Exclusive: Marlins Man Strikes Back

By: @AndySlater

Laurence Leavy, aka Marlins Man, will be spreading his generosity to the University of Miami. Leavy says he will be supporting the Miami Hurricanes football team not only financially, but also on national television.

Leavy has taken a lot of heat on social media over the last several days. He contributed $500 to a "Keep Al Golden" GoFundMe page setup by Seminoles fan Joseph Johnson. That money will go toward the cost of flying a banner in Tallahassee on Oct. 10 to keep the Hurricanes head coach. Johnson wants Miami to keep Golden because he believes the coach "has done a terrific job in keeping Miami irrelevant." 

Leavy genuinely wants Golden to stay at the University of Miami, though. "He is class, not trash," Leavy said. 

To show support for the Hurricanes football team and for Al Golden, Leavy says he will do several things.

  • Donate $10,000 for fans to attend an upcoming University of Miami game. 
  • Pay for banner planes or the blimp to be flown over Sun Life Stadium during a game Miami Hurricanes game. The banner or blimp will read "Keep Golden. Class, not trash. LLMM" (Update 10/15: This banner will fly for 3 hours on 10/17, Leavy told me.)
  • He will wear a Miami Hurricanes football jersey with the name "Golden" on the back during ESPN's nationally-televised baseball broadcast this Sunday night in Chicago.

Leavy exclusively talked about his plans on Thursday while making an appearance on The Andy Slater Show on 940-AM WINZ and iHeartRadio. 

Fans interacted with Leavy and Slater on Periscope before the check was signed in the 940 WINZ studio.

(Update: Thanks to help from the University of Miami, the $10,000 was used to purchase 200 lower-level sideline seats for Oct. 17 vs Virginia Tech. The seats will be given away via The Andy Slater Show) 

Register below for 2 of the 200 seats that will be given away!


Marlins contacted Bud Black the day after he was fired

By: @AndySlater

Bud Black was managing the San Diego Padres from 2007 until June 15, 2015, the day he was fired. Less than 24 hours later, another team was already interested in his services and contacted him. That team was the Miami Marlins, according to a source close to the situation. 

When the Marlins reached out to Black to express interest, Dan Jennings was 27 games into his tenure as the team's new manager. Jennings, who had a 12-15 record at the time,  took over for Mike Redmond on May 18 after the team decided to make a highly criticized change. Redmond was fired and Jennings was moved from the front office to the dugout. 

Interest between Black and the Marlins in June was mutual. It's unclear if that interest remains at the same level three months later. The Marlins had no comment when reached Wednesday morning. 

Reports have recently surfaced stating the Marlins are currently in the process of searching for a manager to replace Dan Jennings.  It's expected that Jennings will be relieved of at least his managerial duties at the end of the season. ESPN's Enrique Rojas first reported that former Nationals and Indians manager Manny Acta was interviewed by the Marlins on Tuesday.

The next manager of the Marlins will be the team's fourth in the past five seasons. 

 

(Photo: isportsweb.com)

NFL is monitoring Tropical Storm Erika

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By: AndySlater

The Miami Dolphins are scheduled to face the Atlanta Falcons in their preseason home opener on Saturday night. The tropics may have different plans for them.

Tropical Storm Erika was born on Monday night and is projected to continue to track toward the Bahamas for the next four days. The National Hurricane Center has forecast Erika to become a hurricane as it approaches the Bahamas.

If the current projected track holds, a storm watch or warning would likely be issued for parts of Florida as early as Saturday. Right now, there's much uncertainty with Erika as with any tropical system. On Tuesday, weather officials said their confidence in the storm's forecast track is "low". 

When asked about alternative plans for Saturday night's game, including the possibility of playing earlier in the day, NFL spokesman Michael Signora said the league has "been in touch with both clubs and will continue to monitor the situation throughout the week."

Should the Dolphins or NFL move the game to an earlier than scheduled kickoff, it wouldn't be the first time. In 2004, the Dolphins' regular-season home opener was changed from Sunday to Saturday due to a Hurricane Ivan threat. One year later, the Chiefs were forced to fly to Miami early and play on a Friday because of impending Hurricane Wilma. 

Sportsbook has no respect for Booker T. Washington

By: @AndySlater

The Booker T. Washington football team has won 41 consecutive games. That number is almost as big as how many points an offshore sportsbook is giving them for their opening game vs. St. Thomas Aquinas.

The site 5Dimes has Booker T. as a 34.5-point underdog for Friday night's contest.

The Tornadoes have won three consecutive Class 4A titles. Their opponent, St. Thomas, is the defending Class 7A champ.

The game will be played Friday night at Brian Piccolo Stadium. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. and it will be televised on ESPN.

(Update: 8/26 10:30pm)

Apparently, some bettors believed the original point spread for St. Thomas Aquinas was a bargain. Booker T. Washington is now a bigger underdog. 

(Update: 8/28 7:40pm)

This afternoon, St. Thomas remained at a 36.5-favorite. Within the last six hours, the line has dropped steadily. 

(Update: 8/28 8:00pm)

The final line at kickoff.

 

(Photo Credit: MaxPreps)