Above (L-R) Karly, Cheyne, Linsey Cottrell, owners of Island Water Sports.

Video coming soon to ObserverTV

About 6,000 people filled the parking lot of Island Water Sports in Deerfield Beach last Friday, Oct. 21 from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. for the first annual Daytime Radness.

Attendees were able to skate the VANS half pipe, pick up some free stuff from their favorite vendors like Quiksilver, Volcom and SkullCandy, and be a part of giving back to their community.

Event helped raise money for local and national charities including: Grind for Life, the Karen Rice Benefit, and Give Jeans a Chance.

Through the sale inside the store and raffle tickets, Island Water Sports and its sponsors raised more than $5,500 to help Karen Rice, who left for MD Anderson in Houston on Saturday.

More Photos by Diane Emeott

More Photos By Rachel Galvin

Hitting the halfpipe

Deerfield Beach’s James Muir rolls a strike during the recent Area Fall Classic Special Olympics bowling competition at Sawgrass Lanes in Tamarac. Photo by Gary Curreri

By Gary Curreri

Deerfield Beach’s James Muir surveys his shot and lets the bowling ball loose. As it rolls down the alley, he coaxes the shot with his body until the ball strikes the pins and nine fall.

He gives a thumbs-up sign and walks back to retrieve the ball from the return and lets the ball fly again. He knocks down the final pin and gets his spare as his parents, William “Sandy” and Susan, sitting behind him, exchange high fives with their son.

Muir, 21, was one of 900 athletes competing in the Area Fall Classic Special Olympics bowling competition recently at Sawgrass Lanes in Tamarac.

“It’s great,” said Sandy Muir, a longtime high school basketball coach and guidance counselor, whose son has been in the Broward County Special Olympics for more than 10 years. “It is real beneficial for him. This is really our social life.”

James Muir has also been involved in basketball, swimming and golf. However, he likes basketball and bowling the most.

“I look at the pins,” said Muir, who is also a member of the Tamarac Bulldogs, special needs program. “I think about the approach with the ball in the middle and hit the pins straight.”

“This is a lot of fun,” he added. “It is good to bowl. It is important to get a good score and, to do that, you have to be professional. You have to concentrate.”

Muir’s father said his son enjoys the different social activities that the Bulldogs offer.

“He has always been pretty social,” the elder Muir said. “I think all of the activities are good for him. They have dances … arts and crafts, and this has really helped him because he has a whole network of friends.”

Sandy Muir said it is also a great opportunity for the parents to meet people who have the same interest that they do.

“It’s different because he is competitive and he wants to win, but it is not life and death,” said Sandy.

“While he is doing it, he’s competitive; but when’s he’s done, he’s done. He forgets all about it.”

James agreed: “I have made a lot of friends. I like the dances too. I dance with my girlfriend. I am going to keep doing this for 10 years.”

Women of Entre Nous with creators of About Fifty on Chairman’s Cruise

By Dave Montalbano

AdventuresOfCinemaDave.com

Having portrayed Hunter S. Thompson in Terry Gilliam’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Johnny Depp now crosses the line from reality to fantasy with The Rum Diaries.

Written by Thompson in the 1950s, but not published until 1998 (to coincide with the release of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,), The Rum Diaries is a fictional adaptation of Thompson’s escapades as a journalist in the Caribbean. It’s probably closer to the truth than Terry Gilliam’s biopic.

Depp portrays journalist Paul Kemp, a writer in search of his voice. Lotterman (Richard Jenkins), the editor, hires Kemp to write horoscopes for the only newspaper in Puerto Rico. Chaperoned by Sala (Michael Rispoli), Kemp uncovers the white collar corruption of Sanderson (Aaron Eckhart), the lure of Sander-son’s skinny-dipping fiancée (Amber Heard) and the call of the wild.

Containing an aire of anti-capitalist propaganda, The Rum Diaries is a fun ensemble piece with a great soundtrack and beautiful scenery. In contrast, Margin Call retains some of the “anti-capitalist propaganda” themes, but sets the story in the urban jungle known as Wall Street.

Unlike Oliver Stone’s manic Wall Street movies, Margin Call contains a deliberate pace that explains how the stock market fell apart in the autumn of 2008.

The story begins with the firing of Eric Dale (Stanley Tucci), who gives a flash drive to his former trainee Peter Sullivan (Zachary Quinto).

While analyzing the data, Sullivan realizes that a financial time bomb has been lit. From this point forward, Sullivan follows the chain of command, beginning with his immediate supervisor (Kevin Spacey) and ending with the corporate editor (Jeremy Irons).

Margin Call is a good serious movie that may be far more appropriate than some of the Halloween releases this weekend.

The Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival (www.
fliff.com) begins their outreach to Muvico Pompano this weekend. Playing Saturday, About Fifty has received positive buzz from the press and FLIFF ticketbuyers.

Halloween weekend, FLIFF will feature a trio of unrelated horror movies, Vamperifca, Deadheads and Dr. Limp-tooth. While entertaining in their own right as contemporary B-Monster Movies, all three movies contain a sense of déjà vu.

