and its initial non-traditional style of education, with no traditional letter grades, not only created new natural rivalries with existing high schools, but also created tension within many middle and upper-middle class North Dade families, whose older children had attended and graduated from traditional Dade County schools, and who weren't necessarily happy that their younger children would be placed in an experimental school that eschewed the traditions the parents knew, as the Miami Herald reported often at the time.</div><br /><div><br />This proved inevitable when younger siblings went to a high school other than the one their older brothers and sisters -and in some cases, parents- had grown-up attending and supporting with their time, attention and money. Family traditions and habits are indeed hard to break.<br />This created a hard cleavage in school spirit, whose practical effects were often felt at NMB home games, since, early on, only a very small percentage of actual NMB residents had any tangible connection to the new high school with big hopes and even larger expectations.</div><br /><div><br />By the time the school was four years old, the non-traditional approach had been abandoned. </div><br /><div> </div><br /><div>There was a high percentage of NMB residents who were either recent Northeast transplants with roots elsewhere.</div><br /><div> </div><br /><div>Many Seniors had no grandchildren attending NMBHS. The initial rush and enthusiasm of school spirit often proved fleeting, with no established Charger tradition or generations of devoted alumni of their own to fall back on.<br /></div><br /><div>For many observers close to the NMB scene, this apathy among NMB residents, who, in other locales would've been natural school supporters, was largely proven when a medium-sized winter carnival with rides and attractions was held in February of 1976, just as the 1976 Winter Olympics were being nationally televised each night to huge ratings, thanks to the natural appeal of American figure skater Dorothy Hamill. </div><br /><div> </div><br /><div>It's important to remember that with very few families owning pricey Betamax VCRs back then, and with DVRs and TiVos to record their favorite TV programs a distant unimaginable dream, people in North Dade had to vote with their feet: stay home and watch the Olympics, or attend the NMB sports carnival and miss being able to watch the exciting live sports broadcasts? </div><br /><div> </div><br /><div>In the end, it was no contest, as Gold Medal-winner <a title="Dorothy Hamill" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothy_Hamill" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Dorothy Hamill</a> proved irresistible to American TV viewers, with her enormous talent and poise, beaming smile and unique bobbed hairdo style that immediately fueled an epidemic across the country.<br /></div><br /><div>Held on the NMB soccer/practice football field on the NW part of campus that Charger soccer players affectionately called "Poly-Rock Stadium" -a dig at the expense of the then-existing <a title="Poly-Turf" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poly-Turf" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Poly-Turf</a> football field at the <a title="Miami Orange Bowl" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miami_Orange_Bowl" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Orange Bowl</a>, where the <a title="University of Miami" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Miami" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">University of Miami</a> and the <a title="Miami Dolphins" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miami_Dolphins" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Miami Dolphins</a> football teams played- the winter sports carnival was the sort of fundraiser that's held annually in large parts of the country, especially in the Midwest and South.<br /></div><br /><div>Planned for the sole purpose of raising much-needed funds for the beleaguered NMB athletic department's bottom line, to help offset the myriad costs associated with fielding the same number of competitive sports teams as other better-established Dade high schools, but with none of the built-in traditional fan and financial base.<br /></div><br /><div>The event proved not to be a roaring success, attendance-wise, and after nearby residents and homeowners who had previously signed needed petitions to gain the permit, suddenly expressed dismay at the event to local media, the event was never repeated.<br />NMBHS's particular geographical location in <a class="mw-redirect" title="South Florida" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Florida" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">South Florida</a> has played a large role in shaping its history, as well as the day-to-day mood of its very diverse student body.<br />The reason is that for the better part of its first fifteen years of existence, prior to the opening of the much-larger and upscale destination-style <a title="Aventura Mall" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aventura_Mall" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Aventura Mall</a> on <a title="Biscayne Boulevard" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biscayne_Boulevard" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Biscayne Boulevard</a> and N.E. 203 Street, the school was just across the street from the very popular regional shopping center, <a title="The Mall at 163rd Street" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mall_at_163rd_Street" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">The Mall at 163rd Street</a>, which featured dozens of retail stores. (For most of those first 15 years as neighbors, the shopping center was an outdoor shopping center, exposing shoppers to South Florida's sub-tropical heat or drenching thundrestorms.)<br />Among the more popular stores were a very successful Burdine's, a Jordan Marsh, a J.C. Penney's, a Rich's, an Oshman's Sporting Goods and lots of small-to-medium sized "Mom-and-Pop" stores, as well as chain clothing, bookstores and sundry stores.<br />It was also well-known for being the home of three WOMETCO movie theatres, which were the largest movie theatres in northern Dade County from roughly 1968-83, drawing large numbers of film fans from southern <a class="mw-redirect" title="Broward County" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broward_County" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Broward County</a> as well. (WOMETCO was the then-corporate owner of the popular <a title="Miami Seaquarium" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miami_Seaquarium" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Miami Seaquarium</a> on <a title="Key Biscayne" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Key_Biscayne" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Key Biscayne</a> and <a title="WTVJ" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WTVJ" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">WTVJ</a>-Channel 4, the long-dominant news station in South Florida under legendary broadcaster and news anchor Ralph Renick.)<br />Because of this synergy, the theatres were a very popular date spot, since the only other movie alternatives consisted largely of the Miami Shores theatre in <a class="mw-redirect" title="Miami Shores" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miami_Shores" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Miami Shores</a> many miles to the south, or the two drive-in theatres off State Road 836, west of the Golden Glades Interchange, on N.W. 27th Avenue and N.W. 37 Avenue.<br />The mall's northern side, closest to the school itself, also served as a very busy Metro bus terminal, the largest in northern <a title="Dade County" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dade_County" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Dade County</a>, and thus was an important lifeline for NMBHS students and employees heading to or from home, or to after-school jobs elsewhere in the area.<br />"163rd Street" was a very important employment center for NMB students in the summer and over Christmas and Hanukah holidays, and, to the consternation of assistant principals at both NMBHS and JFK Junior High, to the west of NMBHS, also proved a popular hang-out for students predisposed to skipping school entirely.<br />It was equally popular with NMB students looking for a break at lunch-time, and after myriad evening school sports, drama and music activities.<br />Unfortunately, the natural traffic associated with the financial success of the shopping mall had a down side as well, as it tended to reinforce in NMB resident's minds the longstanding parking problems with the area, which discouraged families from attending evening events at NMBHS.<br />Until a regional high school football stadium was built in the 1990s at the (northern) <a title="Biscayne Bay" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biscayne_Bay" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Biscayne Bay</a> campus of <a title="Florida International University" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_International_University" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Florida International University</a> off <a title="Biscayne Boulevard" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biscayne_Boulevard" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Biscayne Boulevard</a> and N.E. 151 Street, the NMB Chargers football team played both its home AND away games at the northern regional football stadium, Traz Powell Stadium. Located at the-then Miami-Dade North Community College campus, now called <a title="Miami Dade College" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miami_Dade_College" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Miami Dade College</a>, it was located more than 7 miles away from the NMB campus.<br />Once students, faculty and fans arrived in the immense parking lot, local police providing security for the event directed you to the side of the stadium NMB was assigned to: "Home or Visitors'.<br />This bad situation, on top of the already existing fan-base problem in NMB, only made school spirit at football games problematic for all but the most devout Charger fans, since, on average, at least 75% of the fans at the games couldn't legally drive, and were completely dependent on adults to drive them to the stadium.<br />This logistical nightmare made it all but impossible for residents of NMB and environs to actually see the high school's team in action, and had the practical effect of meaning that in a very real sense, none of the post-game activities that high school kids have been traditionally conditioned to expect for themselves through novels, television shows and films were open to them. That was for kids at other high schools.<br /><a class="mw-redirect" title="North Miami Beach" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Miami_Beach" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">North Miami Beach</a> also has a Biomedical and Environmental Advancement Magnet program (BEAM) available to any students in the district. The program gives higher education credits to students wishing to pursue a career in medicine or environmental sciences.<br />In the summer on 2005, the school added a new two story building to its campus.<br />NMB's current athletic rivals are <a class="mw-redirect" title="North Miami Senior High School" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Miami_Senior_High_School" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">North Miami Senior High School</a> and <a title="Dr. Michael M. Krop High School" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Michael_M._Krop_High_School" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Dr. Michael M. Krop High School</a>.<br />Prior to the opening of Krop, the following schools were the most intense rivalries in NMB's most consistently successful sports teams: Men's Soccer- North Miami Senior High School, especially games at the Pioneers' home field, the scene of a historic Ciro Martinez-led last-second Charger win in 1976 that helped fuel the Chargers' run to the Florida state championship.<br />The Vikings of <a class="mw-redirect" title="Miami Norland Senior High School" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miami_Norland_Senior_High_School" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Miami Norland Senior High School</a>, who inflicted a bitter 1977 loss on the Chargers, knocking them out of the Florida state playoffs at <a title="Lockhart Stadium" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockhart_Stadium" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Lockhart Stadium</a> in <a class="mw-redirect" title="Fort Lauderdale" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Lauderdale" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Fort Lauderdale</a>, and ending the Chargers' hope of winning back-to-back Florida state soccer championships. The Vikings eventually finished as the state runner-up that year.<br />Women's Gymnastics-<br /><a class="mw-redirect" title="North Miami Senior High School" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Miami_Senior_High_School" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">North Miami Senior High School</a> always proved tough competition when talented twin sisters Debbie Reiser and Donna Reiser were top-flight All-Dade gymnasts there between 1975-79, but ultimately, NMB's greater depth and all-around ability always won the day by the last event led by Lisa Martin and Karen Ginsburg.<br />By far, the toughest competition for the NMB Charger gymnastics team during their undefeated glory days of the late 1970s under head coach Peter Saponaro -himself an All-American and co-captain of an NCAA Championship Men's team at Penn State in the 1960s- came against the orange and blue-clad Trojans of HML, Hialeah-Miami Lakes High School, when H-ML dominated the high school sports world of Miami in nearly every sport, as few schools have before or since.<br /></div><br /><div>For years the Trojan gymnasts were consistently the second-best team in the state of Florida under the tutelage of their veteran head coach Don Gutzler.<br /></div><br /><div>The Trojans were led by some enormously talented gymnasts, including my friend, the late Dee Leutner, who I ran into outside of NMB the day we were to take the SATs, and who sat at my table after we psyched each other up. What a sweetheart she was!</div><br /><div> </div><br /><div>After leaving HML, Dee was a proud University of Georgia Gym Dog teammate of one of my great friends on the NMB team, Linda Zobler, the middle daughter of the amazing gymnastic Zobler sisters, Katie and Susan, whose proud and encouraging parents never missed a home meet and were a model for what gymnastic parents ought to be.