Once again, sports reporters eager to avoid angering Tiger Woods and becoming 'Persona non Tiger'

My comments follow this latest update from TMZ.
-----------
TMZ.com
Tiger Woods Cornered -- Turns Cops Away

Posted Nov 28th 2009 5:09PM by TMZ Staff

http://www.tmz.com/2009/11/28/tiger-woods-elin-nordegren-florida-highway-patrol/

-----------
Well, what do you know?
Maybe ESPN's Sunday morning edition of
The Sports Reporters will actually be
interesting and relevant for the first time in
what seems like ages, as the Usual Suspects
of sports sages weigh-in, gingerly, on what's
happened the past few days on the golf icon
and guaranteed moneymaker named
Tiger Woods.

Personally, though I know it will never
happen, I'd love to hear them be
straight-shooters for a change and publicly
call-out their more spine-less and craven
colleagues in the sports and marketing
industry, esp. at the TV networks, who
walk on eggshells when speaking about
Tiger Woods, someone whom I've yet
to ever hear an original and thoughtful
comment from, just like fellow Nike
spokesperson Michael Jordan,
even though he has the benefit of a
Stanford education.

(Not that a Stanford education really did devout
Oriole fans like me any good in the '90's while
Mike Mussina was pitching for the Orioles,
despite how frequently it got brought-up during
ballgame broadcasts, much to our consternation.

A lot of my friends and I still blame Mussina for
not winning Game 3 of the 1996 ALCS against
the Yankees at Camden Yards -I was there-
blowing a 1-0 lead in the eighth inning, with a
dominating David Wells slated to pitch for the
Orioles the next day, which could've plausibly
created a 3-1 Oriole series lead.

His choking performance prevented the Orioles
from getting to the World Series and beating
the Atlanta Braves, when the O's were clearly
the best-balanced team in baseball that year
-despite being the AL Wild Card team- having
thoroughly annihilated the Braves in Atlanta
during an intra-league weekend series.)

Which is fine, of course, since Woods
doesn't have to be interesting off the course,
or even take a public stand about any issues
he privately cares about, as long as he keeps
winning.
But it would be nice if he would...

How interesting would it be if he declared
publicly in the near-future that, as a matter
of fact, he's greatly troubled by the whole
'immigration reform' racket in this country,
including the basic concepts behind the
so-called "Dream Act."

That he was particularly dismayed at the
overwhelmingly sympathetic and one-sided
way the American news media have
portrayed the debate, having been played,
hook, line and sinker, by someone like
Cheryl Little of the Florida Immigrant
Advocacy Center,
http://www.fiacfla.org/staff.php#1
who seems to promise access to her clients
in exchange for favorable media coverage.

(So where are the on-camera questions
about -or interviews with- the parents
who came here illegally or who knowingly
broke the law and have successfully
avoided deportation for YEARS?
Not on camera, that's for sure because
that'd be off -message, don't ya know.
So who's the most recent example I've
seen of a local Miami TV reporter playing
Cheryl Little's game of Show-and-Tell?
CBS4's David Sutta, who did one on
Nov. 20th after CBS4 did a story the
previous day on the same kids attending
Miami-Dade College.
"Reyes Bros. Freed After Immigration
Struggle."
http://cbs4.com/video/?id=86995@wfor.dayport.com)

If Woods actually said that he thinks this sort
of upside-down proposal penalizes hard-working
foreigners who have followed the proscribed
rules and laws we've insisted they follow, and
patiently bided their time waiting anxiously for
legal admittance, while others have come to
this country either illegally, or intentionally
overstayed their visas, and now want to create
a cause célèbre just because their kids aren't
dopes and actually paid attention in American
schools, just imagine what people would be
saying?

It'll never happen, of course, but...
Personally, I suspect this latest incident in
Orlando, whatever the true facts, will only
show once gain the full extent to which the
news media, in this case, well-known sports
reporters and columnists -like certain
well-known political reporters and
columnists last year were (and remain)
completely in the tank for Obama-
have drunk the Tiger Woods marketing
Kool-Aid, and have deluded themselves
into thinking that , a la O.J., that they
'really know him.'

They don't.
They just think they do.

What those particular reporters fear most
is losing access to him and his tightly-knit
entourage and being put permanently on
his "No comment" list.
That's the same thing as excommunication,
since it will quickly become known throughout
the industry.
And they will be labeled 'Persona non Tiger.'

¿Ya es lunes? Dear Dolphins: Do we have to wear our orange sombreros, too? Me gusta Lana Parrilla!

Orange you glad I reminded you?

Below, excerpt from a recent email
I received from the Dolphins.

Is It Next Monday Yet?