Vamperifca will be remembered as a showcase for Martin Yurkovic, played with limp-wristed zeal. He is both funny and frightening. While Dr. Limptooth deals with flaccid vampire teeth, Deadheads has nothing to do with Jerry Garcia and everything to do with Zombies.

Cinema Dave’s “Adventure Pack” is raffled off for FLIFF.

Broward Sheriff’s Office detectives have caught three criminals who burglarized two homes Oct. 5 as the homeowners slept in their beds.

Two of the suspects were caught on video concealing their faces and spray painting the lens of a surveillance camera on the patio of a Deerfield Beach home. Then they slipped inside and stole $30,000 dollars in jewelry, electronics, checks, and other property. Detectives believe the teens possibly intended to steal the family Corvette but the dog scared them away before they could take it. Detectives recovered some of the stolen property, but they have yet to find Barbara Rysavy’s wedding ring. Earlier in the night, they crept into a Tamarac woman’s home as she slept, and stole a computer and a 2008 BMW. They drove the car to the Deerfield Beach burglary and later abandoned it.

The burglars, Brianna Anderson, David Nicholas and a 17-year-old suspect have been charged with multiple counts including burglary, grand theft, grand theft auto and criminal mischief. The 17-year-old was also charged with violation of probation. After the burglaries, detectives got a crucial clue when Anderson tried to cash checks stolen from the homeowners. She was charged with two counts of uttering a forged check.

Anyone with additional information about these suspects, the location of the missing wedding ring or the other unsolved burglaries can contact Det. Scott Nida at at (954) 480-4316, Det. Mike Colantuno at (954) 720-2225 or report information anonymously to Crime Stoppers of Broward County at (954) 493-TIPS (8477) or online at www.browardcrimestoppers.org.

This year, Island Water Sports cancelled its Midnight Madness, but in its place, they created Daytime Radness from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m on Oct. 21. Teens came in droves to the Island Water Sports parking lot where vendors like Vans and QuikSilver set up tents. A Van’s goat skate ramp was set up for teens to show their skating skills. There were raffle prizes and even a bit of a dance off. Kids mingled, shopped in the store and beat the heat with water guns. Proceeds benefitted The Observer’s Karen Rice, who is battling lung cancer. They also received denim jeans (over 700 pair) for the homeless.

By Scott Morganroth

On Oct. 15, 2010, ground was broken on the new FAU stadium and, exactly one year later, the $70 million facility hosted the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers as the start of a new era began in FAU Sports History.

Construction workers worked seven days a week, giving up their Sundays, to make Saturday’s opener a reality. This is the only stadium in the United States where you can see the Atlantic Ocean, only 2.1 miles away.

But the road to this beautiful venue saw Coach Howard Schnellenberger, Athletic Director Craig Angelos, former President Frank Brogan and his successor Dr. Mary Jane Saunders witness some lopsided defeats to some of the most heralded football programs in the country.

FAU took the guaranteed large payouts to Auburn, Clemson, Florida, Kansas, Kansas State, Kentucky, Louisville, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Oklahoma State, South Carolina, Texas and USF.

There were four notable wins as FAU defeated Hawaii, Central Michigan, Memphis and Minnesota.

A year ago, the Michigan State Spartans were supposed to open up FAU Stadium, but that never materialized. FAU’s home game was moved to Ford Field as the Owls shared a home with the Detroit Lions. FAU lost this game, 30-17.

So instead of seeing the Spartans, Owls fans saw their team lose 0-20 to the Hilltoppers in front of 29,103 people. Score could have been worse for FAU if Western Kentucky would have converted three field goals and an extra point.

But these numbers tell the story!

FAU had only six first downs, 25 rushing and 121 total yards. More importantly, Owls fans will have to wait until Saturday against Middle Tennessee State to see the first points in the new stadium at 8 p.m.

On Saturday, No. 23 Michigan State defeated state rival No. 11 Michigan 28-14 in East Lansing, a place that wasn’t kind to the Owls earlier this year. The Spartans whitewashed FAU 44-0 on Sept. 10 in East Lansing.

When the contest was over, there was a huge sense of happiness and relief that the new on-campus stadium dream has become a reality.

By the same token, now that the opener is over, reality has set in that FAU is, currently, 0-6 and 0-3 in the Sun Belt Conference. Owls are in last place and know they have to start winning games.

Quarterback David Kooi said, “Our offense was shaky and we put no points on the board. We didn’t execute and just hurt ourselves. This was a great atmosphere and we didn’t get the job done. I just want to say I’m sorry to the fans.”

Running back Alfred Morris added, “I’m very disappointed and wanted it so bad. We just couldn’t get it together. This was a very exciting atmosphere. It was crazy. We’ll try to get them next time.”

Senior defensive back Marcus Bartels was in a somber mood when he said, “I never expected this. We feel like we let everybody down. I want to apologize to the fans.”

Coach Schnellenberger said,” I’ve never been in a situation like this before. We worked so hard and so long to make this stadium. We played badly on the offensive side of the ball. We expected to win this game, but, yet, played so poorly in front of dedicated fans. That’s what happened and I have to deal with that. I’m the coach and I have to do fix this situation.”