</div><br /><div>(Katie was the first of my NMB gymnastic friends to head up to Athens and join the University of Georgia GymDogs around 1977 or '78.</div><br /><div>because of her fantastic personality and ever-present smile, Linda Zobler was an immensely popular person at NMBHS, especially with the Boys Soccer team back when the NMB Boys soccer team and Girls gymnastic teams were very interconnected because of their mutual support for each other at games and meets, but also because, quite frankly, they were by far the most consistently talented and successful teams in the school.</div><br /><div>It was only natural that they gravitated towards each other.</div><br /><div> </div><br /><div>The tall and graceful Deeanne Fernandez was another great HML gymnast, especially on balance beam and bars.</div><br /><div> </div><br /><div>A red-haired ball of energy named Tracey Blake, also my friend, was yet another star HML gymnast, and later followed me up to Indiana University, where she became the captain of the Hoosier gymnastics team.</div><br /><div>Dee, Linda, Deeanne and Tracey all consistently made the Miami Herald and Miami News All-Dade County gymnastics team year after year, without fail, just as prior friends and stars like Lisa Martin and Karen Ginsberg ui .<br /></div><br /><div>H-ML always provided the Chargers with the sort of tough but friendly competition that was usually never settled until the very last competitor had performed, as happened often in the GMAC (county) championship meet, and the 1979 state championship at NMB, the Chargers always emerging bloodied but victorious.<br /></div><br /><div>The NMB vs. H-ML gymnastics meets were always well-attended, regardless of the venue, but never more so when they were held at NMBHS, when appreciative evening crowds of 1,500-2,000 people were not at all uncommon, and only added to the spirit and tension of a meet between what were clearly the two best teams in the state of Florida, and among the best in the nation, year after year.<br /></div><br /><div>Though they were tough competitors during the course of the meet, the Chargers and Trojan gymnasts were kindred spirits and friends away from the gym, and the large number of fans who attended these intense meets were always very keen on showing their appreciation of the<br />H-ML gymnasts for their talent and style, since their ability only served to push the Chargers even harder.</div><br /><div><br />Years later, South Florida sports fans who were fortunate enough to have attended those meets STILL remember the tension that greeted every performance and judge's score, as the Charger and Trojan gymnasts put on an impressive show of talent and style that were unique for the world of high school sports in general, and high school gymnastics in particular. </div><br /><div> </div><br /><div>They were the best of competitors for two hours and the best of friends afterwards. </div><br /><div> </div><br /><div>Notable alumni<br /><br /><a title="Max Jean-Gilles" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Jean-Gilles">Max Jean-Gilles</a> - Philadelphia Eagles<br /></div><br /><div><a title="Bobby Kemp" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Kemp">Bobby Kemp</a> - former NFL strong safety for <a title="Cincinnati Bengals" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cincinnati_Bengals">Cincinnati Bengals</a> from 1981-86, and <a title="Tampa Bay Buccaneers" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tampa_Bay_Buccaneers">Tampa Bay Buccaneers</a> in 1987. Started in <a title="Super Bowl" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Bowl">Super Bowl</a> as rookie.<br /><br /><a title="Steve Nicosia" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Nicosia">Steve Nicosia</a> -MLB Catcher, 8 seasons, 1978-1985 <a title="Pittsburgh" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittsburgh">Pittsburgh</a>,<a title="San Francisco" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco">San Francisco</a>,<a title="Montreal" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montreal">Montreal</a>,<a title="Toronto" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toronto">Toronto</a>.<br />First <a title="NMB" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NMB">NMB</a> alum to play in <a class="mw-redirect" title="MLB" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MLB">MLB</a> <a title="World Series" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Series">World Series</a> in 1979, catching Game 7 as rookie.<br /><a id="In_popular_culture" name="In_popular_culture"></a><br />Men's Soccer: <a class="new" title="Florida State Champions (page does not exist)" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Florida_State_Champions&action=edit&redlink=1">Florida State Champions</a> in 1976 under head coach <a class="new" title="Victor Cappillo (page does not exist)" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Victor_Cappillo&action=edit&redlink=1">Victor Cappillo</a><br />Women's Gymnastics: Greater Miami Athletic Conference (County) Champions 1976-1979 and Florida State Champions in 1979 under head coach: Peter Saponaro </div>South Beach Hoosierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05775460691562107804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064760842412172611.post-6619955016244546762008-10-24T18:00:00.013-04:002008-10-24T20:37:22.647-04:00Finally! South Beach Hoosier is Back on the Job!<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_rel9pM5SA5o/SQJMZc3bQtI/AAAAAAAABZ8/1JjcoXBSEt0/s1600-h/South+Beach+Hoosier%27s+crimson-colored+ballcap_jpg.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5260851314851267282" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 150px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 140px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_rel9pM5SA5o/SQJMZc3bQtI/AAAAAAAABZ8/1JjcoXBSEt0/s400/South+Beach+Hoosier%27s+crimson-colored+ballcap_jpg.JPG" border="0" /></a> <span style="font-family:arial;color:#990000;"><em>It's hard to be humble when you're a Hoosier-by-choice!</em></span><br /><br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_rel9pM5SA5o/SQJMSKwcsDI/AAAAAAAABZ0/19fnJgQlLq8/s1600-h/NCAA+Title+Banners,+Assembly+Hall.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5260851189731078194" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 350px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 350px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_rel9pM5SA5o/SQJMSKwcsDI/AAAAAAAABZ0/19fnJgQlLq8/s400/NCAA+Title+Banners,+Assembly+Hall.jpg" border="0" /></a></div><div><span style="color:#990000;">Assembly Hall, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana</span></div><div>One of the places where, once upon a time, it really did all come together.<br /></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;"></span> </div><div><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;"></span> </div><div><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">Sorry for the <strong><span style="color:#000000;">VERY LONG</span></strong> break from my duties here at <em><span style="color:#990000;">South Beach Hoosier</span></em>, as I've rather foolishly allowed myself to become too preoccupied with the internecine political fighting here in the duchy of Hallandale Beach, Florida and writing on <em><span style="color:#990000;">Hallandale Beach Blog</span></em>, to the neglect of my <em><span style="color:#990000;">SBH</span></em> responsibilities.</span></div><div><span style="font-family:Arial;color:#000000;"><em>Trust me, nobody feels worse about the matter than I do.</em></span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;"></span> </div><div><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;"></span> </div><div><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">Not to worry, as I have a ton of already-written material that I will be posting here over the next few days to get you al back up to speed on what's on my mind as it involves my interests, like the <em><span style="color:#990000;">Indiana University Hoosiers</span></em>; the myriad ups and (mostly) downs of the Dolphins and Hurricanes in this season of inconsistent coaching; the latest doings of South Florida's thoroughly under-reported public policy scene, and the neverending media keffuffle that is South Florida's current sorry state of journalism, where old-fashioned notions about thoroughness and fairness have been completely cast aside for all to see.</span></div><div><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;color:#000099;">Another trend that you may notice is that I will no longer be holding my punches quite so much about individual South Florida and Washington media personalities that I know and have dealt with, as I have done perhaps a bit too much in the past.</span></div><div><span style="font-family:Arial;color:#000099;">That's all in the past, as in the intervening months, per the last paragraph, the gloves have most definitely come off!</span></div><div><span style="font-family:Arial;color:#000099;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:Arial;color:#000099;">No point holding my tongue when I can enlighten everyone to some egregiously bad, sloppy or incomplete reporting. </span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:Arial;color:#000099;"></span> </div><div><span style="font-family:Arial;color:#000099;"></span> </div><div><span style="font-family:Arial;color:#000099;">In another media matter, I will also mention and comments on some recent <em><span style="color:#990000;">Hoosier</span></em> additions to the South Florida news media scene.</span></div><div></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;"></span> </div><div><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;"></span> </div><div><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">By the way, since I last commented in this space, I've had the good fortune to run into the mother of a former <strong><em><span style="color:#990000;">IU</span></em></strong> basketball player a few times, and will hope to fill you in on what she had to share with me about her talented son.</span></div><div><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;color:#000099;">Surprisingly, I've also discovered that a very trustworthy news source is now <strong><span style="color:#000000;">MUCH CLOSER</span></strong> to someone within the inner orbit of <em><span style="color:#990000;"><strong>Hoosier</strong></span></em> athletics than I ever could've guessed.</span></div><div><span style="font-family:Arial;color:#000099;">Could it </span><span style="font-family:Arial;color:#000099;">be, you know, </span><span style="font-family:Arial;color:#000099;">a possible future "<em><span style="color:#990000;">South Beach Hoosier</span></em> World Exclusive" he said, laughing at the very idea.</span></div><div><span style="font-family:Arial;color:#000099;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:Arial;color:#000099;"></span> </div><div><span style="font-family:Arial;color:#000099;">Not yet, but...</span></div><div><span style="font-family:Arial;color:#000099;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:Arial;color:#000099;"></span> </div><div><span style="font-family:Arial;color:#000099;">-<span style="color:#990000;"><em>Dave at South Beach Hoosier</em></span></span></div>South Beach Hoosierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05775460691562107804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064760842412172611.post-22858066767498902092008-07-18T01:43:00.035-04:002008-10-27T02:40:29.715-04:00Miami's Art Basel's Role in the UBS (Tax Cheat) Scandal<span style="color:#000099;"><em><span style="color:#990000;">Of course</span></em> Florida and <em><span style="color:#000000;">South Florida</span></em> in particular is a character in the emerging tax scandal involving Swiss banking giant <em><span style="color:#990000;">UBS</span></em> and billions of undeclared </span><span style="color:#006600;"><em>greenback$<span style="color:#000099;">.</span></em></span><br /><span style="color:#000099;">Why should this story be any different from so many dozens of crazy stories before it over the past thirty years?</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#000099;"><span style="color:#000000;">(</span>See: </span><strong>Sen. Levin: Shut Down Giant Swiss Bank UBS, </strong><br />Investigation Reveals Secrecy Tricks Allegedly Used by Swiss Bankers<br />By BRIAN ROSS, AVNI PATEL, and RHONDA SCHWARTZ, July 17, 2008<br /><a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=5394214&page=1"><span style="color:#990000;">http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=5394214&page=1</span></a> )<br /><span style="color:#000099;"></span><br /><span style="color:#000099;">It's really great that the <em><span style="color:#990000;">Art Basel Art Fair</span></em> could help facilitate the meet-and-greet card exchanges that led directly to illicit behavior and financial transactions among the monied class.</span><br /><span style="color:#000099;">Friendly, competent help like that down here is <strong><span style="color:#990000;">VERY</span></strong> hard to find, as we all know from experience.</span><br /><span style="color:#990000;"><em>No wonder UBS kept coming back year-after-year!</em></span><br /><span style="color:#000099;"></span><br /><span style="color:#000099;">As of this morning, the <span style="color:#990000;"><em>UBS</em></span> logo still appears in the bottom left of the <em><span style="color:#990000;">Art Basel</span></em> web page</span><br /><a href="http://www.artbasel.com/"><span style="color:#990000;">http://www.artbasel.com/</span></a><br /><span style="color:#000099;">FYI:</span> <span style="color:#000099;"><em><span style="color:#990000;">Art 40 Basel</span></em> takes place June 10-14, 2009</span>.<br /><span style="color:#000099;"></span><br /><span style="color:#000099;">In a few years, when they eventually make a feature film out of <strong><span style="color:#000000;">Tom Wolfe's</span></strong> upcoming novel on the <em><span style="color:#003333;"><strong>Miami </strong></span></em>area, I hope they at least do some on-site shooting down here so that some good can come from all the (temporary?) ill-gotten gains.</span><br /><em>(Who knows, maybe <span style="color:#990000;">MIA's </span><span style="color:#000000;">construction </span>will even be finished by then!)