Miami Herald's first online story about Lou Saban's death -wire copy without U-M record. Typical!

Lou Saban, IU football, 1941, 1942, 1942 MVP as QB.

http://iuhoosiers.cstv.com/trads/ind-trads-hof-1982.html

Wrote this first just a little while ago at my other blog, Hallandale Beach Blog.


The Herald's first online story about Lou Saban's 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.
I guess the photos just magically appear out of thin air!-

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!

(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
over the past five years to any serious sports fan.)

And in case you forgot or never knew, Lou Saban's last game as head coach of the Hurricanes was a 22-21 defeat of the Gators in 1978.
At Gainesville.
That's how you do it!

My guess is that when Randy Shannon 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: why was someone without any prior major college head coaching
experience ever hired in the first place?-

http://www.miamiherald.com/614/story/973815.html

Longtime football coach Lou Saban dies

BY SPORTS NETWORK

THE SPORTS NETWORK

March 29, 2009

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.

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.

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.

Away from football, Saban was also president of the New York Yankees from 1981-82.

"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."

Saban's coaching career also included stints at numerous colleges, Northwestern, Western Illinois, Maryland, Miami, Army and Central Florida.

Saban played college football at Indiana and was with the Cleveland Browns from 1946-49 before moving onto coaching.

___________________________

Former Herald sports writer Jim Martz sets some folks straight who seem

confused about the role of Hurricane QBs in their modern football history.

My first Hurricanes home game was in 1972, and until I left for Bloomington

in August of 1979, I went to well over 95% of their home games at the

Orange Bowl.

Miami Herald

An open letter to UM quarterback Jacory Harris

By Jim Martz, Canesport magazine

October 30, 2008

An open letter to Jacory Harris:

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.

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.

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.

Here's your first quiz: Do you know what these quarterbacks had in common?

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.

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."

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.

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.

KELLY'S ODYSSEY

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.

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.

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.

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.

And none transferred.

WAITING THEIR TURN

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

THE LEAN YEARS

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.

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.

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."

Over the years there have been several quarterbacks who became impatient or frustrated and decided to transfer. Can you name any of them?

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.

TRANSFER? PERISH THE THOUGHT

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.

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.

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.

There's no way to predict how this will unfold. Marve might struggle so much that coaches have to start you.

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.

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.

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."

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.

Jim Martz is editor of Canesport magazine.

Below, permanent anchors from my other blog, South Beach Hoosier

IT'S ALL ABOUT "THE U"

South Beach Hoosier's first U-M football game at the Orange Bowl was in 1972, age 11, against Tulane in the infamous "Fifth Down" game. In order to drum up support and attendance for the U-M at the Orange Bowl, that game had a promotion whereby South Florida kids who were school safety patrols could get in for freeIF they wore their sash. I did.

Clearly they knew that it was better to let kids in for free, knowing their parents would give them money to buy food and souvenirs, perhaps become a fan and want to return for future games. The ballgame made an interesting impression on The New York Times, resulting in this gem from the "View of Sport" column of Oct, 14, 1990, labeled 'Fifth Down or Not, It's Over When It's Over.' -"In 1972, aided by a fifth-down officiating gift in the last moments of the game, Miami of Florida defeated Tulane, 24-21.

The country and the world was a much different place that fall because The New York Times took time and space to editorialize on the subject.

''Is it right for sportsmen, particularly young athletes, to be penalized or deprived of the goals for which they earnestly competed because responsible officials make mistakes? The ideal of true sportsmanship would be better served if Miami forfeited last week's game.'

South Beach Hoosier hardly needs to tell you that this was YET another New York Times editorial that was completely ignored!

SEBASTIAN THE IBIS, THE SPIRITED MASCOT OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI HURRICANES

Before going to my first U-M game at the Orange Bowl in 1972, a friend's father often would bring me home an extra 'Canes game program. That's how I came to have the Alabama at U-M game program from Nov. 16, 1968, which was the first nationally-televised college football night game in color. (A 14-6 loss to the Crimson Tide.) After that first ballgame against Tulane, as l often did for Dolphin games if my father wasn't going, I'd get dropped off at the Levitz parking lot near the 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.