Former Owls QB Rusty Smith, now of the Tennessee Titans, came in town due to his teams bye week. On this day, the Owls could have used him in his old No.11 jersey.

But now, the stadium is open for business. The team has to focus on winning since there will be no more hype. It’s all business as the Owls hope to send Schnellenberger out on a respectable note with six games left in his 52-year coaching career.

BSO units were dispatched to the Rent-A-Center at 1702 W. Hillsboro for an armed robbery call.

Monday morning at 11:15 a.m. the store manager of Rent-A-Center exited the store on his way to make a bank deposit when he was robbed. BSO has a person of interest in custody.

         East Deerfield continues to get hammered by car thieves

BSO detectives arrested a suspect who committed four vehicle burglaries this week in the area of 191 SE 20 Avenue.  The suspect, who bears a strong resemblance to Santa Claus, was captured on video while committing the crimes.  Photos were shown to several residents along the beach area and an alert resident called 911 when spotting him.  Please lock your doors and do not leave valuables in your vehicle.  Call 911 if you see suspicious activity in your neighborhood.

UPDATE – Video of Santa in Action on ObserverTV or below.

The continuing moral of the story is LOCK YOUR CAR DOORS!

Island Water Sports of Deerfield Beach was forced to cancel our 30 year running event, Midnight Madness, due to issues within the city. We were touched by all the support and feedback from the community, our friends, and fans. In response, we’re able to announce a new event – Daytime Radness.

Daytime Radness will be the largest surf & skate event in South Florida benefiting local and national charities.

Some of the highlights of this event include:

• Surf & Skate Giveaways All Day

• Van’s Goat Skate Ramp Open to Skate All Day

• Entire Store on Sale

• Denim Donations for the Homeless

• Benefit for Karen Rice & Grind for Life – Helping People with Cancer

When: October 21, 2011; 9:00am – 9:00pm

Where: Island Water Sports, 1985 NE 2lld Street, Deerfield Beach, FL 33441

For more information, visit: Daytime Radness www.islandwatersports.com/daytimeradness

Give Jeans a Chance www.volcom.com/givejeansachance

Benefit for Karen Rice www.facebook.com/event.php?eid= 144962048935067

Grind for Life www.grindforlife.org

Founded in 1978, at Island Water Sports surfing is not just our business, it’s our blood. We are owned and operated by second and third generation surfers and skateboarders. Kirk Cottrell opened the shop in 1978. His kids, Cheyne, Karly and Linsey took their first steps inside the store. They now oversee the operations of the business and continue to uphold the commitment to serving the South Florida community.

Arelious Burns had 20 carries for 100 yards to lead the Knights in a 14-7 victory over visiting Coral Shores on Friday night. Photo by Gary Curreri

By Gary Curreri

Highlands Christian Academy’s Gabe Hantsbarger hauled in a 27-yard scoring pass from Jay Mentecky with 18 seconds left to give the host Knights a 14-7 victory over Coral Shores on Friday night. Hantsbarger, who finished the night with three catches for 65 yards on the night, had his winning TD setup via a fourth down personal foul committed by Coral Shores.

“The downpour and wind made it very difficult to throw the ball,” said Highlands Christian Academy coach Jordan Adair. “Our O-Line and running game carried us for most of the game with Arelious Burns carrying the majority of the load.”

Burns had 20 carries for 100 yards to lead the Knights, who finished the game with 186 yards on 37 carries by its runners. Tyson Graham came in at running back on the Knights’ last drive and had two crucial runs, leading host Highlands (2-3) to its winning score.

“This was a big win for us,” said Adair, whose team won for the second consecutive week. “We keep some momentum heading into our game this week against Jupiter Christian.”

The Knights will tackle Jupiter Christian (5-1) on Friday at John I. Leonard.

Photo by Gary Curreri

Lions still winless

Zion Lutheran’s P.J. Boll-ing caught a 10-yard scoring pass from Austin Peaslee to avert the shutout in a 55-6 loss to Jupiter Christian. Zion fell to 0-3 for the year.

Bucks, Tigers to square off

Deerfield Beach (1-4), coming off their first victory of the season, will travel cross town to face Blanche Ely (4-1) on Friday night.

Pompano Beach will host winless Coral Glades on Thursday night.

Local Golf Association results

The team of Kathy Hart-mann, Betty Cullinan, Pat Zuckerman, Anna Vaccaro shot a 69 to win the Palm Aire Ladies Golf Association’s weekly scramble tournament on Oct. 4.

In the Pompano Beach Men’s Golf Association, Bill Auxier shot a 67 to win the Class A Division in the Individual Low Net in Classes tourney on Oct. 5. Harry Jung shot a 68 to win the Class B Division, while John Kapoukakis shot a 68 (Class C) and Paul Dauzickas shot a 67 (Class D) to win their respective Divisions.

Janet Stuart, Lu Rispoli, Elaine Schoengood teamed for a 62 to win the One Best Ball of Threesome tournament on Oct. 4 in the Pompano Beach Women’s Golf Association.