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Heavy hitters
By JOHN C. COTEY
Published December 24, 2006
Picking the top story of 2006 reminded us a lot of picking the field for the NCAA men's basketball tournament - no matter how many stories you narrow it down from, you always feel someone is being excluded. We came up with 16 and the idea to set them up against each other. We chose based on the story's significance, buzz it created, feelings it invoked in others. We randomly seeded them, then let the stories go head-to-head. There were blowouts, some real nail biters and, in the end, a winner we felt truly captured the spirit of Pasco County sports in 2006. Gulf football makes playoffs Winner: The Bucs. Brown was drafted, but so was Mike Rabelo, Danny Boyd, Dave Doorneweerd, etc. This year's crop of Bucs can say they are the only ones to ever make the playoffs. Dominic Brown drafted in second round Broadbelt out, Bell in Winner: Phil Bell. He's the county's first full-time athletic director, and we're not sure that means anything at this point, but we'll give him the benefit of the doubt. Though the Bulldogs had their first 20-win season and were spectacular, we refuse to be swayed ... though ... hmm .... uhhhh. Zephyrhills softball makes region final Broadbelt out, Bell in Winner: Jerry Young's lifelong quest to go to the football playoffs as a coach pushes the Bucs into the semifinals. It wasn't always pretty - sometimes, we had to turn our heads away - but Gulf found a way to deliver on lots of preseason promise. Besides, now that we know Phil's cousin, Jim, is an astrophysicist at Cornell, the whole county AD thing doesn't impress us as much. Gulf football makes playoffs Ricky Thomas hired at Wiregrass Winner: Sing along with us: It's the ciiiiiircle of liiiiiiife. Anyway, it's good to have old SweetBack back, and it's just as good to say goodbye to Caparaso. Because he was so brash and fiery and, well, you know, the crash of Cap at Pasco was prime theater. Dade City is rid of him, but we'll keep him around a little longer. Dale Caparaso fired at Pasco LOL's Steven Bell wins two state titles Winner: It's 2-0 for guys named Bell in the first round! The story of the Land O'Lakes track star overcoming his own shortcomings to finally reach his potential is just too juicy not to move along. Besides, Thomas, the all-time leader in scoring for girls hoops, will be back in this thing next year, we suspect. Sthefany Thomas sets scoring record LOL's Steven Bell wins two state titles Winner: Knowing there's a Jim Bell who is an astrophysicist at Cornell makes the whole state title thing not impress us as much. Kidding. We know how hard running (walking) around a track (to the fridge) against top competition (during commercials) can be. But if we had a dime for every time someone asked us "They going to fire Cap?" we could finance Larry Beets Bobblehead Night at Ridgewood. Dale Caparaso fired at Pasco Voss commits to USF Winner: Jose Montelongo just scored again ... seriously. The sophomore goal-scoring machine took the Pirates all the way to Fort Lauderdale before his futbollers fell short on the pitch (obligatory soccer term alert!). Besides, we're still not convinced Voss ends up at USF (see: free safety, University of Florida). Pasco boys soccer heads to state Benedetto coaches 30th season Winner: Gulf coach Mike Quarto may not have been the most popular coach around (we think he's the first to go 29-2 and not earn SAC Coach of the Year honors), but the Bucs' turnaround from 2-42 the two seasons before he was hired to 54-4 the past two is pretty remarkable, capped by last year's trip to the region final. However, if Benedetto retires before the end of the year, just crumple this up and toss in the garbage. Gulf girls hoops make run at state Pasco boys soccer heads to state Winner: No one could touch the Bucs last year. If you had to compare all the dominant teams in their respective sports in Pasco last year, and you haven't been hitting the eggnog a little too hard this holiday season, we're pretty sure the Bucs would be at the top. Besides, the Pirates had their final four, so our nod goes to Gulf. Gulf girls hoops make run at state Gulf star Dominique English transfers Winner: Nothing, and I mean nothing, beats a good home run chase (see: Mantle-Maris, Sosa-McGwire, Killebrew-Mays). Shields and Piurowski battled it out all year, broke the county record and nearly took down the state record. In the end, it was 18-all. Robbie Shields-Caz Piurowski HR chase Zephyrhills football starts the season 7-0 Winner: It's futbol vs. football. King's lofty accomplishment (a 300th career win to go with that state title of hers) is outweighed by mere ounces by the Bulldogs' surprising start, which included a season-opening win over No. 1 Land O'Lakes. It's a nifty little story, especially when you conveniently forget the way it ended. Vicky King second coach with 300 wins Zephyrhills football starts the season 7-0 Winner: Nothing, and I mean nothing, beats a good home run chase. Have I said that already? We love small ball, too, but the longball captures the fancy like no other. (See: 2000 Zephyrhills baseball team and the state-record 63 home runs ... good times, good times.). Plus, I could swear one of Piurowski's homers was just spotted last week landing in Spring Hill. Robbie Shields-Caz Piurowski HR chase Gulf football makes playoffs Winner: You know how in the NCAA Tournament, there's always this team that goes further than everyone expects because of some unknown player that comes off the bench to make some crazy shot? Well, that's what the Pasco football coach search is. By itself, not the story of the year. But tagged onto the Caparaso firing, as part of one long continuing saga, it's solid gold. Dale Caparaso fired at Pasco Gulf girls hoops make run at state Winner: We like basketball gyms. We like the sound a swish makes. We love to watch dominant teams. But know what we like more? A good ol' home run derby! A nice lawn chair, a scorebook, a diet soda and an overcooked hamburger that requires so much ketchup that on first bite it squirts everywhere, wiping out the third inning of your scorebook. Oh, and a home run. It doesn't get any better. Robbie Shields-Caz Piurowski HR chase Robbie Shields-Caz Piurowski HR chase Winner: I remember when I was 12 years old and Gorman Thomas hit a home run in the ninth inning to win a game against Kansas City, prompting me to throw my transistor radio in the air. I helplessly watched as it crashed to the ground and I began crying. But not because of the radio. Gorman had homered! My football coach in high school was fired, and I can't even remember his name. Bob something. Dale Caparaso fired at Pasco John C. Cotey can be reached at 727 869-6261 or cotey@sptimes.com
[Last modified December 23, 2006, 23:28:31]
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