A few times, I was just about the only person onboard besides the bus driver, which was alright by me. Once at the Orange Bowl, if I didn't already have a ticket, I'd buy a game program for myself and one or two for friends or teachers before heading to the ticket window, since you usually couldn't find a program vendor once inside. I probaly had a friend or my father with me for just under 40% of the U-M games I ever went to, but you have to remember that the team, though blessed with several talented players, like Chuck Foreman and Burgess Owens, was just so-so to average at best, and the games were usually played on Friday nights, so it wasn't exactly high on everyone's list of things to do.

Depending upon the opponent, if I was alone, I'd often have entire areas of the Orange Bowl to myself. (Wish I had photos of that now!)

For instance, I had a good portion of the East (open) End Zone to myself against Oklahoma in the mid-70's, when the Boomer Schooner and the Schooner Crew went out on the field after an Oklahoma TD, and the Schooner received an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty from the refs, as would happen years later in an Orangle Bowl Classic game.

(Against FSU?)

I was there for the wins and losses under Pete Elliott, Carl Selmer & Lou Saban, and the huge on-field fight in '73 when under eventual national champion Notre Dame (under Ara Parseghian), they called a time-out with less than a minute to go, and already up 37-0. Their rationale?

To score another TD and impress the AP football writers;

final score 44-0. Well, they got their wish and beat Alabama 24-23 for the title at the Sugar Bowl.

A year later, thanks to my Mom's boss, she and I saw Ara's last game as head coach of the Irish in the Orange Bowl Game from the East End Zone

-in front of the Alabama cheerleaders!!!- in an exciting 13-11 Notre Dame win over Alabama and Bear Bryant, a rematch of the '73 national title game.

I was also present for the U-M's huge 20-15 win under Pete Elliott against Darrel Royal's Texas Longhorns, the week Sports Illustrated's College Football preview issue came out with Texas on the cover, below.

I was also present for lots of wins against schools called College of the Pacific, UNLV and Cal-Poly San Luis Obsispo, which I'd then never heard of before.

THE ISSUE I TOOK WITH

ME THE NIGHT OF U-M'S

20-15 UPSETOF #1

TEXAS AT THE

ORANGE BOWL

College Football,

Texas No. 1,

Hook 'em Horns,

Sept. 10, 1973.

Living in North Miami

Beach in the '70's,

my Sports Illustrated

usually showed up in

my mailbox on the

Thursday or Friday

before the Monday

cover date.

And was read cover-

to-cover by Sunday

morning.

Canesports is at http://miami.rivals.com/

Hallandale Beach Blog is at http://www.hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/

See also: http://www.collegefootballhistory.com/index.htm

Finally! South Beach Hoosier is Back on the Job!

It's hard to be humble when you're a Hoosier-by-choice!

Assembly Hall, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana

One of the places where, once upon a time, it really did all come together.

Sorry for the VERY LONG break from my duties here at South Beach Hoosier, 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 Hallandale Beach Blog, to the neglect of my SBH responsibilities.

Trust me, nobody feels worse about the matter than I do.

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 Indiana University Hoosiers; 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.

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.

That's all in the past, as in the intervening months, per the last paragraph, the gloves have most definitely come off!

No point holding my tongue when I can enlighten everyone to some egregiously bad, sloppy or incomplete reporting.

In another media matter, I will also mention and comments on some recent Hoosier additions to the South Florida news media scene.

By the way, since I last commented in this space, I've had the good fortune to run into the mother of a former IU basketball player a few times, and will hope to fill you in on what she had to share with me about her talented son.

Surprisingly, I've also discovered that a very trustworthy news source is now MUCH CLOSER to someone within the inner orbit of Hoosier athletics than I ever could've guessed.

Could it be, you know, a possible future "South Beach Hoosier World Exclusive" he said, laughing at the very idea.

Not yet, but...

-Dave at South Beach Hoosier

Where's the Disney World gun story in the Miami Herald?

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Below, an email I sent earlier this afternoon to Miami-area resident and longtime South Beach Hoosier favorite Matt Drudge, with the hopes that he'd turn his immensely powerful combination telescope and microscope of The Drudge Report in the general direction of Orlando and Miami.

