Opinion & Commentary

In 1960, just as the Vietnam War was heating up a half-world away, three airmen jumped into a beat-up ’53 Chevy in Homestead and headed north. There was a dance scheduled at the armory on Northwest Seventh Avenue and 28th Street in Allapattah, and Leon Wegman Jack Pamprin, and Hank…

I’ve spent weeks trying to figure out Dr. Ben Carson, the African-American former brain surgeon running for president. It’s mind-boggling that this guy is now leading in some polls for the Republican nomination given that the party represents the Ku Klux Klan, the Aryan Nations, and every racist organization in…

Now that the ink is dry on Al Golden’s walking papers and the initial jubilation has subsided, it’s time for Miami Hurricanes fans to come down from the clouds and accept what might be a painful realization: Butch Davis isn’t the right choice to take over the program moving forward. …

Toronto rapper Drake has officially become an icon. The Hip-Hop Hall of Fame should just go ahead and induct him now. He has not only proven himself as a top lyricist, but he also knows how to manipulate the internet to his advantage. Drake was already riding high when his…

If you’re a sports fan, avoiding DraftKings or FanDuel is about as easy as walking down Ocean Drive without getting an overpriced menu shoved in your face. The two companies blitz airwaves with promises that your addiction to fantasy sports could make you heaps of cash. Millions have signed up,…

Welcome to a brand-spanking-new Miami Heat basketball season, folks — hold onto your butts, because this one’s gonna be exciting. Last time we saw the Miami Heat, all of our pets heads were falling off. Everyone was sick or hurt, and by the end of it all, a guy we…

University of Miami athletic director Blake James and the board of trustees finally came to their senses. This past Sunday, James fired Al Golden, ending Golden’s embattled tenure as the Hurricanes’ head coach. It was long overdue. Now begins the search for a new coach. UM should avoid the mistakes…

The Miami Dolphins put on a serious display of kick-assery on Sunday  in a 44-26 victory over the Houston Texans — their second impressive performance in a row under interim head coach Dan Campbell. Before the Texans could even fill their Gatorade cups on the sidelines the Phins had already…

The Dan Campbell Miami Dolphins era is off to a smoking-hot start, one that has the Miami Dolphins as the talk of the town. After sputtering to a 1-3 start under Joe Philbin, the Dolphins looked unrecognizable in their 38-10 spanking of the Tennessee Titans this past Sunday. The performance…

Dear Pepe, I have been a big fan of yours for a while. I think the humor and laughter you bring to social media has been second to none for a long time. Your popularity has earned you respect and a lot of fame. This in turn has made you…

Twenty-five years ago, coach Sam Johnson and I launched an organization dedicated to providing a place where Liberty City kids could play baseball and football while learning they didn’t have to sling drugs on a street corner. For close to three decades, the Liberty City Optimist Club has mentored African-American…

The Miami Dolphins newest head coach started off his tenure with a 38-10 steel-toed-roundhouse-kick square in the face of the Tennessee Titans. From beginning to end, it was apparent that all the pump-you-up-shenanigans Dan Campbell had been using over the course of the last two weeks had lit a fire…

The Miami Dolphins couldn’t have planned the beginning to this season any worse. Between the 1-3 start that led to Joe Philbin getting fired, the rash of injuries to key players, and the shocking under performance of others — this year seems over before it even began. Dolphins fans are…

South Florida is still home to the most head-turning female TV reporters in the nation. That’s why it’s time for another list of the ten hottest women delivering the news. After all, they work in a medium that places a high priority on being ridiculously good-looking while reporting stories. To…

In the Winter of 2013, I interviewed Ruth and Marvin Sackner for The Miami Rail in anticipation of a show of word image art pieces from their collection at the grand opening of the Perez Art Museum Miami. The interview is here, but in my mind the most important thing…

The owners of Miami New Times on Monday completed a sale of New York’s Village Voice to investor Peter Barbey. Voice Media Group, which took over the publication in 2013, did not announce financial details of the deal, but said in a press release that the company would continue managing…

This weekend, it was close, but no cigar yet again for UM fans as the losing streak to FSU marches on. Its now been 2,228 days since the Hurricanes last win over FSU and counting.  Miami’s 29-24 loss to FSU Saturday night was quite possibly the final nail in Al…

Dan Campbell is the new sheriff in town, and everyone is on notice. Now that the Miami Dolphins have sent Joe Philbin into coaching exile, it’s high time to assess what parts of this team can be fixed on the fly. Campbell seems like a fiery guy that will use…

Since the beginning of the University of Miami’s football season, anonymous angry fans have been paying for planes to fly banners over every game demanding that head coach Al Golden be fired. While the Canes were losing against the University of Cincinnati last week, for instance, a banner proclaimed, “I…

The season is only three games old, but the Miami Dolphins are already a bigger disaster than Roland Emmerich’s Stonewall. Rumors that Joe Philbin is about to get canned and this roster blown up aren’t all that far-fetched.  So bear with us here: If Stephen Ross indeed fires Philbin mid-year,…

What do African-Americans need to succeed? Too often, people who live outside of Miami’s black communities focus on negative issues such as gun violence and police-involved killings. Reporters have no qualms about naming the city when a crime occurs in Miami Gardens, a predominantly black city. But when a theft…