MiamiMan Magazine V1N2

Alonzo Highsmith

Back at the U

George Anastasia’s

MOB SCENE

Volume 1 • Number 2 – $3.95

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FROM THE

MiamiMan Magazine VOLUME 1 • NUMBER 2

PUBLISHER

______________________________________________________________________________________

BY KEN DUNEK

PUBLISHER Ken Dunek ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Ashley Dunek EDITOR George Brinkerhoff CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Chloe Senatore ART DIRECTOR Steve Iannarelli CONTRIBUTING WRITERS George Anastasia, George Brinkerhoff, Sam Carchidi, Mark Eckel, Vincent Mantuo, Dan Morroni, Chloe Senatore, Mike Shute

Reasons to be an entrepreneur and own your own business 1. T O BE SUCCESSFUL, YOU HAVE TO WORK HARD. WHY NOT WORK HARD AND MAKE YOURSELF RICH INSTEAD OF SOMEONE ELSE?

Photographer Natalia Garcia, Miami Lights Studio

2. Y OU ARE WORKING WITH PASSION ON SOMETHING YOU LOVE TO DO OR CREATE. IT’S NOT WORK....IT’S FUN! MY DAYS FLY BY DOING THINGS I LOVE TO DO AND TALKING AND MEETING WITH INTERESTING PEOPLE.

Event Coordinator & Administrative Assistant Alexandra Dunek

3. M AKING YOUR OWN HOURS IS GREAT BUT CHALLENGING. IF YOU CHOOSE TO PLAY HOOKY, GO AHEAD. BUT YOU WON’T GET PAID TODAY!

Website & Digital Coordinator Jamie Dunek

4. F IND A PRODUCT OR SERVICE THAT BENEFITS PEOPLE AND GET GOOD AT TELLING THE STORY. YOU WILL BE AMAZED AT HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE INTERESTED IN SOMEONE WHO CARES ABOUT THEM.

Editorial gbrinkerhoff@jerseymanmagazine.com Advertising 856-912-4007 Printing Alcom Printing, Harleysville, Pa. Controller Rose M. Balcavage Sales Associates Ashley Dunek, Jamie Dunek, Terri Dunek, Allison Farcus, JP Lutz MiamiMagazine is a product of a partnership between Peter Cordua, Ken Dunek, Anthony Mongeluzo, and Alcom Printing Group, are published by New Opportunity Publishing, LLC, with offices at 5 Perina Boulevard, Cherry Hill, NJ 08003. Copyright 2022.

Having said all that – at the beginning you can expect some self-doubt and negativity to creep in, and you will have a few sleepless nights. This is all much easier to do when you are young without a family and financial responsibilities.

But if you are employed and need to make significant money to survive, work your side hustle and watch your dreams come true.

In my life I have achieved almost every athletic and professional goal I have ever set for myself, from playing major college basketball and football, to playing professional football, broadcasting for FOX Sports and ESPN, and owning my own business.

Keep your head down and go for it – and live the life you deserve!

Legacy Club

I wish you the best.

Mike Adada. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Black Steel Group Ernesto Alvarez. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gutters by TK Robin Andras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Albacorps Keith Asplundh. . . . . . Asplundh Tree Expert Company Stephen Bellosi. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Prudential Alex Bort. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Friedman Dental Group Louis Bucelli. . . . . . . . . . . . . Bucelli & Company LLC Ethan Capri. . . . . . Capri Bookkeeping Solutions, LLC Daniel Checchia. . . . . Colliers Engineering & Design Ann Conlin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Philly’s Original Milan Natalia Garcia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Miami Lights Studio Jimmy Gibson. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Alcom Printing Fernando Gomez. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . TD Bank Jim Jacobs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Focus Insite Mikayla James . . . . SouthEast Personnel Leasing, Inc. Matt Lill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Corcoran Group Real Estate Vincent Mantuo. . . . Copesetic Therapeutic Bodywork Robert Marovik. . . . . . . . Mechanical Piping Solutions Dean Parsons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Epic Cigars Rob Paul. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SwagWorld, Inc. Steve Solomon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . CBMC South Florida Dianna Vasturo. . . . . . . . . . . . . Lazy Days Restaurant Mark Vasturo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ziggie & Mad Dogs Cover Photo: Olly Vento Hair/makeup: Juliana Burdiugiva Dressed by: Oscar Lopez

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JOTTINGS

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BY GEORGE BRINKERHOFF

Miami’s Board Track Speedway

I

N THE 1920s, board track speedways were still very much in vogue, even though auto racing and motorcycle racing on those heavily banked board tracks was incredibly dangerous, and accidents were frequent and often fatal. Seatbelts were not in use then, brakes were rudimentary, and safety was an afterthought at best. By 1925, Carl G. Fisher, the developer of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (known as the Brickyard due to its surface being paved with bricks), had established the popular Indianapolis 500 race run annually since 1911, and was developing the town of Miami Beach as a vacation destination.

One of his projects View of Fulford-Miami Speedway from the grandstand. was the building of the first and only board speedway in South Florida. He hired Ray Harroun, the winner of the 1911 Indy 500 race, to design what was called the Fulford-Miami Speedway in Fulford-By-The-Sea, which was later to become North Miami Beach.

The high banking allowed the cars to reach amazing speeds.

The result was a 1.25-mile board track with 50-degree banking in the corners, allowing for amazing speeds of the era, and as such, it was billed as the fastest speedway in the world. The first and, as it 4

MiamiMan Magazine

turned out, the only AAA sanctioned race (the AAA sanction reflected top tier of auto racing at the time) was named the Carl G. Fisher Cup Race in honor of the track’s visionary builder and was held on February 22, 1926. It was a 300-mile event held in front of 20,000 Driver Ralph Hepburn at Fulford-Miami Speedway. people. Out of 18 starters only six cars were running at the finish. The eventual winner was Peter De Paolo, the 1925 winner of the Indy 500. Sadly, later that year on September 17, the track was destroyed during the Great Miami Hurricane of 1926 and was not rebuilt.

