Miami News Blog

Humane Society guy: "Remember: You hate dogfighting." Michael Vick: "I hate dogfighting."

​On Monday afternoon, as part of his I Need to Stay in the NFL Because I Owe $20 Million Tour, quarterback/dogfighter Michael Vick showed up at the Overtown Youth Center to thoroughly confuse a gymnasium full of little kids. Who is this dead-eyed man, and are we supposed to emulate him, or run away?

"So kids, if you see Roger Goodell, be sure you tell him I was here..."

​Vick, in town for the Super Bowl festivities and accompanied by a Humane Society representative, didn't seem too sure himself. He began by relating to the Overtown kids that he had grown up in Newport News, Virginia, which is "pretty much a bad city", but "sacrificed a lot" to accomplish his dream of making it to the NFL. But (spoiler alert!) "I kept a dark secret. Everything I worked on in life I threw out the window... I had to go to prison because I was consumed and involved in dog-fighting. For the life of me, I don't know why. I don't know what happened, but what I can say is that it was because I grew up in an environment that was crime-infested."

Inspiring! Vick lacked the will to get into the ugly nitty-gritty component that's the most important part of every scared-straight speech, barely touching on what's wrong with dogfighting besides, you know, getting caught. "It's a form of violence I really didn't know was wrong at the time," he said. "I didn't know how many people I was affecting, and didn't realize I was hurting myself. Don't waste your life on things that don't make sense."

​Like most Miamians, we were pulling for the Saints last night. Yeah there's a huge part of us that wished it was the Dolphins, but we couldn't have been happier for New Orleans. 

via The Daily What

​The Super Bowl getting high ratings isn't news as much as it is practically a law of physics, but when it breaks a 27-year-old record that's certainly something.

Last night's broadcast from Miami Gardens drew an astounding 106.5 million viewers, making it the most watched television program in the history of the United States. It breaks the record set by M*A*S*H's season finale in 1983. That was watched by 105.97 million Americans.

It's also the first sports program in history to break the 100 million mark.

Chalk it up to the feel good story of the New Orleans Saints and the Colts' Peyton Manning's appeal. Chalk it up to the inclement weather up north that kept a whole lot of viewers inside. Maybe even chalk it up a little to the appeal of South Florida? Well, whatever the case, it certainly proves that you don't need a fancy new stadium or $200 million-plus roof to host a good game.

[The Hollywood Reporter: Super Bowl dethrones 'M*A*S*H,' sets all-time record!]

​Today's photo, of the garden at Vizcaya, comes from Rober1000x's Flickr. If you'd like to see your photo here, join our Flickr group.

 

via Minaj's Twitter

​Somewhere -- possibly in the busy terminals of Miami International Airport, the back seat of a cab, or anywhere else in the county -- sits a lonely stuffed pink monkey named Oscar.

Oscar, who also goes by the name "Osk," belongs to burgeoning rap superstar Nicki Minaj (who we recently called the next great hope of Cash Money records). Minaj is offering a $50,000 reward for the safe return of the plush primate, last seen publicly outside David Letterman's studios.

Minaj, who was in town for some Super Bowl parties and to shoot a video with Ludacris and Trina, took to her Twitter page for help.

Dear Barbz, have u seen Oscar? U know... pink monkey I had wen I did Letterman...? He's gone! Plz help! All Points Bulletin: Where's Oscar?!!

Carlos Bertonatti, the musician charged with drunkenly killing a cyclist and then speeding away on the Rickenbacker Causeway last month, was handcuffed and escorted back to jail this morning.

via Miami Dade Corrections

Bertonatti's got a brand new mug.

​After Bertonatti pleaded not guilty to the charges of vehicular homicide, DUI manslaughter, leaving the scene of a fatal accident, and resisting arrest, prosecutors introduced a motion to return the 28-year-old Key Biscayne resident to jail.

Riptide is waiting on the motion to get the precise details, but we're told prosecutors asked that he be returned to custody for misleading Homeland Security about his place of birth.

UPDATE: Bertonatti's bail was revoked, according to the prosecutor's motion, because he lied to Judge David Miller about possessing only a Venezuelan passport and because he has a lengthy history of skipping out on court dates.

According to prosecutors, Bertonatti has "an additional passport issued by Argentina," which he didn't see fit to mention during his bond hearing.

What's more, prosecutors say that Bertonatti has missed court hearings on four seperate occassions in the past on traffic charges.

Strangely, prosecutors also testified in court that they have reason to believe that Bertonatti may actually hold a third passport that he didn't mention in his bond hearing, from Romania, of all places.

​Ah, the Super Bowl -- that one time of the year when even football widows pay homage to pigskin. Silicon Beach caught the Saints-beat-the-crap-out-of-the-Colts game at Brickell Irish Pub, where a dozen screens afforded great views of men's scrotums covered in tight pants. The Celtic chips were also delicious.

But it wasn't all about the game or the finger food. It was all about social media, with the NFL (@NFL) featuring Twitter in big, bold letters and graphics on its homepage and creating buzz via the hashtag #SB44. As of Monday morning, #SB44 was trending along with the other reason we love the Super Bowl: TV commercials. #Bowl Ads 2010 and #Superbowl commercials were also buzzing on Twitter.

Disco Rick will not be pleased. At some point during Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad Ochocinco's Hypnotiq-addled sleepless binge that was Super Bowl weekend, apparently he swept up some young, impressionable lads and showed them his advanced dollar-fluttering techniques-- at Tootsie's Cabaret strip club. From his Twitter page:

​ ​His homie from Cincy, by the way, is Ryan Santoro -- a high school footballer in his senior year. Who says today's athletes aren't taking responsibility for the education of America's youth?