Fresh off the big win against AFC East rival Buffalo Bills, the Miami Dolphins face another rival, the New York Jets, next Monday, October 12th at 8:30 p.m. at Land Shark Stadium.

Be here to see live:

• Dolphins players wear ORANGE jerseys for only the third time ever. The last two times the team wore orange jerseys resulted in Dolphins’ victories!
  
• The Dolphins along with the NFL celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month. Among the festivities is Latin Grammy award-winning Jesse and Joy performing live at the Land Shark Tailgate Stage, Marc Anthony singing the national anthem and a special “Celebration of the Americas” halftime show with participation by Gloria Estefan and a live performance by Jocelyn Rivera.

So be here for what promises to be an unforgettable night in South Florida in this Monday Night Football game. Wear your Dolphins ORANGE and come ready to FIESTA!

---------------------
Actually, I have quite a lot of orange
t-shirts, but this makes as much marketing
sense as having IRL drivers in Davie at
Dolphins HQ, and the Herald mentioning
that the drivers were photographed next
to the Dolphins Super Bowl trophies
from 35 years ago, plus the the racing
trophy.

But be sure to call me if you spot
Lana Parrilla of CBS-TV's upcoming
drama Miami Trauma before kickoff!
Her I adore!
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0663469/
Ever since Boomtown seven years ago.

(Per Lana's show Miami Trauma,
where she'll play surgeon Eva Zambrano,
-"It could be paradise.
But even paradise needs its angels",
see http://twitpic.com/32l5u
and
http://www.jbfilms.com/archive/home.html -
some of the well-informed people
I hear from regularly in LA, plus,
the plugged-in folks at The Wrap,
http://www.thewrap.com/ind-column/cbs-says-yes-more-flashpoint-8265
have suggested it could air in a few
months on Tuesdays at 10 p.m. after
NCIS:LA's time slot if the Juliana
Margulies vehicle The Good Wife
is eventually axed.

Personally, I think there are other CBS
shows that really ought to get axed before
Good Wife, which I really enjoy because
of its excellent cast and nuanced intelligent
approach to a situation seldom dealt with
well on TV -family life after a political
scandal.

Plus Margulies is not only a very talented
actress, but is also very, very likable and
someone that other talented people enjoy
working with.
That still counts for something, even in the
Hollywood of 2009.

Personally, I think NCIS: LA is a better
idea for a TV series than reality has proven
thus far, since it leaves me cold so far,
even though I'm a big fan of NCIS,
having watched it from the very beginning.)

Don't want to even think about the 1,001
ways the Herald and Sun-Sentinel will
use the word "siesta" on Tuesday if los
Dolphins lose to los Jets.

If so, I will have todo sobre ESPN
using Spanish in particularly galling,
over-the-top ways throughout the
ballgame.

Which Hispanic celebs will they interview
at halftime?

What's the over-and-under on someone
on the broadcast team using the words
"salsa" or "caliente"?

What sort of ridiculous and cringe-worthy
things will new owner and celebrity groupie
Stephen Ross or possibly Dolphins
Enterprises CEO Mike "Hanging Sox"
Dee say about the Dolphins trying to
're-connect' with South Florida's Hispanic
population?
(Re-connect? Where did they go?)

It could get very bad very quickly when
they start spouting their marketing nonsense,
something which plagued all the early media
stories about both men, esp. Ross' very
dopey comments about his making the
Dolphins more Miami-er, read,
they were too Broward under Huizenga.

excerpt from June 26, 2009
Miami Herald
by Daniel Chang and Adam H. Beasley
MIAMI DOLPHINS:
SINGING WITH THE DOLPHINS?

...Ross emphasized that the Dolphins' priority remains winning games, but he said the team is serious about reaching out to Hispanics, even in a community, Miami-Dade County, where more than half the population identifies as Hispanic.

Jose Cancela, principal of Hispanic USA Inc., a Hispanic market communications firm, said the union of the Dolphins and two of Miami's best known entertainers was a long time coming.

"This is the home of [Spanish-language TV networks] Univision and Telemundo, the home of some of the most famous stars of Latin America," he said. "This is really the Spanish-language Hollywood . . . and it's been sitting at the Dolphins doorstep for a number of years, and it was smart to take advantage of it."

While most marketing efforts in South Florida will naturally reach Hispanics, Cancela said the Dolphins will benefit by personalizing the pitch with recognizable faces and in Spanish.

"You want to do it in language, in culture he said of marketing efforts that target Hispanics. "If you go in language and nuanced correctly, you'll reach them even deeper and create a deeper bond."