</em><br /><span style="color:#000099;"></span><br /><span style="color:#000099;">Regardless of how old the <em><span style="color:#000000;">cool as a cucumber</span></em> Swiss banker <strong><span style="color:#000000;">Bradley Birkenfeld</span></strong> really is, I hereby nominate <strong><span style="color:#000000;">Jeremy Irons</span></strong> to play him. </span><a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000460/"><span style="color:#990000;">http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000460/</span></a><br /><span style="color:#000099;"></span><br /><span style="color:#000099;">I can already see him in the role, stepping out of a long dark <em><span style="color:#000000;">Town Car</span></em> at night, impeccably dressed with a tan and saying bon mots to folks who love nothing in the world so much as cultured and erudite people tossing bon mots their way.</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#000099;">A little bit of <em><span style="color:#000000;">Reversal of Evidence</span></em> <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100486/"><span style="color:#990000;">http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100486/</span></a> and a little bit of <span style="color:#990000;"><span style="color:#000000;"><em>Damage</em></span> <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104237/"><span style="color:#990000;">http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104237/</span></a> </span></span><span style="color:#000000;">and pretty soon you're talking Swiss banker</span><br /><span style="color:#000099;">with dollar signs in his eyes as he hands out <em><span style="color:#990000;">UBS</span></em> cards with the three keys on it.</span><br /><span style="color:#000099;">Ironically, I'm doing this post while simultaneously watching <strong><span style="color:#000000;">Clark Gable</span></strong> and <strong><span style="color:#000000;">Lana Turner</span></strong> on <em><span style="color:#990000;">Turner Classic Movies</span></em> in 1941's <em><span style="color:#000000;">Honky Tonk</span></em>, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0033726/"><span style="color:#990000;">http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0033726/</span></a> in which <strong><span style="color:#000000;">Gable</span></strong> plays -<em><span style="color:#000000;">yes</span></em>- a lovable but tough <em><span style="color:#990000;">con man</span></em> in the <em><span style="color:#000000;">Old West</span></em>.</span><br /><span style="color:#000099;"></span><br /><span style="color:#000099;">Naturally, now that I say all these things about characters and actors, I see thru this <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22474914/"><span style="color:#990000;">http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22474914/</span></a></span> <span style="color:#000099;">and this, <a href="http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2008/01/inside_tom_wolfes.html"><span style="color:#990000;">http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2008/01/inside_tom_wolfes.html</span></a></span><br /><span style="color:#000099;">that <strong><span style="color:#000000;">Wolfe's</span></strong> novel <em><span style="color:#990000;">Back to the Blood</span></em> already has identifiable characters, <span style="color:#990000;"><span style="color:#000099;">and,</span><em> none of 'em are Swiss bankers</em></span> with the savoir-faire to help those with the dough avoid the tax man.</span><br /><em><span style="color:#000000;">Maybe I'll have to be the one write that screenplay after all!</span></em><br /><span style="color:#000099;"></span><br /><span style="color:#000099;">Herewith, the <em><span style="color:#990000;">Swiss</span></em> variation of a con, except here, rich folks are the easy marks, eager to escape paying <strong><em><span style="color:#000000;">Uncle Sam</span></em></strong> their fair share of the tax load while indulging their <em><span style="color:#000000;">haute culture</span></em> in <em><span style="color:#000000;">South Florida</span></em>.</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#000099;">And remember, as the <em><span style="color:#000000;">Herald</span></em> keeps insisting we must, they're not all snobs, they're just</span><br /><span style="color:#000099;">connoisseurs and possible condo-owners to be.</span><br /><span style="color:#000099;">Meanwhile, back in <em><span style="color:#990000;">The Miami Art District</span></em>...</span><br /><em><span style="color:#000099;">(Numbers in blue identify footnote numbers)</span></em><br /><span style="color:#990000;"></span><br /><span style="color:#990000;">from page 3/114:</span><br />On June 30, 2008, the United States took another step. It filed a petition in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida requesting leave to file an IRS administrative summons with UBS asking the bank to disclose the names of all of its U.S. clients who have opened accounts in Switzerland, but for which the bank has not filed forms with the IRS disclosing the Swiss accounts.<em><span style="color:#000099;">10</span></em> The court approved service of the summons on UBS on July 1,<br />2008.<em><span style="color:#000099;">11</span></em> The summons has apparently been served, but according to Swiss authorities the Swiss<br />and American governments are negotiating over its execution.<em><span style="color:#000099;">12</span></em> This John Doe summons<br />represents the first time that the United States has attempted to pierce Swiss bank secrecy by<br />compelling a Swiss bank to name its U.S. clients.<br /><br /><span style="color:#990000;">from page 6-7/114</span><br /><span style="color:#990000;">In May 2008, a second international tax scandal broke when the United States arrested a<br />private banker formerly employed by UBS AG, one of the largest banks in the world, on charges<br />of having conspired with a U.S. citizen and a business associate to defraud the IRS of $7.2<br />million in taxes owed on $200 million of assets hidden in offshore accounts in Switzerland and<br />Liechtenstein. The United States had earlier detained as a material witness in that prosecution a<br />senior UBS private banking official from Switzerland traveling on business in Florida, allegedly<br />seizing his computer and other evidence. In June 2008, the former UBS private banker, Bradley Birkenfeld, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the IRS</span>.<span style="color:#000099;">8</span> His alleged co-conspirator, Mario<br />Staggl, part owner of a trust company, remains at large in Liechtenstein. The current UBS senior private banking official, Martin Liechti, remains under travel restrictions. This enforcement<br />action appears to represent the first time that the United States has criminally prosecuted a Swiss banker for helping a U.S. taxpayer evade payment of U.S. taxes.<span style="color:#000099;">9</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#990000;">On June 30, 2008, the United States took another step. It filed a petition in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida requesting leave to file an IRS administrative<br />summons with UBS asking the bank to disclose the names of all of its U.S. clients who have<br />opened accounts in Switzerland, but for which the bank has not filed forms with the IRS disclosing the Swiss accounts.</span><span style="color:#000099;">10</span> The court approved service of the summons on UBS on July 1,<br />2008.<span style="color:#000099;">11</span> The summons has apparently been served, but according to Swiss authorities the Swiss<br />and American governments are negotiating over its execution.<span style="color:#000099;">12</span> This John Doe summons<br />represents the first time that the United States has attempted to pierce Swiss bank secrecy by<br />compelling a Swiss bank to name its U.S. clients.<br /><br /><span style="color:#990000;">from page 9/114</span><br /><strong>Marsh Accounts: Hiding $49 Million Over Twenty Years.</strong> <span style="color:#990000;">James Albright Marsh, a U.S. citizen from Florida in the construction business, formed four Liechtenstein foundations, two in 1985, one in 1998, and one in 2004, and transferred substantial sums to them.</span> LGT assisted him in establishing the two 1985 foundations, using documents that gave Mr. Marsh and his sons substantial control over the foundations and strong secrecy protections. By 2007, the assets in his four foundations had a combined value of more than $49 million. Although LGT became a participant in the QI Program in 2001, which requires foreign banks to report information on accounts with U.S. securities, LGT did not report the Marsh accounts. Instead it advised Mr. Marsh to divest his LGT foundations of U.S. securities, and treated the accounts as owned by non-U.S. persons, the Liechtenstein foundations that LGT had formed. After Mr. Marsh’s death in 2006, the IRS apparently discovered the Liechtenstein foundations through the documents released by the former LGT employee. Mr. Marsh’s family is now in negotiation with the IRS over back taxes, interest and penalties owed on the $49 million in undeclared assets.<br /><br /><span style="color:#990000;">from page 16/114:</span><br />Mr. Birkenfeld testified that UBS also provided its Swiss bankers with tickets and funds to go to events attended by wealthy U.S. individuals, so that they could solicit new business for the bank in Switzerland. He said that UBS sponsored U.S. events likely to attract wealthy clients, such as the <span style="color:#990000;">Art Basel Air Fair in Miami</span>; performances in major U.S. cities by the UBS Vervier Orchestra featuring talented young musicians; and U.S. yachting events attended by the elite Swiss yachting team, Alinghi, which was also sponsored by UBS. A UBS document laying out marketing strategies to attract U.S. clients confirms that the bank “organized VIP events” and engaged in the “Sponsorship of Major Events” such as “Golf, Tennis Tournaments, Art, Special Events.” This document even identified the 25 most affluent housing areas in the United States to provide “targeted locations where to organize events.”<br /><br /><span style="color:#990000;">page 19/114</span><br /><strong>Olenicoff Accounts. </strong><span style="color:#990000;">T</span></span><span style="color:#990000;">hese concerns are further illustrated by the recent criminal prosecution involving UBS accounts opened in Switzerland by Mr. Birkenfeld for Igor Olenicoff. Mr. Olenicoff is a billionaire real estate developer, U.S. citizen, and resident of Florida and California. From 2001 until 2005, Mr. Birkenfeld and Mario Staggl, a trust officer from Liechtenstein helped Mr. Olenicoff open multiple bank accounts in the names of offshore companies he controlled at UBS in Switzerland and Neue Bank in Liechtenstein. For a time, Mr. Olenicoff was Mr. Birkenfeld’s largest private banking client</span>. To service these accounts, Mr. Birkenfeld met with Mr. Olenicoff in the United States and elsewhere, communicated with him by telephone, fax, and email in the United States, and advised him on how to avoid disclosure of his accounts and assets to the IRS. In 2007, Mr. Olenicoff pled guilty to one criminal count of filing a false income tax return by failing to disclose the foreign bank accounts he controlled. He was sentenced to two years probation and 120 hours of community service, and paid six years of back taxes, interest, and penalties totaling $52 million. In 2008, Mr. Birkenfeld pled guilty to conspiring with Mr. Olenicoff to defraud the IRS and avoid payment of taxes owed on $200 million in assets hidden in accounts in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Their alleged coconspirator, Mr. Staggl, remains at large in Liechtenstein.<br /><br /><span style="color:#990000;">page 42/114</span><strong> one of the most fascinating parts of the story!</strong><br /><span style="color:#000000;"><strong>(1) Marsh Accounts: Hiding $49 Million Over Twenty Years<br /></strong><span style="color:#990000;">James Albright Marsh, Jr. (“Mr. Marsh”) is a construction contractor who lived in Florida with his wife and six children, until he died in 2006</span>.<span style="color:#000099;">117</span> He, his wife, and his children have always been U.S. citizens. In 1985, Mr. Marsh traveled to Liechtenstein, and LGT helped him establish two Liechtenstein foundations, the Chateau Foundation and Lincol Foundation, which then opened accounts at LGT Bank. Also during the 1980s, Mr. Marsh formed two more<br />Liechtenstein foundations, called Topanga Foundation<span style="color:#000099;">118</span> and Largella Foundation,<span style="color:#000099;">119</span> apparently using two other financial institutions in Liechtenstein.<span style="color:#000099;">120</span> Over the years, these four<br />Liechtenstein foundations opened accounts at five Liechtenstein banks.<span style="color:#000099;">121</span> By 2007, the<br />Liechtenstein accounts had assets with a combined value in excess of $49 million.</span><span style="color:#000099;">122</span><br /><span style="color:#990000;"></span><br /><span style="color:#990000;"><em>This section on Mr. Marsh continues for five pages with all sorts of secretive legal corporate tactics they employed to keep below the radar. </em></span><br /><span style="color:#990000;"></span><br /><span style="color:#990000;">from page 79-81/114</span><br /><strong>Using Transfer Corporations to “Cover Up the Tracks” of Client Funds. </strong>A</span>s indicated in some of the case histories described earlier, LGT documents obtained by the Subcommittee show that it was not uncommon for LGT to set up intermediary, pass-through corporations that were used by the bank, in the words of an LGT employee, “to cover up the tracks” of funds moving into LGT client accounts. When asked about these corporations, the head of compliance Officer for LGT Group confirmed their existence, explaining that these “auxiliary services corporations” served several functions, including the transmission of funds “confidentially.”<span style="color:#000099;">338</span><br /><br />The documents show that LGT used BTS Management Ltd., formed in the British Virgin Islands (BVI), to establish a number of the transfer corporations. The documents indicate that LGT typically asked BTS Management to form a BVI corporation which then opened an account at LGT or another bank, such as Bank du Gothard in Luxembourg. The transfer corporation then<br />received funds or securities from an LGT client and immediately transferred those funds or<br />securities to LGT, if its account was at an outside bank. In some instances the transfer corporation was then dissolved; in other instances, it continued in existence. Once the funds or<br />securities were delivered to LGT bank, they were moved internally within the bank, using a<br />mechanism called “journaling” to transfer them from one LGT account to another, here from the transfer corporation’s LGT account to the client’s LGT account. This internal transfer mechanism makes it much more difficult to trace the movement of funds and securities, since it<br />leaves no record outside of the bank showing that the assets were transferred to the ultimate<br />recipient, the LGT client.