Florida Agenda

By Ryan Dixon

Two weeks ago, The McDonalds Corporation’s net income rose from $1.23 Billion to $1.41 Billion. Most market gurus have the company’s total net worth in the ballpark of $15 Billion. Between the cost of the rooms at different Ronald McDonald Houses all over the globe and their Ronald McDonald Cares Mobile, McDonalds gives around $270 Million back to communities. Most of the company’s charitable work is through the Ronald McDonald House Charities, so when the McDonalds located at the corner of Sunrise Boulevard and NE 4th Avenue had a school supply drive for the Kids In Need

Resource Center, I was a little taken back that such a large company was doing a fundraiser for someone other than themselves.

Ten McDonalds locations participated in this year’s drive for the Kids In Need Resource Center. The Center, which is run by the Broward Education Foundation as part of a national program sponsored by the School, Home, and Office Products (SHOPA) Foundation for Educational Excellence, allows for teachers from Title 1 schools to come and shop twice a year for school supplies for their classrooms and students free of charge. “This was our first time working with McDonalds” says Jorene Jameson, President and CEO of the Broward Education Foundation. “These donations allow our resource center to reach 6,000 teachers and over 200,000 students”.

Aside from the expected hierarchy from McDonalds and the Broward Education Foundation, Ivy and her crew from Power 96 were broadcasting live and calling in every fifteen minutes from the event. When asked what brought the station out today, Ivy said that “when it comes down to kids and charities, Power 96 and the Ronald McDonald House have always been together.  So when McDonalds called and asked us to help, we were right on board”. Aside from calling in and getting their listeners to come out, the Power 96 team was interacting with the people in attendance giving out HD Radios if you could manage 100 yards in their football beanbag toss. “Everyone is doing their back to school shopping, and who isn’t broke these days?” she adds, “and the sad thing is kids these days still go to school without new clothes or even supplies, so it’s a good thing McDonalds is doing this and helping out, especially when it comes to the kiddies.” What more could you ask for from a station that does Radio Lollipop, headed up by DJ Laz,, every August from the Miami Children’s Hospital.

Capping off the day was an appearance by McArthur High School and University of Florida alumnus Errict Rhett.

Rhett played seven professional seasons in the NFLuntil 2000 after being taken in the second round with the thirty-fourth pick by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Rhett, who’s the CEO of the Errict Rhett Foundation, said he came out to support the school supply drive because his charity, like this supply drive, supports education. “This area and many other low income areas need help like this. It’s nice to see McDonalds stepping up to do their part and I’m glad to be a part of it. A lot of these families out there can’t afford school supplies, and if it takes me and other athletes to come out here to get support then I’ll do it.” Rhett was a stand out in high school as well as college where he earned the Most Valuable Player award in the 1994 Sugar Bowl. When asked what felt better, winning that award or giving back to his city, he replied with a smile that “you can’t compare the two. The feeling I get when I win a game and when I give back are two different things. One is my job, the other is my passion”. We spoke for about ten minutes on his career in the NFL and the natural “what if’s” of every person’s career in anything. I’ve met and talked to many professional athletes, on the field and at events like this one, and Errict Rhett has to be the most genuine one I’ve met yet. To have your own business and charity and yet find time to support other people in your community is a true testament to one’s real inner character.

To help with the Broward Education Foundation’s continuous drive to supply teachers and classrooms, please visit www.browardedfoundation.net to see what they need and how you can help.

By Ryan Dixon

Where do you go on your day off when you live in a seaside city? The mall? A movie? If the people here are anything like me, they head to the beach. And who wouldn’t? With a record breaking heat wave going on this year, getting to the beach at eight in the morning isn’t as bad as one might think. With the help of Precision Paddleboards and top notch paddleboard instructor Ashley Clarkin, I grabbed my boyfriend and set out to try my hand at the fastest growing sport on water.

According to Wikipedia, Thomas Edward Blake is given the credit of pioneering the paddleboard construction in the 1930′s. The construction of paddleboards has changed since the 30′s, going from redwood to polyurethane foam, but the drive and love of the paddleboarding community has been a constant stay.  Even though you may not be able to rattle off professional paddleboarders when asked doesn’t mean you should discount the sport any. Ashley put Justin and I through the ringer. While I spent more time in the water than Justin did, my arms were just as sore the following day. When standing on the board, you use the paddle to propel yourself forward, essentially pulling your whole body mass along the water. Starting off on your knees, you eventually stand completely vertical.