This illuminating Orlando Sentinel story by Scott Powers and Jason Garcia 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 Miami Herald's own clueless-ness in the year 2008: 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.

As to my own original thoughts below about the future of the Herald Building itself, consider yourself warned. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:IMG_1642.jpg

And yes, I'll admit, I completely forgot about the Terra Group's purchase of the building, but the general point still holds true.

Winner of the 2005 Best Architectural Eyesore: The Miami Herald Building, 1 Herald Plaza,
Miami, FL 33132-1609
http://www.miaminewtimes.com/bestof/2005/award/best-architectural-eyesore-42698

See also: http://www.miamisunpost.com/archives/2006/07-27-06/eightstoryfrontpage.htm

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 Sports Dept. of the late and much-missed Miami News.
___________________________
Thursday July 3rd, 2008
12:30 p.m.

Dear Matt:

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.

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.

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.
Yeah, I'd really like to know who they are.

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.

Clarification: Parking Lot Guns-Disney story
http://www.miamiherald.com/775/story/591998.html

Disney says it's exempt from new gun law
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breaking_news/story/592379.html

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.

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.

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.

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. A two-fer.

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.

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. (What else!)

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.
(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.)

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.
You know, just for ol' times sake.

'Chinese wall' and all that.

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?
Exactly, hence my email to you now.

Please consider adding it before the 4th of July.

Adios!

Dave

Orlando Sentinel
Walt Disney World fires back on guns at work
Scott Powers and Jason Garcia, Sentinel Staff Writers
July 3, 2008

Walt Disney World employees won't be packing any heat in the company parking lots anytime soon.

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.

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.

To see the rest of the story:
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/custom/tourism/orl-disneyguns0308jul03,0,4282076.story
________________________________________
Reader comments at:
http://www.topix.net/forum/source/orlando-sentinel/T7AB2CU04R1EK4NK0

Herald & Sun-Sentinel Go E-Z on Drew Rosenhaus in NFL Ethics Case

My comments follow the article.
___________________________________
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/football/pro/dolphins/sns-ap-fbn-49ers-bears-tampering,0,7496692.story

http://www.miamiherald.com/858/story/468767.html

Niners forfeit pick for Briggs tampering
The Associated Press
March 24, 2008

NEW YORK-
The San Francisco 49ers forfeited their fifth-round pick in next month's NFL draft after commissioner Roger Goodell said they tampered with Chicago linebacker Lance Briggs.

In a statement released by the league Monday, Goodell also said the teams will switch picks in the third round of the April 26-27 draft. Chicago, which had the 12th pick, will get San Francisco's seventh pick and the 49ers will get Chicago's choice.

Goodell said the 49ers violated the NFL's anti-tampering policy by contacting Briggs' agent, Drew Rosenhaus, about his client during the 2007 season.

"The 49ers organization respects Commissioner Goodell's ruling today, however we do disagree with it," 49ers general manager Scot McCloughan said in a statement. "This was not a malicious act; we believe that our intent was within the NFL guidelines. Going forward, we will take the necessary steps to ensure we are in compliance with the NFL's interpretation."

Briggs, an all-Pro in 2007, had been designated as Chicago's franchise player, signing a one-year tender that meant he could not leave the Bears.

He had been expected to leave as a free agent after last season but instead re-signed with Chicago for $36 million over six years. Briggs will earn $21.6 million in the first three years of the deal and $13 million of the contract is guaranteed.

"We are appreciative of the efforts of the league office on this matter and support the commissioner's decision," Bears president and CEO Ted Phillips said in a statement.

There had been reports of contact between the 49ers and Rosenhaus last season, and the Bears filed a tampering charge with the NFL. Goodell said both teams cooperated with his investigation into the allegations.
___________________________________________
Nice of both the Miami Herald and South Florida Sun-Sentinel to only run an AP story in their papers on the involvement of Miami sports agent and spin-meister Drew Rosenhaus in NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell's decision to penalize the 49ers for contacting Rosenhaus about his client, Bears LB Lance Briggs, before last year's trading deadline.