BILINGUAL DUET

Ross said all team press releases will now be issued in Spanish and English. A Spanish-language website for the team will launch Aug. 15. And Gloria Estefan and Hank Williams Jr. will debut a bilingual duet of the Monday Night Football theme song, Are You Ready for Some Football, on the Oct. 12 telecast -- the night the Dolphins host their archnemesis, the New York Jets, at LandShark Stadium.

Mike Dee, the Dolphins' chief executive, said the team wants to motivate more Hispanics to become "active fans" who attend games.

And although home-game attendance is about 37 percent Hispanic, according to Dolphins marketing director George Torres, Dee said that's not good enough.

"We're not where we want to be," he said. "We want to be the best in the NFL."

Ross first approached the Estefans shortly after acquiring the team in January from H. Wayne Huizenga. Ross' mediator was Miami condo developer Jorge Perez, a friend and business partner.

Perez said Ross had the "laid-back Anglo" demographic covered with Buffett, and wanted to broaden the team's appeal to the largest ethnic group in Miami-Dade.

Perez immediately thought of the Estefans, and he arranged a meeting.

"Steve has been looking to make the Dolphins a totally integrated team," Perez said. "There needed to be great outreach and inclusion in the Hispanic community and not just token representation."

Why, do they give an attendance award?
Win games -period!

Why does the Herald continue their
absurd policy of asking people -and
the very same people at that!-
with a clear economic interest in a
subject what they think, like Jose
Cancela, above?

Or like continually quoting former
Miami Beach mayor and current
lawyer/lobbyist Niesen Kasdin,
who's also the Vice-chair of the
Downtown Development Authority.

He was quoted for what seemed like
a week straight on Miami 21.

Question never asked of him:
If he and his business pals with
their castle-in-the-sky condos
were as sophisticated and dynamic
as they claim to be, why wasn't
there a single general interest
bookstore within the Miami
city limits?

(For more on Kasdin, see this
July 2, 2007 Eye on Miami post
titled, Niesen Kasdin and Dan Ricker,
polar opposites by gimleteye
http://eyeonmiami.blogspot.com/2007/07/neisen-kasdin-and-dan-ricker-polar.html
and see his Akerman Senterfitt bio, too
http://www.akerman.com/public/attorneys/aBiography.asp?id=1083)

Were there no savvy business professors
to be found in all of South Florida?

Just wondering, how many Dolphin players
do you think live in Miami-Dade now?
A handful, maybe?

This isn't 1973 when few Dolphin players
lived north of Miami Lakes or the county
line, and Pembroke Pines and Miramar
were treated by folks in NMB like they
were small obscure Arctic fishing villages,
largely beyond the reach of civilization:
out-of-sight, out-of-mind.

And where is the Dolphins training camp
and HQ located now?
Nope, not 330 Biscayne Blvd. anymore,
where once upon a time, I could actually
run into Joe Thomas on my way in to
pick-up some more of those Dolphin decals
that used to be ubiquitous down here on
cars, and he'd talk to me for ten minutes
about what he liked about IU.

'Nuff said about Ross and his concern
about the Dolphins not being sufficiently
Miami-centric.

By the way, does anyone know why
no stories about Ross ever include a
mention of when he first became a
Dolphins fan, or what big games he
actually attended in person at the OB?

Or was he just a TV fan in NYC as
many rightly suspect?
He's no Bob Kraft, that's for sure.

¿Ya es lunes?

See also:
NFL Latino Effort Pits Jets Fan vs. Dolphins Fan
Monday Night Game Centerpiece of League's
Hispanic Heritage Month Campaign
Posted by Laura Martinez, October 9, 2009
http://adage.com/bigtent/post?article_id=139573

This column features the line,
"Who says Latinos were only into
soccer?"

That's a straw man, especially down here.
Nobody says that.

Except when the Toros were here,
Miami area sports fans were told in that
same condescending marketing B.S.
way that Cubans weren't just into beisbol,
and would flock to the Orange Bowl.
Except that it never happened.

The Toros home games at the
Orange Bowl were largely populated
by kids like me from North Dade
-NMB, Miami Shores, Palm Springs
North, Norland- and the
Karl Kremser-influenced duchies
of the Kendall area around Dade-South,
which is why the Toros moved to
Fort Lauderdale and became more
European-centric in their player
selections as the Strikers and the
rest is history...

By the way, Donald Trump ruined
the NASL for everyone, including
my friends on the IU soccer team,
who weren't really too interested
in playing the bastardized indoor
soccer after Trump ruined the
competitive financial structure of
the NASL.

