Unemployment.
Foreclosures.
Crime.
Egad.
What a year.
Thankfully, we had Hurricanes.
No, not the tropical kind.
Manatee High’s Hurricanes. That's what I’m talking about.
Their enthralling postseason gave us the kind of headlines that took our minds off the grim news we’ve been battered by during 2009.
See Sunday's Mannix About Manatee
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Neighborhood lights Christmas magic
A bow to all those people around my neighborhood who go to such great lengths decorating their homes for Christmas.
Me? I'm a piker with a little lighted tree with a Santa in a Hawaiian shirt.
I'm OK with it.
But I'm glad all those folks do what they do every Christmas.
Hectic as it always seems to be this time of year, their light displays make me slow down and take time to drive around and gaze the magic they've made.
It doesn't matter how ornate or simple they are.
I feel like a kid again.
A kid at Christmas.
Me? I'm a piker with a little lighted tree with a Santa in a Hawaiian shirt.
I'm OK with it.
But I'm glad all those folks do what they do every Christmas.
Hectic as it always seems to be this time of year, their light displays make me slow down and take time to drive around and gaze the magic they've made.
It doesn't matter how ornate or simple they are.
I feel like a kid again.
A kid at Christmas.
Monday, December 21, 2009
'Twas the Saturday before Christmas
This shouldn't take long, I told myself as I wheeled into the department store parking lot.
Just pick up a couple of things, get them wrapped and I'm home.
Ha!
What was I thinking?
It was the Saturday before Christmas.
The store wasn't crowded, but the lines? Yikes.
I picked out what I needed, got on one line and paid up.
Took maybe 15 minutes.
Then I got on the line for gift wrapping.
Oooooh, boy.
Know how you get in line at the grocery store and sometimes the person in front of you notices you've got one item and they let you go ahead of them?
Didn't happen Saturday.
There were folks ahead of me who must've done ALL their gift shopping that day and were getting every last box wrapped.
In different color wrapping paper and different ribbons, too.
Nearly an hour passed by the time my turn came.
The woman smiled just as she had for every customer before me, wrapped my gifts and then asked sweetly if there was anything else?
Merry Christmas, I told her.
Then I got out of that store as fast as I could.
Just pick up a couple of things, get them wrapped and I'm home.
Ha!
What was I thinking?
It was the Saturday before Christmas.
The store wasn't crowded, but the lines? Yikes.
I picked out what I needed, got on one line and paid up.
Took maybe 15 minutes.
Then I got on the line for gift wrapping.
Oooooh, boy.
Know how you get in line at the grocery store and sometimes the person in front of you notices you've got one item and they let you go ahead of them?
Didn't happen Saturday.
There were folks ahead of me who must've done ALL their gift shopping that day and were getting every last box wrapped.
In different color wrapping paper and different ribbons, too.
Nearly an hour passed by the time my turn came.
The woman smiled just as she had for every customer before me, wrapped my gifts and then asked sweetly if there was anything else?
Merry Christmas, I told her.
Then I got out of that store as fast as I could.
Friday, December 18, 2009
Canes must wait another year for title shot
ORLANDO
The stadium clock blinked down the final seconds of the season, but the celebration was already under way.
Not for the Manatee Hurricanes.
Tampa Plant's Panthers danced and leaped across the field, joined by their coaches and other players from the opposite sideline, their golden helmets shining in the Citrus Bowl's stadium lights.
State champs.
Plant 21, Manatee 14.
All the Canes could do was numbly watch.
They'd stormed back from a 21-0 halftime deficit and came within a fourth-down and short midway through the fourth quarter from sustaining their heroic comeback.
Slowly they assembled at the 50-yard line for the traditional postgame handshake.
Still, the Panthers celebration went on.
Their cheerleaders even assembled for a photo, most of them holding up their index fingers.
State champs.
What might've been.
The Canes just ran out of time.
Staggered by Plant's 21-point early outburst, Manatee showed a champion's heart, coming off the ropes in the second half, scoring twice to make it close.
They had their fans on their feet, yelling for more, rocking their side of the stadium.
"LET'S' GO MANATEE! LET'S GO MANATEE!" chanted the cheerleaders.
The Marching Canes were cranking the "Empire Strikes Back" theme.
Would their team strike back once more?
When Manatee got the ball back with 1:27 to play, they were working against a gale.
Cane quarterback Brion Carnes had to throw into its teeth.
Three incompletes made it fourth-and-10 from the Manatee 21.