(Let's put the folks at NFL Security in charge of Homeland Security, he said half-jokingly.)

Why put your own reporters in the position of having to ask some tough questions of a locally-based, nationally-known, high-profile personality they're used to kidding around with -who routinely provides reporters with endless amounts of anonymous information and access to his clients- when you can dodge that headache by just running a generic A.P. story?

Hmmm... an ethical dilemma facing newspaper editors in their coverage of a story about troublesome ethics.
Now that's ironic!

Where's that quote machine Lucy Dalglish when you (readers) need her?

For the record, since January 1st, roughly 12 weeks ago, the Herald has run about 18 separate
stories that either mention Rosenhaus or quote him, while the Sun-Sentinel has run about 9.

(More on Drew Rosenhaus at http://www.rosenhaussports.com/ and http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=61447585 )

Just another reason to be very glad that there isn't a national press shield law, South Beach Hoosier said in all seriousness, despite the efforts of so many on Capitol Hill -unfortunately, including Senator Lugar- to give a special interest group like the corporate media exactly what they dearly want most -less accountability.
___________________________________________________
"My agent, Drew Rosenhaus … obviously I picked him for a reason. Your agent, you're supposed to trust him. And when he gives you advice, I feel like it's in my best interest to follow it. If there's something I don't like, obviously I'll bring that up with him. Drew has been in this situation many times, and I really feel comfortable with what he's telling me to do at this point..."

See Diary of an NFL free agent: Lance Briggs
Briggs embarks on journey to unknown
www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/football/pro/dolphins/cs-080228-lance-briggs-free-agent,0,2956134.story

Finally! Miami Norland vs Boyd Anderson, Sat. @ 3 pm on Sun Sports

Finally!

The Miami Norland High School vs Lauderdale Lakes Boyd Anderson High School 6A title basketball game will be televised Saturday the 15th at 3 p.m. on Sun Sports.

Well, that would be the Boys' title, though Sun Sports described it as Girls...
Sun Sports' website read thusly,
http://www.sunsportstv.com/news.jhtml?method=view&news.id=532

FHSAA BOYS BASKETBALL FINALS
(Sun Sports)
This year Sun Sports will televise all 12 of the FHSAA Girl’s & Boy’s Basketball Finals. The boys Finals air this week on the heels of the girl’s Finals which wrapped up last week. Whit Watson calls the play-by-play action with Mark Wise serving as color analyst.
... Sat., 3/15 at 3pm Girls 6A: Miami Norland vs. Boyd Anderson

The encore telecast will be next Sunday, March 23rd at 4 p.m.

Finally, two weeks after the fact, you can see for yourself why the Miami Norland Vikings are
now ranked No. 25 in the USA Today Super 25 national poll.

Typically, with all the aplomb of a dying newspaper gasping on its deathbed, the Miami Herald doesn't even list this game in their Weekend Sports TV box on page 7-D in today's Herald.

But don't worry, they compensate for this slight by finding the space to list Sunday night's PBR Bull Riding event in Tacoma!

Over the weekend, I'll be commenting on the two-week delay in televising this ballgame, which
only highlights South Florida's continuing Banana Republic sports status.

I should mention here that within the next few days, l'll also be posting a series of essays that absolutely zeroes in on both WQAM and 790 The Ticket's station management, for their
continuing pattern of poor programming choices, especially for what they consciously choose NOT to do.

Sadly, for South Florida's sports fans, everything I'll say will ring 100% true.

I'll also take the Herald to the woodshed for a number of sports-related crimes of omission that, rather curiously, have never been examined to any real degree on WQAM or 790, despite the fact that they are self-evident in the extreme.
That's especially the case in the area of sports media! (Barry Jackson)

Such will be my quest, and trust me, I'll have more than enough ammunition to get it done.

Like low-hanging fruit, just waiting for somebody to come by and bash it like a piñata, my real problem will simply be trying to decide what to bash now and what to leave to a future date.

Though some of you might reasonably guess what some of these subjects might be, I suspect that much of it will cause you to say, "Hmmm... Now that you mention it..."

