Cry "Havoc!", and let slip the dogs of war.

Let's go Heat!

America (except for a handful of folks in Texas) loves you...

Five feet away...

David Beckham was in the newsroom Wednesday.

We all knew he was coming but still, the energy was palpable as the time for his arrival advanced.

Some of us on the assignment desk debated his status in the "World's Most Popular Sports Figure" category but all agree he is in the top five.

The man knows how to win the room.  He was gracious. Smiling. Patient. And never wavered even when a twenty-foot line of adults immediately formed, post interview, for photos.  

Thankfully, it became a big group shot and although I was not among them I witnessed the most touching thing after the photos were taken.  

Our morning director had brought his young son in and Beckham immediately gravitated to the lad and gave him a few one-on-one tidbits on soccer that I am sure will never be forgotten.  You can see more pictures on this blog by my beautiful and clever co-worker Lauren.

It was a sweet moment.

I don't know if David Beckham will get the soccer stadium built where he wants it.  It's an unpopular choice with many powerful south Floridians.

I do know that I've never experienced such raw charisma since I saw Bill Clinton at the 1992 Democratic convention.

I love days like this.

At one point, David Beckham was five feet away from me.  It was a thrill.

Fabiola got it right...we in media may say we hate the story. But we really don't

Fabiola Santiago: Bieber’s follies an only-in-Miami act - Fabiola Santiago - MiamiHerald.com

Mike Miller

courtesy AOL sports

It's fairly well-known that while in Memphis, my fan-girl cup was filled to the brim when fellow South Dakotan Mike Miller joined the Grizzlies.  The "fights" I had with BFF Meg Green over him are, of course, legend.  Then he got traded.

In the short time John and I lived in Baltimore, he played for the Wizards so I got to see him on TV often when we lived there.

He got to Miami first, but once again, we are in the same city.  #notacoincidence?

Monday, the Miami Heat was honored at the White House for being NBA champions.  And Mike Miller got a shout out from the president.  Here's the verbatim from his remarks:

In Game Four against the Thunder last year, we saw LeBron carried off the floor with cramps, only to come back a few minutes later and hit a dagger of a three-pointer to put the Heat ahead.  We saw Dwayne Wade, the heart and soul of this team,  continue to do whatever it takes to win, including leading the team in blocks....We saw Chris Bosh get injured, but get healthy right at the perfect time and do outstanding work throughout the rest of the playoffs.

And it wasn’t just the Big Three.  Mike Miller could barely walk.  Mike, you look better now.  (Laughter.)  You looked broke down last year -- (laughter) -- but still hit seven three-pointers in the final game.  I don’t know how he did it because he could not walk.  He looked like an old man.  

 Good job, Old Man.  Good job.

Wild parrots on Miami Beach

I haven't been very good about blogging lately even though I see, smell and HEAR things that make me go "hmmm."

Here's one.  John and I were walking to the beach and hear the raucous noise of birds in the trees.  We couldn't see them at all but there were obviously dozens.  Finally, I realized we couldn't see the birds because they are green.  Wild parrots!

Also know as "feral parrots."

I love it here.

Home, Sweet Homes

Road trip!  We've got the house on the market and we're heading south to Miami.

I haven't blogged in weeks.  On purpose.  I felt like I needed to stay low during the most intense time of my job search.  I took some trips, spent endless hours on the telephone and watched hours of newscasts from markets far and wide.

But it was a Facebook message from my former co-worker that put me on the right path.

"Know any morning Executive Producers?"
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Some things that I've wanted to blog about but didn't:

• The News Director in Wisconsin who allowed his anchor to use four precious minutes of air time to recriminate a viewer who wrote a critical message about her appearance.  Jennifer Livingston called the viewer a bully.  What?!  Seriously bad.
• Cable TV is ridiculously expensive.  I have had too much time on my hands but I haven't necessarily watched more television.  I have written the checks to Time Warner, though.  Bring on 4G wireless!
• Never watch the show "Doomsday Preppers" right before going to bed unless you want to dream of the zombie apocalypse all darn night.
• The Kansas City Chiefs are the Worst. Team. Ever.  I attended my final home game as a season ticket holder last week.  I wore black.  I foolishly hoped that they would win, up until midway through the third quarter.  Fire them all.  And some twice.  
• The television station in Denver that accidentally used a spoof shot of the Petraeus bio grabbed from the internet...SMH.  Credibility is precious.  Somebody should get suspended. 
• I cooked and baked quite a bit during my extended vacation from work.  And I wondered about things.  Like...who first decided to separate eggs and beat the hell out of the whites to form stiff peaks?  Can you imagine how long that would take if done by hand?

There's more but this is a start.  Right now I'm working on my "100 Things I'll Miss About Kansas City" list. I'll post that within the next ten days.

"Apparatus! I said apparatus..."

Have you heard about the morning anchor who supposedly dropped the F-bomb after hearing about Peyton Manning's move to the Denver Broncos?  The above YouTube video is the station line on what really happened.

I can't help but remember the time Sally Fitz reportedly told Ralph Rayburn to "stick it up your ass" when both were trying to interview the same person in the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew.

We were all still on 12-hour shifts and Sally and Rick Sanchez had been dispatched to field anchor from South Dade.  Both did incredible, award-winning work.  But it was exhausting and stressful.  Ralph and Sally came upon the same story at the same time.  Both wanted the interview and Sally pulled rank.  Unfortunately, her mic was live during the "discussion."

I was pretty sure Princell Hair, then a producer, was in the booth but my pal Bill Pohovey was actually there.  (I was the Assignment Planner and had camped out in my office behind the assignment desk. I was asleep when it all went down)

Sally ended up with the interview.

Shortly thereafter, the Miami Herald reported the incident and Sally, ever the professional, explained that Ralph's IFB had fallen out of his ear and that she was really just pointing it out.

"Apparatus...I said apparatus" she explained to the newspaper.

There was no YouTube in 1992 so I guess we'll never know.