Was it something in the recipe?

The Vienna Beef company honored the Chicago Cubs' pitching rotation with special edition hot dogs: the Dempster Dog (Ryan Dempster); Marquis Dog (Jason Marquis); Wood-ie Dog (Kerry Wood); Marmol Dog (Carlos Marmol) and Lilly Dog (Ted Lilly). The Cubs made an unceremonious exit in the first round of the MLB playoffs.

The Tampa Bay Rays, meanwhile, have won their first and only playoff series so far and will face the Boston Red Sox in the American League Championship Series. Gallagher’s Steak House in Tampa has devised a number of dishes to honor the Rays: Popeye [Don Zimmer] Porterhouse; Calos Pena Crab Cakes; Jason Bartlett Beef Steak Tomato & Colossal Onion Salad; Akinori Iwamura Seared Ahi Tuna; Manager Joe Maddon-Mignon; Scott Kazmir New York Sirloin; and B.J. Upton Center Cup Pork Chops.

Eat up.

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T-Mobile and the NBA are announcing today a multi-year extension to their partnership that began in 2005.

The partnership includes the NBA, WNBA and now the NBA Development League. In addition, Heat guard Dwyane Wade and Charles Barkley will film new T-Mobile ads to add to the popular ad campaign that has previously shown Wade’s effort to be included in Barkley’s "Fave 5." Perhaps Wade is regretting being among Barkley’s "Fave 5," after Barkley took that as license to call Wade at all hours of the day and night.

No word yet on details of the campaign.

In addition to the ads, T-Mobile will continue and expand its platform of fan involvement programs that include NBA All-Star balloting, fan voting for top performers in the Finals, rookie of the month and other honors. There will also be in-arena signage and promotions.

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Another deadline, another delay.

Rather than issue her ruling on the final count in auto dealer Norman Braman’s case challenging the financing for a Marlins ballpark, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Jeri Beth Cohen said Friday she would wait - once again - until the Florida Supreme Court’s ruling in a similar case is final.

Since attorneys for Gregory Strand filed a motion Monday with the Florida Supreme Court to re-hear Strand v. Escambia County, which challenges the use of property tax dollars to repay a $135 million bond issue without first asking taxpayers, the high court’s ruling is not considered final. After re-hearing the case last year, the court overturned an earlier 7-0 ruling and decided on Sept. 18 in a 4-2 ruling that referendums are not needed to use property taxes to pay back bonds on large public projects.

The court isn’t likely to re-hear the case a second time, but it also has no deadline by which it must decide whether to re-hear the case.

“Although I anticipate that the Court will deny the rehearing, it is incumbent on me to wait until the decision becomes final before issuing a definitive ruling. Thank you for your patience,” Cohen wrote Friday in a note to the attorneys in the Braman case.

Cohen has said she plans to follow the Supreme Court and rule a public vote is not needed for a portion of the financing for $3 billion in Miami projects. Braman has said he plans to appeal.

The Marlins, Miami-Dade County and the city of Miami do not believe a referendum would apply to the ballpark financing and are likely to continue with their plans to finalize definitive agreements spelling out the financing, construction management and other details of the ballpark.

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Was Billy the Marlin robbed?

OK, not literally. Although back in 1997 the home of the original Billy the Marlin was the target of burglars who took off with his University of Miami championship rings from his days playing Sebastian the Ibis, but I digress….

No, was he robbed of the 2008 Mascot Hall of Fame induction?

Billy, you see, was the winner of the popular online fan poll voting for the Mascot Hall of Fame, but he did not secure induction into the Hall.

Call him the Al Gore of mascots.

That’s right, he won the online fan voting, but missed out on the Hall induction. The public vote plays only a small role in the voting. Nominees must receive at least 75 percent of the ballots cast by the hall’s executive committee.

This year’s inductees on the professional sports side are Rocky, the Denver Nuggets mascot, and Slider, of the Cleveland Indians. On the collegiate side, Smokey of the University of Tennessee won induction with both the Hall and the popular vote.

So, Billy edged out Slider in the popular vote, but missed out on induction. Something fishy there…. Do you think this is another sign of the “small market” Marlins being ignored nationally?

The winners were announced Monday - watch the announcement here:

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Attorneys for the plaintiff, Dr. Gregory Strand, in the Florida Supreme Court case that has been holding up a decision in auto dealer Norman Braman’s suit targeting the financing for a Marlins ballpark filed a motion today to request yet another re-hearing of the case.

The court has already re-heard the case once - a year ago. On Sept. 18, the state's high court overturned its earlier 7-0 decision, deciding instead in a 4-2 ruling that a public vote isn't necessary when using property taxes to pay off bonds issued for large public projects. The case, Strand v. Escambia County, deals with using property tax dollars to repay a $135 million bond issue without first asking taxpayers.

Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Jeri Beth Cohen has said she plans to follow the court’s newest ruling that referendums aren’t needed to use property taxes to pay back bonds on large public projects. But at the request of Braman’s attorneys, she agreed to wait until Oct. 2, when the period to request a re-hearing expires.

It’s unclear whether the motion to re-hear the case will alter Cohen’s decision to release her ruling on Thursday, but it’s unlikely. It also seems unlikely the court would decide to re-hear the case a second time.

The court is not required to re-hear the case, but it also has no timetable for making its decision.

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For much of 2006, the Marlins and Miami-Dade County were considering a swath of land in far western Hialeah for a new ballpark. The area west of I-75 and east of Florida’s Turnpike ultimately proved difficult and costly to pull together and officials eventually renewed stadium talks with the city of Miami.

But Hialeah is to benefit from the Marlins stadium plans. Earlier this year, Major League Baseball threw the city a bone, promising to help develop a youth baseball academy in the city. Hialeah and Miami-Dade Sports Commission officials brought the academy a step closer to reality this week. The commission board approved on Thursday a resolution supporting the project and Hialeah Mayor Julio Robaina said MLB’s commitment is firm.

Robaina said the academy is one of the community benefits, the Marlins, MLB, the county and the city agreed would be part of the baseball stadium agreement that was approved in February.

The 20-acre complex is to include seven baseball fields, batting cages, clubhouse, training facility and office space. It is to be open to kids as young as 5 through high school age and is to include camps and clinics. Robaina expects it to attract players from Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties and beyond.

Robaina said the city is providing the land and MLB has agreed to put about $3.5 million into the project, which will also serve as a training facility for coaches, athletic trainers, scouts, and umpires. The academy is expected to be similar to one MLB established in Compton, Calif.

“I was looking for something I could tie into baseball and some sort of vocational with umpires and field crews, training,” Robaina said..

Construction is expected to start in 2009 and be completed by mid-2010. Robaina says he has been told the project will move forward, even if the long-awaited Marlins ballpark is never built on the site of the former Orange Bowl.

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Dunkin’ Donuts keeps adding sports to its promotions roster. The company has struck deals with baseball and basketball teams, including the Marlins, Tampa Bay Rays, and the Heat. Now it’s supporting harness racing.

You can meet and get autographs from and photographs with Pompano Park Harness Track drivers Bruce Ranger, Wally Hennessey and Dan Clements on Saturday morning between 10 a.m. and noon at the grand re-opening of the Dunkin’ Donuts at 1405 S. Powerline Rd., Pompano Beach. One autograph per person per driver.

The drivers will be part of an open house at the store from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Read more in our Action blog.

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