Below, from my South Beach Hoosier
blog, which I've really neglected the
last few months and plan on revamping
in time for IU's basketball season
in a few weeks
http://southbeachhoosier.blogspot.com/

NASL - Ft. Lauderdale Strikers

& Miami Toros/Gatos

I think it's fair to say that from 1971-'76, there were few people in South Florida who attended more Miami Toros/Gatos NASL soccer games at the Orange Bowl than yours truly, including their game against Pelé at F.I.U.
I first started going when they were the Gatos in 1971, as a ten-year old, and kept going after they were re-christened the Toros, a much better name.
I witnessed all their great FEISTY games against their arch-rival Tampa Bay Rowdies.
I even witnessed their heart-breaking loss in the 1974 NASL title game to the Los Angeles Aztecs in penalty kicks, after two over-times.

Somewhere, I still have the Toros game programs, esp. the ones that on the cover proclaimed Kyle Rote, Jr. of the Dallas Tornadoes as the American Pelé.
Rote was a tremendously talented player who understood his unique role as an ambassador
for the sport, but putting things like that on the cover of game programs was FAR TOO MUCH pressure for a kid just barely out of college!)

When Joe and Elizabeth Robbie relocated the team to Ft. Lauderdale and Lockhart Stadium for the 1977 season, much closer to my friends and I in North Miami Beach, we were ecstatic.

The drive to Lockhart up I-95 was so much quicker, as we joined other "Striker Likers", eager to literally yell ourselves hoarse watching their exciting brand of soccer, esp, against the dreaded Rowdies and N.Y. Cosmos!
Oh, did we ever hate them!!!

For more info, see http://mywebpages.comcast.net/dulyjs/strikers/strikers.html

Ashley Judd, Jody Demling & Eric Crawford on Calipari hire at UK, its effect on recruiting, and on UK-Louisville rivalry

After the shellacking we took last year on national TV, I only

hope that by the time IU plays UK in December on CBS-TV,

that we will have a team that will be both competitive and

exciting.

If the beautiful and beguiling Phi Beta Kappa Ashley says

"thumbs up" for Coach Calipari at UK, then that's good

enough for me!

--------------------------------
Louisville Courier-Journal recruiting writer and blogger Jody

Demling tells us what John Calipari's move to Lexington

means for recruits committed to both UK and Memphis.

--------------------------------
Louisville Courier-Journal sports columnist Eric Crawford on

the effect of the Calipari hire on the UK-Louisville rivalry.

ASHLEY JUDD IN SOUTH AFRICA

Conde Nast Traveler,

September 2005

Ashley Judd's Big Mission (And New Best Friend)

ASHLEY JUDD

GLAMOUR, August 2006;

EXCLUSIVE! Ashley Judd -Her perfect life was a lie: "I needed help."

ASHLEY JUDD

REDBOOK, November 2007

Ashley Judd -How her painful breakdown deepened her faith

THE ENIGMA OF ASHLEY JUDD

Beautiful and beguiling, thoughtful and talented, Ashley is THE thinking-man's Phi Beta Kappa 'parallel universe' wife, the Wildcat yang to my Hoosier-by-choice ying.

South Beach Hoosier wants SO badly for Ashley's enormous potential in Victor Nuñez's wonderful 1993 film, "Ruby in Paradise," to be fully realized and appreciated.

Soon!

Though I like Kate Bosworth as an actress, is there anyone who saw "Superman Returns" who doesn't agree that casting Ashley as Lois Lane would've made that a MUCH more nuanced film, and given the audience a reason to think it was at all logical for Clark/Superman to STILL be in love with her, even after his return and finding her married and with a kid?

Backstory on this great photo from 1998-99, LONG one of my favorites, at the UK Ice Hockey team's website

http://www.ukhockey.com/posters.shtml and at

http://www.ukhockey.com/images/posters/ashley_judd.jpg

To be honest, my favorite magazine cover of Ashley's when she was on the cover of Kentucky Monthly magazine from November of 1998, wearing that classic UK blue Wildcats jersey.

It was phenomenal, as you can get a hint of below, and was sent to me at home in Arlington from a good friend who not only knew how much I liked Ashley, but who was, herself,

also a Kappa Kappa Gamma like Ashley, albeit from IU and not UK!

The 1979 NCAA title game between Michigan State and Indiana State will be shown on CBS College Sports, DirecTV Chanel 613 on Sunday from 6-8 p.m, 10 p.m.-Midnight and on Monday from 9-11 a.m. and 1-3 p.m..

That same network will be liberally airing some of their thirty-minute Hardwood Heavens programs over the weekend with some episodes of particular note to me and some of the folks who come over to this site and to South Beach Hoosier frequently.

Louisville's Freedom Hall on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. and Monday night at midnight

UK's Rupp Arena on Sunday afternoon at 12:30 p.m. and Monday night at 11 p.m.

IU's Assembly Hall on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m., which directly follows the UK segment.

Finally, before the NCAA national semifinals start later in the day, don't pass up the chance to see the Big City Classic from The Meadowlands, featuring some of the traditional lacrosse powers.

