I find out it hard to believe that our weekly newspaper has survived for 15 years. In the early years, we weren’t as mature as we are now and were known for our pranks. Here are my top five favorites, in reverse order.
5. Applying for editor’s job at the PNJ when Randy Hammer moved to Louisville, Ky. Duwayne Escobedo and I faxed our resumes to new publisher Kevin Doyle. We never got interviews though.
4. The April Fool’s issue of 2008: We reported that UWF was starting a football team, had hired Mike Price as the coach and would play its home games at the Maritime Park. Here was the first schedule for the team:
2010 FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
(* Home Games)
8/28 Alabama
9/4 Auburn
9/11 Florida State
9/18 Open
9/25 Notre Dame *
10/2 Appalachian State *
10/ 9 Louisiana Tech *
10/16 Nebraska
10/23 Open
10/30 Tulane *
11/5 Florida
11/13 Baylor *
11/20 South Alabama *
3. In 2004, the city of Pensacola hired a consultant for $100,000 to develop plans for downtown. We produced our first Ballsy plan and sent City Manager Tom Bonfield an invoice. We even agreed to accept credit cards.
2. In 2005, one of Sheriff Ron McNesby’s goons sent me a Christmas present – a large box filled with Florida statutes. I sent back a “Thank you” note: “Thank you for the thoughtful gift. I could only help but notice that they had never been read.”
1. Pink Flamingos – The PNJ created the Pelicans, we had cheap plastic pink flamingos – read the history and see a few more birds – SKMBT_C22414070308410.