If you’re a sports fan in South Florida, chances are you’ve seen RRA’s logo. Or heard of one of the companies Scott Rothstein’s invested in. That’s because Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler has been rapidly racking up sports sponsorships and teaming with local athletes and their charitable organizations.
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Remember those billboards featuring Rothstein with Dan Marino, promoting RRA’s partnership with the Dan Marino Foundation? RRA served as a presenting sponsor of The Summer Groove, hosted by Alonzo Mourning and Dwyane Wade, held in July at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood.

Ten days ago – not long before it became public Rothstein was under investigation -- RRA was the sponsor of the Miami Dolphins 2009 Alumni Weekend. RRA sponsors the Heat and messages promoting the firm's connections with Marino’s and Mourning’s charities have flashed from the giant MediaMesh LED marquee on the front of AmericanAirlines Arena that overlooks Biscayne Boulevard. There’s even an RRA ad in the Miami Heat’s opening night program.

RRA has a sponsorship deal at BankAtlantic Center with the Florida Panthers. Three other companies in which Rothstein has an investment -- Bova, Renato and V Georgio Vodka -- also have sponsorship agreements with the team and arena. Bova sponsors the Panthers' Ice Dancers.

The Heat, Panthers and Dan Marino Foundation all declined to comment Tuesday. But don't be surprised if RRA's logo is no longer included as part of the Panthers' game presentation.

The Florida Marlins are the only one of the four major pro sports team in South Florida that doesn’t have any sort of partnership with RRA or Rothstein-connected company.

In January, attendees at a VIP party before the BCS National Championship Game received a football-shaped luggage tag featuring the BCS and RRA logos.

On Monday, Miami Dolphins running back Ronnie Brown broadcast his weekly radio show, “The Ronnie Brown Show,’” on WQAM-560 AM from Bova Prime in Fort Lauderdale, just as he's done all season.

Last month, Rothstein announced the formation of RRA Sports & Entertainment, a division to handle marketing and endorsement deals for athletes. Its first clients are Dolphins linebacker Channing Crowder and junior tennis player Sachia Vickery.

Rothstein is also a member of the corporate marketing committee of the South Florida Super Bowl Host Committee, but so far has been missing in action, host committee chairman Rodney Barreto said Tuesday.

“I did have lunch with him to discuss the Super Bowl and if he wanted to get involved with us. He’s involved with a lot of great charities. He agreed,” said Barreto, who met with Rothstein a few months ago.

“He’s attended no meetings, participated with no referrals or anything to date. As far as I’m concerned, he hasn’t done anything with our committee yet. I wish he would have,” Barreto said adding he thought someone of Rothstein’s stature and connections could help the host committee.

“He was a force, don’t kid yourself,” Barreto said. “It was brought to my attention, why don’t we consider having him help open doors for us, to help find potential sponsors. It didn’t work out.”

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Tidbits:

+ The Heat dancers still own the NBA’s dance bracket competition, winning the title for the fourth time in the contest’s four-year history. The teams are judged by fans who vote online. Wonder if Pat Riley has plans to trademark something with the number four...

+ In Dunkin’ Donuts bracket contest, Florida Donut Champ is … Boston Kreme. But runner-up Coconut gave the favorite a good run. And apparently there’s also precedent for Boston Kreme… in 2000, in honor of Dunkin’s 50th Anniversary, Americans voted Boston Kreme their favorite doughnut.

+ Win the World Series and your mascot gets an ice cream flavor. Or so it is for the Phillie Phanatic. The popular mascot for the 2008 World Series Champion Philadelphia Phillies now has his own “Phillie Phanatic Double Play,” which is: “Bavarian cream-flavored light ice cream with caramel corn and caramel swirl” according to a release. It joins Turkey Hill Dairy’s official team flavor, Phillies Graham Slam. “Just like the Phanatic, this ice cream is a little unusual but it's something you can't help but love,” Turkey Hill President Quintin Frey said in a statement. The mascot flavor will be sold at Citizens Bank Park.

+ And from BankAtlantic Center, increasingly energetic Panthers President Michael Yormark has added blogging to his early morning duties. His “Sunrise Edition” blog is on the team’s Web site. Even after last night’s loss to the Philadelphia Flyers that hobbled the team’s playoff hopes, Yormark tries to push optimism, while he also touts a new sponsor, Fontainebleau Miami, and his personal trainer, whom he says he works out with most weekdays at 4 a.m. Sunrise edition, indeed.

