“When was the last time a governor warned a million people to evacuate or ‘the Fighting Tarpons will kill you?’...The Fighting Tarpons happen to be the nickname of Charlotte High, the school that was devastated by Hurricane Charley in 2004. Check with the residents of Punta Gorda and see if they’d like a hurricane for their school’s nickname."
The last Governor that had anything to say about the Tarpons said this while standing in front of SK and a destroyed Charlotte High School.
“This school’s got a great nickname, the Fighting Tarpons. It has a great football tradition and a great educational tradition. It’s the highest priority that we rebuild our schools.”
Of course, it took 7 years to get the damn school back (SK had to remind Jeb Bush about helping us rebuild, because FEMA and the school board wasn't doing much). It ended up being the longest rebuild in Fl history, longer than some third world countries. I wish the writer was this concerned when SK was trying to get papers to notice back then.
Heck we beat Manatee the last time we played them, and should have the time before that, save for a Brion Carnes Hail Mary. Getting our school and field back that's all we cared about during those 7 years. If you can find a single person in Punta Gorda who gave a rats ass about the Canes nickname, I’ll by a round for the bar - what offended people like me who had three sons going there during those years, was how long it took to rebuild. Jeb used this during the last week or so of his campaign for President about coming to two Tarpon / Pirate games, Bearded kid is mini-me and SK behind Jeb in the stands.