As with most things I've observed and found interesting or curious over the years, I've taken copious notes over the past four years since returning here from Washington.

I've shared much of what I've observed with several friends and acquaintances at the Herald who are either reporters or editors in other departments, as well as with other local media folks.

Without exception, the Herald employees acknowledge the truth of what I've told them since they've caught that same thing themself when reading the paper, or say, almost forgetting what they're implying, "Well, you think that's something, did you ever notice that..."

And trust me, it's not just other Herald employees in other departments who are well aware of the curious omissions and strange bouts of forgetfulness in the Herald sports section, since even when they're not wearing their Herald hats, they're still sports fans, too.

No, it also includes a handful of national sports writers and columnists I know or have a good relationship with, most of whom you'd probably either recognize by face or byline instantly if you're a real sports fan.

Honestly, at some point with the Herald under the McClatchy regime, it really stops just being about simple incompetence, and becomes the foundation for company policy.

Before you check out the game, check out Roy Fuoco's Lakeland Ledger story of March 8th on the declining attendance at the FHSAA basketball tourney in Lakeland, which, naturally, gets blamed on so many teams being from South Florida.
"[Polk County Athletic Director Don Bridges said] he knew it wouldn't be good news when he saw which teams qualified for the tournament."

Fewer Fans Make Trip To Finals
http://www.theledger.com/article/20080308/NEWS/565895247/1002/SPORTS

Meanwhile, Buddy Collings in today's Orlando Sentinel
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/orl-hsclanton1408mar14,0,582918.story
reports that Viking senior Antonio Hester and Head coach Lawton Williams are candidates for 2008 Dairy Farmers Mr. Basketball and Coach of the Year, respectively.

South Beach Hoosier hardly needs to tell his regular readers that one of his first friends at IU was James (Jim) Thomas of Ft. Lauderdale NOVA High School, the 1978-79 Florida Basketball Player of the Year. (Don't recall if they had a corporate sponsor back then.)

Jim was the immensely talented yet modest and steady guy who almost singlehandedly was responsible for dashing the hopes of SBH's beloved North Miami Beach Chargers in the FHSAA state basketball playoffs one year.

Sadly, that was the one year out of four when through dint of some hard work, serendipity and finally, some real height, the Chargers were not only a very good basketball team, but in the opinion of some, perhaps the favorite to win the Florida state championship.
Did I mention that the NMB-NOVA game was at NOVA's gym?

(I'd been there once before for a gymnastics tri-meet, and recall that for the vault, we had to prop open a door leading outside, so as to ensure enough distance to get a good running start.
That was very weird!

I can still picture my wonderfully talented and enthusuastic friend, Linda Zobler, such a bundle of positive energy, waiting anxiously outside the gym door jamb for the vault judges to signal with their hands that she could start her run.
Naturally, because Linda was a champion, she stuck the landing!)

On the chance that you've never noticed it before, here's what I've written about Jim on one of the anchor posts on the SBH front page:
#20, Fort Lauderdale Nova's James (Jim) Thomas, a member of IU's 1981 NCAA basketball championship team and the 1981 NCAA All-Final Four Team, and the 1978-79 Mr. Florida Basketball.

A forensics major who was self-less and generous to a fault, Jim was also one of my very first friends at IU, and a very talented and thoughtful guy who possessed a tireless work ethic and a sense of dedication that was palpable at all times.

Those qualities weren't just on display at Assembly Hall during IU's games and practices, but at many other times and places over the years, with yours truly as a witness, when there were no cheering crowds around.

For instance, on those cold days and nights when I'd meet Jim over at the HPER track, and we'd go up to the upstairs basketball court, where for about an hour, I'd help Jim with various skill drills by throwing or passing him basketballs and watch him go thru his paces: shooting, rebounding, passing and free throw shooting.

It was just Jim and his desire to be the sort of IU student & player who made his family, friends and teammates proud to be around him -and Hoosier Nation proud that he chose to wear the Hoosier cream and crimson with so much grace and dignity;

Steve Geller's antics; cowardly Miami Herald editorial board

Monday February 4, 2008

3:45 pm

Just wanted to call your attention to some interesting news I discovered via the Orlando Sentinel a few minutes ago, via email.