<br /><span style="color:#990000;"><span style="color:#000000;"></span></span><br /><span style="color:#990000;"><span style="color:#000000;">The Subcommittee investigation uncovered several examples of LGT engaging in this practice. For example, Sera Financial Corporation is a BVI corporation that appears to have functioned as an LGT transfer corporation. An internal LGT document describes Sera Financial as a “[s]pecial purpose company (indirect subsidiary of LTV) for portfolio transfers for assets which are to be brought into an LTV structure.”<span style="color:#000099;">339</span> The document shows, by account number, that Sera Financial held one account at Banque du Gothard and eleven separate accounts at LGT Bank in Liechtenstein.<span style="color:#000099;">340 </span><span style="color:#000000;">The document explains this unusual account structure as follows:</span><br /><br /></span></span><span style="color:#000000;"><span style="color:#000099;"></span><span style="color:#000000;"><em>For each customer, a sub-account or deposit facility is opened under a reference at BdG<br />[Banque du Gothard] and at LGT …. Funds transfers as well as securities deliveries to BdG are in favor of SERA …. BdG is instructed to forward cash values and securities without delay to LGT BIL [Bank in Liechtenstein] in favor of Sera Financial Corp. with specification of the reference. ... As soon as the assets are credited at BIL, they are transferred to the destination account ….</em><span style="color:#000099;">341</span><br /></span><br /><span style="color:#000000;">One example of how Sera Financial was used involves a new trust set up for a U.S. client in 2000. A LGT memorandum to the file discussing the transfer of assets to the new trust states:<br />“The trust shall open an account in the LGT Bank in Liechtenstein. The transfer of assets should<br />take place using this account. To cover up the tracks from UBS Zurich to the trust in Liechtenstein, I recommend an intermediary Single Purpose Company.”<span style="color:#000099;">342</span> LGT decided to use<br />Sera Financial as the transfer corporation. A wire transfer instruction from Gotthard Bank shows how the transfer operation worked.<span style="color:#000099;">343</span> It shows that on October 31, 2000, after $1.2 million had been credited to the Sera Financial account at Banque du Gothard: “BTS Management Limited, Tortola, as Managing Director of the company Sera Financial Corporation, Tortola, B.V.I. [h]ereby declares: … that the following beneficiary(ies) is/are entitled to the above-referenced transaction,” naming the U.S. citizen from <span style="color:#990000;">Florida</span>, known to the Subcommittee as a U.S. client of LGT at that time. The $1.2 million was then transferred to his account.</span><br /><span style="color:#990000;"></span><br /><span style="color:#990000;">pages 96-97/114</span><br />Mr. Birkenfeld testified that UBS not only authorized and paid for the business trips to the United States, but also provided the Swiss bankers with tickets and funds to go to events<br />attended by wealthy U.S. individuals, so that they could solicit new business for the bank in<br />Switzerland. He said that UBS sponsored U.S. events likely to attract wealthy clients, such as<br />the <span style="color:#990000;">Art Basel Air Fair in Miami</span>; performances in major U.S. cities by the UBS Vervier Orchestra<br />featuring talented young musicians; and U.S. yachting events attended by the elite Swiss<br /><span style="color:#000000;">yachting team, Alinghi, which was also sponsored by UBS. An internal UBS document laying<br />out marketing strategies to attract U.S. and Canadian clients confirms that the bank “organized<br />VIP events” and engaged in the “Sponsorship of Major Events” such as “Golf, Tennis<br />Tournaments, Art, Special Events.”<span style="color:#000099;">405</span> This document even identified the 25 most affluent<br />housing areas in the United States to provide “targeted locations where to organize events.”<span style="color:#000099;">406</span><br /></span></span><br /><span style="color:#000000;"><span style="color:#000000;">Mr. Birkenfeld described to the Subcommittee how Swiss private bankers used these events and other means to find new U.S. clients during their trips to the United States: You might go to sporting events. You might go to car shows, wine tastings. You might deal with real estate agents. You might deal with attorneys. … It’s really where do the rich people hang out, go and talk to them. … [I]t wasn’t difficult to walk into a party with a … business card, and then someone ask[s] you, ‘What do you do?’ and you say, ‘Well, I work for a bank in Switzerland, and we manage money there and open accounts.’<br />And people immediately would recognize, oh, this is someone who could open new<br />business by opening accounts.</span><span style="color:#000099;">407</span><br /><span style="color:#000099;"></span><br /><span style="color:#990000;">page 98/114</span><br /><span style="color:#000000;">For example, the Subcommittee found that at least five UBS client advisors travelled to the United States for trips coinciding with the <span style="color:#990000;">Art Basel Art Fair</span>, an annual UBS-sponsored event held in early December in <span style="color:#990000;">Miami Beach</span> since 2002. The data shows that, over the years,<br />several UBS Swiss client advisors were in Miami during the art show, including three in 2007.<br />On the customs forms completed over the years by UBS travelers prior to landing at <span style="color:#990000;">Miami<br />International airport</span>, only one client advisor stated that the purpose of the trip was for business, while five described the visit as for pleasure. These client advisors’ trips, however, coincided<br />closely with the dates of the <span style="color:#990000;">Art Basel</span> event, including an invitation-only private showing.<br /></span>Moreover, the Subcommittee’s analysis of the customs and travel records obtained from the<br />Department of Homeland Security show that a Swiss-based UBS client advisor traveled to New<br />England from June 20-25, 2004, a trip coinciding with the UBS Regatta Cup, held in Newport,<br />RI from June 19-26, 2004.<br /><span style="color:#000099;"></span><br /><span style="color:#990000;">pages 105-106/114</span><br /><strong>(5) Violating Restrictions on U.S. Activities<br /></strong>The UBS practices just described, related to Swiss banker activities undertaken in the United States to recruit and service U.S. clients, may have violated U.S. law as well as UBS policy. As explained earlier, U.S. securities and banking laws prohibit non-U.S. persons from advertising securities services or products, executing securities transactions, or performing banking services within the United States, without an appropriate license. Moreover, U.S. tax laws may require a foreign financial institution to report to the IRS on 1099 Forms sales of non-U.S. securities effected in the United States, such as by executing a transaction by a broker physically in the United States or ordering the completion of a transaction through telephone calls or emails originating from the United States.<br /><br />It was to avoid violating U.S. law, exceeding its licensed activities, or triggering 1099 reporting requirements, that caused UBS to issue policy statements restricting the activities that its non-U.S. bankers could undertake while in the United States. Its 2002 and 2004 policy statements, for example, prohibited UBS Swiss bankers, while in the United States, from advertising securities products to their clients, informing clients of how their security portfolios were performing, providing copies of account statements, or using U.S. mails, faxes, telephone calls or email to discuss a client’s securities portfolio.<span style="color:#000099;">443</span> UBS also prohibited its Swiss bankers from prospecting for new clients while in the United States, soliciting new accounts, or obtaining<br />signatures on account opening documentation.<br /><br />Despite these prohibitions, it appears that UBS Swiss bankers in the United States servicing U.S. clients routinely undertook actions that contravened the UBS restrictions. <span style="color:#990000;">Mr. Birkenfeld described, for example, an art festival sponsored by UBS in Miami each year, which he attended with other Swiss bankers for the express purpose of soliciting new accounts. “We went to these events. We went to dinners, we went to art exhibitions, we went to private homes as private bankers, knowingly by management that they were paying for our hotel, paying for our airfare, paying us our salary, and getting us tickets to the UBS VIP tent to drink champagne with<br />clients.”</span><span style="color:#000099;">444</span> He testified that he witnessed Swiss bankers soliciting new accounts and completing<br />account opening documentation while in the United States. He testified that in some cases,<br />“instead of saying, ‘I signed it in New York,’ they brought the forms back to Geneva and they<br /><span style="color:#000099;"><span style="color:#000000;">put in ‘Geneva.’”<span style="color:#000099;">445</span> When asked whether he had promoted securities products during his trips to the United States, he responded, “We were promoting anything.”</span>446</span><br /><br />Mr. Birkenfeld also told the Subcommittee that UBS Swiss bankers routinely communicated with their U.S. clients about the status of their accounts, including their securities portfolios. He said that some Swiss private bankers communicated with their U.S. clients by telephone or fax, or by sending occasional documents to them in the United States by overnight mail.<span style="color:#000099;">447</span> He said the bankers sometimes used code names during the telephone calls, so that the U.S. client would not have to identify themselves by name, in case anyone was listening.<span style="color:#000099;">448</span> He said that U.S. clients generally did not like sending or receiving emails via computer, “because they didn’t want that link, for obvious reasons.”<span style="color:#000099;">449</span> Nevertheless, some clients did use email, as shown in the case involving Mr. Birkenfeld and Mr. Olenicoff, examined further below. Mr. Birkenfeld also described how Swiss bankers brought into the United States information about clients’ accounts and securities portfolios. He told the Subcommittee that his day-to-day interactions with clients were in direct contradiction to the restrictions set out in UBS’ policy statements. He indicated those policies simply were not enforced while he was at the bank.<span style="color:#000099;">450</span><br /><span style="color:#000000;"></span><br /><span style="color:#990000;">from page 108/114</span><br /><span style="color:#000000;">Contrary to this representation by UBS, however, a Subcommittee review of the relevant<br />travel data for the Swiss bankers determined that, from January to April 2008, UBS client<br />advisors made twelve trips to the United States, travelling from Switzerland to New York,<br /><span style="color:#990000;">Miami</span>, San Francisco, and Las Vegas. The Customs I-94 Forms indicate that, on half of these<br />trips, the Swiss bankers indicated they were travelling for business purposes, while on the other<br />half, the Swiss bankers indicated they were travelling to the United States for non-business<br />purposes. With respect to Mr. Liechti, head of the UBS Wealth Management Americas division,<br />the I-94 Form shows that he arrived in the United States on April 20, 2008, on business. There is no record of his departure to date.</span><br /><span style="color:#990000;"></span><br />The clear contrast between the UBS policy restrictions dating back to at least 2002, and the activities undertaken by UBS Swiss bankers while traveling in the United States, as described<br />by Mr. Birkenfeld in his deposition, in connection with his recent indictment, and in internal UBS documents, suggests that until recently, the UBS restrictions were not being enforced. This lack of enforcement, in turn, raises concerns that UBS Swiss bankers with U.S. clients may have been routinely violating not only the bank’s internal policies, but also U.S. law. UBS is currently under investigation by the SEC, IRS, and Department of Justice regarding the activities of its Swiss bankers in the United States.<br /><br /><em><span style="color:#990000;">And in the end...</span></em><br /></span><br /><span style="color:#000000;">D. Analysis<br />Unlike LGT, UBS did not generally refrain from conducting banking operations within the<br />United States. UBS Swiss bankers targeted U.S. clients, traveled across the country in search of<br />wealthy individuals, and aggressively marketed their services to U.S. taxpayers who might<br />otherwise never have opened Swiss accounts. UBS practices resulted in its U.S. clients<br />maintaining undeclared Swiss accounts that collectively held billions of dollars in assets that<br />were not disclosed to the IRS. UBS serviced these accounts, in part, by offering banking and<br />securities products and services within the United States that UBS Swiss bankers were not<br />licensed to provide. Swiss bank secrecy laws hid not only the misconduct of U.S. taxpayers<br />hiding assets at UBS in Switzerland, but also the actions taken by UBS bankers to assist those<br />U.S. clients.<br />UBS has now stopped all travel by its Swiss bankers to the United States, issued more<br />restrictive policies, and is conducting an internal review to gauge the nature and extent of the<br />problem. UBS also cooperated with this Subcommittee in its efforts to gain a full understanding<br />of the facts and issues.<br /><span style="color:#000000;"><strong>____________________________________________________</strong></span><br /><span style="color:#000099;">from the </span><br /><span style="color:#000000;">U.S. SENATE PERMANENT SUBCOMMITTEE ON INVESTIGATIONS, STAFF REPORT ON TAX HAVEN BANKS AND U.S. TAX COMPLIANCE, July 17, 2008</span><br /><span style="color:#000099;">at:</span><br /><a href="http://abcnews.go.com/images/Blotter/REPORT-Tax%20Haven%20Banks%20(July%2017%2008).pdf"><span style="color:#990000;">http://abcnews.go.com/images/Blotter/REPORT-Tax%20Haven%20Banks%20(July%2017%2008).pdf</span></a></span>South Beach Hoosierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05775460691562107804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064760842412172611.post-16416057785482852602008-07-14T20:53:00.009-04:002008-07-21T13:35:13.935-04:00Speaking of Marlins stadium cost over-run provisions...