A Tale of Two Desserts

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N MARCH 7, 2022, Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida signed into law Senate Bill No. 1006, officially designating Strawberry Shortcake “with natural Florida dairy topping” as Florida’s official state dessert. He signed it, appropriately enough, at the Florida Strawberry Festival, held annually since 1948 at Plant City, Florida, where they were expected to serve over 200,000 of the delicious treats. The act took effect July 1, 2022. This idea apparently didn’t sit well with proponents of Florida’s other famous dessert, that most famous dessert of the Florida Keys, the Key lime pie. Knowing that the Strawberry Shortcake was about to get it’s “just desserts” (sorry!), the Key City commissioners had unanimously voted to make Strawberry Shortcake

Longest MLB playing career by a Floridian

E

VER WONDERED which baseball player had the longest professional career from every state? Probably not, but the baseball nerds at USDish did and, using baseball-reference.com they came up with a list of players from nearly every state, many of whom were seemingly around forever.

Of those who made the list, the average baseball career length was almost 21 years. Two players with the longest tenures in baseball were tied, Cap Anson of Iowa and Nolan Ryan of Texas, both punching the clock at a whopping 27 years!

Key lime pie the official dessert of Key City “just” the week before. And they did this in full knowledge of the fact that, back in 2006, Florida had already designated the Key lime pie as the official state pie! The good news in all of this political bickering, back-and-forth and one-upmanship? Unlike most other political controversies, here in the State of Florida the people really are the big winners whichever mouthwateringly delicious official state dish they supported.

The longest playing career by a Floridian was the astoundingly dependable Hall of Fame pitcher, Steve Carlton, at 24 years. Carlton played from 1965 to 1988.

During that long span, Carlton played for Philadelphia, St. Louis, Minnesota, San Francisco, Cleveland and the Chicago White Sox and amassed a record of 329 wins and 244 losses and an ERA of 3.22.

Key lime pie

Check out the rest of the list at: www.usdish.com/news/blog/athleteswith-longest-careers-by-state.

MiamiMan Magazine

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MiamiMan Legacy Club Event at Rosa Sky - Miami, Fla. Photos Miami Lights Studio

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Photos Miami Lights Studio

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MiamiMan Legacy Club Event at Cuba Libre - Miami, Fla. Photos by Erica Kirk

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MiamiMan Magazine

WHAT WE WEAR

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BY DAN MORRONI

www.morronicustom.com

The Case For Surgeon’s Cuffs

T

HE NEED FOR BUTTONS on a suit coat sprang from practical beginnings: British army surgeons and doctors making house calls needed to draw their shirt and coat sleeves back from their hands while working on patients. They began asking their tailors to place buttons on the coat sleeves, aligned to allow the wearer to roll up the shirt and coat sleeves together.

Today, only the best suits incorporate working buttonholes on coat sleeves. You may not be performing surgery while wearing a suit, but having functional buttons is still a fantastic sartorial choice. (Because functional buttonholes are usually only cut after the sleeve length has been correctly fitted to the individual, surgeon’s cuffs are generally only offered by custom clothiers.)

Sleeve buttons and buttonholes offer an opportunity to subtly enhance your personal style.

Surgeon’s cuffs offer the practicality of unbuttoning one or two during warm weather to improve ventilation without removing the coat. Working buttonholes also allow the sleeve to adjust to your movements, making the coat more comfortable to wear.

The sleeve buttons and buttonholes offer an opportunity to subtly enhance your personal style. You may choose to use a contrasting color of thread on the last buttonhole, to bring attention to this tiniest of details.

Or, leave the last button unbuttoned for a bit of easy nonchalance.

Whether you enjoy the elegance and exclusivity of surgeon’s cuffs, or simply desire to allow in the breeze now and then, let the buttons on your sleeve go to work for you.

“ Make it simple, but significant.”

– Don Draper

By Every Measure, Custom Is Best Whether you’re rating clothing on style, quality, comfort, or overall value, a custom wardrobe is unsurpassed.

Style: Finding off-the-rack clothing for your unique esthetic can be timeconsuming—or even impossible. With custom clothing, you get suits, sport jackets, trousers and shirts that exactly match your preferences.

Quality: From fabrics to buttons to thread, we work only with highquality, long-lasting materials. Once you’ve made your selections, we take careful measurements, then work meticulously on construction.

Comfort: Each piece is built exactly to your measurements and style specifications. This allows for a superb fit that moves with you.

Value: Custom clothing lasts longer than off-the-rack clothing. Each piece offers enduring style, quality, and comfort. l MiamiMan Magazine

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MOB SCENE

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BY GEORGE ANASTASIA

“The Godfather of Rock and Roll”

I

N CERTAIN CIRCLES, he was known as “The Godfather of Rock and Roll.”

It wasn’t always meant as a compliment.

From the 1950s through the late 1980s he was a force to be reckoned with in the American music industry. He made millions for himself and his “associates.”

He was an entrepreneur, a philanthropist and a gangster.

And he seemed to enjoy each role.

Morris Levy died in 1990 shortly before he was to begin a 10-year prison sentence following his conviction in an extortion case that included members of the Genovese and DeCavalcante crime families. The fact that he was friends with several high-profile mob figures was never in dispute.

Sitting in his midtown Manhattan record company office in June of 1987 shortly after being indicted in the extortion case, he offered his standard reply when asked about his alleged mob ties.

“I’ve been on Broadway 47 years,” said Levy. “I know some of these characters and some I like very much…I knew Cardinal Spellman, too. That don’t make me a Catholic.”

It sounded like a line from Guys and Dolls, which was the image Levy clearly was going for. But the reality was his role and connections were more Goodfellas.

Some of that is touched on in a new book about one of the most notorious attempted shakedowns in Levy’s long music industry career. The target was John Lennon who was recording on his own after the break-up of The Beatles.

Lennon, the Mobster and the Lawyer is written by attorney Jay Bergen who represented Lennon in his 1975 legal battle with Levy.

The dispute revolved around recording rights and a bootleg album of rock-and-roll songs by Lennon.

Levy, no surprise, was the bootlegger.

He claimed he had an agreement to market an album called “Roots” that he had fashioned after gaining access to some prelimi10

MiamiMan Magazine

nary and less than quality tapes of Lennon performing classic rock and roll songs. At the time, Lennon was preparing an album called “Rock ‘n’ Roll.” The litigation ended with an almost across-the-board win for Lennon and the legitimate companies for whom he recorded, Capitol/EMI and Apple Records.