Bending your knees helps with pulling your body forward, as well as helping you maintain your balance. I said Justin and I were put through the ringer on our first time out because ocean water is rougher than the water on the inlets on which Clarkin also gives lessons.  People usually start out there and move to the open ocean but, according to Clarkin, the conditions were “just too perfect to pass up. The water is so hard to ride in the winter.”

Trying to stay up on my board was much tougher than I thought it was going to be. Out of the two of us, I would say I am way more athletic. He seemed to pick up the paddling techniques very fast, while I was still trying to stand up on my board. When asked why people should try  paddleboarding, Ashley laughed and said, “It’s for both the adventurous and non adventurous. Paddleboarding is a fun and safe way to explore the water”. That just goes to show that every sport isn’t for everyone, but everyone should try things at least once. I am in no way discouraged by my performance on my board, and I most definitely cannot wait to get back out on the water again.

Dear Editor,

As mentioned in last week’s Agenda, on air commentator Michael Cole has taken on what is known in the business as a heel roll; a bad guy so to speak. But he may have taken his character a little too far when last week he called fellow commentator Josh Matthews a “Faggot” on his twitter feed.  Cole sent a follow up tweet, “I apologize to any and all who were offended by my tweet toward young Josh Matthews. It was obviously not meant the way it was taken”.  This comes a few days before the WWE’s biggest event of the year Wrestlemania, and just one week after the WWE announced a partnership with GLAAD due to Superstar John Cena’s constant mockery of the sexuality of fellow wrestlers The Rock and The Miz.

I contacted the corporate headquarters of WWE in Stamford, Connecticut, to seek a comment from their public relations department. My phone number was taken down but as of writing this no one has called me back. The WWE did release an official statement which read: “World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) will be working with GLAAD to create and promote an anti-bullying initiative aimed at their core audience, and has invited us to conduct trainings for their staff of writers and editors. GLAAD contacted WWE executives and explained the problem after receiving our first reports. They then spoke to John Cena and the show’s writers. We have been assured that not only will such incidents not happen again, WWE intends to reach out to their adolescent audience, with messages aimed making it clear that bullying someone with homophobic taunts or for their perceived sexual orientation is wrong.”

Rival wrestling company, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, may be the best representation of the LGBT community in a very machismo sect of professional sports. Orlando Jordan is publically bisexual in and out of the ring. The only public relations officer I could reach was Mike Greenblatt from Ring of Honor wrestling. Mike said ROH has no gay characters and there are no gay wrestlers to his knowledge. When asked if he thought the word “Faggot” could be taken wrong like Cole said, Mike replied, “Th at word is

a sexual slur. How can it be misconstrued? There’s no call for it.”  Mike also said that ROH would “support an anti-bullying campaign from GLAAD and that an ROH wrestler would absolutely receive the support of the company.”

The WWE says they are committed to debunking bullying and homophobic actions on air, but as far as I’m concerned actions speak louder than words.
– RYAN DIXON

Please send all your comments and letters to editor@FloridaAgenda.com

By RYAN DIXON

Joshua Scott Baumgartner loved to throw a party and just let loose from time to time, but on January 20, 2011, he took his great cooking and heavy pouring with him out of this world after a month-long bout with complications from HIV/AIDS.

I only knew Josh for a few months, but I can say that I will certainly cherish those months and moments I had with him. I can remember just visiting his house and next thing I know I’m being dragged out to dinner or drinks at either Alibi or Matty’s, which were his favorite watering holes. I hope the angels in heaven have strong livers and empty stomachs, because they’re certainly in for a party. Josh is survived by Luna Baumgartner, his parents Scott and Gale Baumgartner of Eddy, Texas, grandparents Leon and Leona of Brodhead, Wis., Tommy and Mattge Cheshire of Blue Ridge, Texas, many aunts, uncles, cousins and dear friends.