<span style="font-family:arial;color:#000000;"><em>Meant to post this Monday</em></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">-------------------------------------</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">Just wanted to share a couple of odds and ends with you that I caught late Sunday over at DCRTV, </span><a href="http://dcrtv.com/"><span style="font-family:arial;color:#990000;">http://dcrtv.com/</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;"> , a go-to media website and connect them to some local issues of interest to me.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;"><em><span style="color:#990000;">DCRTV's</span></em> a website that I've been going to for years since I lived in the DC area, and eventually got fed-up with the whitewash and company line I saw too often in the <em><span style="color:#990000;">Washington Post's</span></em> coverage of news about DC-area TV and radio stations and their personalities.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">They still cover that in a way that's long been missing at both the <em><span style="color:#990000;">Herald</span></em> and the <em><span style="color:#990000;">Sun-Sentinel</span></em>, though I'm old enough to remember when the <em><span style="color:#990000;">Herald</span></em> did a pretty decent job of that, back when it seemed like every other week something crazy was happening at <em><span style="color:#990000;">WNWS</span></em>, with <strong><span style="color:#000000;">Neil Rogers</span></strong>, <span style="color:#000000;"><strong>Al Rantel</strong>,<strong> Stan Majors</strong></span>, et al, when there was local radio talk that was a worth listening to.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">But then <em><span style="color:#990000;">South Beach Hoosier</span></em> still recalls how great <strong><span style="color:#000000;">Neil Rogers</span></strong> was doing play-by-play for <strong><em><span style="color:#006600;">U-M</span></em></strong> baseball games, so...</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">Owing largely to DC's much-larger media universe, it necessarily is better plugged- in to the industry and has more influence up there than locally-based </span><a href="http://www.sfltv.com/"><span style="font-family:arial;color:#990000;">http://www.sfltv.com/</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;"> down here, though I still go to the latter a few times a week, and have listed them on my blogroll from Day One.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">In fact, it's there that I first learned that <em><span style="color:#990000;">IU</span></em> alum and then-<em><span style="color:#990000;">Local10</span></em> meteorologist <strong><span style="color:#000000;">Megan Glaros</span></strong> was heading up to Nueva York.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">It's also where I first learned yesterday morning about <em><span style="color:#990000;">Post-Newsweek</span></em> buying local <em><span style="color:#990000;">NBC-6 -WTVJ</span></em>, to create yet another duopoly in this media market.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">I'll have a post on that story tomorrow as I really thought that the <em><span style="color:#990000;">Tribune Company</span></em> was a more likely buyer for the <em><span style="color:#990000;">NBC</span></em> affiliate. </span><a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breaking_news/story/605477.html"><span style="font-family:arial;color:#990000;">http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breaking_news/story/605477.html</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">Please read the first link below from the <em><span style="color:#990000;">Washington Post</span></em>, as it presages exactly the sort of embarrassing future Marlin headlines I think it's quite likely we'll see in the <em><span style="color:#990000;">Herald</span></em>, if this disastrous Megaplan goes through, as the Washington Nationals' owner is currently not paying the team's rent in DC due to problems with the stadium.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000000;"><em>Not surprisingly, the City of Washington is not amused! </em></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000000;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">And did you catch this delicious nugget in <strong><span style="color:#000000;">Barry Jackson's</span></strong> Sunday <em><span style="color:#990000;">Herald </span></em>column? </span><a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/592/story/602626.html"><span style="font-family:arial;color:#990000;">http://www.miamiherald.com/592/story/602626.html</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;"> </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">Apparently the Marlins were trying to change the terms of their $38.5 million loan from MLB, but the suits up at Park Avenue weren't buying <strong><span style="color:#000000;">Jeffrey Loria's</span></strong> lame excuses.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">They want their money back. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">Well, to paraphrase what Popeye's popular side-kick <strong><span style="color:#000000;">Wimpy</span></strong> (<span style="color:#000000;">J. Wellington Wimpy</span>) often said, <strong><span style="color:#000000;">Jeffrey Loria & Co."</span></strong>would gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today."</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">The difference is that <span style="color:#000000;"><strong>Loria</strong></span> wants to use our wallets to do it!</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">See this great illustration of Wimpy and the whole gang at a very interesting flower blog called the <em><span style="color:#000000;">Human Flower Project</span></em>: <a href="http://humanflowerproject.com/index.php/weblog/comments/sweet_pea_adoptid_infink/"><span style="color:#990000;">Sweet Pea - ‘Adoptid infink’</span></a></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000000;"><em>Sweet Pea on Popeye’s lap, with Wimpy and Olive Oyl Image: Myron Waldman, King Features</em></span><br />_______________________<br />from <a href="http://www.dcrtv.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#990000;">http://www.dcrtv.com/</span></a><span style="color:#990000;"> </span><br /><br />More: Baseball A Bust In DC - 7/11 - Now, on top of news that the team's delivering lower-than-low TV ratings, we learn that the Washington Nationals' owners - the family of Bethesda-based developer Theodore Lerner - have failed to pay $3.5 million in rent for the District's new ballpark, contending that the state-of-the-art stadium is still incomplete. DC paid more than $611 million in public money to build the stadium complex along the Anacostia River. More in the DC Post.....<br /><br />Nats' Fans May Boycott Post - 7/11 - Some Nationals fans are not happy with the Washington Post's coverage of the team. And are floating the idea of boycotting the Post's Nats coverage in favor of the Washington Times' Nats coverage. Dan Steinberg has more at washingtonpost.com.....<br /><br /><span style="color:#000099;">(It's all at </span><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/10/AR2008071002731.html?hpid=topnews"><span style="color:#990000;">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/10/AR2008071002731.html?hpid=topnews</span></a> <span style="color:#000099;">)</span><br /><em>Nationals Withhold Rent on Ballpark, Hundreds of Items Are Incomplete,Team Owners Say</em><br /><span style="color:#000099;">By Daniel LeDuc and David Nakamura. Washington Post Staff Writers, July 11, 2008</span>)<br /><br />Williams: Bad Baseball Cause Of Nats' TV Slump - 7/14 -In the Examiner, Jim Williams looks at the ultra-low TV ratings for the Nationals: "The team isn't playing well and there just not seem to enough compelling storylines. Add to that the area is not yet used to following the Nationals... I think that it is unfair to blame MASN for the low numbers. I have heard the absurd argument that because the Nationals and the Orioles alternate between MASN and MASN2 fans can't always find the games. If you can find NBA basketball on CSN, TNT, ESPN, ABC, and even NBA-TV then you should be able to find the Nationals games".....South Beach Hoosierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05775460691562107804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064760842412172611.post-66100649176346973702008-07-14T20:34:00.009-04:002008-07-14T20:52:48.166-04:00On a Clear Day, You Can See Forever...<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_rel9pM5SA5o/SHvw8gOI_eI/AAAAAAAAA-A/IFIuAcipIRA/s1600-h/Bastille+Day+Google+Doodle.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5223033115098283490" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_rel9pM5SA5o/SHvw8gOI_eI/AAAAAAAAA-A/IFIuAcipIRA/s400/Bastille+Day+Google+Doodle.jpg" border="0" /></a> <div></div><div><span style="color:#000099;">le 14 de juillet 2008
<br /><em><span style="color:#990000;">Happy Bastille Day!</span></em>
<br /></span></div>
<br /><div><span style="color:#000099;"><strong><em><span style="color:#000000;">"On a clear day, you can see forever..."</span></em></strong> </span></div>
<br /><div><span style="color:#000099;">True enough from atop <em><span style="color:#990000;">La Tour Eiffel</span></em> en Paris, </span><a href="http://www.tour-eiffel.fr/teiffel/uk/" target="_blank"><span style="color:#990000;">http://www.tour-eiffel.fr/teiffel/uk/</span></a><span style="color:#000099;"> and especially in one of my all-time favorite films, 1956's <em><span style="color:#990000;">Funny Face</span></em>, strarring <span style="color:#000000;"><strong>Audrey Hepburn</strong><span style="color:#000099;">,</span><strong> Fred Astaire </strong><span style="color:#000099;">and </span><strong>Kay Thompson</strong></span> </span><span style="color:#000000;">(See </span><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050419/"><span style="color:#990000;">http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050419/</span></a><span style="color:#000000;"> for info and </span><a href="http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3499137024/tt0050419"><span style="color:#990000;">http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3499137024/tt0050419</span></a><span style="color:#000099;"><span style="color:#000000;"> for great photo!)</span>
<br /></span></div>
<br /><span style="color:#000099;">But as this delicious and interesting post Thursday by the <em><span style="color:#990000;">South Florida Sun-Sentinel's</span></em> <strong><span style="color:#000000;">Anthony Man</span></strong> on their <em><span style="color:#990000;">Broward Politics</span></em> blog makes clear below, it's also true from atop <span style="color:#000000;">Broward County Govt.'s HQ</span> at <span style="color:#000000;">115 S. Andrews Avenue</span>, <span style="color:#000000;">Fort Lauderdale</span>.
<br />From interim County Administrator <strong><span style="color:#000000;">Bertha Henry's</span></strong> office, it's apparently nothing but <strong><em><span style="color:#000099;">blue skies</span></em></strong> -<strong><em><span style="color:#006600;">and green lights!</span></em></strong>
<br /></span>
<br /><p><em><span style="color:#000000;">This attitude certainly explains a lot around here!
<br /></span></em><span style="color:#000000;"><em><span style="color:#990000;">With friends like this...</span>
<br /></em></span></p><span style="color:#000099;">Most of today I'll be down at the Circuit Courthouse on Flagler Street at the trial of <strong><span style="color:#000000;">Norman Braman</span></strong> v. Miami-Dade County, Ciudad de Miami y Los Marlins.
<br /></span>
<br /><span style="color:#000099;">I'd planned on being there Friday, taking some notes and photos for les blogs, but something came up. Given what happened with the delay, I lucked out.</span>
<br />
<br /><span style="color:#000099;"><em><span style="color:#990000;">Happy Bastille Day!</span></em> </span>
<br /><span style="color:#000099;">Apropos of the French holiday today, over the weekend on <em><span style="color:#990000;">FOX Movie Channel</span></em>, I finally saw the non-musical 1952 film version of <em><span style="color:#990000;">Les Misérables</span></em>, starring <strong><span style="color:#000000;">Michael Rennie</span></strong> as <em><span style="color:#990000;">Jean Valjean</span></em> and <strong><span style="color:#000000;">Robert Newton</span></strong> as <em><span style="color:#990000;">Inspector Javert</span></em>. </span><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044907/"><span style="color:#990000;">http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044907/</span></a><span style="color:#000099;">
<br /></span>
<br /><span style="color:#000099;">Por aujourd'hui, I'm going under my nom de guerre, <em><span style="color:#990000;">Laurent</span></em>.
<br /></span>
<br /><strong><span style="color:#000000;"><em>"On a clear day, you can see forever..." </em></span></strong>
<br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rSA0Va-xTQ" target="_blank"><span style="color:#990000;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rSA0Va-xTQ</span></a><span style="color:#000099;"> <em><span style="color:#000000;">Barbra Streisand at her best!</span></em> </span>
<br /><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066181/" target="_blank"><span style="color:#000099;">http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066181/</span></a><span style="color:#000099;">
<br /></span><span style="color:#000099;"><strong><span style="color:#000000;">La Babs</span></strong> est magnifique!!!
<br /></span>_________________________
<br />South Florida Sun-Sentinel
<br />Broward Politics blog
<br />July 10, 2008</a>
<br />
<br />Something to think about when you're stuck at a traffic light in Broward County: the government believes the signals are timed
<br />Posted by Anthony Man at 10:15 AM
<br />
<br />Broward County has a $3.5 billion annual budget. But it hasn't come up with the dough to synchronize the traffic lights, so taxpayers can save time, gasoline, and wear and tear on their cars.
<br />
<br />The reason, perhaps, is that at the top of Broward government, it isn't seen as an issue.
<br />
<br />The view from county government headquarters is that the lights are synchronized. <a href="http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/broward/blog/traffic%20light.jpg" target="_blank"></a>
<br />
<br />It just doesn't seem that way to drivers who travel at the speed limit along many major streets and get stuck at light after light even when there is hardly any other traffic around.