Levy

Like so many others, they waited until Levy was dead before making their claim.

To do so while he was alive would have been courting disaster.

Bergen’s book is heavy on legalese and includes extensive chunks of Lennon’s courtroom testimony, transcripts that are sure to be fascinating for any Beatles fan. What gets lost in the telling is the underworld significance of the courtroom victory.

L

EVY HAD BEEN TAKING ADVANTAGE of recording artists for years, often claiming songwriting credits in order to grab millions of dollars in royalties that were due the actual singer-songwriters. He used fear and intimidation—and his mob connections— to keep those artists in line. Lennon was the one of the few to successfully challenge him.

Lennon’s status as a veritable icon in the industry may have been the reason Levy never took his case beyond litigation. Other entertainers weren’t as lucky. According to another lawsuit brought after his death, Levy once warned a singer who was complaining about overdue songwriting royalties, “Don’t come down here anymore or I’ll have to kill you or hurt you.”

In that case, Levy had taken songwriting credit for the classic 1950s hit “Why Do Fools Fall in Love.” The artists who wrote and recorded the song said they had received just $1,000 in royalties for a record that sold over three million copies. They eventually won a $4 million judgment against Levy’s estate.

Like so many others, they waited until Levy was dead before making their claim. To do so while he was alive would have been courting disaster.

Bergen accurately describes Levy as “a music industry grifter who regularly cheated artists” and as someone who “would not know an F-sharp from an A-flat.” But what Levy did know was the music business—at least the business as it existed in the 1950s, 60s and 70s, when airtime on popular radio stations could make or break a new recording and when payola was the standard coin of the realm.

Tommy James, a high-profile rock-and-roll star in the 1970s, detailed a lot of that in his book, Me, the Mob and the Music, which was published in 2010.

James credits Levy with launching and steering his career. But he acknowledged in an interview shortly after his book came out that, “Getting your money was like taking a bone from a Doberman. It just wasn’t going to happen.”

Another industry source tells a story about Levy negotiating royalty rights with an artist.

Levy agreed to give the singer a substantial percentage. An associate, who was present when the deal was struck, later asked Levy why he had been so generous. “What’s the difference?”

Levy replied. “I’m not going to pay him.”

A

UTHORITIES HAD BEEN AWARE of Levy’s mob connections for years.

His ties to the Genovese crime family, first to mob boss Tommy Eboli and later Vincent “The Chin” Gigante, were outlined in an FBI affidavit that surfaced in the federal court case in Camden that brought Levy down.

“An FBI investigation has shown that since before 1963 Morris Levy has been a lucrative source of cash and property for leaders of the Genovese LCN family,” the affidavit reads in part. Levy’s dealings, the document alleged, had been “primarily through and for the benefit of (Gigante) to whom Levy has passed large cash payments, property and shares in Levy’s recording enterprises.”

Authorities suspected that the Genovese crime family had a big piece of all of Levy’s action, which at various times included a chain of record stores called Strawberries and several record companies, including Roulette Records, the company for which many of Levy’s recording artists worked.

Levy’s empire came undone in the late 1980s after he and two mob figures, Genovese crime family capo Dominick “Baldy Dom” Canterino and New Jersey DeCavalcante crime family soldier Gaetano “Corky” Vastola, were charged in an extortion and shakedown scheme in which a wholesale record distributor named John LaMonte was targeted. The

convoluted case included allegations that Levy and his mob associates had insinuated themselves into a $1.2 million deal between LaMonte and MCA records, at the time a major Los Angeles entertainment company.

LaMonte, according to a federal indictment, had agreed to purchase 60 tractor-trailer loads of “remainder “records and cassettes. For readers old enough to remember, these were products found in remainder or wholesale bins at record stores back in the day when cassettes and record stores existed.

LaMonte, of Darby, PA, balked at paying, claiming that Levy and his associates had “creamed the load,” that they had taken all the best titles before LaMonte received delivery. He was badly beaten by mob figures working for Levy and Canterino and, after being treated for a fractured eye socket, he agreed to cooperate with the FBI.

T

HE CASE THAT PLAYED OUT in federal court in Camden offered a look inside organized crime’s involvement in the entertainment industry and spawned several books. Among the best is Stiffed, a True Story of MCA, the Music Business and the Mafia by Bill Knoedelseder.

Levy is also the title character in Godfather of the Music Business by Richard Carlin and

is one of the principal figures in Dark Victory, Ronald Reagan, MCA and the Mob by Dan Moldea. More recently, Levy was the prototype for Hesh Rabkin, Tony Soprano’s entrepreneurial Jewish mob associate in the longrunning HBO hit.

Like Levy, Rabkin (played by actor Jerry Adler) was a music industry impresario, and like Levy, he had a horse farm. Levy’s 1,400acre farm, near Albany, NY, was part of a sprawling real estate empire in which, authorities alleged, the mob held a secret interest.

The FBI affidavit in the Camden case cited an informant‘s claim that Gigante had a “stranglehold on Morris Levy’s record industry enterprises, in effect turning Levy into a source of ready cash” for the Genovese crime family and that Levy was an “earner” who provided “cash for Gigante’s crew to buy real estate.”

A small piece of that cash, no doubt, was generated by “Roots,” the bootleg rock-androll album that John Lennon went to court to discredit. Perhaps the most famous Beatle of them all, Lennon was ahead of his time in challenging Levy and, because of his status, never had to deal with the violence, fear and intimidation visited on many others who crossed the Godfather of Rock and Roll.

Five years after winning his battle with the mobster, Lennon was the target of a different kind of American violence. l

MiamiMan Magazine

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Photo courtesy A. Highsmith/University of Miami

Alonzo Highsmith (L) with the Hurricanes’ first-year head coach Mario Cristobal

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MiamiMan Magazine

Back at the

BY MARK ECKEL

Highsmith, after a six-year NFL playing career and a 25-year career as an NFL scout and executive in personnel, returned to the University of Miami as the football team’s General Manager of Operations where he will work with the Hurricanes’ first-year head coach Mario Cristobal.

“It’s been great,’’ Highsmith said after a little over a week on the job. “It’s even better than I thought it would be.’’