I’ve been HIV-positive for a little over two years now, and know what it’s like to have to come to grips with living with this manageable but incurable disease. Josh never told any of his friends or even his family what was going on in his life as far as HIV goes, and we’ll never know why he took this secret with him. While talking with his parents, who came in from Texas to take their son home, they wanted me to write this so that people will learn from Josh’s situation. They want people to not be afraid to seek treatment and help, both of which could have saved their son’s life. In this day in age it’s very hard to believe that I lost a 30-yearold friend to a fight against AIDS. Even though there is no cure, medicine has made many advances since the ’80s that makes living with HIV manageable and not the death sentence it was 30 years ago. With Broward County having the highest new infection rate of any other county in the country, the most important thing you can do is get yourself tested regularly so you can know where you stand, as well as protecting your partners. Knowledge is key and empowering yourself with your status, whether it be positive or negative, is the greatest tool any one single person can have in our society’s ongoing battle against HIV/AIDS. Knowing your status is so important that many prevention agencies all over South Florida do it for free. Twenty minutes is all it takes to know what you need to know to protect yourself and your sexual partners.

To find a testing site near you, visit www.freehivtest.net.

In lieu of flowers, his parents asked me how people could make donations to and HIV/AIDS agency here in Florida that help people with medicine and advocacy.

With the Florida AIDS Walk coming up on March 20, I decided to create a team that will walk in Josh’s memory. The Florida AIDS Walk family is dedicated not only to raising awareness of the fact that more than 167,000 Floridians are living with HIV/AIDS, but also to generating as much financial support as possible to provide the care and services that they so desperately need. The walk will begin and end at Huizenga Plaza in Fort Lauderdale. Team Bubba will be walking along hundreds of other teams and thousands of supporters in this year’s walk. Funds raised by Florida AIDS Walk will enable the expansion of free HIV testing and prevention education in Florida’s Broward and Miami-Dade counties, and provide health care and support for HIVpositive individuals throughout the state. The walk will benefit AHF Pharmacy, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Out of the Closet and each of their 2011 Florida AIDS Walk Beneficiaries – SunServe, Broward House, Women In Network, and The Pride Center at Equality Park. To make a donation to the walk for Team Bubba, please visit ww.takeaction. aidshealth.org/goto/teambubba and help Josh’s friends and family keep his memory alive and his flame burning bright. We miss you Josh. Save a drink for us, will ya?

Community Alert

Kevin Burns was attacked and raped Nov. 12 in Fort Lauderdale.

By DMITRY RASHNITSOV

Wilton Manors Police are investigating a series of attempted rapes and muggings that have caused grave concern in and around the small predominantly gay and lesbian community. At about 10 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 12, 23-year-old Kevin Burns was attacked and forcefully sodomized in the 1800 block of N. Dixie Highway in Fort Lauderdale, less than a block outside of Wilton Manors, according to a Wilton Manors Police Report.

According to Burns, he was walking down Dixie Highway when a 5-foot- 9-inch white male with a swimmer’s build, who appeared to be in his 40’s with dark hair and dark circles under his eyes, asked him for a cigarette.

“After I handed him a cigarette he smashed me over my head with a big rock,” Burns recalls. “He went and grabbed my shirt and ripped my shirt and used it to strangle me. As he was strangling me he stabbed me seven times with a hypodermic needle. I don’t know what was in the needle. I don’t know what it was for. I went to go scream and he took the shirt and he held it even tighter and said ‘shut the fuck up.’”

Burns said that he was terrified and could not believe what was happening to him, but that was just the beginning of the ordeal. Burns ended up falling to the ground.

“He starts pushing me over the wires, takes a knife out and cuts my belt,” Burns said. “Then he takes my pants and rips them completely off. With his bare hands he reached in and grabbed my underwear and just tore it off of me. He then put the knife back on my throat, made little slices on my neck, telling me to ‘shut up, shut up, be quiet, shut up.’”

Burns said the unidentified male continued hitting him in the head with a rock and pushing his face into the dirt.

“He tried to penetrate me once and it wasn’t working,” Burns said. “Then there was something slimy, spit or lube or something, he did get in, and with one searing, burning, unimaginable pain he was in. He just kept slamming my body and slamming and slamming and slamming, and he just kept pushing my face in the dirt telling me to ‘shut up’ and ‘not to cry’ and then it was over. He hit me one more time on the back of the head and told me not to move or he would kill me.”