<br />
<br /><span style="color:#000099;">To see the rest of the post, see:</span> <a href="http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/broward/blog/2008/07/something_to_think_about_when.html#more" target="_blank"><span style="color:#990000;">http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/broward/blog/2008/07/something_to_think_about_when.html#more</span></a>
<br />South Beach Hoosierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05775460691562107804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064760842412172611.post-86611146353360480102008-07-10T17:32:00.030-04:002008-07-10T19:37:30.489-04:00Purdue RB recruit: Choosing Purdue over IU was a 'no-brainer"<span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">I grew-up in South Florida as a huge sports fan in the 1970's, played three sports competitively -baseball, football and soccer- and </span><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">was the <em><span style="color:#000000;">Team Manager</span></em> for two </span><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;"><span style="color:#990000;"><em>North Miami Beach Senior High School </em></span><span style="color:#000099;">teams that won the Florida State championship.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;color:#990000;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Miami_Beach_Senior_High_School">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Miami_Beach_Senior_High_School</a></span><br />(I wrote about 80% of the above Wiki definition.)<br /><br /><br /><span style="color:#000099;">To see Street Scene of <em><span style="color:#990000;">NMBHS</span></em>: </span><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?q=North+Miami+Beach+Senior+High+School&ie=UTF8&ll=25.934659,-80.174553&spn=0.008684,0.010343&t=h&z=16&layer=tc&cbll=25.929149,-80.175365&panoid=iSypIXGVnW7S2RAEg6qT5A&cbp=1,0.6870095273476409,,0,5"><span style="color:#000000;">http://maps.google.com/maps?q=North+Miami+Beach+Senior+High+School&ie=UTF8&ll=25.934659,-80.174553&spn=0.008684,0.010343&t=h&z=16&layer=tc&cbll=25.929149,-80.175365&panoid=iSypIXGVnW7S2RAEg6qT5A&cbp=1,0.6870095273476409,,0,5</span></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">The first State Championship was Boys Soccer in 1975 under head coach <strong><span style="color:#000000;">Vic Cappillo</span></strong>, and then Girls Gymnastics in 1979 under <span style="color:#000000;"><strong>Pete Saponaro</strong></span>, two wonderfully talented and enthusiastic men whom I admired and respected enormously.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">For all those reasons, by the time I graduated from <span style="color:#990000;"><em>NMB </em></span><span style="color:#000099;">in 1979</span>, I had </span><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">many talented friends around the greater Miami area who were fortunate enough to be offered -<em><span style="color:#000000;">and accept</span></em>- D-1 college </span><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">athletic scholarships in myriad sports.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">Because of those factors, more than most people, I was very familiar with the enormous football talent pool around here, and foresaw the inevitable rise of the <em><span style="color:#006600;"><strong>Hurricanes</strong></span></em>, </span><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">Seminole and <span style="color:#000099;">Gators'<em> </em>football</span> programs to where we became accustomed down here to the idea of the three of them </span><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">being ranked in the Top Ten at the beginning and end of every college </span><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">football season.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;"><em><span style="color:#000000;">To me, it was completely predictable.<br /></span></em></span><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">So with that in mind, while I was at<strong><em><span style="color:#990000;"> IU</span></em></strong> from 1979-83, I was continually frustrated at the number of very talented kids from South Florida -<em><span style="color:#000000;">and Central Florida, too</span></em>- who'd wind up going to smaller schools like the Central, Western or Eastern Michigan, or the like.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;color:#000099;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;color:#000099;">K</span><span style="font-family:Arial;"><span style="color:#000099;">ids who'd be just the sort who'd give<strong><em> <span style="color:#990000;">IU</span></em></strong> some much-needed depth so they wouldn't have the sort of second-half collapses against good teams as has long been the norm in <em>Bloomington</em>.<br /><em>And I wasn't alone in my frustration</em>.<br /><br />Not to name drop, per se, but <strong><span style="color:#000000;">Jim Thomas</span></strong> of FT. Lauderdale the-then <strong><em>IU</em></strong> basketball team was a good friend of mine at the time, despite Jim's living over at <em>Teter Quad</em> while I was at <em>Briscoe Quad</em>., near the <strong><em><span style="color:#990000;">IU</span></em></strong> <span style="color:#990000;"><em>Fieldhouse</em> <span style="color:#000099;">and</span> <em>Assembly Hall</em></span>.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;"><span style="color:#000099;"><em>(Jim and I were friends despite his single-handily knocking off my school, North Miami Beach, </em></span></span><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;"><em><span style="color:#000000;">in the state playoffs, at his school's gym, the one year we were arguably THE best team in the state of Florida and favored to win the state championship.)</span></em><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">As both students and sports fans who loved <strong><em><span style="color:#990000;">IU</span></em></strong>, we'd continually bemoan <strong><em><span style="color:#990000;">IU's</span></em></strong> chronic inability to get South Florida kids up to <em><span style="color:#990000;">Bloomington</span></em>, who, while perhaps not stars, were exactly the sorts of very solid, well-rounded kids that make the difference between a solid 7-4 or 8-3 team, and a floundering 5-6 team that raises more questions than they answer.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;"><em><span style="color:#000000;">(Like are they really a 4-7 team that simply got lucky?)</span></em><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">All this frustrating talk of ours was conducted in an era when Michigan had a bona fide South Florida superstar like wideout <strong><span style="color:#000000;">Anthony Carter</span></strong> and Michigan State had RB <strong><span style="color:#000000;">Lorenzo White</span></strong>, each of whom were winning games of national importance.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">I understand implicitly why someone of their unique caliber were, necessarily, out-of-reach for <strong><em><span style="color:#990000;">IU</span></em></strong> in the <strong><span style="color:#000000;">Lee Corso</span></strong> years, <span style="color:#000099;">but must everyone down here with any talent <em><span style="color:#990000;">remain</span></em> un-touchable</span>?<br /><br />Having finally gotten <em><span style="color:#990000;">Direct TV</span></em> before last Fall, and the <em><span style="color:#990000;">Big Ten Network</span></em>, it's very discouraging as a <em><span style="color:#990000;">Hoosier</span></em> fan to see so many South Florida kids performing for not only <em><span style="color:#990000;">Big Ten</span></em> schools, of course, but, also seeing them play <em>Michigan</em> and <em>Michigan State</em> as the pride of Ypsilanti or Mt. Pleasant, MI, too.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000000;"><em>Kids who could've been making a difference in Bloomington, but weren't.</em></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;"></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">Logically, why in the world should Eastern Michigan continually have better luck at recruiting kids in South and Central Florida than <strong><em><span style="color:#990000;">IU</span></em></strong>? </span><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">Or Western Michigan for that matter?</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">And yet... </span><a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/620/story/561110.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family:arial;color:#990000;">http://www.miamiherald.com/620/story/561110.html</span></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">There were opportunities aplenty for <strong><em><span style="color:#990000;">IU</span></em></strong> and <strong><span style="color:#000000;">Coach Lynch</span></strong> a few months ago, when former <em><span style="color:#990000;">NMB</span></em> QB/DB <strong><span style="color:#000000;">Doug Wiggins</span></strong>, the Dolphins' 2006 Miami-Dade Player of the Year, was looking to transfer from the </span><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;"><strong><em><span style="color:#003333;">U-M</span></em></strong>. </span><a href="http://hurricanesports.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/wiggins_doug00.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family:arial;color:#990000;">http://hurricanesports.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/wiggins_doug00.html</span></a><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">So, what happened with <strong><span style="color:#000000;">Wiggins</span></strong>?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">From my perspective, someone who attended his first <em><span style="color:#003300;"><strong>Canes</strong></span></em> game at the <em><span style="color:#990000;">Orange Bowl</span></em> in 1971, last year was littered with lots of broken promises and self-evident poor coaching moves, as </span><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;"><strong><span style="color:#000000;">Randy Shannon</span></strong> constantly showed his <em><span style="color:#000000;">multiple weaknesses</span></em> as a head college football coach, showing himself as a Coordinator who's now out of his depth.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">Against a middling North Carolina State team at the <em><span style="color:#990000;">Orange Bowl</span></em>, <strong><em><span style="color:#003300;">U-M</span></em></strong> completed exactly one pass in the entire game, even putting a WR behind center three times to try to get some offensive momentum generated.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;"><span style="color:#000099;">In fact, by the middle of the third quarter, if not earlier, the Wolfpack defense was actually daring the <em><span style="color:#006600;"><strong>Canes</strong></span></em> to pass -<em>and they couldn't!</em></span></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">So naturally, after the season, whom did <strong><span style="color:#000000;">Shannon</span></strong> fire?<br />Yes, that's right, the Defensive Coordinator whom he'd personally promoted from DBs coach, even though the defense has been sliding steadily for four years due to lousy LB play while <strong><span style="color:#000000;">Shannon </span></strong>was the D-Coordinator.<br /><br /><br />Hmmm...<br /></span><a href="http://ncaabbs.com/archive/index.php/thread-273456.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family:arial;color:#990000;">http://ncaabbs.com/archive/index.php/thread-273456.html</span></a><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">Miami Herald quote:<br /><span style="color:#000000;">" U-M's Randy Shannon has a good relationship with most local coaches, but North Miami Beach's Jeff Bertani said, "It would be difficult for me to send a kid to UM now. The trust is broken.''Bertani said former NMB standout Doug Wiggins -- who transferred to Western Michigan -- ''was told he had a torn hamstring, which he did not have, because they needed a reason to redshirt him after he played [the first two games].'' Shannon's response? "I don't know anything about that.''</span><br /><br />Honestly, a school in<strong><em><span style="color:#990000;"> IU's</span></em></strong> iffy position in the football world should've been ready to pounce on him in a second when he decided to transfer out, since he wasn't likely to play a lot at the <strong><em><span style="color:#003300;">U-M</span></em></strong> as a freshman, anyway, despite having been rated the nation's No. 4 cornerback and the No. 33 overall prospect by <em><span style="color:#990000;">Rivals.com</span></em> two years ago.</span><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">Instead, now <strong><span style="color:#000000;">Wiggins</span></strong> will be at Western Michigan and in two years will likely be <span style="color:#990000;">MUCH BETTER</span> than any defensive player <strong><em><span style="color:#990000;">IU</span></em></strong> has.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">I'd be willing to bet that there are probably kids at <em><span style="color:#000000;">Immokalee HS</span></em> right now, up near Lake Okeechobee, that could play or start at <strong><em><span style="color:#990000;">IU</span></em></strong>, and yet based on experience, there seems very little chance that <strong><em><span style="color:#990000;">IU</span></em></strong> will even take a chance on them.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000000;"><em>Why?</em></span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">What's this great strategy at <strong><em><span style="color:#990000;">Assembly Hall</span></em></strong> to become a better and more competitive football team <em><span style="color:#990000;">without</span></em> getting a lot more talented players from Florida?</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">Sounds like the sports equivalent of <strong><span style="color:#000000;">Obama</span></strong> somehow imagining he'll win the Electoral College </span><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;"><em><span style="color:#990000;">without</span></em> the state of Florida?</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">Well, all empirical evidence suggests that both approaches, if continued, are destined to failure.<br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">At a certain point, you don't have to be an<strong><em><span style="color:#990000;"> IU</span></em></strong>-trained optometrist to know that something is short-sighted with their current approach, which as always, has them with few dependable playmakers.<br /><br />I'd be very interested in knowing if any of you are familiar with anything that's been written within the past ten years that details how <strong><em><span style="color:#990000;">IU</span></em></strong> has continually missed the boat on Florida kids who could've added something positive to the campus and to the football program.<br />If so, please drop me a line with the appropriate URL, so that I'm no longer in the dark.<br /><em><span style="color:#000000;"></span></em></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;"><em><span style="color:#000000;">If not, I may just have to chronicle that sad story myself.</span></em></span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">Just in case I didn't make my point strongly enough above, consider the following.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">The second day I was ever in the state of Indiana, having flown up by myself from Miami on a </span><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">late </span><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">August Thursday afternoon in 1979, days before moving into <em><span style="color:#000000;">Briscoe Quad</span></em> and while checked </span><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">into the <em><span style="color:#990000;">Holiday Inn</span></em> on <span style="color:#000000;">S.R 37</span>, I spent most of that afternoon watching the <em><span style="color:#990000;"><strong>IU</strong></span></em> football team practice from up in the stands at <em><span style="color:#990000;">Memorial Stadium</span></em>, surrounded by a handful of devoted and curious <em><span style="color:#990000;">Hoosier </span></em></span><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">fans, male </span><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">and female, in various shades of <em><span style="color:#990000;">Cream and Crimson</span></em>.