You spend any time in an NFL locker room and you’ll hear the players talk about their college days. A former Ohio State guy will get on a former Michigan guy, or the SEC guys will banter together and dog the other conferences.

Then there are the players who went to Miami. There was just something different and more special about the guys from The U and the stories they shared.

“There’s definitely a brotherhood that others don’t have,’’ Highsmith said. “It goes back to Miami didn’t have what some of the other schools have, that pageantry of college football. Alabama, LSU, Tennessee, they’re going to play in front 80-90,000 people no matter

who the coach is, no matter how many wins they have. Miami is always going to be that school that always has to prove itself, and you have to prove yourself by winning. As players we knew we didn’t have the best facilities. We didn’t have the best anything. What we had was the best of family. ‘I got your back. You got my back.’ We were a brotherhood. And it was more like a chip on our shoulder that you might have all the fancy, glory stuff, but we’re going to come to your stadium and beat you.

And when you come to our stadium, we’re going to beat you. That’s how the Miami atmosphere was created.’’ _________________________________________ HIGHSMITH WAS A STAR for the ‘Canes in the ‘80s, was a key part of their 1983 National Title and upset of unbeaten and No. 1 Nebraska in the ’84 Orange Bowl. Houston made him the No. 3 pick in that 1987 draft, but knee injuries shortened his career.

In 1995 he tried professional boxing and went 27-1-2 as a heavyweight over a four-year span. Then in 1999 he joined General Manager

Photo University of Miami

Alonzo Highsmith loved his job. He really did.

He wouldn’t have lasted as long as he did if that wasn’t the case. There was only one thing that could have convinced the third overall pick of the 1986 NFL draft to finally leave the NFL. And it happened.

Highsmith

Ron Wolf’s personnel department with the Green Bay Packers as a scout.

Highsmith spent 20 years with the Packers, working under general managers Wolf, Mike Sherman and Ted Thompson before he moved to Cleveland with fellow Packers’ scout turned GM John Dorsey for two years. The past three seasons he worked for the Seattle Seahawks and another former Packers personnel man, John Schneider.

When Miami called, or texted, Highsmith couldn’t say no. Although it wasn’t that easy.

“I told John Schneider I didn’t think it was going to happen. And that I was going to stay in Seattle,’’ Highsmith said. “And that would have been fine. I love John. I love Seattle. I loved being part of the NFL for the past 25 years.’’

So, what happened?

“Mario texted me one day and said come MiamiMan Magazine 13

Photo University of Miami

on down. I went and told John and he was happier for me than I was happy,’’ Highsmith continued. “That’s why I love John so much.

He knew the only way I would leave Seattle was to go back to Miami. I had to take this chance.’’ _________________________________________ THE GENERAL MANAGER in college football is a relatively new position. Some schools, such as Alabama, have had them, but now with the transfer portal and NIL [Editor’s note: NIL refers to the marketing and promotional use of an athlete’s Name, Image and Likeness.], it’s just too much for a head coach to do it all. Highsmith, who has known Cristobal since the coach’s high school days — they both went to Miami’s powerful Columbus High, although Highsmith is seven years older — is the perfect man for the job.

“The face of college football has changed,’’ Highsmith said. “With the portal and NIL, you have elements of pro football’s free agency now. It really has changed college football.

And there’s just so much going on now. So, to be an ear to the head coach, helping develop the scouting department and analysis and all those things. Basically, I’m doing what a GM does in pro football.’’

Highsmith worked with the Hall of Famer Wolf and Super Bowl winners Thompson and 14

MiamiMan Magazine

“

I came back because now is the time to finish that vision, to win national championships, to have one of the best facilities in the nation and build a legacy to the players who created this place.”

Schneider. He’s learned and been a part of each of their successes.

“Evaluating is evaluating,’’ he said of the personnel decisions. “Understanding what these college kids are going through is another thing. I’ve been where these college kids want to go. I’ve been the highly recruited kid. I’ve been the high draft pick. I won a national championship. I’ve been part of Super Bowls.

Now I can use that to help these kids get to the next level. We used to get these kids at 21 years old, or so. Now I’m going to get a chance to see them at the beginning when they’re teenagers.’’

That’s just one of the duties Highsmith has as he and Cristobal try to bring the Hurricanes back to national prominence.

Highsmith (30) was a star for the ‘Canes in the ‘80s and was a key part of the 1983 National Title winning team.

“I’ve got my hands everywhere,’’ he said.

“I’m working with Mario to make the whole football program better. Right now, I’m watching and learning, seeing how everything operates. But I’ll be involved on a day-to-day basis with everything. I’m doing everything I did in pro football, but with more responsibility.’’

And he’s back full circle. After years as a player in the NFL in Houston and Dallas, four years in the boxing ring, and as an executive in Green Bay, Cleveland and Seattle, he’s back in Miami. He’s back at The U. “Going back to Miami is special,’’ Highsmith said. “I would have never gone anywhere else.

I would have just stayed in Seattle and I would have been happy there. And I never really anticipated this happening. When it did happen, and Mario was becoming the head coach and Dan Radakovich was becoming the athletic director I knew what their plan was and what their vision was. It’s what we never finished under [former Miami coach] Howard Schnellenberger. I came back because now is the time to finish that vision, to win national championships, to have one of the best facilities in the nation and build a legacy to the players who created this place.

“The new leadership sees the value of building a good football program and they’re doing the things that need to be done.’’

Like hiring Alonzo Highsmith. l

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Photographer: Olly Vento Hair/makeup: Juliana Burdiugiva Dressed by: Oscar Lopez

16

AS TOLD TO CHLOE SENATORE

A candid and classy conversation with a model turned lifestyle contributor

J

eniya Penrod is a name syn-

onymous with dedication and versatility. Once committed, she’s all in. From a successful modelling career to volunteering, fundraising, and offering Lifestyle contributions at Billionaire Miami Beach Magazine. Let’s hear about her inspiring and remarkable journey so far: “I entered the modelling scene pretty young at 14 years old. I travelled through Europe and Asia with the agency and in 2003 I ended up in Miami. It was love at first sight. The following years saw me working for several popular modelling assignments that helped me carve a niche and make a name for myself. Later on, I moved to organize fashion events to uncover fresh yet exceptionally talented local designers and artists.”

