By Scott Morganroth

FAU’s 24-17 loss to Navy on the road Saturday, Nov. 3, guaranteed them one thing.

There will no post-season for the Owls and new head coach Carl Pelini.

The Owls are 2-7 and 1-4 in the Sun Belt Conference. The only team behind them is Conference USA bound Florida International University (FIU), which is 2-8 and 1-5. These squads face each other on Friday, Nov. 16 at 8 p.m. at FAU Stadium in the Shula Bowl.

Why the Owls are in the position they’re in is defined by the numbers based on the 2012 Overall FBS Rankings.

• FAU is 91st overall in passing yards-per-game with 201.3.

• The Owls are ranked 102nd in the nation with 123.6 rushing yards-per-game.

• The team is 118th in scoring with 18.2 points-per-game.

• FAU is 86th allowing 30.3 points-per-game.

When you’re at the bottom echelon in the nation of all these major statistical categories, it’s a recipe for disaster. After nine games, it’s safe to say that Pelini has seen plenty of game film and knows where the weaknesses are with this program when he goes back on the recruiting trail.

The team leaders are QB Graham Wilbert, who is 185-280, 1775 yards, 12 touchdown passes and only three interceptions for a 131.3 rating.

Jonathan Wallace is the Owls’ top running back with 124 carries, 493 yards and four touchdowns.

The main targets include wide receivers Byron Hankerson and William Dukes. Hankerson has 23 receptions for 308 yards and two touchdowns. Meanwhile, Dukes is the team leader with 39 catches, 555 yards and a pair of touchdowns. FAU’s 34-27 victory over Troy on Oct. 27 was the first time that they defeated the Trojans at home in the season series between these two schools. The last time that FAU defeated Troy was on Dec. 1, 2007, 38-32, and this earned the Owls a Sun Belt Conference Championship, which led to a New Orleans Bowl win over Memphis, 44-27, on Dec. 21, 2007.

Troy’s Will Scott did set a school record with a 52-yard field goal on Oct. 27.

The last time FAU defeated a Sun Belt Conference opponent at home was when the Owls defeated the University of Louisiana-Lafayette on Nov. 13, 2010 at Lockhart Stadium, 24-23.

This same season, Troy whipped FAU, 44-7, on Dec. 4. FAU travels to Western Kentucky Saturday for a 1 p.m. kickoff, followed by the FIU contest. The Owls conclude their regular season at home on Dec. 1 as they face Louisiana-Lafayette at 3 p.m.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at www.scottsports33.com

We may not hear “God Bless America” quite so often now that Election Day is behind us, but we should hear it as we pray it every day!

These three words have become such a common tagline at the end of political speeches that I worry the meaning and import of “God Bless America” may sometimes be unintentionally diminished.

Most people of faith, hopefully including speechwriters and political orators who make frequent use of the phrase, believe God’s blessing upon our great nation is essential for survival, let alone peace and prosperity.

Most of us in the church believe we are shown God’s favor when we receive God’s gifts and resources in the first place. We obtain God’s blessing as the second gift when we do what God intended with what God provided! This sounds way too simple, I know!

We don’t expect God to bless wrongful use of God’s gifts and this, by the way, renders the election of wise leaders who will make right use of America’s abundant resources all the more important…

One reason I believe our nation has been so blessed is because our aims have so consistently been honorable. We are an imperfect nation but one, nonetheless, bound by principles of freedom and justice. We are liberators, not captors; freedom fighters, not tyrants.

And by God’s grace, the blessing of a nation avails itself to its people. This means if you have seen God’s favor and, if you have the gift of faith to discern and undertake God’s purpose for your life, then you have every reason to hope for God’s blessing.

But know this; both nation and people require God’s favor and God’s blessing to achieve God’s purpose. It is God who is the author of every good and virtuous thing. The Psalmist says, “Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD guards the city, the guard keeps watch in vain. It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives sleep to his beloved.” (Psalm 127:1-2)

The bread of anxious toil makes me think of my son, who is a veteran of the Iraq war. He and his comrades in the infantry consumed the bread of anxious toil in and around Baghdad. They went days without sleep. They guarded a foreign city and, thousands of miles from home, they prayed, “God Bless America.”

God Bless America is a prayer. We know God has already shown America great favor. Our prayer is that we, the people, and the leaders we elect make wise use of God’s gifts and resources for God’s purposes.

Sunday is Veteran’s Day and there are no people in the world more acutely aware of God’s favor, God’s blessings and God’s call on America than our veterans and their families.

