Good Jamboree story that I never miss an opportunity to tell my buddy Wavebb - Ft Myers, the first team the Tarpons ever played, beat Charlotte like a drum for forty years. In Junior High we had an undefeated team that put the first loss on the Ripples in five years. Seeing what we had coming, Ft Myers took us off the schedule the three years I started on Varsity.

Back then we played two-quarters of jamboree in lieu of a Kickoff classic. We drew Ft Myers, to the satisfaction of the Large Punta Gorda crowd in the stands and got to face them for a 12 minute quarter my senior year. We put 14 points on them and shut them out. This was without one of the Top 100 Florida HS athletes of all time, Burton Lawless, and two 1,000 yard rushers that graduated the year before off the Semi Final team.

Now when my crew graduated -Ft Myers added the Tarpons back on the schedule. It wasn't until the Binky Waldrop years that we started chipping away at the lopsided series numbers. My three sons all have a winning record against them - and two wins in the last 50 seconds. But we did beat them in the biggest game ever between both schools -the Regional Final at the Sam. Sam Sr - a great guy who knew us well and always chatted us up at Track Meets, was the coach who wisely had them take us off the schedule while they were rebuilding. The year we were 10-2, they were 2-8, so he made a wise coaching decision.

Reminds me of hitting fly balls to a younger neighbor kid I was trying to help be more athletic. Kept telling him, keep your eyes locked on the ball. So, one hit him right between the eyes, broke his glasses and I had to haul him home crying to his mom.

Funny they moved up to Tampa and next time I saw him was five years later coming off the field at Tampa Catholic after the beat us in the Regional Final my senior year. They saw my name in the paper as a starter. Feel, bad, because I wasn't really in the mood for a reunion leaving the filed from a game we should have won, but at least got to tell him he looked like he grew up.

gatorman001 said:

Green vs White Game this Friday at 6 pm. Come get your first look at the 2024 Venice Indians! We are requesting a donation of Tide Pods for admission. May 10th

Click to expand...

We are? gatorman001! Say it ain’t so! Are you now a Venice Indian?

Banned? That sounds harsh.

Nothing about Manatee yet?

QB/OL will be a concern (as always). The freshman kid who fancied himself D-1, left for Port Charlotte. Good news is, the schedule isn't near what it was last year. That's how PC bought time for their coaches to get experience and figure it out over a decade; don't schedule beasts. You do that when you're a regular playoff caliber team to take the next step.

Well I do not have any inside contacts within Lake Minneola. I spoke to someone who lives in the area. In his opinion the new head coach from Pensacola did not receive the financial consideration that he was expecting. Supposedly he called to tell Lake Minneola one day before he was supposed to arrive.

He did not think Coach Banks was run off by Lake Minneola because of the parents and players. They like him very much. I don’t know if you have some better details. Not surprising many of the current players have left to other schools.

By the way, I’m still going to the Ocala Vanguard @ Manatee spring game on May 16th. Are you?

It’s behind the paywall. I’ve exhausted my use of free articles.