UVA's #1 ranked lacrosse team play UNC on Saturday in the first game from Noon-2 p.m. on ESPNU.

I caught last weekend's seven-overtime victory over Maryland in Charlottesville and it was epic.

I got exhausted just watching it, and even noticed that ESPNU botched the replay of the game later -when I was taping it for my nieces- by putting some of the overtimes out of sequence.

The second game featuring Syracuse and Princeton gets under way around 2 p.m., though there'll probably be a break between the games.

It'll be interesting to see if the #1 Cavaliers can keep their energy levels up throughout this game, which won't be repeated on ESPNU, since I double-checked.

U of I's Assembly Hall on Saturday morning at 11:30 a.m. and Saturday at midnight

College football news and memories; National Football Foundation honoring Wilber Marshall

I'm watching this now!

-----------------------------------

Some college football news worth reading about from some emails I received over the weekend straight from the National Football Foundation.

You'll note that former Gator great Wilber Marshall is among the new class,whom I watched and followed closely with the great Super Bowl-winning Bears and Redskins teams while I was living in Chicago/Evanston in the mid-'80's, and then later in Washington, D.C.

He was such a joy to watch!

Just the sheer anticipation of the hits he was about to deliver used to get my friends literally jumping out of their chairs when we'd watch them on TV.

I'd love to see a game b/w that '85 Bears team and the '91 Redskins team that was so methodical and powerful. Having seen both in person, at Soldier Field and RFK Stadium, it'd be a hell of a game to watch.

Now that I think about it, that's one of those match ups that ESPN should've thought of a few years ago when they had that series that incorporated contemporaneous film footage to have teams of different eras play one another to determine who was better.

I usually avoided watching those qhen they were on TV, mostly because I disagreed with the selection of the teams, since it always seemed to have the bias that because the great Pittsburgh Steelers and San Francisco 49ers won the Super Bowls, they'd win the fantasy games.

But the problem is, as we know, that the best team doesn't always win, which is why having the 1968-69 Baltimore Colts team that lost to the Jets in Super Bowl III play the Len Dawson-led Chiefs team that won the Super Bowl a year later against the Vikings, would've been a great match. Don Shula and Unitas/Morrall against Hank Stram and Len Dawson?

Or what about the the great high-powered Vikings team with Randy Moss that choked against the Giants in the NFC championship, actually play the Ravens team that won that year?

Hell, I'd watch those games now!

See Jon Saraceno's great USAT column on Wilber Marshall before the Bears-Colts Super Bowl downpour down here: Marshall's torments not likely to fade

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/columnist/saraceno/2007-01-31-wilber-marshall_x.htm

I'm someone who from an early age, while growing up in San Antonio, then Memphis and finally Miami, followed college football more closely than just about anyone I ever met, reading Sports Illustrated and SPORT magazine from cover-to-cover, devouring all the books, films and videos on the subject and its history, while also meeting lots of people involved in it from the 1970's on.

That also included someone who played for one of the best teams of the era, the University of Michigan Wolverines, who was also football family royalty of a sort.

The person in question is Dave Elliott, a Wolverine defensive back from the early 1970's and the son of former Illinois and later U-M head football coach Pete Elliott, who himself later became the Executive Director of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, who was one of my counselors when I attended the Bob Griese-Karl Noonan sports camp up in Boca Raton, three summers in a row from 1971-'74.

His personality and mine were somewhat similar, so we spent a lot of time talking about what it was like to play at a prominent big name school like Michigan, where there were always big expectations, plus, having a family name that was as well known as his was in the Midwest.

Plus, of course, his name was Dave, also.

He was also a key witness to my making an interception of Bob Griese in a flag football game and running about 80 yards for a touchdown, using my speed and moves to twice fake out a lunging Griese, who was my then-idol.

This was back in a time and place when I and all the fellow campers there in pre-cable, pre-ESPN America also knew where every single pro athlete who was at camp had gone to school, with Big Ten schools Purdue and Iowa being most prominent because that's where Griese and Noonan had gone and starred.

(This is the same camp where I first met future Emmy-winning sportscaster Roy Firestone, who I'd stay friends with for years -and who recommended I go to Syracuse- back when he was a U-M student who also toiled at Ralph Renick's WTVJ-Channel 4, back when they had the best sports talent in town under Bernie Rosen.

Roy and I kept in touch for many, many years, even after he left Miami and was doing very well out in LA. When it came time to consider schools, after the financial aid situation made it clear that USC was untenable, much to my disappointment, Roy recommended Syracuse to me over IU because of the growing pub of the Newhouse School of Communication, and the possible synergy b/w my own personality and career interests.
I stuck with IU and dropped him a line every so often of what was going on in Hoosierville as Coach Knight made college basketball relevant to someone who grew-up when the U-M didn't have a team.