What Miami has that Europe and Asia don’t: “I think it’s very much weather driven. With the tropical weather all year long, it gives you resort-like vibes that creates a certain attitude. It’s also very international and I absolutely love that. No wonder they call it the melting pot.”

Photos courtesy Jeniya Penrod

mation. Since we now live in the social and digital era, we need to evolve.”

On Miami’s fashion week and the talent she finds: “Miami Fashion Week is one of the biggest fashion events in the US. It’s all about [being] sexy and fashion forward and I just cannot help but want to be a part of it.

Miami does have a lot of talented and beautiful people. A lot of talent we find though the social scene, which is happening in Miami all the time, and at other times it’s through social media or friends’ suggestions. One time I found a beautifully sounding young singer who performed on Lincoln road. His voice sounded exactly like Frank Sinatra. It was really incredible and that touched me.

We brought him on few events and people really liked him.”

Her take on the influence of social media:

On helping others:

“I feel that social media is most definitely and convincingly influencing Fashion Week.

Previously, you had to wait for the campaign to view a designer’s collection or for the images from a fashion show to appear in select magazines. Everything is now instantaneous.

“After the unprecedented devastation and havoc created by Hurricane Dorian, which destroyed the Abacos islands in the Bahamas, I decided to volunteer for the Global Empowerment Mission. I couldn’t just sit and watch the devastation and do nothing about it. I wanted to be part of the solution and use my platform to spread awareness of causes that are close to my heart. After this, I got involved in a few more charities. The latest charity that I have been involved in is ‘Les Couleurs.’ This beautiful organization

I think this drastic shift is fantastic, but I’m not sure how it will affect [the] business.

It’s great for me, but fashion has definitely evolved. I feel that models, photographers, and periodicals must adjust to this transfor-

helps run educational programs for children in rural parts of Haiti, Mexico City and Nepal.

I’ve hosted a few events with them as well.

One of them was with the legendary Wolf of Wall Street - Jordan Belfort. We are also getting different artists to donate pieces of their art, which are then sold. Every penny earned goes towards the causes! “ At present, Jeniya is a lifestyle contributor for Billionaire Miami Beach Magazine, exploring the best of what Miami has to offer.

Jeniya also owns a photo editing app named Chamillion. l

For more information about the Global Empowerment Mission (GEM) please go to: www.globalempowermentmission.org.

For more information about the Les Couleurs Charity go to www.lescouleurscharity.org/.

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2022 Miami Marlins

Sandy Alcantara

1-2 Pun

BY SAM CARCHIDI

18

MiamiMan Magazine

Photos courtesy Miami Marlins

Pablo Lopez

ch

When you mention some of the best pitching duos in Major League Baseball history, you don’t think of the Miami Marlins’ Sandy Alcantara and Pablo Lopez.

But, hey, they are trying to work their way into the conversation.

MiamiMan Magazine 19

Photos courtesy Miami Marlins

Both pitchers already have impressive resumes and, at 26, are climbing the ladder toward stardom.

Sandy Alcantara Nickname: Sandman Born: 9/07/1995 in Azua, Dominican Republic Debut: 9/03/2017 Some of the best duos in the 21st century include Houston’s Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole in 2019, Los Angeles’ Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke in 2015, and Arizona’s Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling in 2001.

Long-time fans will argue that no duo was better than the Dodgers’ Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale in 1965, or Baltimore’s Mike Cuellar and Jim Palmer in 1970.

All were superb, an adjective used for Alcantara and Lopez in the first three months of this season.

Lopez, a 26-year-old Venezuelan, was the best pitcher on the planet in April, going 3-0 with a ridiculous 0.39 ERA. Alcantara, 26, was one of the top pitchers in Major League Baseball heading into July and the National League’s Cy Young Award frontrunner. He had an 8-3 record and a league-best 1.95 ERA. He was among the NL leaders in numerous categories.

An injury caused Lopez to slip a bit – he had a 2.98 ERA heading into July – but he and Alcantara have what it takes to make them one of the National League’s most feared one-two pitching punches.

“When he’s rolling, he’s fun to watch,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said about Alcantara, a hard-throwing righthander from the Dominican Republic. “… And he’s been rolling.”

Alcantara was one of four prospects acquired by the Marlins in the deal that sent 20

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Marcell Ozuna to St. Louis in December of 2017. The trade also netted the Fish pitcher Zac Gallen, who was later dealt to Arizona for second baseman/shortstop Jazz Chisholm, now the Marlins’ best position player.

Yes, it turned out to be a great trade for Miami. Alcantara, who had a 3.19 ERA in a league-high 33 starts last year, is deeply respected around the National League.

“I think he’s the best pitcher in the league,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez recently told reporters. “I really do.”

Since becoming a regular in the Marlins’ rotation in 2019, Alcantara has been among the league leaders in innings pitched. Over the last three seasons, his ERA has hovered around 2.80, and he has become the team’s unquestioned ace.

“I’m a guy who doesn’t want to get comfortable,” Alcantara told the Miami Herald. “I just want to keep getting better, step by step.”

Alcantara, who gets an enormous number of groundball outs, has a blazing fastball and an above-average slider, a nasty sinker, and a formidable changeup. He has thrown the changeup more frequently as he has matured.

“He makes you anticipate one pitch, but think about another pitch, too,” said Phillies broadcaster John Kruk after Alcantara’s strong performance against Philadelphia earlier this season.

Lopez was the National League’s pitcher of the month in April. The 6-4, 225-pound righthander struggled after suffering a right wrist contusion when hit by a liner against Houston on June 10.

When he’s clicking, Lopez’s money pitch has been his changeup. It was so effective that

Pablo Jose López Nickname: Pache Born: 3/07/1996 in Cabimas, Venezuela Debut: 6/30/2018 Lopez threw it 37 percent of the time in his first 10 starts this season, and opponents hit just .149 against it.

That explains why it has become his putaway pitch when he has two strikes on a hitter. It also explains why Colorado manager Bud Black said Lopez has “arguably the best changeup in the game.”

“Confidence gives you good results,” Lopez said, “and good results give you confidence.”