Veterans and current members of our nation’s armed and diplomatic services have answered the call with love of God and country. We thank God for their service and sacrifice.

This Sunday, we will thank them. We will pray God Bless America. We will sing God Bless America and we will prayerfully give full meaning to phrase!

Join us this weekend Saturday @ Six or Sunday morning at 8:30 or 11:00. The Message is “God Bless America” based on Psalm 127.

Dennis Andrews Ed.D.

Reverend Andrews is Minister at Community Presbyterian Church of Deerfield Beach (Steeple on the Beach) located five blocks south of Hillsboro on AIA. See more @ www.communitych.org or on Facebook.

By Gary Curreri

Pompano Beach girls volleyball coach William Strachan wasn’t sure what to expect out of his team this season after losing five starters to graduation.

The Tornadoes finished 21- 4 last season as it lost to Jensen Beach in the regional semifinals, and Strachan knew his team would have to develop quickly to have a shot at the post season.

“Coming into the year, I thought we would take our licks this year, but we are playing well,” said Strachan, who is in his fifth year at the school. “We are relatively young. We have two seniors on the team and the rest are underclassmen. We graduated six seniors last year, but it was most of our offense. We lost a couple of all-county players.”

It didn’t stop Pompano Beach from capturing its second consecutive district championship as Paige Alsten had 21 kills and 13 points in the District 16-5A championship win over Mourning High School on Oct. 29.

The Tornadoes (17-7) polished off Mourning in relatively quick fashion as it won in three games – 25-19, 25- 12, and 25-17. Pompano Beach was slated to play Riviera Beach Suncoast on Wednesday night in the Class 5A regional quarterfinals.

“It was just a matter of fine tuning the discipline,” Strachan said. “We have a lot of beach talent. We are like a pipeline to college beach volleyball. We are making up in athleticism. There is a difference between the indoor and outdoor game, but our ball control skill is there.”

Pompano Beach senior Savannah Davis has committed to FIU’s sand program, which will make its debut this spring. She will join another pair of Tornadoes’ graduates who have gone on to play beach volleyball in college.

The Pellitteri sisters, sophomore Stephanie and freshman Kristina, went on to Florida State, where they helped the Seminoles finish third in the nation last season. Younger sister Brittney Pellitteri, a junior at Pompano Beach, is likely headed to a college sand volleyball program as well.

The team has also received strong play from sophomore Casey Calhoun and freshman Cori Smothers this season.

By Emily Rosen

ERosen424@aol.com

www.emilyrosen424.com

Obfuscate = confuse, bewilder, stupefy, obscure. Don’t let that happen to you!

Five more days to Election Day.

Hopefully, you have already mailed your absentee ballot, having had much time to study it carefully, and to have sought out clarification on all the amendments. It has long been traditional for Florida Constitutional amendments to be written in such language as to force voters into cognitive gymnastics, in an attempt to figure out if YES really means what they intend it to mean, and to even know what they intend it to mean.

No matter how much people are urged to study ballots before they go into the booth, there will be many who will have looked at their ballots for the first time in that booth, and, in an attempt to answer all the questions, will, only then, begin to read the amendments. In case you haven’t seen one yet, it’s very long and wordy.

Absentee ballots give you the leisure to fill them out on your terms in the privacy and convenience of your own home. But if you’re like several of my friends, you experience a kind of prideful thrill at direct contact with the voting booth, so take advantage of early voting, which has already begun, and will continue until the end of the day on Saturday Nov. 3. It’s a great time to talk to your neighbors.

For all the voting information you may need, including places for early voting, (Broward) 954-357-7050 or www.browardsoe.org, or (Palm Beach ) 561-276-1226 or www. pbcelections.org.

A source of information regarding the meaning of the amendments is the Florida League of Women Voters hotline, 1-855-358-6837, www.bereadytovote.org; (Spanish) www.VamosA Votar.org, which has already received over 1,500 calls, most from voters frustrated by all 11 of them.

Some of those calls have taken as long as an hour, as a League representative has patiently answered questions and provided the requested information. Many people have called the League, apologizing for what they perceive as their own “stupidity” because the true intent of the amendment is obfuscated within a barrage of legalese.

Folks! You are NOT stupid if the amendments make little sense to you. They were designed that way. And alas, it is your responsibility to check them out before voting – and to seek advice from people you respect.