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;"><em><span style="color:#000000;">Yep, that's me.</span></em></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;"></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">Sadly, the <em><span style="color:#000000;">Miami Herald</span></em> article below speaks for itself, and is more of the same ol' bad news for <em><span style="color:#990000;">Hoosier</span></em> fans.</span><br />______________________________________________<br /><a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/story/596825.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#990000;">http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/story/596825.html</span></a><br /><em><strong>Columbus wideout Bush commits to Purdue<br /></strong></em>Posted on Mon, Jul. 07, 2008<br />BY DAVID QUINONES<br /><br /><br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>LARRY BLUSTEIN'S COMMENTS</strong><br />Gary Bush, Columbus<br />Known for his tremendous speed, here is a player who certainly came into his own over the past year. While his quickness and ability to break receptions for long scores has been a lure for colleges, his knowledge of the game is also something that has played in his recruitment as well.<br /><br /><br /><br />In this Hoosier-state recruiting battle, score one for the Boilermakers.<br /><br /><br />Columbus' Gary Bush, a 6-1, 180-pound wide receiver, orally committed to attend Purdue University on Sunday night. His decision came after campus visits to Indiana and Purdue two weeks ago.<br /><br /><br />For Bush, West Lafayette was the clear winner between the two.<br /><br /><br />''It was really a no-brainer,'' Bush said. "Me and the coach [Joe Tiller] just bonded. It felt like the right place for me to be. Indiana was nice, it was a lot like Purdue, but in the end I chose Purdue.''<br /><br /><br /><br />He added that he and his parents talked about the long-distance move, but that he has family in nearby Indianapolis and that his folks "supported my decision.''<br /><br /><br />The explosive Explorer also received attention from Ole Miss, Boston College, Alabama-Birmingham, Troy State and Vanderbilt before ending his recruitment experience early.<br /><br /><br /><br />The rising senior is a three sport-star who transferred to Columbus from Southridge after his sophomore year. In the 2007-2008 season, Bush was among the Explorers' leaders in receptions -- usually of the breakaway-variety -- while also earning a Miami Herald All-Dade honorable mention for basketball and a second-team slot on the All-Dade Track and Field team.<br /><br /><br />In a midseason game against Miami Beach, Bush put the game out of reach with a 38-yard touchdown catch against the smaller Hi-Tides secondary. He recorded a 33-yard TD a month later against South Miami. Columbus' deep-threat paced the team with 21.3-yards per catch on the season.<br /><br /><br /><br />Bush runs a 4.5-40 yard dash and his leaping ability (23-10 long-jump) at 6-1 makes for a huge downfield target. His second place long-jump finish helped Columbus secure the District 15-4A championships in April.<br /><br /><br />Strength might be an issue, as Columbus coach Chris Merritt says ''there is no offseason'' for the multi-sport Bush to devote lots of time to the weight room.<br /><br /><br /><br />''For a guy like him, it's more about just maintaining. It's hard with his schedule,'' said Merritt, who describes Bush as an "all-around Division I athlete.''<br /><br /><br />But Bush says he has a plan for that dilemma.<br /><br /><br /><br />''We don't start camp for a little while, so right now I'm just in the weight room, doing the work,'' he said.<br /><br /><br />Bush insisted the answer is not to give up on his other athletic pursuits. He is quick to note that while he and the staff at Purdue talked about the possibility of playing hoops, "Track is a definite. I'll definitely be jumping.''<br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">Reader comments are at:<br /></span><a href="http://pod01.prospero.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?msg=49813&nav=messages&webtag=kr-miamitm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"><span style="font-family:arial;color:#990000;">http://pod01.prospero.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?msg=49813&nav=messages&webtag=kr-miamitm</span></a>South Beach Hoosierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05775460691562107804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064760842412172611.post-48852622254618013552008-07-04T02:09:00.018-04:002008-07-04T03:19:18.782-04:00Happy 4th of July!<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_rel9pM5SA5o/SG3AVEGlp1I/AAAAAAAAA94/WsZjVxhTHUs/s1600-h/012.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5219039011303434066" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_rel9pM5SA5o/SG3AVEGlp1I/AAAAAAAAA94/WsZjVxhTHUs/s400/012.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="color:#000000;">American flag in front of Hallandale Beach Water Tower on S. Surf Road, </span><br /><span style="color:#000000;">Hallandale Beach, FL; Overcast at 5:15 p.m. </span><br /><span style="color:#000000;">July 3, 2008 photo by</span><span style="color:#000099;"> </span><span style="color:#990000;"><em>South Beach Hoosier</em></span><br /><a href="http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM2EKR"><span style="color:#000099;">http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM2EKR</span></a><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_rel9pM5SA5o/SG2_-gLEmnI/AAAAAAAAA9w/X3TxrtCYsdo/s1600-h/Jessica+Simpson+in+patriotic+bikini.jpg.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5219038623701441138" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_rel9pM5SA5o/SG2_-gLEmnI/AAAAAAAAA9w/X3TxrtCYsdo/s400/Jessica+Simpson+in+patriotic+bikini.jpg.jpg" border="0" /></a> Jessica Simpson, <strong><em>GQ</em></strong>, July 2005</div><div><a href="http://men.style.com/gq/features/landing?id=content_2525"><span style="color:#990000;">http://men.style.com/gq/features/landing?id=content_2525</span></a></div><div> </div><div>Cover photo by Peggy Sirota, smile by Jessica!</div><div>Additional photos at: <a href="http://www.mtv.com/photos/?fid=1505186&pid=1756289"><span style="color:#990000;">http://www.mtv.com/photos/?fid=1505186&pid=1756289</span></a></div><div>------------------</div><div><em>USA Today</em></div><div><strong>Simpson enlists in the pinup wall of fame<br /></strong>By César G. Soriano, June 30, 2005</div><div><a href="http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2005-06-30-jessica-simpson_x.htm?POE=LIFISVA"><span style="color:#990000;">http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2005-06-30-jessica-simpson_x.htm?POE=LIFISVA</span></a></div>South Beach Hoosierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05775460691562107804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064760842412172611.post-19413637166079582802008-07-03T22:32:00.008-04:002008-07-10T01:27:31.858-04:00Where's the Disney World gun story in the Miami Herald?<span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">Thursday, July 3, 2008
<br /></span><a rel="nofollow" name="11aea6d2eb82c5f3_11aea6440248005f_11aea6138486b66b_371696523921891996"></a>
<br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">Below, an email I sent earlier this afternoon to Miami-area resident and longtime <em><span style="color:#990000;">South Beach Hoosier</span></em> favorite <strong><span style="color:#000000;">Matt Drudge</span></strong>, with the hopes that he'd turn his immensely powerful combination telescope and microscope of <em><span style="color:#990000;">The Drudge Report</span></em> in the general direction of Orlando and Miami.</span>
<br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;"></span>
<br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">This illuminating <em><span style="color:#990000;">Orlando Sentinel</span></em> story by <strong><span style="color:#000000;">Scott Powers</span></strong> and <strong><span style="color:#000000;">Jason Garcia</span></strong> is perhaps as good an example as any I'm familiar with that properly illuminates both the 'fixer' mentality and backroom-dealing culture of Tallahasseee, and the <em><span style="color:#990000;">Miami Herald's</span></em> own clueless-ness in the year 2008: <em><span style="color:#000000;">a large organization that is neither deft enough nor quick enough on the draw to properly use the myriad resources it possesses, to the detriment of its remaining number of readers</span></em>.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">As to my own original thoughts below about the future of the <em><span style="color:#000000;">Herald Building</span></em> itself, consider yourself warned. </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:IMG_1642.jpg" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"><span style="font-family:arial;"></a></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:IMG_1642.jpg"><span style="color:#990000;">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:IMG_1642.jpg</span></span></a><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;"></a> </span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">And yes, I'll admit, I completely forgot about the <strong><span style="color:#000000;">Terra Group's</span></strong> purchase of the building, but the general point still holds true.</span>
<br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;"></span>
<br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">Winner of the 2005 <em><span style="color:#000000;">Best Architectural Eyesore</span></em>: </span><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000000;">The Miami Herald Building, 1 Herald Plaza,</span>
<br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000000;">Miami, FL 33132-1609</span>
<br /><a href="http://www.miaminewtimes.com/bestof/2005/award/best-architectural-eyesore-42698" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"><span style="font-family:arial;color:#990000;">http://www.miaminewtimes.com/bestof/2005/award/best-architectural-eyesore-42698</span></a>
<br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;"></span>
<br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">See also: </span><a href="http://www.miamisunpost.com/archives/2006/07-27-06/eightstoryfrontpage.htm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"><span style="font-family:arial;color:#990000;">http://www.miamisunpost.com/archives/2006/07-27-06/eightstoryfrontpage.htm</span></a>
<br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;"></span>
<br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">Sometime soon, I'll share some thoughts on what it was like to be in that huge building in the late 1970's, and look out towards the bay from the desks of the <em><span style="color:#000000;">Sports Dept</span></em>. of the late and much-missed <em><span style="color:#990000;">Miami News</span></em>.</span>
<br />___________________________
<br />Thursday July 3rd, 2008
<br />12:30 p.m.
<br />
<br />Dear Matt:
<br />
<br />I'm somewhat dumbfounded that you haven't yet linked to the infuriating story about Disney once again playing its Bigfoot card behind the scenes to carve out some special treatment for itself.
<br />
<br />The story in today's Orlando Sentinel by Scott Powers and Jason Garcia is as clear and to the point as you could ask for.
<br />
<br />Now, personally, me being me, I'd like for the article to have asked State Rep. Stan Mayfield, who helped craft the legislation, to publicly identify these lawyers" (i.e. lobbyists), who were able to $weet talk him and his committee into inserting such a patently deceitful exemption 'exception' on behalf of Disney & Co.
<br />Yeah, I'd really like to know who they are.
<br />
<br />The fact that the reputed largest newspaper in the state, the Miami Herald doesn't mention this story anywhere in the paper today, a front page story to be sure, and on its antiquated and third-rate website, rather than have their own reporters ferret out the true facts, runs two AP dispatches, the most recent of which contradicts/clarifies the first, is another larger question worthy of discussion.
<br />
<br /><em><span style="color:#000099;">Clarification: Parking Lot Guns-Disney story</span></em>
<br /><a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/775/story/591998.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#990000;">http://www.miamiherald.com/775/story/591998.html</span></a>
<br />
<br /><em><span style="color:#000099;">Disney says it's exempt from new gun law</span></em>
<br /><a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breaking_news/story/592379.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#990000;">http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breaking_news/story/592379.html</span></a>
<br />
<br />That's a question that might more reasonably be brought up in the not-too-distant future, when, aping the recent moves of The Tribune Company, McClatchy will likely raise the idea of selling the property where the Herald HQ is located, right on Biscayne Bay, where it's long been the largest eyesore on the Bay.
<br />
<br />You can place this example of the Herald once again ignoring the troubles of a large state employer on the agenda/autopsy page, right after that delicious item I told you about the day it happened last September.
<br />
<br />That was where the Herald ran a story in their third-rate Sunday opinion section, Issues & Ideas, shortly before a Dem presidential debate at the U-M, where one of their Latin America experts wrote that Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico was actually born in Mexico, which would surely come as shocking news to his mother, who was in Santa Monica, CA when Bill was born.
<br />
<br />You'll recall that I stated to you at the time how this merely confirmed my own doubts about the tenuous grasp of the U.S. Constitution by most reporters, other than the Second Amendment, and in this case, not only the individual reporter at the Herald who wrote this, but his editors as well. <em><span style="color:#990000;">A two-fer</span></em>.
<br />
<br />That this simple "fact" could've been discovered and refuted by a nine-year old in all of about 30 seconds via Richardson's own presidential or gubernatorial website, or that the newspaper never ran a correction, is just one of the many reasons why the Miami Herald has been in economic and editorial free fall for years.
<br />
<br />Matt, I can hardly wait 'till the geniuses at The McClatchy Company try to re-assure their stockholders that they won't have any trouble getting the City of Miami or Miami-Dade County to change their zoning laws to accommodate McClatchy's desire to sell the property, and turn it into bayside luxury condos. <em><span style="color:#000099;">(What else!)</span></em>
<br />
<br />That's when I think you'll see South Florida residents (inc. bloggers) decide that "what's good for the goose is good for the gander," and decide it's time for that area to become the beautiful bayside park it should've always been.
<br />(The one the city and county completely botched with Bicentennial Park years and years ago, and are now trying to fix with their current equally flawed project.)
<br />
<br />Then we'll see how dedicated to the concept of transparency and accountability the Miami Herald's Editorial Board is, when South Florida civic activists make it their business to give the proposed deal the highest possible degree of scrutiny.
<br /><em>You know, just for ol' times sake.</em>
<br />
<br />'Chinese wall' and all that.
<br />
<br />Hmm... as of Noon, there were only 346 Orlando Sentinel reader comments on their website. That's like, what, the total of all comments to the Herald in a good week?
<br />Exactly, hence my email to you now.
<br />
<br />Please consider adding it before the 4th of July.
<br />
<br />Adios!
<br />
<br />Dave
<br />
<br /><em>Orlando Sentinel</em>
<br /><strong>Walt Disney World fires back on guns at work</strong>
<br />Scott Powers and Jason Garcia, Sentinel Staff Writers
<br />July 3, 2008
<br />
<br />Walt Disney World employees won't be packing any heat in the company parking lots anytime soon.
<br />
<br />The giant resort has declared that much of its sprawling property is exempt from a new state law that allows Floridians with concealed-weapons permits to keep firearms locked in their cars at work.
<br />
<br />Disney, which has 60,000 employees and a long-standing policy against allowing guns on its land, cites an arcane -- and late-added -- loophole in the new law, which took effect Tuesday.