Lopez, acquired from Seattle in a 2017 package for reliever David Phelps, and Alcantara had lots of good results in the season’s first three months. And maybe, just maybe, they will one day be mentioned with the following duos who put together seasons for the ages in the last 50-plus years:

Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale (1965) Two words for opponents who faced Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale in 1965.

Good luck.

One word for Koufax: Magnificent. The lefthander led the National League in wins (26), ERA (2.04), complete games (27), strikeouts (382) and WHIP (0.855), along with seven other categories.

Drysdale wasn’t too shabby himself. The big righthander had a 23-12 record and 2.77 ERA. He was first in the NL in games started (42).

Both pitchers finished in the top five in the MVP balloting.

Jim Palmer and Mike Cuellar (1970) The Orioles are trying to gain respectability in 2022, but they were a powerhouse in the 1970s.

Their rotation was phenomenal, and it was led by lefty Mike Cuellar and righthander Jim Palmer.

In 1970, Cuellar went 24-8 and led the American League in wins, complete games (21) – 21! – and winning percentage (.750).

Palmer was just as good. He notched the first of his eight 20-win seasons that year, finishing first in the AL in shutouts (five), innings pitched (305) and batters faced (1,257).

Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine (1998) Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine weren’t hard throwers. Instead, they baffled hitters with their pinpoint control and their dazzling offspeed stuff.

Their 1998 season was off the charts.

Glavine, a crafty lefthander, had a 20-6 record with a 2.47 ERA while winning his second NL Cy Young Award.

Maddux was also a deserving candidate.

The righthander topped the NL in three categories: ERA (2.22), shutouts (five) and WHIP (0.980).

Here’s a lofty goal for Alcantara and Lopez: Maddux and Glavine finished in the top five in the Cy Young voting 11 times during their 10 seasons together in Atlanta.

Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling (2001) While Maddux and Glavine were masters with their off-speed stuff, Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling shut down hitters in a more conventional matter: Exploding fastballs.

In 2001, the imposing 6-foot-10 Johnson struck out 372 batters. Repeat: 372 strikeouts.

That’s the third-highest total in MLB history.

The lefthander went 21-6 with a 2.49 ERA. Schilling wasn’t as dominating as he fanned “only” 293, but he also had a sensational season. He had a career-best 22 wins, tops in the NL. He also led the league in games started (35), complete games (six), and innings pitched (256 2/3).

(.864), and WHIP (0.84).

Kershaw (16-7), who had the league’s thirdbest ERA (2.13), topped the NL in strikeouts (301), innings pitched (232 2/3), starts (33, tied for No. 1), complete games (four, tied for No. 1).

Greinke and Kershaw finished second and third, respectively, in the Cy Young race, behind Chicago’s Jake Arrieta (22-6, 1.77 ERA).

Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole (2019) If you are looking for the best one-season duo in MLB history, you could make a case for Houston Astros aces Justin Verlander (21-6, 2.58) and Gerrit Cole (20-5, 2.50) in 2019. They became just the second teammates to record 300-plus strikeouts in the same season.

They finished the regular season ranked first or second in the American League in wins, ERA, strikeouts and WHIP.

Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke (2015)

Epilogue

Zack Greinke and Clayton Kershaw put together a season that rivaled the aforementioned year by their dominating Dodgers’ predecessors, Koufax and Drysdale.

Greinke finished with a 19-3 record and led the NL in ERA (1.66), winning percentage

Alcantara and Lopez have lots of work before they can come close to being on a list with the above lights-out duos over the last 50-plus years.

That said, they both already have impressive resumes and, at 26, are climbing the ladder toward stardom. l

MiamiMan Magazine

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The Miami Cru In 2019 the cruise industry in Florida generated

over $9 billion in direct spending, over 158,000 jobs, and accounted for 59 percent of all U.S embarkations (8.29 million passengers).

Then the Covid-19 pandemic hit.

BY CHLOE SENATORE

22

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uise Comeback

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“The resiliency of the cruise industry is incredible; their ability to quickly adapt and to collaborate and innovate.”

For the first time ever, Port Miami, the cruise capital of the world, saw all docked cruise ships and eerily quiet terminals for months.

“A sight I will never forget was when cruising was halted and you would go out and see like eight cruise ships sitting, docked, on the horizon which is a sight I never thought I would see in my life, and we never will see again, hopefully. Instead of cruising around the Caribbean and around the world, they were just sitting there, parked,” said cruise industry veteran and South Beach resident, Robin Rosenbaum.

In the daunted March of 2020, the CDC issued a “No Sail Order” for cruise ships which, like most things at the time, meant a complete halt to all operations. The No Sail Order was extended throughout that strange summer of 2020 until a “Conditional Sail Order” was issued in October. The cruise industry dealt with 24

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various phases, restrictions, and operating frameworks for all of 2021, causing a logistical nightmare (and headaches) for the entire industry, especially in South Florida. The tourism numbers were quite grim for Miami’s cruise industry in 2020 because the cruise lines were almost completely inoperable for an unprecedentedly long period.

“Even harder hit than the overall tourism sector was the cruise industry, subject to a complete regulatory shutdown… Port Miami saw its passenger traffic plunge 49% to 3.5 million passengers in FY 2020,” according to the Miami-Dade County Seaport Department.

Rosenbaum worked within Miami’s cruise industry for LVMH’s (Moët Hennessey Louis Vuitton) sister companies, Starboard Cruise Services and Onboard Media for over 25 years and gives valuable insight into just how complex cruising became during the pandemic.

“It’s been challenging for [the cruise industry], but they’re used to being agile. They have to be agile because of hurricanes or weather and making on-the-spot decisions about whether they can go into port, whether they have to change direction. They’re really a strictly disciplined operating machine. They are used to dealing with issues that they have to confront; however, this is more than they have ever had to do.

“The resiliency of the cruise industry is incredible; their ability to quickly adapt and to collaborate and innovate. They’re already experiencing a tremendous recovery.” Rosenbaum said.

WHILE COVID WAS DEVASTATING to Florida, as it was to everywhere else, the cruise industry is now projected to make a full comeback. Miami-based cruise line, Carnival, became the first to embark from the U.S since the pandemic shut down, when it’s Carnival Vista ship set sail back in July 2021. Since Covid restrictions have relaxed since then, all Florida-based cruise lines are nearly back at full fleet capacity.