In a recent memo, Florida League President Diedre Macnab urged, “If you don’t understand the amendments, don’t skip them, reject them. Defeating incomprehensible, misnamed, intentionally confusing proposals will send a message to the legislators.”

If you’ve got something to say to legislators – this is one significant way to do that. Also, don’t minimize the effect of letters and phone calls. Your legislators care deeply about what you think, and most often, act accordingly.

Dull as it often it, politics affects lives. Get your ballot counted!

I didn’t want to write this column.

You see, there are two subjects I try to avoid because every time I write about them or talk about them, a conflict ensues. The first subject might surprise you since I am a member of the clergy, but I try not to discuss religion. The funny thing is, try as I might, it seems to be a necessity in my position.

But as much as religious discussions seem to cause arguments, there is another subject that seems to cause even more animosity. I am, of course, talking about politics. I am always a bit taken aback at how many people ask me for my opinion as to who they should vote for in an election.

Even some of my congregants have asked me to give my view on the upcoming presidential election from the pulpit. So let me make this perfectly clear, I hope and pray that each of you will vote for the candidate that I’m rooting for. But, if you opt to vote for the other candidate, I promise, I will not call you an idiot. If you do not vote for the candidate I support, I promise that I will not say that you just don’t get it.

So you might be wondering which candidate I’m supporting. Well, I hate to disappoint you, but I’m not going to tell you. I will not tell you who I’m voting for, and, I will not tell you who you should vote for. What I will tell you is to vote for the candidate, not of my choice, but of your choice.

I was at a political shindig recently and, during the break, I was talking with a few people and someone else came over and, for some reason, assumed that we all saw things as they did. They said, all those people that are planning to vote for that other candidate are such idiots and that they just don’t get it.

I was apparently one of the idiots she was talking about, so I smiled and said, “Thank you very much.” She looked at me incredulously and said, “Are you really supporting that jerk for president?” When I responded that I might be, she said, “You just don’t get it.”

What an ego, to think that you know so much of what goes on in the world of politics and in the world in general that if anyone else does not share your view you can so easily write them off as idiots who just don’t get it.

I remember one of my great mentors who shared a story from the Sages with me. As I recall the story ended with this moral, “Don’t think that you’re right and that the other person is wrong, you might both just be wrong.”

As the prayer book that we use at Temple Beth Israel says, “May G-d bless the duly elected leaders of this great country.” Notice it doesn’t say, “G-d bless the Democrats or G-d bless the Republicans.” It says, “G-d bless the duly elected leaders.”

Regardless of which candidate is elected president, may we unite in asking G-d’s blessings on our duly elected president, and of these United States of America, and may we remember that that is what we are supposed to be … UNITED … One Nation under G-d … Amen.

Shalom my friends,

Rabbi Craig H. Ezring

By Dave Montalbano

AdventuresOfCinemaDave.com

As Giancarlo Esposito accepts his Career Achievement Award in the Bahamas this weekend, locally the 27th Annual Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival (FLIFF) continues its three ring cinematic circus at Cinema Paradiso, the Sunrise Civic Center and Muvico Pompano.

Last Saturday night, Muvico Pompano opened FLIFF in grand style.

Premiering to a sold-out crowd, The Sapphires lived up to expectations. Based on a true story about Aboriginal soul singers with the backdrop of the Vietnam War, this film had people dancing in the aisle. If you are seeking a feel-good movie with R & B soul, check it out.

Deadfall followed and was the antithesis of The Sapphires. A film noir thriller set in a Courier & Ives snowy landscape, Deadfall held audience interest for 95 minutes. Within the first 15 minutes of the story, the audience is introduced to nine characters and their conflicting motivations. Credit Director Stefan Ruzowitzky for telling a simple story with character depth.

Ruzowitzky was in attendance Saturday night and answered questions about the film. Having won an Oscar for The Counterfeiters for Best Foreign Language film of 2007, Ruzowitzky talked about directing his first American film with an ensemble cast, featuring Eric Bana, Kris Kristofferson, Olivia Wilde and Sissy Spacek.

“I was not intimidated, but it was a privilege that Sissy Spacek had trust in me. Many big stars do not have guidance from a director. A director should be like a mirror and provide a reflection for the actor,” he said.

In direct contrast to the cynicism of Deadfall, Cowgirls & Angels premiered at the Sunrise Civic Center to another sold-out audience. This family movie earned its laughter and tears while providing a fine performance from 13-year-old Bailee Madison.