Before the attack started, Burns was on the phone with his ex-boyfriend, who according to the police report, heard the entire attack take place. Burns remembers calling the police department, and initially Wilton Manors police arrived but could not touch Burns until Fort Lauderdale Police arrived because he was in their jurisdiction.

According to the Fort Lauderdale Police report, “the victim had dirt on his person consistent with a struggle occurring on the ground.

The victim had a bruise on the left side of his head. The victim had scrape marks on various areas such as stomach and back area. The victim had knife blade marks on the left side of his neck consistent with a knife being held against the surface of his neck and moving slightly during the incident.” Burns said he is taking anti-retroviral medication because doctors are worried he may have been infected with HIV infected blood from the hypodermic needle. Burns said officers told him they are investigating several attacks of a similar nature in the area.

“He took a piece of my heart, he took a piece of my soul, he took a piece of me,” Burns said. “He took a piece of who I am with him when he walked away from me that night and left me in the dirt. I’m not going to be one of those people who curls up in a ball and cries; I’m not going to let this ruin me. I will get my dignity back, I will get my heart and soul back, and the only way to do that is to make sure he pays.”

Mugging on the other side of town

On Nov. 5, in a completely unrelated incident on the other side of Wilton Manors, 23-year-old Ryan Dixon thwarted an attempted mugging by two black men who appeared to be in their late teens or early 20’s.

According to a Wilton Manors Police report, Dixon was walking south at the 2400 Block of NE Sixth Avenue near 26th Street when two black males approached him, and one of them punched him in the face. Dixon described the male who punched him as 5-feet-8-inches to 5-feet- 10-inches tall, 180-200 lbs, wearing a white tank top, black shorts with a white stripe down the sides and a green-colored hat. The second male was 5-feet-8-inches to 5- feet-10-inches tall, 200-210 lbs, wearing a white polo shirt that had horizontal yellow and blue stripes, and black shorts past his knees.

“When he punched me he knocked my glasses off and I yelled what are you doing,” Dixon recalls. “One of them told me to give them whatever I had in my pockets. I turned to walk away and one of them grabbed my backpack. I turned and punched them and they both backed off. They then walked away from me – not ran, but just casually walked away.” Dixon was able to reach police, but by the time they arrived, the two suspects were nowhere to be seen.

This is not the first incident of its kind on the same road, with at least three similar incidents reported to Wilton Manors Police within the last six months.

If you have any information about either the reported rape on Nov. 12 or the attempted mugging on Nov. 5, please contact the Wilton Manors Police at (954) 390- 2150

By RYAN DIXON

I can remember making fun of the male cheerleaders in high school — all the cheerleaders, come to think of it. The only thing funnier to me at sports banquets, besides getting a letter in chess, was getting a letter in cheerleading. I felt that just because your sport makes it on ESPN, that doesn’t justify calling it a “sport”. That was until Deshon Allen set me straight.

Deshon, along with his coaching partner Jamie, opened South Florida All Star Gym on Wednesday, November 3. They are located at 1144 South Congress Ave next to the Metro PCS in Palm Springs, Florida in Palm Beach County. The “Lady Makos Dancers” of the Palm Beach Makos minor league football team were on hand to perform and do a meet and greet. The gym serves as home to the South Florida Panthers All Stars cheerleading teams as well as be opening to the public for anyone who wants to advance their cheer needs or maybe get started.

Starting at three years of age all the way up to adult and “parent” classes, the SFAS gym has all the bases covered. You’ll learn the proper skills needed for jumps, motions and stunts as well as gain skills and excel in flexibility.

“Anything you want to know or learn about cheering, we do it” says Deshon. “We’re even offering our space for any squad in the area that wants to come and practice here.”

What that means is those high schools that don’t necessarily have the money or see

the need to provide the cheer team with their own mats to practice on, as opposed to using the ones the wrestling teams use can use the SFAS facility. Deshon also told me that “it takes a lot to run a business these days, especially with this economy.” That’s why he and his team have gone that extra mile to check prices with other similar programs all over the state. After the uniform and pom-poms and coach’s fee, things can start to add up. “Our classes are $85 a month, and that includes one class a week with your coach and/or team.”