“2022, this year, is really the pivotal transi-

tion year. By 2023 they’re expected to have a full recovery,” Rosenbaum said.

Although cruise ships are known for their close quarters and the possibility for illness to spread quickly, Rosenbaum advocates for how well Miami’s cruise lines are doing to make cruising as safe as possible, which includes the continued requirement for all passengers to be vaccinated.

“Cruising is about travel and fun, but it’s also kind of like the ‘fun navy.’ They have officers and very tight disciplines on board that enable them to operate safely and host millions of cruise guests around the world. They have these protocols in place to monitor the safety of all of the passengers.

“It’s so strictly monitored. People are vaccinated, they know everything about those guests,” she stated.

AS THE OFFICIAL CRUISE CAPITAL of the world, Miami is collectively happy to welcome back the full force of the cruising industry, partially because of the economic benefits and partially because of the fun cruising brings to all of Dade county.

“It’s a very exciting place to be,” Rosenbaum said.

“In Miami [cruising] is huge and it’s over-

whelmingly popular. It’s an economic lifeblood of our community. People love cruising and the port is a major part of Miami, of our skyline, of our identity, of who we are.

“There are a lot of shopkeepers and industries that depend on cruising,” said Rosenbaum. “Port Miami contributes over 40 billion dollars annually to the local economy.”

Despite political hiccups like Governor DeSantis’ interesting and controversial role in his failed attempt to ban cruise ships from requiring vaccinations last year, cruising in Florida is looking forward to the future.

“Travel and cruise were on a meteoric rise before the pandemic pause, but the resilience of this industry has really shown in how it has adapted and it’s coming back.

“You look at the skyline of the port and how it has changed in the past couple of years with the building of these incredible glass terminals that are lit up at night,” said Rosenbaum.

With new ships added to fleets, beautiful new terminals erected, and new passengers eager to cruise once again, Port Miami’s future looks as bright as a sailor’s sunrise.

“Miami is leading the way.” l

Rich Corboy rich@sovyachts.com 609-577-1404 MiamiMan Magazine 25

P RO F I L E

From Miami to Monday Night How Miami shaped ESPN’s Suzy Kolber A lifetime football fan, she learned the TV game in South Florida

BY MIKE SHUTE

You likely know Suzy Kolber from her long and distinguished career in sports television. The energetic and enthusiastic TV personality has spent all but three of the last 29 years with ESPN, primarily covering the NFL in some capacity.

She’s front and center every Monday night during football season, anchoring the ‘Worldwide Leader in Sports’ pregame show, Monday Night Countdown. Along with the pregame show, she handles the Monday Night Football halftime and postgame coverage from the site of each weekly game. Plus, since 2004, you’ve seen her interviewing the top picks annually at the NFL Draft. Kolber has also hosted other pro football programming on ESPN’s family of networks. Besides 26

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her favored football, she’s hosted SportsCenter, NASCAR Countdown, the X-Games, Wimbledon and the French Open over the years. Kolber was inducted into the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame in 2019 and was named the Maxwell Football Club’s Sports Broadcaster of the Year in 2006 – the first female to be so honored.

Just this month, she wrapped up a true offseason, “for the first time in many, many years.” After covering the 2022 NFL Draft in

Las Vegas in April, she got to enjoy helping coach her daughter Kellyn’s U14 travel softball team and spent some time at her beloved Jersey Shore, too. However, the NFL stops for no one and she’ll be getting back to the gridiron grind with ESPN’s Pro Football Hall of Fame coverage the first weekend of August in Canton, Ohio.

BIENVENIDOS A MIAMI But the 58-year-old Kolber’s television career sprang to life in South Florida. The Philadelphia-area native is a University of Miami product (Class of 1986) and started working, first as an intern, covering sports on TV in the region before she even graduated from the U. After graduation, she spent a short stint at CBS Sports before returning to the 305 and

Photo courtesy ESPN

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“

I was a big-time Dolphins fan growing up. I had a poster of Bob Griese on my wall as a kid.”

eventually landing at ESPN. She’s proud to explain that her experience at the University of Miami and working in the diverse and progressive South Florida market really shaped her, both personally and professionally, in many ways.

“The whole package about Miami, and being in that market was so great for so many different types of sports,” explained Kolber who covered a wide variety of sports in the Sunshine State, including greyhound racing and water sports. “There was horse racing, and NASCAR was always big in the south. There were so many different types of things that I was exposed to through the years. It was such an ideal market to be a part of in so many different ways. And then there are so many transient people and you get exposed to so many different types of personalities in the industry.

The entire package was there.”

K

OLBER EMPHASIZES the importance of versatility in becoming a solid broadcaster, a trait she gathered while working at UM’s Dynamic Cable and either interning, freelancing, or working fulltime at various South Florida stations such as WPEC-TV, WCIX-TV WPLG-TV and WTVJ-TV. She won a local Sports Emmy in 1998 at WTVJ, where she produced the 5:30 p.m. sportscast.

“Young people that I talk to, they only see the finished product – that you’re on televi28

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sion – and they don’t realize the amount of time, the work, or the sacrifice it takes to get to that point. I’m always trying to share that along with just how crucial it is to be versatile in whichever field it’s your dream to land.

It just makes you that much better.

“The fact that I started out as a producer, I was behind the scenes for many years and I was writing and did all of my own editing. I loved the creativity of putting feature packages together with no anchor or reporter involved in it and I think understanding all of the different aspects of a broadcast and how to put a broadcast on the air, makes you so much better in the end,” said Kolber, who first hit the national TV stage when she landed an on-camera role as part of the launch of the new and revolutionary ESPN2, in 1993. She was tabbed to host SportsNight, the new network’s signature show. “And for me now, I would like to think that I’m a different type of host on our shows because I’ve been a producer and I understand all of the inner workings of what it takes to get a show on the air.”

But what led this Philly-born football fanatic, to go to college at Miami? Believe it or not, it was the first, and only, school to which she applied.

“I was in high school and my mom [Sandra] and I broke out this big book of colleges from all across the country, and I remember her saying to me, ‘Given how much you love to be outside, you love sports, wouldn’t some-

thing like the University of Miami be great?’

As it turned out, during my junior year, my dad [Gene] had a business trip to South Florida and we set up a meeting with the admissions department, got a tour of the school and I fell in love.