While receiving her Star on the Horizon Award, Madison shook hands, hugged and signed autographs for free for her fans. These gracious moments were a reminder of what “Class Act” celebrities ought to be for film fans.

Muvico Pompano has been granted an exclusive screening of George Romero’s zombie classic, Night of the Living Dead, which has been remastered in 3D. Get all the details on this and other upcoming films and events at www.fliff.com.

Happy Halloween!

While rain may not be the best thing for golfers, it suits Pompano Beach Golf Course Golf Pro Bob Loring just fine. “We are mowing greens on 1 through 12 and we are putting bunkers in places that warrant it,” said Loring, who has been the pro at the facility for the past 11 years and is looking forward to the Greg Norman Signature Design on the Pines course. “We are rolling the fairways and it’s a growing time for most of the holes.”

“The rain has helped it tremendously with the growing,” Loring added. “With the last six holes, they sprigged it with the grass 1½ times the amount they did on the first 12 holes to help it catch up and fill in areas faster. We are excited about the rain because it has definitely helped the growing.”

All holes have been grassed on Greg Norman’s redesign of the Pines Course and the final punch list items are occurring on the Pines Course, slated to open on time on Nov. 16. The city is also finishing up with the irrigation on the neighboring Palms course. Loring said they also put in concrete cart paths for the entire 18 holes and added that the remaining greens would be mowed by mid-October. Golfers are talking about the redesign on a daily basis.

The Pines Course, which is located at 1101 N. Federal Hwy., is one of two golf courses at Pompano Beach Municipal that originally opened in 1960.

“People who are playing on the Palms Course are seeing the formation of the holes and what they are looking like now,” said Loring, who noted the grass first went down on the course in late July. “They are looking like golf holes now with the grass growing in. People are really excited.”

“This is one of the most exciting things that I have ever been involved with in golf,” said Loring, who is working with the city’s public information office, parks and recreation office to have a grand opening ceremony.”

“We would like to have Greg Norman out here for the opening ceremony and we are not sure if he is in the country at that time,” Loring said. “We are going to be looking to have major tournaments out here.”

The course design was commissioned by the City of Pompano Beach in an effort to modernize the facility and give the city a championship golf course that will serve as a pillar for the community, providing a first class amenity for the residents and tourists of Pompano Beach.

Loring said the course is already one of the most talked about courses around.

“It hasn’t even been played on yet and people are talking about it,” Loring said. “Everywhere you go, people are saying, ‘Oh, you’re in Pompano where that Greg Norman Course is going to be.’ People are going to definitely want to come out and play it.”

Norman has made several site visits to the course to review the construction progress on his Signature Design – which will be his first design at a municipal golf course. “I was introduced to the sport of golf through public access golf courses in Australia, so this project and public golf are very special to me,” Norman said. “I see this as the first of many municipal golf course design and renovation projects that I would like to be involved with.”

For more information, contact the Pompano Beach Golf Course at 954-781-0426.

Laughter can be the best medicine. It won’t cost you anything, and it is one of the purest forms of medicine on the market. In times of doubt, hold on to the promises God has given you in the fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. When we have God in our lives, these character traits can grow in us.

PROVERBS 17:22

22 A happy heart is good medicine and a cheerful mind works healing, but a broken spirit dries up the bones. AMP

PSALMS 30:11-12

11 You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy,

12 that I might sing praises to you and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give you thanks forever!

NLT

In 1998, Universal Studios released a movie entitled Patch Adams, named for the man whose story it tells. If you saw the movie, you may recall that Adams chose to go back to school late in life because he wanted to help people. His only roadblock was the system. One thing he felt was necessary for the recovery of his patients was laughter – a sound often missing from the halls of hospitals around the world. He brought a personal touch and smile to patients, many of whom were dying.

It’s been over 40 years since Patch Adams founded Gesundheit, the hospital, and it still prides itself on fun. Besides offering free healthcare, two main elements of its vision are:

• All patients are treated as friends.

• The healthcare experience is infused with fun.

Job 8:21

21 God will let you laugh again; you’ll raise the roof with shouts of joy, (The Message Bible)

It sometimes can seem impossible to laugh when someone is sick, or unthinkable to joke if bad news comes our way.

Laughter offers more than a distraction from the pain. It offers healing and revitalizing medicine for our souls. In fact, laughter has been found to medically decrease stress, strengthen the immune system, relax the muscles, benefit the heart and lungs, and decrease pain by releasing endorphins which produce a sense of general well-being. Laughter is a gift from God for our souls.