Be on the look out for the Makos Dancers as the Palm Beach Makos open their season this coming January. For more information and to keep up with both teams, find them on Facebook at: South Florida Panthers All Stars and Lady Makos Dancers.

By RYAN DIXON

I grew up walking up and down the boardwalk of Virginia Beach. Every October brings the Neptune Festival back to life after lying dormant from the previous year. The thing every visitor to the festival visits every year is the sand sculpting contest, but the past decade has seen an introduction of something new and exciting. Thanks to this festival, I first played a sport where I couldn’t throw the ball 300 feet but I could get just as dirty and have just as much fun. Beach volleyball has exploded all over the country, and the city of Wilton Manors is no different.

I strolled onto the court around 6 p.m. on Tuesday to find a myriad of players on the single court at Hagen Park. I did see one familiar face that I remember playing with before I moved away from Florida in 2009. Nelson Maldonado, 24 from Fort Lauderdale, was just picking himself out of the sand after a nice dig to save a point and the win. Turns out he plays on every Tuesdays with the guys from Somos.

“I usually come on Tuesdays, but (my friend) Ricardo invited me out to play on Saturdays and that’s when I found out about the other ‘leagues’ that take place”.

Volleyball at the park is the chosen activity that the Latin men from Somos have chosen to fill their week. Somos is a Latin social group for the men in our community, but anyone can come and play. “You can bring your pet”, says Nelson, “even the ones with four legs.” That sort of humor is what makes the go easy games so much fun. Yeah, winning is great, but it’s a great opportunity to meet new people like Guisseppe Quispe. Guisseppe is 25 and is the Group Mediator for Somos. He and Anthony Alexander decided they needed something for the guys to do on a Tuesday and five months ago started this group for their guys to come out and give they’re best shot at a bump, set and spike. Luck for me, they want anyone to come out and play: any gender, and age and any orientation. I found myself flashing back to when I was a varsity player in high school when I was shouting out ‘three touches’ every time my team would just volley the ball back over the net. I realized no one really cared too much about technique; it’s a learning experience for most. I may not be Kerry Walsh, but my team did take both sets I was able to play. There are even talks to start a soccer group on Thursdays when the cooler weather reaches South Florida in November. Looking for a great way to stay fit and have fun? Stop by the court at Hagen Park on pretty much any day of the week to find a few awesome people playing one of the fastest growing amateur and professional sports in the country.

For more information on the Somos guys check them out on Facebook by searching Latinos Salud or by visiting their website at somos  latinossalud.org.

By RYAN DIXON

The Divisional Series are now over and the League Championship Series are set. After sweeping the Twins, the Yankees look ready to continue their dominance against the Rangers in the American League Championship who dispatched the Rays in five games. On the heels of the second no-hitter in baseball history, The Phillies will look back to Roy Holliday to be their catalyst against the San Fran Giants in the National League. I look forward to seeing a rematch of last year’s World Series between the Yanks and Phillies. Clearly these two teams have found the winning combinations in their respective leagues, but money won’t buy the Yanks a title this year. The Phillies will win on the shoulders of Doc Holliday and the bat of Ryan Howard.

The real story, or ‘drama’ you could say, surrounding this year’s playoffs has been the pending retirement of Atlanta’s manager Bobby Cox. Cox has been the skipper of the Braves since midway through the 1990 season, leading his teams to sixteen postseason appearances, a record for any big league manager and one World Series title in 1995. Cox also has the record for the most consecutive division titles won with a streak of fourteen between 1991 and 2005.

Dare I say, Bobby Cox was the best major league manager of the last 25 years? He may not have as many rings as Joe Torre, but Cox never had a bad team, let alone a bad year. What more proof do you need but the tapes from his last game. The Giants are on their way to the National League championship series. They should be jumping for joy and smothering each other on the mound, right

? What they did was stand behind the mound and clap in respect to a man as he took his last curtain call to a crowd that had known him for two damned decent seasons of baseball. As he doffed his cap to the crowd and headed back down to the clubhouse, a cap he often threw down in disgust at umpires earning him the most managerial ejections in baseball history, all you could hear was the crowd cheering his name, hoping he would come back out of the dugout one last time. The season was just picking up for the Giants, while a legacy was coming to an end just 90-feet away. See you in five years at Cooperstown, Bobby.

