Took a good long look at a scorecard that holds compelling interest for us all, especially on these first breezy days of October.
It had nothing to do with pennant races, the NFL or Manatee County high school football.
Rather, it was Weather.com’s Hurricane Season 2010 Scorecard.
Thus far Floridians have been lucky, because what a season it’s been, indeed.
One that’s been remarkably on target for hurricane forecasters whose predictions never fail to get our attention, fill us with dread as June 1 approaches, and always make us ask:
How do those academic types at Colorado State on the foothills of the Rockies know so darned much about our tropics?
They predicted between 14 to 18 named storms.
We’ve had 14.
They predicted eight hurricanes.
We’ve had seven.
They predicted four major hurricanes (Category 3 or higher).
We’ve had five.
Wonder if these guys have played the gaming tables at Las Vegas this year?
Read more in Sunday's Mannix About Manatee.
Friday, October 1, 2010
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Movie limelight keeps Coach young
Coach Eddie Shannon is enjoying the limelight with “Through the Tunnel.”
METV’s award-winning documentary about Lincoln Memorial High football under Shannon’s aegis makes the 88-year-old icon young again.
Take last night’s screening at the Clearwater International Film Festival.
Showtime was 9 p.m.
“Past my bedtime,” said METV honcho Charles Clapsaddle.
“Not mine,” Coach said.
Read more in Friday's Vin's People.
METV’s award-winning documentary about Lincoln Memorial High football under Shannon’s aegis makes the 88-year-old icon young again.
Take last night’s screening at the Clearwater International Film Festival.
Showtime was 9 p.m.
“Past my bedtime,” said METV honcho Charles Clapsaddle.
“Not mine,” Coach said.
Read more in Friday's Vin's People.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Southwest coming to SRQ? Yahooooo!
Southwest Airlines at SRQ?
Halleleujah!
Count my wife and I among the travelers who have given Southwest Airlines our business at Tampa International Airport. One in three TIA fliers use Southwest.
To be able to do it at SRQ would be terrific.
Of course, that they're poised to take over AirTran's flights, if the merger goes through, means a stop in Atlanta. That's something we've tried to avoid over the years by getting non-stop service out of TIA.
We'll just have to wait and see.
In a day and age where flying has become such a wearying experience, I enjoy flying Southwest. So does my wife.
Can you remember the last flight you took where the crew had you laughing practically from takeoff to touchdown?
We can. It was on Southwest, flying to Philadelphia for our annual summer vacation at the Jersey Shore last July.
If we're able to do that just leaving out of SRQ?
Can't wait.
Halleleujah!
Count my wife and I among the travelers who have given Southwest Airlines our business at Tampa International Airport. One in three TIA fliers use Southwest.
To be able to do it at SRQ would be terrific.
Of course, that they're poised to take over AirTran's flights, if the merger goes through, means a stop in Atlanta. That's something we've tried to avoid over the years by getting non-stop service out of TIA.
We'll just have to wait and see.
In a day and age where flying has become such a wearying experience, I enjoy flying Southwest. So does my wife.
Can you remember the last flight you took where the crew had you laughing practically from takeoff to touchdown?
We can. It was on Southwest, flying to Philadelphia for our annual summer vacation at the Jersey Shore last July.
If we're able to do that just leaving out of SRQ?
Can't wait.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Our fights didn't end up on YouTube
Guys fighting over a girl.
Saw it growing up.
Girls fighting over a boy?
Heard about it, but never saw it.
Until Thursday, that is.
The YouTube video of two Palmetto High 16-year-olds scrapping near Emerson Point was an eye-opener.
Not just the fight itself, but what was taking place around it.
What were those mothers thinking?
And what about all those youths filming the fight with camera phones like it was fun and games.
Fights happen.
I had my share as a kid.
Who didn’t?
Read more Sunday in Mannix About Manatee.
Saw it growing up.
Girls fighting over a boy?
Heard about it, but never saw it.
Until Thursday, that is.
The YouTube video of two Palmetto High 16-year-olds scrapping near Emerson Point was an eye-opener.
Not just the fight itself, but what was taking place around it.
What were those mothers thinking?
And what about all those youths filming the fight with camera phones like it was fun and games.
Fights happen.
I had my share as a kid.
Who didn’t?
Read more Sunday in Mannix About Manatee.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Yet another funereal offer I can refuse
Folks complain about the automated political messages they get on their phones.
My wife got another one today.
I don't get them. Never have.
What I get a lot of -- in the mail -- are funeral arrangement offers.
The latest was for a cremation deal from The Neptune Society.
Are these folks trying to tell me something?
OK, I will be 61 in October, battling stress is an ongoing deal, and I'm just getting over a bad cold that made me feel like I was dying a slow death.
But I'm not ready to check out just yet, thanks.
Heck, I just joined my church choir.
When my time does come, I'm cool with being cremated.
I've always said, pour my ashes in an open jar, put it on the shelf of an Irish pub where they play real traditional music, and keep a pint of Guinness nearby so my spirit never thirsts.
Just not too soon, though.
At least not before the 2010 World Series if my Philadelphia Phillies get back into it for the third straight year.
My wife got another one today.
I don't get them. Never have.
