Dear Mr. Scott,

When you successfully ran as governor, you said you were a businessman, not a politician.

I have a little business experience, but I have never studied business in school. I have no MBA or any other business degrees or certifications. Economics was not my best subject.

But one business principle I did learn in all my years of working in retail business is this:  If a customer has made a buying decision and is ready to spend money your way, lead him directly to the cash register. Do not try to change his mind by trying to upgrade him into a more expensive item or questioning his purchase.

You only need to say one of three sentences to that customer:

• “I’ll see if it is in stock.”
• “Will that be cash, charge, or credit?”
• “Thank you for your business!”

In your decision to end High Speed Rail, you violated this principle. The Federal Government was going to give you money to build a rail line in one of Florida’s most populous and fastest-growing regions. You ignored almost two decades of work by leaders of both parties. You turned down money from someone else that would provide badly needed jobs to this state. While you said it would be too expensive, you did not even take the time to consult with rail vendors to find out what the cost would be or even do a feasibility study.

Imagine a tailor who just started at a well-established and respected shop. His boss comes in after seeing a longtime customer come out of a competitor’s store.

“Didn’t Mr. Smith come by our place?” the boss asked. “He’s shopped here for years!”

“Yes he did, but I told him we couldn’t help him,” the tailor said. “I don’t think we can afford to do business with him.”

“What?” the boss asked incredulously. “Don’t you think you should check with me first before you turn a customer away?”

“First of all, he’s too fat!” the tailor said. “He weighs close to 500 pounds. There is no way he can afford a suit from us. We don’t even have enough material for him! If we did, it would cost us too much!”

“Did you check with our suppliers first to negotiate a bulk rate on the material? They said they could help us out on special purchases.”

“No.”

“Did you sit down and quote him a price?”

“No, but I know it would be more than he can afford. I’ve heard he’s spent too much around town.”

“Did you bother to check his credit? He’s always paid our account with us.”

“I just knew it would be too much trouble. I suggested he come back and see us when he loses weight. We don’t want fat old customers like him ruining our image!”

“Our image has been making fat old customers like him look good!” the boss said. “That’s how we have made money all these years!”

Do you really think that tailor would stay employed long? If I were his boss, he would be out the door immediately.

The tailor’s actions do not make good business sense. Neither does your decision. Your actions show a lack of salesmanship and total disregard for the work so many people have put into this project. If this is the way you do business, people should take their business elsewhere.

Now, if only we can show you the door.

Yes, it really happened.

Much to the dismay of Cleveland fans, Nike, network officials, some of the refs, and many in the national media, the Orlando Magic knocked off LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers 103-90 in Game 6. Now they face the LA Lakers in the NBA Finals.

Dwight was amazing. Rashard Lewis, Hedo Turkolu, Mickeal Pietrus, and Rafer Alston kept raining in threes. Everybody played defense. King James played great, but the rest of his team failed to step up. The better team won.

Now there is more talk about how sad it is for Cleveland. How the poor fans of Cleveland have suffered since 1964. How bad things are in the “Mistake by the Lake.” How Cleveland fans worry that their superstar will leave for the bright lights of New York.

Puleeze! Orlando needs this more or as much as Cleveland does. We don’t have a 1964. We had a 1995, where we went to the Finals, only to get swept by the Houston Rockets. Instead of developing a dynasty, our superstar Shaquille O’Neal left town for LA the following year. Next came Penny’s meltdowns, Grant Hill coming on crutches, and a hockey GM.

Cleveland has the Indians, the Browns, and the Cavs. We only have the Magic. Cleveland may be ugly, cold, and feeling the recession. Orlando is definitely a better-looking town, but there are some very ugly tacky parts. And for every high-rolling fans in the stands of Amway, there are five working at minimum wage jobs in a hotel, theme park, or restaurant. Not a lot of great union jobs here!

But the biggest reason is that Orlando needs the Magic to bring it together. Most of us are transplants from other places. The Orlando is just a tourist spot or a stopover, and the home office is elsewhere. Most of us here keep our hometown allegiance.

The Magic remind people that we actually live here. We can come together to make this a home instead a layover. We can have good schools, nightspots, and culture right here.

We took care of the storied and defending champion Celtics. We overthrew King James and the Cavs. Now we need to finish Kobe and the robbing Lakers.

That would be Magical!

In the picture, Anthony lets Ryan sit on his lap to keep him calm in church. Read to the end of this article in the St. Petersburg Times on why he puts up with his brother.

And that’s the point. There is content, then there is delivering the content. The two are separate. Good content can be delivered in a multiple of media.

Now, “Who’s on First” is not funny everywhere. If I wrote out the words, it will not fly. You have to hear it.

Also, it takes the timing of Bud and Lou to make it work. Harvey Korman and Buddy Hackett tried it in a biopic about Abbott and Costello. Both men know comedic timing, but they couldn’t pull it off. And there lies the second point – talent creates good content.

That is why the current process of the Sentinel and other papers laying off experienced writers make no sense. People are no longer buying papers because they get their news on the Internet. Instead of using the net to boost advertising sales, they cut back the editorial staff – the one area left that actually delivers readers.

If it weren’t so sad, it might be funny.

The Magic sold the rights to carry most of its home games to FSN, which has the Magic games that Sunshine does not. Negotiations between Bright House and FSN are going nowhere. FSN wants to be a first-tier network (channels 13-71) like ESPN. Bright House wants to offer FSN on its digital tier, in the 100s. While ESPN is the national cable leader, few networks offer the state coverage that FSN has, such as the Tampa Bay Rays and the University of Florida.

It’s bad enough that Bright House doesn’t carry all the Magic games and to ignore the angry calls of sports fans. But to run commercials saying how you are carrying games is insulting.