Don't think I ever mentioned it here before, but I subscribe to the Orlando Sentinel's excellent political blog, Central Florida Political Pulse, which seems, thus far, to have the great advantage of being able to call 'em like they see 'em with much more freedom than is generally common with other political blogs affiliated with newspapers.

Say, unlike the Miami Herald's political blog, Naked Politics, to name but one.
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/

That low-hanging target, which for the better part of its existence didn't have even a single link to other Herald blogs on their site, still doesn't link to any other newspaper political blog, even ones within the state. Now that's using technology!
(Sounds like a Kim Marcille directive to me.)

The Pulse had an item today that FSU's President, T. K. Wetherell, has suddenly realized the true nature of his job situation, after what only seems like Fourscore and seven ethical lapses and arrests among FSU athletes.
That is, that he was, in fact, within the FSU hierarchy, the wagging tail, not the lead dog.
Well, at least now he knows the score!

He's been chasing the tail all this time, getting damn frustrated.
Now, he's chagrined to discover that he's just like the dog on that hysterical Comedy Central show of a few years ago, TV Funhouse. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TV_Funhouse

I've always loved the term the NCAA uses in documents to describe situations less egregious than this one at FSU, albeit, usually at non-winning schools that can't sell merchandise and get big TV ratings all around the country like the Seminoles: lack of institutional control.
See SMU and death penalty, circa early 1980's.

Unfortunately for my tastes, the Miami Herald continues to walk a far-too-careful tip-toe around the very curious actions and puzzling behavior of Steve Geller, where there's never any telling from moment to moment which of his many 'hats for hire' he's wearing, a topic that both of my blogs will be addressing in the future.

One minute, Geller is the esteemed State Senator and top Senate Democrat of the fourth largest state in the country, a wheeler-dealer in a tiny govt. town who's in love with the sound of his own voice, and who proudly proclaimed his role at the time, complete with trademark smirk and sarcasm, in moving up the date of the presidential primary.

An hour later, Geller is the corporate lawyer/bully, trying to not only prevent Hallandale Beach residents living near the proposal -his constituents- at a City Commission meeting from
opposing his client's bad plans to build an over sized bldg. near their homes, but even worse, he's
actively trying to prevent them from even being able to speak during the public comments portion of the commission meeting.

(Months ago when it happened, I actually was so appalled by Geller's antics that I called a Herald reporter I respect on my cellphone, and then gave her a play-by-play of what happened.
That was really my only card to play because the Herald didn't think to assign someone to a public meeting that produced the largest building in Broward on U.S.-1 south of downtown Fort Lauderdale, the DOMUS project across from Gulfstream Park.)

Later, Geller wears the lobbyist hat he probably loves most, where he gets paid to alternately persuade/schmooze/ply city officials -also his constituents- to grant favors to or accept the plans of his myriad corporate clients who pay him handsomely.

Clients that doubtless make campaign contribution$, wouldn't you guess?
Yes, it's really quite a circle of love, isn't it?

Fortunately, the Sentinel and their blog runs accurate-but-negative things about the ethically-challenged State Senator Geller, who'll continue to mis-represent me and my neighbors up in Tallahassee for a few more months until he's term-limited out of his cozy confine$ in the lap of power.

(Geller has a big fundraiser in Tallahassee this week amongst his pals and clients for an election two years from now, when he'll try to take away Suzanne Gunzburger's seat on the Broward County Commission.
He's not even letting the fact that his Cooper City house isn't legally in the district prevent him from raising money.
He's Steve Geller -he does what he likes.)

The Sentinel blog carried the amusing item below about Wetherell, the former pol and FL House Speaker put in his cushy job by his pals to run a college whose reputation around the country, such as it is, rests almost entirely on its gridiron prowess, not its contributions to anything of real note or consequence, which may be a good thing in the end.

