Zephyrhills struggles to move on without its heart and muscle, Daniel Cerf, who is in a coma.
By JAMAL THALJI
Published March 11, 2004
ZEPHYRHILLS - Daniel Cerf drove Chris Bounnell crazy.
Cerf never lacked ways to torment his weightlifting coach. Cerf walked the weight room with his Burmese python, Mitch, draped around his shoulders. Every time the coach's head turned around, Mitch's tongue was right there on his cheek. Then there was the music: Metallica and White Zombie. "He played the type of music you couldn't understand the words to," Bounnell said.
But what really goaded the coach was Cerf's arms - they were bigger than Bounnell's.
"That made me angry," Bounnell said. "I was on my way to having bigger biceps, so he would stop that business of flashing his triceps at me."
Those were the days. Bounnell misses every one of them.
The Zephyrhills boys weightlifting team and its coach are struggling to move on without the team's strongest muscle, biggest presence and best leader.
Cerf, 19, has been in a coma in a Tampa hospital since he was injured in a Feb. 7 accident.
A 1996 green Ford Escort in which Cerf was riding lost control on 23rd Street and struck a tree in Zephyrhills. Cerf, who was sitting in the back seat, sustained head injuries. Two other passengers were not seriously injured.
Since the accident, Cerf's coaches and football and weightlifting teammates have constantly visited his bedside. But the absence of the 5-foot-9, 217-pound Cerf is still felt in the weight room.
"It shut me down for two weeks," Bounnell said. "I'm still not all the way right."
Without Cerf, the Bulldogs are without their top fundraiser, team captain, and, pound for pound, the strongest lifter in school history.
Cerf lifted more this year - 320-pound bench, 300 clean and jerk, 620 total - than even St. Louis Rams defensive tackle Ryan Pickett in his senior season. Technically and physically Cerf is the strongest lifter in school history.
"Danny is the strongest guy who's ever been in here," Bounnell said. "There's nobody that can fill his shoes. We don't have anybody that's even close to scoring points at state."
Cerf wanted to go down to the 219 weight class this season. He was shooting for 640 total, which last year would have placed him second at state at 219 last year. Placing at state this season would have earned him a coveted spot on the weight room's honor wall.
Instead, Bounnell has found another way to honor him. The team will leave the first 219 slot open, Cerf's slot, in his honor.
There is no replacing Cerf's presence, either. Cerf, a two-time Sunshine Athletic Conference champion at 238, was also the top fundraiser. The more than $400 Cerf raised from last year's lift-a-thon can be seen in the new equipment around the weight room.
He was a tutor and a mentor to the younger lifters. No one spent more time in the weight room. Not even the coach.
"He was always here," Bounnell said. "He was the one who took car of everything. He was like an assistant coach. He was the one who motivated the kids."
Teammate Keith Ostermann said Cerf still finds a way to inspire his teammates.
"(The accident) helps us stay focused," Ostermann said. "Some days I don't feel like working out but I know Cerf would do anything to be in there working out, so it's the least I can do."
But that doesn't make moving on without Cerf any easier.
"Definitely, you can tell there's a void in there," said Ostermann, "that just can't be replaced by anybody."
The team is doing as well as it can since the accident, Bounnell said.
"They're in shock like everybody else," he said. "We haven't been through it before but now we have. Now we understand the fragility of life."