So-called Orlando Sentinel columnist Andrea Adelson shows her complete lack of college football knowledge when she suggests that Michigan try to hire Florida coach Urban Meyer. First, it will never happen. Adelson even admits that. If Notre Dame couldn’t land him, do you really think Michigan has a chance?

Let me count the reasons why this is so ridiculous:

• Yes, Michigan has a nice program and a great football tradition. But what has it done lately, except lose to Ohio State – the same school Meyer’s Gators creamed in the national championship game.
• Florida’s weather is definitely a factor. There is a reason why Big Ten football is “three yards and a cloud of dust.” It’s hard to run Meyer’s spread offense in snow and ice. It’s also easier to land a recruit when it’s 70 degrees in January.
• Florida recruits well nationally, but it has much more talent within the state than Michigan could ever have. Consider Florida’s big three (UF, FSU, and Miami) have won 9 national championships in the past 25 years. Most of that talent comes within the state’s borders. Michigan has to raid Ohio for much of its talent.
• Michigan could never compete in a bidding war with Florida. Meyer is already well compensated. Michigan may have money, but Gator boosters have very deep pockets.
• Florida AD Jeremy Foley is one of the best in the country. Why do you think Billy Donavan stays?
• Tim Tebow is only a sophomore. By the way, Adelson once said that Tebow would be a washout.
• Adelson points out the tradition and national recognition. If those really were a factor, Meyer would already be coaching Notre Dame.

If Adelson wrote this to get a reaction like talk radio jocks do, she succeeded. By day’s end, she had more than 100 comments. Most questioned her capabilities as a sports writer. Many were quite chauvinistic about women sportswriters in general, which was unfair. There are many compentent female sportswriters. Adelson is definitely not one of them.

But Adelson works for a newspaper, not a radio station. Even a sports column is supposed to make sense. If she even tried to call in on a sports talk show with her arguments, most radio jocks would hang up on her.

A quick writing tip, Andrea. If half your column refutes your main point, you need to trash the column. If you want to engage in a battle of wits with your readers, don’t come into battle empty-handed.

Newspaper executives are panicking and laying off reporters and editors. Florida papers are suffering too. The Orlando Sentinel has cut back and forced many into retirement. Although the Sentinel’s circulation has risen for its Sunday paper, its daily figures are down 4 percent.

The South Florida papers are really hurting, with the Miami Herald down almost 8 percent, and the South Florida Sun Sentinel down 9 percent. Almost all are down, except for one – the St. Petersburg Times. While the Times is only holding its own, it is not dropping. In Hillsborough County, the Tampa Tribune’s home turf, it is gaining while the Tribune drops almost 6 percent overall.

Why the difference? The Times does have an older readership which is not as likely to turn to the Internet for news. But so does the Trib and the Sun Sentinel.

But the Times is the only paper not owned by a public corporation that has to answer to stockholders. Its parent is a not-for-profit foundation, the Poytner Institute. While others cut back and lay off their best writers, the Times keeps its staff.

The Times’ management get it. Media changes, but good writing and reporting never go out of style. They keep their staff and develop a user-friendly site that doesn’t have annoying flashover ads that interrupt your reading.

Just because I don’t get the paper at home doesn’t mean I don’t read it. Thanks to the Internet, I actually read several a day, and I don’t have to worry about recycling.

I’m hiding my diploma and changing my name. OK, I’ll ask George O’Leary to change his name instead – maybe change careers.

Actually, I do think George is a good coach. He just needs to recruit better locally.

The big difference between the two progams was speed, pure and simple. A perfect example is the play when USF’s George Selvie breaking through the line and knocking the ball out of Kyle Israel’s hand before Israel could hand the ball off.

USF has faster players. USF also has more local players. Selvie is a Florida High School product, one of 99 on the Bulls. Israel is a local, but 32 players on UCF are out-of-state.

In a previous life, I covered high school football for the Tampa Tribune, particularly Polk, Highlands, and Hardee counties.  I saw the talent that comes out of South Central Florida, and it’s impressive. The towns of Frostproof, Pahokee, and Immokalee have produced more pro football players than New York City. They are not particularly bigger in South Central Florida than other places, but they are much faster.

Former Miami assistant coach Art Kehoe  gleaned this area of recruits who would help the Hurricanes win five national championships. Florida State cleaned out the area in recruiting back in 1988. Four years later, Bobby Bowden won his first national championship. After years of  neglect, Florida started rebuilding ties with high school coaches in the area when Steve Spurrier arrived, and Urban Meyer continues that trend.

Jim Leavitt has been the only football coach at USF. He has found most of his players in a 100-mile radius of Tampa and forged relationships with most of the local high school coaches.

In fairness to O’Leary, the UCF coach has had to play catch-up to Leavitt, partially because his predecessor, Mike Tomzak, treated local coaches horribly. O’Leary still has great relationships with high schools in the Atlanta area from his days at Georgia Tech, but he has yet to build the relationships Leavitt has even among the Orlando area schools.

If O’Leary is smart, he will stop on the way back to Orlando and visit Lakeland coach Bill Castle and Lake Gibson coach Keith DeMyer. Later on, he might take a trip down U.S. 27 and check out the small towns around Lake Okeechobee. Because of the size and length of his contract, it’s unlikely O’Leary is on the hot seat. But after three straight losses to USF,  it became a lot warmer.

Of course, she made out better than the child. He suffered brain damage and now lives in a nursing home. One tube lets him breathe, and another feeds him. The grandparents who are being sued are still struggling to pay the bills.

Fortunately, the City of Casselberry displayed some common sense. The city manager suspended the officer, who since has dropped the suit.