Well, okay, save for some NOAA hurricane/weather forecasters and some very cute FSU coeds, famous for smiling while wearing skimpy outfits at football games.
See http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2680844980098792027WIsYXc and
http://www.cybersportsblog.com/2005_archives/dec_daily_news/956-FSU-hotties.html

And, quite naturally, trying desperately to hang onto that 15 Minutes, witness Jenn Sterger, whose fame first came at the FSU at U-M game a few years ago. http://www.jennsterger.com/
Jenn at Wrigley Field: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/jenn_sterger/07/26/mailbag/index.html

One last thing, and it's troubling to me in so many ways that I can't even begin to get into here, but here's the gist of it, with more posts about the subject in the near future, when I post some reviews about aspects of the Herald that I've been sitting on for months.

In reading the article in the Herald last Saturday about the passing of former Herald editorial page editor Jim Hampton, Former Miami Herald editorial page editor dies
http://www.miamiherald.com/548/story/403335.html , I came across a rather curious comment from a Herald insider, one which caused me to roll my eyes, since I know only too well how drastically the newspaper needs to be turned around to make it relevant and better in a changing environment.

After I read this comment, I wondered how many other people in South Florida who care about public policy the way I do had a similar reaction:

Hampton's imprint is still apparent on the Editorial Board he helped shape. ''Who we are and how we function is Jim's handiwork,'' [current Heraldeditorial page editor] Oglesby said.

Hmmm...
By that, does Oglesby mean the way the powers-that-be at the Herald played chicken recently with their readers, when their Editorial Board didn't make an endorsement in either party for the Florida presidential primary?

That abdication of basic civic responsibility caused even-tempered Channel 10/WPLG political editor Michael Putney so much indignation, that he felt compelled to mention it to his politically savvy audience last Sunday morning, on his popular TV show, This Week in South Florida.
You know, just in case his viewers hadn't noticed its absence in their Sunday Herald while they were munching on their breakfast.

Given the current state of the Herald, I don't know if Mr. Oglesby's comments were something I'd be bragging about if I were related to Mr. Hampton.
But maybe that's just me.

FYI: Last Thursday, I spent the hour in between the two episodes of SouthBeachHoosier TV favorite Chuck on NBC, reading the wit and wisdom of "DUMP STEVE GELLER," an opinionated person in D.C. -so he says- on various forums on a variety of topics, including tax reform, education and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel's bias.

I don't know anything about who this person might be, but it's interesting that someone who lives in D.C., if that's true, would have such contempt and antipathy towards him.
Mine comes much more natural -geographical proximity.

For more information on the antics of Steve Geller, please see this dead-on Sept. 7th story from five months ago. http://news.tbo.com/news/metro/MGB25AM2A6F.html
Line In Sand Has Democrats Hopping by William March of the Tampa Tribune

Well, what do you know, National Dems are as unimpressed by the blustery comments of Geller as his constituents, and the media who collectively hope he'll get his comeuppance somehow.

"State Senate Democratic leader Steve Geller of Hallandale Beach, responding to the candidates' threat to boycott the Florida primary campaign over the Jan. 29 date, angrily urged Floridians to withdraw their endorsements for the candidates - and maybe their money.
"If the DNC chairman and the Democratic candidates choose to ignore our voters, then we can choose to ignore their campaigns," Geller said. "And where we go, so goes our wallets."

Of course, months earlier, Geller's penchant for bombast and delusions of importance cost the state of Florida, as this insightful May 17th post by Jason Garcia on the Pulse blog makes all too clear, http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/2007/05/geller_to_dean_.html

The August 28th response to the post, which references Adam Smith of the St. Pete Times' comments, is one that the Herald and the rest of South Florida would've been smart to share with local residents, but never did.
Why do you suppose that is?

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/2008/02/wetherell-criti.html
Wetherell criticizes FSU athletic department posted by Aaron Deslatte on Feb 4, 2008
________________________________________________________
The whole story of Wetherell's self-discovery

www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/college/seminoles/orl-newfsu0408feb04,0,3525431.story
SENTINEL EXCLUSIVE
FSU president knocks Seminoles athletic department
Didn't trust athletic department to conduct cheating probe
Andrew Carter, Sentinel Staff Writer

Herald's People page facelift a total failure!