Years later, when Roy came back for a family visit to Miami, and I was home from Bloomington for either the summer or Christmas, I showed up unexpectedly with my mother at WKAT over on Miami Beach -which had been the Braves weekend affiliate- when Chris Myers -now of FOX-TV- had a radio show, and had announced the night before that Roy would be a guest.

I figured I'd just say hi and talk for a few minutes before he had to go inside.

To Roy's surprise and mine, because Chris and I and the producers had chatted for a bit before the show, Chris surprised me by inviting me -and my mother- to go on the air with Roy for about an hour, as he recalled one great Roy anecdote after another, and I threw in a few when I could.

It was quite a blast.

Even now, I still recall a younger Roy up in Boca Raton going back and forth with Earl Morral's son, Matt, also a counselor, about whether the rock group Deep Purple would remain a studio band, or would tour. Odd the things your brain remembers!)

My conversations with Dave Elliott and his descriptions of what it was like to live in a real Midwestern college town like Ann Arbor, plus all the other stuff I had observed and absorbed by osmosis, are one of the reasons that I always knew from junior high school on, that I'd leave South Florida in the rear view mirror when it came time to go to college.

I wanted a college experience that was more like the ones I saw broadcast every Saturday on ABC's college football broadcasts with Keith Jackson and Chris Schenkel, than the all-too apathetic and blase reality of late '70's South Florida.

Bloomington offered me all the things I wanted -and much more.

I was totally captivated by the college experience that ABC presented in their three hours and knew that was exactly what I wanted, and that while Gainesville or Tallahassee might be fine for some of my friends, I and most of my smarter friends were getting the hell out of Florida, toute-de-suite!

That's why we headed to Princeton, Charlottesville and Boulder...

I recall having game programs of the Liberty Bowl games when I was six, asking my father's friend to get the game program for me for the 1968 Alabama at U-M game at the Orange Bowl, the first night college football game ever televised in color, and years later, when I was at North Miami Beach, seeing the photos of the NMB head football coach and an assistant coach who had played for that Hurricane team.

At my South Beach Hoosier blog, http://www.southbeachhoosier.blogspot.com/ I mention the following under the split-U logo and Sebastian the Ibis:

South Beach Hoosier's first U-M football game at the Orange Bowl was in 1972, age 11, against Tulane in the infamous "Fifth Down" game.

In order to drum up support and attendance for the U-M at the Orange Bowl, that game had a promotion whereby South Florida kids who were school safety patrols could get in for free IF they wore their sash. I did.

Clearly they knew that it was better to let kids in for free, knowing their parents would give them money to buy food and souvenirs, perhaps become a fan and want to return for future games.

The ballgame made an interesting impression on The New York Times, resulting in this gem from the "View of Sport" column of Oct, 14, 1990, labeled 'Fifth Down or Not, It's Over When It's Over.'

"In 1972, aided by a fifth-down officiating gift in the last moments of the game, Miami of Florida defeated Tulane, 24-21. The country and the world was a much different place that fall because The New York Times took time and space to editorialize on the subject.

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

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

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 I often did for Dolphin games if my father wasn't going, I'd get dropped off at the Levitz parking lot near the 836 & I-95 Cloverleaf in NMB, and catch a Dade County Park & Ride bus, going straight to the Orange Bowl.

Once 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 probably 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 every one'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 (then 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, who had tickets he couldn't use, 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 Bear Bryant's Alabama Crimson Tide, and 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, above.

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.

__________________

excerpt

from Philip Marwill Dec 5
MEDIA ADVISORY

Contacts: Phil Marwill, the National Football Foundation

Email: pmarwill@footballfoundation.com
Dan Sabreen, CBS College Sports Network Email: dsabreen@cbs.com

THIS JUST IN...... from CBS College Sports Network
CBS College Sports Network announced today that the network will broadcast live the National Football Foundation's press conference for the 2008 NFF Annual Awards Dinner, including the induction of this year's College Football Hall of Fame Bowl Subdivision Class.

The press conference will air live from the Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New York on Tuesday, Dec. 9 from 9:30 - 11:30 AM, ET.

CBS College Sports Network will also provide live streaming video of the press conference available for free to all fans.

The press conference features National Football Foundation Chairman Archie Manning, 2008 Distinguished American Award recipient T. Boone Pickens, NFF Gold Medal recipient John Glenn, NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell and the 2008 College Football Hall of Fame Class, which includes Troy Aikman (UCLA), Billy Cannon (LSU), Jim Dombrowski (Virginia), Pat Fitzgerald (Northwestern), Wilber Marshall (Florida), Rueben Mayes (Washington State), Randall McDaniel (Arizona State), Don McPherson (Syracuse), Jay Novacek (Wyoming), Dave Parks (Texas Tech), Ron Simmons (Florida State), Thurman Thomas (Oklahoma State), Arnold Tucker (Army) and coaches John Cooper and Lou Holtz.