“And it was everything that I could’ve dreamed a college would be. And then from a professional standpoint, Miami was one of the most progressive markets in terms of television. So many people that you still see on the air today on many of the networks came from Miami TV. And even some of the formatting of things that we take for granted on TV, like news magazine-type shows, the ways newscasts are done, a lot of it came from that market.”

Truth be told, she admits she had some serious leanings toward The Magic City even well before applying to college.

LOVE OF THE GAME “I was a big-time Dolphins fan growing up because that was the era… the undefeated 1972 season. I had a poster of [Dolphins quarterback] Bob Griese on my wall as a kid. I loved the uniforms and I loved the open-ended stadium, the Orange Bowl, with the palm trees in the end zone. Part of the allure of going there for college was, that was my favorite stadium and that was my favorite team.”

One of the highlights of her very early years in the sports TV business was getting the opportunity to see her Dolphins knock off the then-undefeated Chicago Bears from the roof of the Orange Bowl press box in a Monday Night Football game on December 2, 1985.

The Miami win preserved her childhood favorites, the 1972 Dolphins, as the only team to go unbeaten and win the Super Bowl. Kolber still

has the press pass from the game, and in fact, it was featured on a Monday Night Countdown episode once prior to a Dolphins home game at Hard Rock Stadium. (See photo below) It was the only game the vaunted Bears would lose en route to winning Super Bowl XX.

Back then, there was no SportsCenter. Howard Cosell would do the halftime highlights so I would stay up so I could watch all of the week’s highlights and I had this International House of Pancakes cardboard standings board with all of the little plastic helmets of all of the teams. I’d watch the highlights and put the helmets on the board in the order of their division standings for the week.”

K Her most memorable game that she covered was Super Bowl XL – her first Super Bowl as a sideline reporter – and it ended at the postgame party where she received the ultimate compliment from the late John Madden after the ABC broadcast wrapped up, with the legendary broadcaster telling her, “Now that’s how you do a sideline!”

“I can’t explain why I fell in love with the game the way I did, but as a little kid I always loved sports and I think there was something about football, being a team sport, that I loved.

And the players looked like gladiators in their uniforms. If no one else in the house was interested in watching a game with me, I’d watch on my own.

“I remember I was eight years old, and I loved halftime of Monday Night Football.

OLBER STILL HAS that standings board encased in a display in the workout room of her home on the Connecticut shoreline. She has another memory of that formative part of her life also on display there, too. Her jersey, helmet and playbook from when she made the pee wee football team in Upper Dublin, Pennsylvania.

Sadly, 10-year-old Suzy never got the chance to play her favorite sport.

“This is the early 1970s and no girls are doing this,” Kolber said about being one of the first girls in the country to try and play organized football. (She actually first acquired her helmet and pads because she “wanted to be a football player for Halloween,” then continued to wear the equipment to play in the backyard, eventually getting the chance to register for the team a season later.) She actually wanted to play quarterback like her favorite player, Griese, but settled on tight end because she says “it was so hard to put my hand up first” when

the coaches were asking about positions.

“I went through all of the practices, and made the ‘A’ team and then parents were so cruel. they threatened to shut down the league if I played. Think about that now. What the heck is the difference that a little girl wants to play? The coaches knew I was there for all of the right reasons and that I loved it.”

Rather than cause a whole team to fold and cost her friends and schoolmates a chance to play, Suzy decided to step away from the team, but it didn’t tarnish her love of the game.

“That was it, that was the opportunity,” she says. “So if anyone ever asks me, ‘Is it a genuine love of football?’ well, as an 8-year old I was watching it, and as a 10-year-old I was playing it, and I was maybe one of the first girls in the country to try to actually play organized football.

“So that’s the root of it, somehow, in my soul, from the time I was four, I always loved it. And what’s kind of the cool thing is that they told me I couldn’t play back then, but I made it into my career, so my football career has lasted a lot longer than if I was a player.

“And now, I have people like [Hall of Fame quarterback] Steve Young who have said to me, ‘You’re our quarterback. On that set, you’re the quarterback.’ I get to be the quarterback for Hall of Famers like Steve Young, and Randy Moss, and other great guys like Booger McFarland, Louis Riddick and all of these other amazing people on our set.” l MiamiMan Magazine 29

Photos courtesy ESPN

Kolber with colleagues, from left, Booger McFarland, Steve Young, Randy Moss and Adam Schefter

GET FIT

______________________________________________________________________________________________

BY VINCENT MANTUO

Take a breath

O

NE THING PEOPLE DON’T FOCUS ON much is their breathing. This could be due to stress or being too busy with living their day to day lives. Breathing is important because it is not only supplying new oxygen to the body, but it is also allowing the body to circulate newly oxygenated blood, which carries nutrients and supplements to the body. During the inhale and during the exhale they dispose of the waste known as carbon dioxide.

Breathing is vital to helping the body maintain homeostasis because it decreases stress physically and emotionally which aids the body in its recovery. So now the question is, ‘What should I do?’ There are many different breathing techniques so try a few and see what resonates with you best. From what I learned and studied it really doesn’t matter which breathing technique you use, as long as you just breathe.

Breathe with intent. Breathe with focus. Breathe without any distractions. It is important to fully breathe in and fully breathe out, not pant like we do on a regular daily basis.

Some classes and techniques you can use are: • The Wim Hof Method® • Breatheology© • Breath Masters • Box Breathing • Alternate-Nostril Breathing • Pursed-Lip Breathing I would like to mention an effective breathing technique I learned at Structural Energetic Therapy® because it is a oneon-one in-person session with the therapist. This allows you to be guided with each breath. The Structural Energetic Therapist makes sure you keep taking deep breaths to take in as much oxygen as possible and supports you through the process.

Structural Energetic Therapy® breath sessions will help you maximize your breathing because you don’t have to keep a breath count or think about the breath itself. Another reason for having a therapist guide you through the breath session is that the therapist can be grounding for you if you become distracted. Distractions can be anything such as yawning, coughing, feeling cold/hot, moving on the table, etc.

As a trained Structural Energetic Therapist, I encourage you personally, as well as any therapists, to experience this type of breathing session to see how it can help you personally or in your private practice. l

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