By RYAN DIXON

I can still remember how nervous I was standing up on the stage at Bill’s Filling Station back in early June while I was competing for the title of “Mr. Stonewall.” I can only imagine what was going through Chris Filippelli’s head earlier this month in Cleveland, Ohio when three-time title winner, Mr. Olympia, Jay Culter tells you that you need to be competing in on stage in a body building competition — you have to listen.

Chris Filippelli did just that.

After training for thirty two years and competing for only eight, Chris Filippelli is the 2010 International Federation of Body Builders’ North American Masters, 50+ overall champion.

“I was disappointed at Masters Nationals,” Filippelli told rxmuscle.com, “but you know what, I came out here to [the] North Americans and got it here so I’m very pleased.”

Courtesy Atlasmen.com

Chris’ closest competition in his category was said to have been better conditioned, but Chris outweighed him by ten pounds and had more muscle. I’m no fitness expert, but the one in his interview said more muscle wins and Chris’ win is a cle

ar example in my opinion. What makes his win even more impressive is that Chris felt ill right before the competition started.

“I’ve been sick all week. I actually caught some sort of stomach virus. I was worried I wouldn’t make it to the stage.” But the resilient fifty-one-year old pulled it together and captured the title and the IFBB Pro Card that goes along with it.

When asked if he’ll be competing on the pro stage, Chris said he doesn’t expect to kill the competition but he’ll “jump up on stage to show them an old guy in great condition.” Want help on your physique or conditioning? Chris just bought a World Gym, 1440 N Federal Highway in Fort Lauderdale, so be sure to stop by to congratulate him and see if he’ll let you feel those biceps.

By RYAN DIXON

I wish I could say I wrote this prior to the NFL games played during week one, but alas, I didn’t. Call me a cheater but there were way too many important games in week one for me to just throw these predictions out there. Allow me to apologize ahead of ti

me to all the Dolphin and Bucs fans out there now.

Let’s start off in the NFC with the East division. The Super Bowl is being held in Dallas and the Cowboys are going to play like it. No doubt they take the division. I wish my Eagles could do it but not with Kolb at the helm. In the North it’ll be one last shot for Brett Farve. All he needs is for Adrian Peterson to hold on to the ball this year. The Saints take the South hands down, but it’s going to take more than a Gulf oil spill to excite this team back to the Super Bowl. If Alex Smith doesn’t completely suck this year, then the 49ers will take the West. Sorry Pete Carrol. The Packers and the Redskins, behind two great quarterbacks, take the two wild card slots for the playoffs. In the Wild Card round, the Redskins upset the Cowboys in Dallas. I’m taking the Packers over the 49ers in the second game. The Saints handle the Redskins easily to reach the NFC Championship game.

In a battle of Division rivals, Brett Farve makes one last push and reaches his second consecutive NFC Championship game by defeating the Packers. Farve continues the miracle run by shaking off the monkey on his back and defeating the Saints to reach Super Bowl XLV.

The AFC will feature some very lopsided games this year due to the high scoring offenses. The Jets take the East again this year thanks to another stellar year from their defense. The Ravens take the North. Many are pegging the Bengals, but with the signing of Owens, they took catches away from Ochocinco. The South goes to the Colts for the millionth year in a row. The Texans will give them a run, though. Even without Tomlinson, the Chargers win the West. My wild card picks for the AFC are the Texans and the Patriots. The Texans fall to their division rivals, Colts and the Patriots upset the Ravens in the Wild Card round. In the second round, the Colts will easily dispatch the Chargers and the Jets somehow manage to beat the Patriots. The AFC Championship game will be won by the Jets on the road in Indianapolis to set up Farve to face one of his former teams in the Super Bowl.

My picks may be a little out there, but how “feel-good” would it be when Brett Farve throws a game winning touchdown as time expires to win Super Bowl LXV 23-20 over the Jets?

And this time, Farve does retire for good.