CBS College Sports Network is available through local cable operators and nationally via satellite on DIRECTV Channel 613 and Dish Network Channel 152.
For more information on how to watch or subscribe to CBS College Sports Network, log on to http://www.sportsline.com/cbscollegesports/ _________________________________________
MEDIA ADVISORY

Dec. 9 Press Conference for NFF Annual Awards Dinner & College Football Hall of Fame Bowl Subdivision Inductees

WHO: Former U.S. Senator John Glenn, 2008 NFF Gold Medal recipient

T. Boone Pickens, 2008 NFF Distinguished American Award recipient

2008 College Football Hall of Fame Class - Football Bowl Subdivision (See list below)

2008 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class (See list below)

Archie Manning, NFF Chairman Steve Hatchell, NFF President & CEO

WHAT: Press Conference with access to John Glenn, T. Boone Pickens, the members of the 2008 hall of fame and scholar-athlete classes and the announcement of the Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Finalists.

WHERE: The Empire Room at the Waldorf-Astoria, 301 Park Ave., New York, NY, 10022

WHEN: December 9, 2008 from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. EST

HOW: * In person * Conference call by clicking here to register.* Live satellite feed from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. (See below for coordinates) or clean feed via a Vvxy line at Circuit #1847 at the Waterfront (Ascent Media) in NYC. You may also contact your news service (ABC NewsOne; NBC NewsChannel; CBS Newspath; Sports News Service, CNN Newsource, Fox Feed, etc.) for specific footage. Permission is granted for use for news purposes only.

NOTE 1: Live satellite and clean feed available of dinner ceremonies starting at 7:30 p.m. (See below for coordinates) or clean feed via a Vvxy line at Circuit #1847 at the Waterfront (Ascent Media) in NYC. You may also contact your news service to request specific footage. Permission is granted for use for news purposes only. The Draddy Trophy winner will be announced live between 8:30 and 9 p.m. during this feed.

NOTE 2: Limited media opportunities at a 4:30 p.m. photo session in the Empire Room and the 6:30 p.m. Awards Dinner (Black Tie Required) in the Grand Ballroom. Previous notification required to Phil Marwill to cover all events.

PHOTOS

For Media Only: The National Football Foundation has established a Web site to distribute photos taken by its photographers during the NFF Annual Awards Dinner and surrounding events on Dec. 9 in New York City. Photos will be provided at no cost for one-time use and for news purposes only with a proper photo credit to: "The National Football Foundation." All other rights will be reserved. High resolution photos will continuously be posted throughout the day. To obtain access and/or to be placed on the email list for alerts when particular photos are available, please contact NFF Photographer Gene Boyers

Dec. 9 Press Conference Coordinates(Waldorf-Astoria Empire Room, New York)
9:30-11:30 a.m. ESTG 16 Transponder 6 Slot ADownlink 11804 VSymbol 3.978723Data 5.5FEC 3/4

Dec. 9 Dinner Coordinates (Waldorf-Astoria Grand Ballroom, New York)
19:30-23:30 p.m. ESTG 16 Transponder 6 Slot ADownlink 11804 VSymbol 3.978723Data 5.5FEC 3/4

Note: The morning press conference will provide sound bites from each member of the 2008 College Football Hall of Fame Class, U.S. Senator John Glenn, and T. Boone Pickens. Time permitting several interviews with the NFF National Scholar-Athletes may occur during the morning feed. The dinner feed will feature all of the honorees accepting their awards.
The 2008 Hall of Fame Class: Troy Aikman (UCLA), Billy Cannon (LSU), Jim Dombrowski (Virginia), Pat Fitzgerald (Northwestern), Wilber Marshall (Florida), Rueben Mayes (Washington State), Randall McDaniel (Arizona State), Don McPherson (Syracuse), Jay Novacek (Wyoming), Dave Parks (Texas Tech), Ron Simmons (Florida State), Thurman Thomas (Oklahoma State), Arnold Tucker (Army). Coaches: John Cooper and Lou Holtz.

The 2008 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class: (Football Bowl Subdivision) Chase Daniel (Missouri); Graham Harrell (Texas Tech); Quin Harris (Louisiana Tech); Jeff Horinek (Colorado State); Alex Mack (California); Ryan McDonald (Illinois); Darryl Richard (Georgia Tech); Brian Robiskie (Ohio State); and Louie Sakoda (Utah). Football Championship Subvision: Andrew Berry (Harvard); Ryan Berry (South Dakota State); and Casey Gerald (Yale). Division II: Ryan Kees (St. Cloud State, Minn.). Division III: Brian Freeman (Carnegie Mellon, Pa.); and Greg Micheli (Mount Union, Ohio).

