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Gen-y Pirates

iPods or Internet? To blog or not to blog? Young Crystal River coaches give us the dirt.

By BRIAN SUMERS
Published August 27, 2006

CRYSTAL RIVER - So who will it be?

Paris Hilton or Nicole Richie?

We posed that question, among others, to the four new 20-something major sport coaches at Crystal River High.

The goal: to gauge their Generation Y credentials.

Each was born between 1977 and 1984, making them relatively young adults for Citrus County and qualified members of Generation Y.

Football coach Anthony Paradiso, who is 29, balked a little about being grouped with the other three - all in their mid to early 20s.

Luckily, Paradiso acquiesced. But his age showed, as he was puzzled by a few queries.

Here's how Paradiso and the others dealt with the Times' inquisition.

Anthony Paradiso

Position: Football coach

Age: 29

Year Born: 1977

Favorite band: I don't have one.

My favorite sports movie is ... Rocky III.

Favorite athlete: Michael Jordan

Shakira is ... Someone I don't know. Someone I've heard of but know nothing about.

My favorite pop idol is ... Don't have one.

Nicole Richie or Paris Hilton? I don't watch TV.

My Favorite 80s song: I don't listen to music.

My first job: I worked at a dry cleaners for like a month. This was in high school, in between the end of football season and the start of baseball season.

The worst class I took in college was ... An art class, a drawing class. It was the whole charcoal thing..

Do you blog?: No.

Do you own a house?: Yes, I've had a couple of houses.

Are you ever mistaken for a student? No.

I'm not too young to be a head coach because ... I didn't know there was an age limit.

My players relate to me because ... Expectations are set.

The most important world event of my life: I don't know. I've never thought of it like that.

Most important contribution of Generation Y: Fantasy Football. That's what my generation brought.

Kids these days ... need positive role models, discipline and guidance.

Justin Orosz

Position: Basketball coach

Age: 28

Year Born: 1978

Favorite band: Allman Brothers, Lynard Skynard

My favorite sports movie is ... Hoosiers. I've seen it 15-20 times.

Favorite athlete: Former Detroit Tigers and Los Angeles Dodgers slugger Kirk Gibson

Shakira is ... I'm not too up on pop culture, but I know she's a singer.

My favorite pop idol is ... You're asking the wrong guy on that.

Nicole Richie or Paris Hilton? Neither. A strong neither. Not my cup of tea, either one of them.

My Favorite 80s song: I don't remember.

My first job: I mowed lawns. It served its purpose. I made some money. Nothing I wanted to get into long term.

The worst class I took in college was ... An art class, a drawing class. It was the whole charcoal thing. I don't want to say I was horrible, but I don't claim to be an artist.

Do you blog?: No.

Do you own a house?: No.

Are you ever mistaken for a student? No.

I'm not too young to be a head coach because ... I've been fortunate to work in programs where the head coach has given me a lot of experience and responsibility. I don't think age is going to be an issue.

My players relate to me because ... They know I want the best for them.

The most important world event of my life: The battle with terrorism.

Most important contribution of Generation Y: The Internet

Kids these days ... are hard workers when they know what they're working for.

Bobby Stack

Position: Baseball coach

Age: 24

Year Born: 1982 Favorite band: 3 Doors Down

My favorite sports movie is ... Remember the Titans.

Favorite athlete: Mike Hampton

Shakira is ... a good singer. I couldn't point her out if you showed her to me.

My favorite pop idol is ... Montgomery Gentry. He's a country singer.

Nicole Richie or Paris Hilton? That might get me in trouble.

My Favorite 80s song: Free Fallin' by Tom Petty.

My first job: Dave's body shop. Slaving. I detailed cars.

The worst class I took in college was ... British Literature. It was early in the college days.

Do you blog?: What are blogs?

Do you own a house?: No. My fiance and I own a piece of property that we are going to build on.

Are you ever mistaken for a student? Quite a few times.

I'm not too young to be a head coach because ... I've been in two successful college programs and I'm fresh and ready to go.

My players relate to me because ... Whenever I was younger, I looked up to kids that came from college programs.

The most important world event of my life: Sept. 11.

Most important contribution of Generation Y: Cell phones.

Kids these days ... need a lot of discipline.

Meryl Weber

Position: Volleyball coach

Age: 22

Year Born: 1983

Favorite band: Metallica

My favorite sports movie is ... Remember the Titans. A good all-American blood, sweat and tears.

Favorite athlete: Volleyball player Gabrielle Reece.

Shakira is ... Quite the hipshaker.

My favorite pop idol is ... Beyonce.

Nicole Richie or Paris Hilton? Nicole Richie because Paris is so fake. She bothers me.

My Favorite 80s song: Shot Through the Heart, by Bon Jovi.

My first job: Santa's helper at the mall.

The worst class I took in college was ... Statistics. My teacher was Russian and we couldn't understand a word she said.

Do you blog?: I'm a teacher now. I don't go into that stuff. All I need is my kids saying, 'Ms. Weber, look what I found.'

Do you own a house?: Yes. Part-owner with my parents.

Are you ever mistaken for a student? Yeah, a couple of times. It's sort of a compliment, but then I'm like, 'No, I'm the coach.'

I'm not too young to be a head coach because ... You're never too young to coach.

My players relate to me because ... I know the game.

The most important world event of my life: Sept. 11.

Most important contribution of Generation Y: iPods.

Kids these days ... know too much.

[Last modified August 27, 2006, 06:36:24]