The Miami Herald's advertisement of December 15th for their new PEOPLE page

Oh, Miami Herald People piñata.
My Louisville Slugger bat is so large and your low-hanging fruit is so thoroughly rotten.
It hardly seems sporting of me to put you out of your misery with one blow.
But then I look at how miserable your entertainment coverage has been since I returned to South Florida.

At how you've consistently run stories that positively reek of mothballs, so old are they in this online age.
Day after day of blah entertainment/celebrity stories in the paper 72 hours after the whole world first heard about them on roughly 2-3 dozen very popular websites, and you, adding nary an original nugget or morsel to chew on. No added news nutients.

Oh to be sure, of late you've asked visiting celebs about Miami, and to no body's surprise, they like, they like!
For instance, just this past Friday, January 11th, you used about 30% of your page to run -along with an uncredited photo- a supposed chat with former Northwestern chemical engineering student and longtime supermodel/entrepreneur/endorser Cindy Crawford.
She's someone whom everyone in Evanston claims to have known or met while she was there briefly in the '80's, right before I moved there in 1985. http://www.library.northwestern.edu/archives/exhibits/alumni/crawford.html

Honestly, Lesley Abravanel, given the whole universe of questions to pose, why are you asking such a bright and thoughtful woman such low-brow and self-serving questions, which seem designed more to curry favor with your publicist pals -who whisper sweet nothings into your ear- than entertain or inform Herald readers?

You offered dopey:
What about Miami has inspired your furniture line?
What's your favorite hotel to stay in?
What's your favorite hotel decor-wise?
What's your favorite place to chill?
What's your favorite restaurant in Miami?
Favorite place to shop in Miami?

How about this.
"Cindy, you're someone who's not a stranger to South Florida. Based on your many past visits here, what are the things that you most wish were still present for others to enjoy?
You've got a pretty good sense of the changes this area has undergone, what would you most like to see changed for the better?"
Now that would be a bit more interesting and original! Simple!

By the way, have you ever heard of photographer credits?
You might try using them, since it's not like you're on a blogger's budget.
You ran eight photos on that page and didn't give a credit on a single one of them.

Miami Herald's horrible website exposed again

Continuing with my post yesterday, exposing more self-evident flaws in the the Miami Herald and its website
Today is Wednesday September 12th, 2007. The following "Correction" appeared last Friday for a story that had run the previous day, the 6th, a date well within the Herald's own rules for keeping a story on its website for 7 days before sending it to archives.
(There, of course, you get to pay for the privilege of finding it. Minus the photos, graphs and other helpful info you'd be able to see if you were looking for a story on the Baltimore Sun's website, for example.)
Unlike the corrections that run on the website of the New York Times, and on p. 2A of the actual paper, the Herald's website doesn't provide a link back to the original story with the appended correction. It's a small thing, but lile so much with the Herald, its speaks volumes about its inherent reader unfriendliness.

http://www.miamiherald.com/461/story/228480.html
Miami Herald
September 7, 2007
An article on Page 3B of the Metro & State section Thursday wrongly attributed a quote from Miami-Dade School Board member Evelyn Greer to another member. The article should have noted that Greer said: "It's a very interesting phenomenon in this state. People don't want to pay taxes, but they want the best in services."

So, if you had wanted to find the original story on the Herald's website, the subject of the correction, which appeared in the paper only 5 days old before, you'd get the following: it's disappeared.
What follows is exactly what appears on the website after I typed in my query.

Recent News
Keywords: "Evelyn Greer"

Pub Date: Past 7 Days Wed, Sep 12, 2007 Tue, Sep 11, 2007 Mon, Sep 10, 2007 Sun, Sep 9, 2007 Sat, Sep 8, 2007 Fri, Sep 7, 2007 Thu, Sep 6, 2007
We didn't find any News containing "Evelyn Greer". Please refine your query and try again.

Suggestions:
Check your spelling
Try different words
Try words that mean the same thing
Try fewer words

http://pd.miami.com/sp?aff=101&keywords=Evelyn+Greer&pubDate=&submit=search
So, I tried it again but the original Sept. 6th article that the Herald made their mistake in, NEVER appeared on the page.
Don't think that the Herald's own reporters don't know how bad the website is -they hear it from people everywhere they go.

Draw your own conclusions!