The 2008 Major Award Winners: Former U.S. Senator John Glenn (Gold Medal Recipient); T. Boone Pickens (Distinguished American Award) ; Bill Battle (Outstanding Contribution to Amateur Football Award); Gene Smith, Ohio State (John L. Toner Award); Thomas Robinson, long-time WAC/Mountain West official (Outstanding Football Official Award); and Bob Curtis of Idaho and posthumously Dick Galiette of Yale (Co-recipients of the Chris Schenkel Award).

ABOUT THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL FOUNDATION & COLLEGE HALL OF FAME

Founded in 1947 with leadership from General Douglas MacArthur, legendary Army coach Earl "Red" Blaik and immortal journalist Grantland Rice, The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame, a non-profit educational organization, runs programs designed to use the power of amateur football in developing scholarship, citizenship and athletic achievement in young people. With 121 chapters and 12,000 members nationwide, NFF programs include the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Ind., the NFF Hampshire Honor Society, Play It Smart, the NFF-FWAA Football Forum, the NFF Gridiron Clubs of New York City, Dallas and Los Angeles, and scholarships of over $1 million for college and high school scholar-athletes.

The NFF awards the MacArthur Trophy, the Draddy Trophy, presented by HealthSouth, and releases the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) Standings.

Learn more at www.footballfoundation.org

______________________________

Orange Bowl Stadium

Orange Bowl Stadium, 1501 N.W. 3rd Street, Miami, FL 33125

See also: http://www.orangebowlstadium.com/

Memorial Stadium

Memorial Stadium, Indiana University, 1001 East 17th Street, Bloomington, IN 47408

Liberty Bowl

Liberty Bowl Stadium, 335 South Hollywood Street, Memphis, TN 38104

JT the Brick also sees Gators-Trojans in Miami for BCS Title

Written while watching USC pummel UVA at Charlottesville...

Naturally, no sooner does South Beach Hoosier post a comment yesterday about ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit making a pre-season selection of the Florida Gators and USC Trojans in the BCS Title Game, at Dolphin Stadium on January 8th, then he receives an email saying that popular FOX Sports radio host 'JT the Brick' (John Tournour) has also made that very same selection. See http://www.jtthebrick.com/home.html and http://www.talkbrick.com/

At his podcast site, JT's Rant, http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/3035015/site/21683474/ he said on Rant 161 FULL STORY that

a.) assuming the Gators beat pre-season #1 Georgia in Jacksonville on November1st, above,

http://www.coj.net/Departments/Recreation+and+Community+Services/Special+Events/FlaGa/default.htm

and

b.) that USC beats Ohio State at the Coliseum, http://www.lacoliseum.com/ on Sept. 13th -where endzone tickets are currently going for just under $400- he likes USC to beat the Gators in January down here for the BCS title. (Did I mention that JT was based out of LA?)

He also picks West Virginia's Pat White to edge out Tim Tebow for the Heisman Trophy.

Like Herbstreit, he also said that Georgia, while very talented, would not make it to Miami in January, where there are lots and lots of UGA alums, including some NMB High School gymnastics friends of mine, who'd make the Bulldogs very welcome, indeed.

Especially if the team and its fans were based out of the Westin Diplomat Resort and Spa down the street at Hollywood Beach.

I actually had the Florida-USC prediction prior to the 2005-06 college football season for the BCS Title Game at the Rose Bowl, which turned out to be the fantastic Texas-USC clash with Vince Young playing Superman for the Longhorns.

FYI: In case you didn't know, Hollywood mayor Peter Bober is a U-T graduate, like many of my friends back in D.C., especially when I belonged to the Texas State Society.

My own family has lived continuously in the Texas Hill Country since 1855, and one of the first maxims I ever learned as a kid, in San Antonio, was one credited to legendary Longhorn football coach Darrell Royal: "Proper preparation prevents poor performance."

Herbstreit pick: Gators vs. Trojans in BCS Title Game here in Jan.

While writing out my next blog post, I was listening to ESPN's Pardon the Interruption, as is often the case.

My ears perked up when I heard Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon's interview with ESPN (and former Ohio State Buckeye) college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit say that if he had to make a prediction right now, he'd look for the Florida Gators to face the USC Trojans in the 2009 Fed Ex BCS Title Game on January 8th at Dolphin Stadium.

Orange Bowl Committee: http://www.orangebowl.org/