As the proverbs states, laughter is good medicine, healing and rejuvenating. I, for one, am thankful that grief is not a permanent condition. A cheerful and positive outlook can make a world of difference in the most difficult situations. God can always bring joy out of tragedy and exchange mourning for laughter. It’s not always easy to smile when things are tough, but we can have a joyful heart. Even Paul, when he was in jail, found joy in his sufferings, because he trusted in the Lord and knew the best was yet to come.

Find your joy. Take your medicine … because the best is yet to come

Pastor Tony Guadagnino

Christian Love Fellowship Church

By Dave Montalbano

AdventuresOfCinemaDave.com

Despite Dabney Coleman’s sudden cancellation, The 27th Annual Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival (FLIFF) kicks into high gear this Saturday at Muvico Pompano with highly acclaimed independent motion pictures.

For young people and families, at 1 p.m. is Sammy 2: Escape from Paradise. A hit at the recent Cannes Film Festival, Sammy 2 is a sequel to animated Belgium film A Turtle’s Tale. While protecting a bed of hatchlings from the ocean floor, Sammy and his sidekick, Ray, are captured and sentenced to an aquarium at a swanky restaurant. According to FLIFF Director Gregory von Hausch, the 3D animation is spectacular with a funny and endearing story.

Dustin Hoffman’s directorial debut, Quartet will screen at 5 p.m. Maggie Smith, Albert Finney, Billy Connolly and Tom Courtenay portray residents of Beacham House, a home for retired opera singers.

At 7 p.m. The Sapphires is the opening night film. Set in 1968 at the time of the Robert Kennedy/Martin Luther King Jr. assassinations, The Sapphires is about four young women from a remote Aboriginal Mission who become musical rivals to Diana Ross and the Supremes. Set in the backdrop of the Vietnam War, the film features pure soul music in full Dolby Digital Sound.

Stay to see Deadfall at 9 p.m. Oscar-winning director Stefan Ruzowitzky will be there.

Some of the best films this year are about music. Be on the lookout for the following toetapping documentaries on the big screen: David Bromberg, Unsung Treasure – about a musician who collaborated with George Harrison and Bob Dylan. Narrated by Bromberg, Unsung Hero features historical black & white celluloid.

Andrew Bird: Fever Year follows this unique musician on tour, while he battles chronic illness and an indifferent creative muse. Beyond the music, Fever Year features Bird’s artistic visuals of string and analog technology.

FLIFF runs Oct. 19 – Nov. 11 For details, visit ww.fliff.com.

By Gary Curreri, Special Correspondent

Deerfield Beach’s Jim Eddy enjoys playing baseball on the weekends.

Eddy, 47, plays for the Cardinals in the Liberty Hardball Men’s Baseball League based out of Coral Springs. He leads the league with a .571 batting average and said he looks forward to playing in the Sunday games all week.

“You want to have some competition, so that’s why I don’t play softball,” said Eddy, who is an athletic trainer and coaches football at Highlands Christian Academy.

“I wouldn’t play in a league if there wasn’t any competition,” added Eddy, who had played with the Federal League since 1995, and has been with the Cardinals for the past three years. Eddy was a 1989 draft pick of the Montreal Expos.

“I don’t get nervous anymore and you don’t have that adrenaline. I think I am too old for adrenaline.” The Cardinals have won two out of the past three years of the league. There are many former professional players in addition to Eddy in the league. The Liberty Hardball league features players 28 and older on seven teams.

There are a couple of players in their 60s still swinging for the fences. The league plays on Sunday mornings at Mullins Park, Cypress Park in Coral Springs and Sabal Pines Field in Coconut Creek.

The present, three-yearold circuit is an offshoot of the Coral Springs Men’s Senior Baseball League that folded after the 2009 season. There are seven teams in the league that play a 20- game season that begins in March and typically runs through October following the playoffs. Because the league had four weeks of rainouts this season, the season may extend into November.

The Top 2 teams get a bye and the remaining teams make the playoffs and play in a 2 out of 3 format. The top seeded team gets to choose the venue to play in.

Powell paces Bucks

Running back Brandon Powell rushed for 184 yards and two touchdowns as host Deerfield Beach (2-3) stunned Blanche Ely, 19-0, in a non-district contest on Saturday night. Aeron McNeal also had a stellar game for the Bucks as he scored on a 14-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter. McNeal finished with 114 rushing yards against the Tigers (4-2).