Carnes scampered to his left and let fly, deep toward Ace Sanders, who outleaped two defenders, but couldn't make the catch.
That was the Canes last gasp.
Fifty-seven seconds remained in the season.
Panthers ball.
The celebration began.
After the Canes shook hands with the Panthers, they drifted toward the south end zone..
Some wept. Some embraced. Some knelt, head in hand.
When coach Joe Kinnan gathered his players around one final time, he told them he was proud of them, especially his seniors.
We have the nucleus, he also told them, to be back here again next season.
Yet next year seemed so far away.
It would take awhile for the Canes to get over this season ended.
State champs.
That was Plant Panthers Friday night.
Not the Manatee Hurricanes.
Maybe next year.
The stadium clock blinked down the final seconds of the season, but the celebration was already under way.
Not for the Manatee Hurricanes.
Tampa Plant's Panthers danced and leaped across the field, joined by their coaches and other players from the opposite sideline, their golden helmets shining in the Citrus Bowl's stadium lights.
State champs.
Plant 21, Manatee 14.
All the Canes could do was numbly watch.
They'd stormed back from a 21-0 halftime deficit and came within a fourth-down and short midway through the fourth quarter from sustaining their heroic comeback.
Slowly they assembled at the 50-yard line for the traditional postgame handshake.
Still, the Panthers celebration went on.
Their cheerleaders even assembled for a photo, most of them holding up their index fingers.
State champs.
What might've been.
The Canes just ran out of time.
Staggered by Plant's 21-point early outburst, Manatee showed a champion's heart, coming off the ropes in the second half, scoring twice to make it close.
They had their fans on their feet, yelling for more, rocking their side of the stadium.
"LET'S' GO MANATEE! LET'S GO MANATEE!" chanted the cheerleaders.
The Marching Canes were cranking the "Empire Strikes Back" theme.
Would their team strike back once more?
When Manatee got the ball back with 1:27 to play, they were working against a gale.
Cane quarterback Brion Carnes had to throw into its teeth.
Three incompletes made it fourth-and-10 from the Manatee 21.
Carnes scampered to his left and let fly, deep toward Ace Sanders, who outleaped two defenders, but couldn't make the catch.
That was the Canes last gasp.
Fifty-seven seconds remained in the season.
Panthers ball.
The celebration began.
After the Canes shook hands with the Panthers, they drifted toward the south end zone..
Some wept. Some embraced. Some knelt, head in hand.
When coach Joe Kinnan gathered his players around one final time, he told them he was proud of them, especially his seniors.
We have the nucleus, he also told them, to be back here again next season.
Yet next year seemed so far away.
It would take awhile for the Canes to get over this season ended.
State champs.
That was Plant Panthers Friday night.
Not the Manatee Hurricanes.
Maybe next year.
1219vinanecdotes
Zach Beeker was at a loss for words at halftime.
"We need to do something," said the Manatee High senior, whose Hurricanes trailed 21-0 at the half.
What did some alums say?
Patti Eurice: "They can't lose heart."
Joe Rocklein: "We're not beating them off the ball like we did against
Aquinas."
"We need to do something," said the Manatee High senior, whose Hurricanes trailed 21-0 at the half.
What did some alums say?
Patti Eurice: "They can't lose heart."
Joe Rocklein: "We're not beating them off the ball like we did against
Aquinas."
Plant 21, Manatee 0
Panthers 21, Canes 0.
Just when it looked like the Canes defense had the Panthers back on their heels with a third-down and 18 jam, they let them off the hook.
James Wilder picked up the first down on a nice pass to the backside of Manatee's defense.
Then he busted a 42-yard run, breaking several tackles to score.
The Canes absolutely, postively have to get a score here.
It's just 3:06 until halftime.
Just when it looked like the Canes defense had the Panthers back on their heels with a third-down and 18 jam, they let them off the hook.
James Wilder picked up the first down on a nice pass to the backside of Manatee's defense.
Then he busted a 42-yard run, breaking several tackles to score.
The Canes absolutely, postively have to get a score here.
It's just 3:06 until halftime.
Canes defense makes first stand
Canes defense makes a stand at last, forcing Plant to punt for their first time this game.
Still, with 6:07 left in the second quarter, Manatee needs to get something on the board.
It's early yet in the game, but the Canes must score soon.
Still, with 6:07 left in the second quarter, Manatee needs to get something on the board.
It's early yet in the game, but the Canes must score soon.
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