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The Panthers’ parent company, Sunrise Sports & Entertainment, has launched a Panthers channel on YouTube aimed at providing and receiving fan-generated videos to extend the team’s brand.

The company is considering it an extension of GrowlTV, which is the online video section of the team’s Web site. That’s where you’ll find player and broadcaster interviews, highlights and other features.

The YouTube channel already includes interviews with players, videos made by fans, and Stanley C. Panther playing prankster.

"Based on the popularity of GrowlTV on FloridaPanthers.com, now is the perfect time to establish a channel on YouTube and provide even more video content for our online community," Chad Johnson, SSE senior vice president of sales and marketing, said in a statement. "I am confident that this relationship will lead to even greater exposure for the Florida Panthers brand and a new dimension of team access for our technologically savvy fanbase."

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You’ll no longer be able to feel the Heat.

The giant flames that shoot from the court at AmericanAirlines Arena during the Heat’s pre-game player introductions are no more.

That’s thanks to pyrotechnics mishaps during last season’s playoffs, including the 22-minute game delay when a New Orleans Hornets’ mascot jumped through a ring of fire and extinguishers used to douse the flames left a mess on the court. Smoke from pregame fireworks in Boston and Cleveland were also deemed a health hazard to players.

At the time, NBA Commissioner David Stern called the displays “ridiculous.” New league guidelines limit fire effects of any kind to pre-game player introductions and halftime. They also cannot be set off from the playing court and must be kept at least 15 feet from the audience, players, coaches and game officials.

But the Heat, whose logo features a flaming basketball, has a replacement planned. Look for it at tonight’s home opener.

“Our overall player introduction sequence will certainly compensate for the lack of flames,” said Michael McCullough, Heat executive vice president. “Fans will certainly not be disappointed.”

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So it wasn’t exactly rocket science figuring out the Panthers were introducing an inflatable cow, when they said the new mascot would be related to the cowbell movement.

“Mad Cow” was introduced between the first and second periods of Saturday night's home opener at BankAtlantic Center to the strains of the Buckwheat Boyz' Peanut Butter Jelly Time -- typically reserved for the Dancing Banana. The inflatable cow bobbed up and down on the ice and showed off his rear end, which says “More Cowbell.” Fans could oblige since the Panthers gave out 15,000 red cowbells.

The Dancing Banana indicated in a teaser video that he was too busy this season to help with "more cowbell," but the Panther insist the Banana will be back and will make appearances in the "flesh" this season.

See the cow sitting in the stands, thanks to a photo borrowed from Murphy Burch – also known as VanMurph because that’s what he wears on his jersey – who with his wife Vanessa started the cowbell movement at the Panthers last year. The Cooper City couple brought the first cowbells to the arena during a game last December and the movement was born. The Panthers have obliged selling two different sizes of cowbells at Pantherland in the arena and showing clips from the Saturday Night Live skit in which actor Christopher Walken implores Blue Oyster Cult to use “more cowbell.”

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More cowbell? The Panthers think so.

Capitalizing on the cowbell craze that swept BankAtlantic Center last season, the Panthers will give out 15,000 red cowbells at Saturday’s 2008-09 home opener. Don’t forget to bring earplugs.

Cowbells won’t just be for supporting the team, they’ll be introducing the team’s new inflatable mascot. Fear not, the popular Dancing Banana will still be making appearances this season.

The cowbell phenomenon at the Panthers started last December when Murphy Burch, a Panthers fan from Cooper City who will be dropping a ceremonial first puck Saturday, saw fans ringing cowbells at a Chicago Wolves minor league hockey game.

Burch, known as "VanMurph" on his Panthers jersey, had grown tired of noisy fans of opposing teams outnumbering -- or at least out-cheering -- Panthers fans at BankAtlantic Center. He bought a couple of cowbells to a game, then a couple more for some friends. Cowbells became a topic on the Panthers message board. Soon a clip of the popular Saturday Night Live skit in which Christopher Walken pleads for Blue Oyster Cult to use “more cowbell,” was playing on the scoreboard and cowbells were for sale at the team’s Pantherland store.

Read Burch's explanation of the cowbell movement here.

While the SNL skit has given renewed life to cowbells in pop culture, the cowbell has been intertwined with sports for years. Popular at minor league and college hockey games, cowbells have also been heard at the Olympics in support of downhill skiers and at bicycling races, among other events.

They’ve been so popular at college football games that the SEC instituted a ban on the noisy bells, threatening a loss of yardage should they get too loud. Fans of Mississippi State still smuggle in the bells.

