Each day, the Johnny Peyton recruiting watch sways a little to the left, or back to the right, and the Pasco receiver likely won't come to a resting point until he signs a national letter of intent - somewhere - next month.
Peyton made an official visit to South Florida over the weekend but did not make a commitment. Monday was even busier, with coaches from Louisville visiting, then Pittsburgh coach Walt Harris.
Harris hopes to firm up an oral commitment Peyton made last fall, one that took a hit when Panthers offensive coordinator J.D. Brookhart left to become coach at Akron.
And let's just say he wasn't making the trip down south just for Peyton: Pitt picked up a commitment last week from another tall Florida receiver, 6-foot-2 Kelvin Chandler of Fort Lauderdale. Chandler's numbers for his senior season, however, read like a good game or two from Peyton: 14 catches for 257 yards.
Peyton has an official visit planned at Miami this weekend. The Hurricanes do not have any receivers among the 11 commitments listed at Rivals.com, and Peyton is taller than all 10 receivers on Miami's 2003 roster.
But another Peyton recruiter left for a job in Ohio: UM offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski stepped down Monday to become tight ends coach of the Cleveland Browns.
COUNTY UPDATE: Pesky Panthers
One team almost singlehandedly ended Pasco County's hopes of being represented by a player in this year's Super Bowl: the Carolina Panthers.
The trouble started in the regular season, when the Panthers swept the Bucs to earn the NFC South title, keeping long snapper Ryan Benjamin home to watch the playoffs on TV like any other River Ridge graduate.
The county still could have had Cowboys running back Troy Hambrick or Rams defensive lineman Ryan Pickett represent the NFC in Houston, but Carolina took care of both. First came Hambrick, who mustered 29 yards in the Cowboys' humbling 29-10 opening-round loss. Then Pickett's team went down Saturday as the Panthers rushed for 216 yards against the St. Louis defense in the Rams' 29-23 loss.
Maybe it's just bad karma for the county. It does send a message to local football players - try to milk a team for an extra $5,000 check, they'll not only get back at you, but at your entire county.
Must be the shoes
At first, we thought Peyton landed a shoe contract, like LeBron James. A routine Google search brought up a curious item: Nike's "Air Pasco" line of shoes. Surely, this is some kind of joke, right? What next, the Reebok Ridgewood Runners?
The shoes are legit, though their origin traces back to a different Pasco High: in Pasco, Wash., where the shoes were created to help fund an $800,000 renovation to the city's stadium, including the addition of "field turf" on the playing field.
But that was some two years ago and we're thinking the Nike folks (though we're farther away from the swoosh headquarters in Beaverton, Ore.) could use a little positive public relations. So why not throw out a new Air Pasco - maybe a little red stripe down the side for shoe-buying Pirates alumni. And if Nike has the sense to issue a shoe in the name of this county, we'll make better use of $800,000.
Don't make us go to Reebok.
BEST BET: Boys basketball
WHO: Hudson at Zephyrhills
WHEN: 6 p.m. JV, 7:30 varsity
WHY: Or, more correctly, why??? It's been a rough ... sorry, a learning year for both programs, which have been on the ugly end of some lopsided scores. Tonight they get something they can benefit from: what should be a competitive game against a comparable foe. This is definitely the lower tier of the county's teams, and both could finish the season counting victories on one hand. But there's no telling how motivated they can be by the allure of a game where both can enter with confidence.
