Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
After a car accident, a motorcycle accident leaves Mitchell's No. 1, Gregg Strange, with a torn ACL.
By STEVE LEE, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published February 19, 2003
NEW PORT RICHEY -- Accident-prone? Maybe. But if nothing else, Gregg Strange is resilient.
Mitchell's No. 1 player, who will compete in his first match of the season at 3 p.m. today when the Mustangs host Springstead, survived a rollover in a friend's car last spring and a motorcycle accident in December.
"I feel jinxed now; in the wrong place at the wrong time," said Strange, who as a 15-year-old sophomore does not drive.
After being thrown from teammate Bryan Drake's vehicle, Strange missed two matches last season while healing from numerous bumps and bruises. He bounced back to go 18-0, won 32 consecutive sets and qualified for the state tournament in No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles with Richard Grimberg, who graduated.
A motorcycle accident in December did more damage. Strange broke his right leg, which was in a cast for six weeks, and missed last week's 5-2 loss to Zephyrhills while adjusting to a custom-fitted brace that covers an anterior cruciate ligament tear in his right knee.
"It's not going to heal unless I have surgery," Strange said. "But when I strap (the 2-pound brace) on, it supports my ACL."
Strange opted to put off surgery until after the season.
"I'm trying for a college scholarship, so I don't want to waste a year," he said. "Plus I was undefeated last year, and I want to keep that record."
Second-year Mustangs coach Jim Smith, having witnessed his star's recuperative power, said he believes if anyone can play with a torn ACL, it's Strange.
"I seriously believe in Gregg," Smith said. "I think he'll be playing No. 1 on our team and beating No. 1s on other teams.
"Unless they can hit it farther away than he can dream of getting to it, he'll get his racket on the ball."
Upon learning of the motorcycle accident, which happened about a month after Strange competed at the state diving meet, Smith "wondered if he could ever play tennis again. But if anybody can do it, Gregg can do it."
Teammate James Dattoma has worked extensively with Strange primarily because the senior, who will play at Nos. 2 and 3, is a consistent hitter. While those practices prepare Strange for singles play, he has little time to get used to his new doubles partner, Matthew Ouano, a sophomore transfer from Clearwater Central Catholic.
Neither injury nor a different partner, however, can hold back Strange -- mentally if not physically. Strange said he believes he can repeat an undefeated season and advance further in this year's state tournament than the second round in which he was ousted last year.
That drive to be the best is what Smith said helped the Mustangs go from a 3-15 inaugural season to last year's 13-5 record.
"He really loves his tennis," Smith said. "He really loves the competition.
"He's really looking to do well this season. How well is anybody's guess."
Not that his confidence in tennis has waned, but Strange said if he falters in his comeback, he plans to continue diving. That, he said, would keep his options open for a scholarship.