A week before the vote on a new downtown arena, the Heat is
"pressing full court and pulling out its most potent publicity
weapons, its players," according to Henri Cauvin of the MIAMI
HERALD. Heat President Pat Riley, at the Meet the Heat luncheon:
"We want to be here in Miami. We're fighting to stay here in
Miami and everyone else is leaving. We don't want to go anywhere
else." Riley and his players made two other appearances, Little
Havana and Liberty City, where high school students, bused in by
arena supporters, wore T-shirts backing the new arena (MIAMI
HERALD, 10/30).
NEW POLL: A Miami Herald-NBC poll released yesterday reveals
that 48% of Dade County voters will support the referendum to
block the Heat's $165M publicly funded arena, while 36% oppose
the measure, according to Don Finefrock in the MIAMI HERALD. The
poll indicates "the current proposal is in trouble" because
different people oppose the plan for different reasons. But
polling indicates voters "aren't opposed" to building an arena on
the waterfront, provided that arena is built with private money.
If the referendum passes, most voters said Dade Mayor Alex
Penelas and the Metro Commission "should try to keep the team in
town." Others polled said they would support an publicly funded
arena, but not on the waterfront (MIAMI HERALD, 10/30).