<br />
<br />To see the rest of the story:
<br /><a href="http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/custom/tourism/orl-disneyguns0308jul03,0,4282076.story" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#990000;">http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/custom/tourism/orl-disneyguns0308jul03,0,4282076.story</span></a>
<br />________________________________________
<br />Reader comments at:
<br /><a href="http://www.topix.net/forum/source/orlando-sentinel/T7AB2CU04R1EK4NK0" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#990000;">http://www.topix.net/forum/source/orlando-sentinel/T7AB2CU04R1EK4NK0</span></a><span style="color:#990000;"> </span>
<br />South Beach Hoosierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05775460691562107804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064760842412172611.post-10559395210420458622008-06-15T12:43:00.002-04:002008-06-15T12:52:32.243-04:00Crist urged to veto developer-friendly Margolis bill/SB 1706 that'd weaken growth mgmt. reforms<span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">This interesting item was up on the <em><span style="color:#000000;">Orlando Sentinel's</span></em> <em><span style="color:#990000;">Central Florida Political Pulse</span></em> website on Saturday, yet surprisingly, considering how much traffic there usually is to the site once the Sunday morning TV chat shows start up, there were still no comments on it by 11:45 a.m. today, Sunday.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">Upon reading the bill, I also better undertood the <em><span style="color:#000000;">transit </span></em>component as well.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">In case the link below for <strong><span style="color:#000000;">Comm. Teresa Jacobs'</span></strong> letter on behalf of the <em><span style="color:#990000;">Florida Association of Counties</span></em> within the post doesn't work, try</span><br /><a href="http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/files/veto_letter_to_gov_crist_re_1706.pdf" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"><span style="font-family:arial;color:#990000;">http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/files/veto_letter_to_gov_crist_re_1706.pdf</span></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">Bill history and votes of <strong><span style="color:#000000;">SB 1706</span></strong>: <span style="color:#000000;">Relating to Developments of RegionalImpact [RPCC]</span> at:</span><br /><a href="http://www.flsenate.gov/session/index.cfm?Mode=Bills&SubMenu=1&BI_Mode=ViewBillInfo&BillNum=1706" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"><span style="font-family:arial;color:#990000;">http://www.flsenate.gov/session/index.cfm?Mode=Bills&SubMenu=1&BI_Mode=ViewBillInfo&BillNum=1706</span></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">The bill passed House 115-0 on April 30th, passed Senate 37-0 on April 25th.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">__________________________________________________________________</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000000;"><em>Orlando Sentinel</em></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#990000;"><em>Central Florida Political Pulse</em> <span style="color:#000099;">blog</span></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000000;">Commissioner Jacobs asks Crist to veto developer-friendly bill</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000000;">posted by Aaron Deslatte on Jun 13, 2008 4:33:47 PM</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000000;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000000;">Orange County Commissioner Teresa Jacobs, in her capacity as president of the Florida Association of Counties, asked Gov. Charlie Crist Friday to veto a developer-friendly bill she argues would weaken past growth management reforms.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000000;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000000;">The bill, </span><a href="http://www.flsenate.gov/session/index.cfm?BI_Mode=ViewBillInfo&Mode=Bills&SubMenu=1&Year=2008&billnum=1706" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"><span style="font-family:arial;color:#990000;">SB 1706</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000000;">, extends the "build out" dates for large-scale development projects like airports, shopping centers and planned communities for three years. The aim of the bill, sponsored by Democratic Sen. Gwen Margolis, was to give developers who've already got state and local approval for their projects more time before they have to complete them -- and help pay for the extra traffic they put on surrounding roads.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000000;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000000;">But granting a blanket, three-year pass to developers means locals could have to find other ways to pay for the traffic growth that occurs around those projects.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">To see the rest of the post, please see:</span><br /><a href="http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/2008/06/commissioner-ja.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"><span style="font-family:arial;color:#990000;">http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/2008/06/commissioner-ja.html</span></a>South Beach Hoosierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05775460691562107804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064760842412172611.post-57573679860517968002008-05-31T23:49:00.027-04:002008-06-11T11:05:04.936-04:00South Florida transit issues and govt. agencies relative usefulness<span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;"><span style="color:#000000;">It's been mentioned more than a few times to </span><em><span style="color:#990000;">South Beach Hoosier</span></em> <span style="color:#000000;">by recipients of his emails, that he ought to strongly consider using parts of those past emails as building blocks to buttress certain public policy points he's tried to make in the past on the blog.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;color:#000000;">Up 'till now, I've largely resisted the urge, but today, I thought this one might actually be of enough interest to you all to make posting it worthwhile, so that you might learn what I've learned about some Florida government agencies that are part of the planning process governing transit, but which rather than taking a pro-active approach and being an example of good management -<em><span style="color:#660000;">aren't</span></em>.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;">I<span style="color:#000099;"><span style="color:#000000;">t's an excerpt of an email to <strong>Gabriel Lopez-Bernal</strong> over at </span><em><span style="color:#990000;">Transit Miami</span></em><span style="color:#000000;">, one of the most influential blogs in South Florida for a reason, even if I don't necessarily share their political viewpoint on an everyday basis. But even when I disagree with what they say, there's usually something to be learned.</span></span></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000000;">__________________________________________________</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">Dear Gabriel:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">Started this email last weekend but decided to wait 'till after Memorial Day to send it along.<br />Earlier this week, I watched the <em><span style="color:#000000;">WGN-TV</span></em> noon newscast and saw their up-close camera shots of the <em><span style="color:#000000;">CTA</span></em> derailment the same day it happened, and also saw how damn impressive the neighborhood <em><span style="color:#000000;">Chicago Fire/EM</span></em>T response was -<em><span style="color:#990000;">one minute</span></em>.<br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">People living in the immediate neighborhood said that in riding the <em><span style="color:#000000;">El </span></em>the day before the accident, the track seemed "loose" in the same exact spot as where the derailment took place. Can't vouch for whether that's a fact or someone saying something provocative to get attention.<br /><em><span style="color:#000000;">(Temps were in the mid-50's, so unlikely a joint/heat expansion problem.)<br /></span></em></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">The top <em><span style="color:#000000;">CTA</span></em> administrators are really angry because this is the third one since April 21st, and it occurred while the <em><span style="color:#000000;">CTA</span></em> is waiting to hear how much money the state legislature in Springfield is going to give the <em><span style="color:#000000;">CTA</span></em>.<br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">Dave<br />_______________________________________________<br />Saturday May 30th, 2008<br /><br />Dear Gabriel:<br /><br />From my perspective, long story short of this latest <em><span style="color:#000000;">Minneapolis Star-Tribune</span></em> account of policy and process under a legal microscope after a disaster: <em><span style="color:#990000;">there but for the grace of God goes the Sunshine State.<br /></span></em><br />I strongly suggest you run a link to this story at your <em><span style="color:#990000;">Transit Miami</span></em> blog so that folks around the state, with an interest in transit and public policy, might be able to read this for themselves and imagine how this'd be handled here.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">Frankly, though I've written about transit issues, esp. as they apply to <em><span style="color:#000000;">Broward County</span></em> and the <em><span style="color:#000000;">SFECC</span></em>, as well as the <em><span style="color:#000000;">Broward County Charter Review Comm</span></em>., it just seems a much more natural fit for your blog than mine at <em><span style="color:#990000;">South Beach Hoosier</span></em> or<em><span style="color:#990000;"> Hallandale Beach Blog</span></em>.<br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">The insightful <em><span style="color:#000000;">Star-Tribune</span></em> reader comment below about the <strong><em><span style="color:#000000;">DFL</span></em></strong>-friendly law firm being brought in by the MN state legislature to try to undermine <em><span style="color:#000000;">NTSB</span></em> results, sounds 100% plausible to some savvy, politically-connected Dem friends of mine up there, who are rarely wrong about this sort of thing. <em><span style="color:#000000;">(As opposed to their sports analysis and predictions!)</span></em><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">Maybe it's just me, playing the role of cynic, but I can totally picture both <strong><span style="color:#000000;">Dan Gelber</span></strong> and <strong><span style="color:#000000;">Steve Geller</span></strong> trying pull something like that off here, too, perhaps with <strong><span style="color:#000000;">Ron L. Book</span></strong> involved for good measure, too.<br />You know him, he likes to be a 'party' to everything important -<em><span style="color:#000000;">sometimes against even himself</span></em>.<br />Just something to think about.<br /><span style="color:#000000;"></span></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;"><span style="color:#000000;">(Also, in case you've forgotten, the Republican Nat'l. Convention will be at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul the first week of September, exactly one week after the DNC is held in Denver.<br />Do per the article below, expect a spate of stories on the <strong>35 W</strong> bridge come August, right after the Olympics in <em>Beijing</em>.)<br /></span></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">As I mentioned to you recently when you gave me a call, in the near future, I'm planning on querying the <em><span style="color:#000000;">FDOT Secretary</span></em>, <strong><span style="color:#000000;">Stephanie Kopelousos</span></strong>, and find out whether or not she's <span style="color:#990000;">EVER</span> planning on being somewhere in <em><span style="color:#000000;">South Florida</span></em> where citizens, esp. those with an interest in transit, like you and me, can actually ask her some non-softball questions, rather than the sort of convivial industry forums, govt. official-only chat fests or <em><span style="color:#000000;">ASCE</span></em> events that her agency seems to prefer.<br /><br />For instance, take a look at what I found when I checked the archives of the <em><span style="color:#000000;">Gold Coast Chapter</span></em> of the <strong><span style="color:#000000;">Institute of Transportation Engineers</span></strong> at </span><a href="http://www.itegoldcoast.org/events.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"><span style="font-family:arial;color:#990000;">http://www.itegoldcoast.org/events.html</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span><span style="color:#000099;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Curious what you'd find when you go to the link at the bottom, titled, <em><strong><span style="color:#000000;">The State of Transportation in Broward County</span></strong></em>? I was.<br /><span style="color:#000000;">(The URL is </span></span></span><a href="http://www.itegoldcoast.org/PDF/ASCE-FES.pdf" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"><span style="font-family:arial;color:#990000;">http://www.itegoldcoast.org/PDF/ASCE-FES.pdf</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000000;"> in case the link below is dead when you go to it.)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">Answer: An invitation to their New Year's Eve Italian Dinner Party!<br /><em><span style="color:#000000;">On January 12th.<br /></span></em><br />To her credit, in a new and very fair-minded <em><span style="color:#990000;">Florida Trend</span></em> profile of her by <strong><span style="color:#000000;">Cynthia Barnett</span></strong>, <strong><span style="color:#000000;">Kopelousos</span></strong> claims that she's anxious to change the way things are done at <em><span style="color:#000000;">FDOT</span></em>, and bring them firmly into the 21st century.<br /><span style="color:#000000;"></span></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;"><span style="color:#000000;">(But the article also points out her weaknesses, the most obvious being her non-engineering background, which, apparently, has always been a predicate for the top FDOT job.)</span><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">Those positive qualities notwithstanding, <em><span style="color:#000099;"><span style="color:#990000;">where's the proof that this is resulting in any tangible positive changes for South Florida</span>?</span></em> </span><a href="http://floridatrend.com/article.asp?aID=49017" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"><span style="font-family:arial;color:#990000;">http://floridatrend.com/article.asp?aID=49017</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span><span style="color:#000099;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">While I appreciate that more than most state agencies, <em><span style="color:#000000;">FDOT</span></em> is, necessarily, decentralized, in my opinion, despite her short tenure and clear aptitude for hard work and long hours, given </span></span><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">the sheer amount of hard work that's required down here, I think she's got a lot to answer for. Not least of all, being practically <em><span style="color:#333333;">M.I.A</span></em>. for South Floridians like you and me -<em><span style="color:#000000;">and the folks who </span></em></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color:#000099;"><em><span style="color:#000000;">read our blog posts, here and around the state</span></em>.<br /><em><span style="color:#990000;"></span></em></span></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color:#000099;"><em><span style="color:#990000;">So where's the interaction with taxpayers who aren't engineers and public officials?<br /></span></em></span><span style="color:#000000;"></span></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color:#000000;">(As it happens, I think I actually ran into Kopelousos a few times while I was up in Washington </span></span><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000000;">and she was working for the late Rep. Tillie Fowler, whom I always found to be a real straight shooter, just like Rep. Charles Bennett had been earlier for the Jacksonville area when I moved to DC. </span><a href="http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/cebennett.htm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"><span style="font-family:arial;color:#990000;">http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/cebennett.htm</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;"> <span style="color:#000000;">)</span><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">The other day, largely as a result of the foolish actions in <em><span style="color:#000000;">Miami</span></em> regarding the <em><span style="color:#000000;">Miami River</span></em>, and the common sense of the <strong><span style="color:#000000;">Charles Lewis</span></strong> commentary, <strong><em><span style="color:#000000;">If the Miami River is really dead, why do the bridges go up?</span></em></strong> </span><a href="http://www.miamitodaynews.com/news/080522/story-viewpoint.shtml" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"><span style="font-family:arial;color:#990000;">http://www.miamitodaynews.com/news/080522/story-viewpoint.shtml</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span><span style="color:#000099;"><span style="font-family:arial;"></span></span><br /><span style="color:#000099;"><span style="font-family:arial;">After reading that, I decided it was about time I made plans to attend the next meeting of the <span style="color:#000000;"><em>South Florida Regional Planning</em> <em>Counci</em></span><em>l</em>. </span></span><a href="http://www.sfrpc.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"><span style="font-family:arial;color:#990000;">http://www.sfrpc.com/</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">Well, turns out that it's Monday at their <em><span style="color:#000000;">Hollywood</span></em> HQ.<br />So naturally I was curious if they'd put up an agenda for Monday on their website, since the meeting was Monday, the next day they were open.<br />Maybe get familiar with any staff reports in pdf., so I can better follow the proceedings while I'm there.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;"><span style="color:#990000;">Do I really even have to tell you that when I pulled up the web page that was supposed to have agendas, it was largely blank. <span style="color:#000000;">(At least as seen on my computer.)</span><br />Or that their website itself seems like it was put together by not-too-bright ninth-graders?</span><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;">Call me old-fashioned, Gabriel, but that's really <strong><span style="color:#990000;">NOT</span></strong> my idea of proper planning.<br />It's also <strong><span style="color:#990000;">NOT</span></strong> my idea of wisely spending taxpayer dollars, either.<br /><em><span style="color:#990000;"></span></em></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;"><em><span style="color:#990000;">Trust me, I'll make a point of mentioning all these things at the meeting</span></em>.</span><br /><span style="color:#000000;">___________________________________________</span><br /><a href="http://www.startribune.com/politics/state/19133569.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#990000;">http://www.startribune.com/politics/state/19133569.html</span></a><br /><br /><span style="color:#000000;">Minneapolis Star-Tribune<br />MnDOT missed opportunities to note bridge flaws, study finds</span><br /><span style="color:#000000;">By Mike Kaszuba, Star Tribune<br />May 21, 2008</span><br /><br />Reader comments are at:<br /><a href="http://ww2.startribune.com/user_comments/comments.php?d=asset_comments&asset_id=19133569&section=/politics/state" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#990000;">http://ww2.startribune.com/user_comments/comments.php?d=asset_comments&asset_id=19133569&section=/politics/state</span></a>South Beach Hoosierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05775460691562107804noreply@blogger.com0