The Tampa Bay Rays adopted cowbells in 2007 because principal team owner Stuart Sternberg loves the SNL skit. They’ve been handed out to Rays fans – fans in opposing team jerseys are denied – and are used when opposing players have two strikes. And you wondered what the secret was to the Rays finally making it to the playoffs for the first time in team history…

Watch the teaser video for the Panthers' new inflatable mascot here:

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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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The fourth class of nominees for the Mascot Hall of Fame includes Billy the Marlin among five pro candidates and Sebastian the Ibis among six collegiate candidates.

Who knew the Mascot Hall of Fame was already in its fourth year? The members include such storied pro sports team characters as the Phillie Phanatic, San Diego’s Famous Chicken, Mr. Met, and college characters Brutus Buckeye and Bucky the Badger. The University of Nebraska’s Lil Red became the Hall’s first inflatable inductee.

The public plays a small, but crucial role in the voting. The public's votes cast online are an important measure of which mascots are installed each year, according to Christopher Bruce, vice chairman of the Hall’s executive committee.

“It’s used as a gauge of support these characters have in their communities,” Bruce said of the public vote, which only accounts for about 5 percent of the overall vote.

The majority of the voting is based on the ballots by the executive committee and nominees must receive at least 75 percent of that vote. That means it won’t be clear how many mascots will be inducted this year, until the votes are cast.

The Hurricanes’ Sebastian actually was passed over last year, but he had enough support to be returned to the ballot this year, Bruce said.

You can see why some of us think Billy the Marlin deserves a shot at the Hall in our Two-Minute Drill in the Sun Sentinel's sports section today, including that he overcame adversity when he lost his head on Opening Day in 1997. Online voting runs through Sept. 12 here.

This year’s nominees hold a special place in the heart of Miami resident John Routh, for he has been the embodiment of three of them: the University of South Carolina’s Cocky, Sebastian and he was the original Billy the Marlin.

“It makes me feel good,” said Routh, who serves on the hall’s executive committee. “It’s kind of weird to go back to South Carolina and people still remember me and say ‘You’re Cocky’.”

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With a video spoof of Austin Powers as introduction, the Marlins unveiled the latest addition in their "eight-figure" marketing arsenal at Saturday night’s game at Dolphin Stadium: Lil’ Billy.

The mini-Billy the Marlin mascot looks about half the size of the original Billy, but wears a 1/3 on his jersey. He was introduced between innings and the two big-billed fish danced together.

Marlins Marketing VP Sean Flynn says it’s an idea he’s had for a while – not one he borrowed from the Panthers who unveiled mini-Stanley this past season.

“Have been sitting on it for a few years,” Flynn said. “We have added a ton … This fit in finally.”

That’s right: dancing burly Manatees, T-shirt throwing Maniacs, Saturday night post-game concerts and fireworks… and a pint-sized mascot called Lil’ Billy….

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The Panthers missed the playoffs again, but they created another tradition this season: the Dancing Banana. Akin to the Rally Monkey, the inflatable mascot – on loan from the Tampa Bay Rays – performed its unusual dance routine to the Buckwheat Boyz' Peanut Butter Jelly Time at strategic times during Panthers games.

The Dancing Banana thrilled audiences – and the media – and even Panthers staffers, who made sure not to miss its performances. The team brought it out a few times a month to dance with the Sziro Ice Dancers. “We use it in critical games,” team mascot coordinator Kyle Hamsher said. “And we’d throw it into the script on a last-minute call. It was like our secret weapon.”

Anyone catch the performance with the nose mascot, the one representing Panthers' sponsor South Florida Sinus and Allergy Center? Dare I say you haven’t lived until you’ve seen an inflatable banana dance with a giant nose?

A little research shows the Dancing Banana is something of a cult phenomenon – from an online emoticon to an episode of Family Guy, in which Brian dons an inflatable banana costume and dances to Peanut Butter Jelly Time in an attempt to cheer up Peter. You can even buy T-shirts commemorating the episode.

The Rays introduced the mascot in 2006 and reaction was so strong, it now performs at Sunday home games. Kelly Frank, the Rays’ mascot coordinator, who hails from Sunrise, suggested the Panthers try it out. “My scheme to watch hockey for free,” Frank says. Check out her banana myspace page here.

For more on the Dancing Banana check out the Two-Minute Drill on Page 2 of the Sun-Sentinel’s sports section on Sunday. Watch "When Good Bananas Go Bad" - a performance piece filmed in the concourse at BankAtlantic Center. Below watch the banana dance at a Panthers game:

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