What I get a lot of -- in the mail -- are funeral arrangement offers.
The latest was for a cremation deal from The Neptune Society.
Are these folks trying to tell me something?
OK, I will be 61 in October, battling stress is an ongoing deal, and I'm just getting over a bad cold that made me feel like I was dying a slow death.
But I'm not ready to check out just yet, thanks.
Heck, I just joined my church choir.
When my time does come, I'm cool with being cremated.
I've always said, pour my ashes in an open jar, put it on the shelf of an Irish pub where they play real traditional music, and keep a pint of Guinness nearby so my spirit never thirsts.
Just not too soon, though.
At least not before the 2010 World Series if my Philadelphia Phillies get back into it for the third straight year.
Monday, September 20, 2010
False starts don't derail Sunday NFL TV
So there I was Sunday at the Holiday Inn Express near SRQ.
My wife had just dropped me off and it was about 10 minutes before kickoff of the NFL's 1 p.m. games.
I had my Eagles jersey and visor on, but nowhere to go.
The hotel's Sporting News bar, a favorite of mine on football Sundays, was crowded and it seemed like every game was on, but the one I wanted to see: Eagles vs. Lions.
I'd gotten there a tad too late.
Sorry, bar manager Mike Smith said.
I walked out in the parking lot and called Sherri.
Got shut out, I told her. Would you come get me?
Sherri was at the intersection of US 301 and Tallevast, almost home.
OK, she said, let me turn around and I'll be there in a minute.
There's another joint on Lockwood Ridge I figured I'd try.
Just then I heard someone yell my name.
They'd freed up one TV.
Great, I said. Except I had to call my wife.
"I'm back in the game," I said. "They got a TV for me."
Sherri was sooooo happy to hear that.
She had just turned around after going through the intersection at US 301 and was waiting at the same light, headed in the opposite direction to pick me up.
Sorry about that, sweetheart.
Sherri turned around once more, made it home and watched the Bucs win.
I got a seat at The Sporting News and watched the Eagles win.
Turned out to be a good Sunday after all.
My wife had just dropped me off and it was about 10 minutes before kickoff of the NFL's 1 p.m. games.
I had my Eagles jersey and visor on, but nowhere to go.
The hotel's Sporting News bar, a favorite of mine on football Sundays, was crowded and it seemed like every game was on, but the one I wanted to see: Eagles vs. Lions.
I'd gotten there a tad too late.
Sorry, bar manager Mike Smith said.
I walked out in the parking lot and called Sherri.
Got shut out, I told her. Would you come get me?
Sherri was at the intersection of US 301 and Tallevast, almost home.
OK, she said, let me turn around and I'll be there in a minute.
There's another joint on Lockwood Ridge I figured I'd try.
Just then I heard someone yell my name.
They'd freed up one TV.
Great, I said. Except I had to call my wife.
"I'm back in the game," I said. "They got a TV for me."
Sherri was sooooo happy to hear that.
She had just turned around after going through the intersection at US 301 and was waiting at the same light, headed in the opposite direction to pick me up.
Sorry about that, sweetheart.
Sherri turned around once more, made it home and watched the Bucs win.
I got a seat at The Sporting News and watched the Eagles win.
Turned out to be a good Sunday after all.
Friday, September 17, 2010
Dancer was like a flower gone so soon
“You’re like a flower.
“Pretty and dances in the wind.”
The parting thought was among the heartfelt words written around the portrait of Nancy G. Lopez-Ruiz in the back of St. Joseph Catholic Church.
Dance was Nancy’s gift to her family and many friends.
And, like a flower in the wind, she was gone much too soon.
One week after the vibrant Bayshore High graduate’s tragic death, an air of disbelief permeated Friday morning’s funeral Mass as her pall-covered coffin lie before the altar.
Just 22, Nancy was realizing her dreams after moving to South Florida a few years ago.
She’d gotten engaged.
She’d had a part in Kenny Chesney’s 2009 video: “Went Out Last Night.”
She recently made the Miami Heat dance team.
Friends and classmates, some of them young mothers now, spoke of receiving Nancy’s texts and phone calls sharing her excitement.
Then one week later her life was snuffed out, struck by another motorist while Nancy rode her motorcycle in Fort Lauderdale.
Read more in Saturday's Mannix About Manatee.
“Pretty and dances in the wind.”
The parting thought was among the heartfelt words written around the portrait of Nancy G. Lopez-Ruiz in the back of St. Joseph Catholic Church.
Dance was Nancy’s gift to her family and many friends.
And, like a flower in the wind, she was gone much too soon.
One week after the vibrant Bayshore High graduate’s tragic death, an air of disbelief permeated Friday morning’s funeral Mass as her pall-covered coffin lie before the altar.
Just 22, Nancy was realizing her dreams after moving to South Florida a few years ago.
She’d gotten engaged.
She’d had a part in Kenny Chesney’s 2009 video: “Went Out Last Night.”
She recently made the Miami Heat dance team.
Friends and classmates, some of them young mothers now, spoke of receiving Nancy’s texts and phone calls sharing her excitement.
Then one week later her life was snuffed out, struck by another motorist while Nancy rode her motorcycle in Fort Lauderdale.
Read more in Saturday's Mannix About Manatee.
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