The Picking of An All-Area Team

The publication of the All-Area teams always brings on the inevitable question:
How is the team picked?
Well, one of the reasons I wanted a blog was to explain something like this. Blogs aren't constricted by time or space. There is no deadline. And there are no rules. So let me unveil what goes on when picking an All-Area team.
Keep in mind - this is how I pick an All-Area team. I am not speaking for other writers. There are no hard and fast rules for throwing these teams together, so what works for me may not work for others, and vice versa. But this is how I do it.
I get stats from the coaches. Then I step back, pick a player of the year and a team.
There ya go. That's how we do it. No equations or formulas. No votes. We keep the coaches' input in mind, but ultiamtely, the decision rests with the writer picking the team.
When picking the player of the year, stats play a pivotal role. But it's not everyting. I often take a team's schedule into account, as well as how the player did against area teams. And if the player just so happens to be on the team that went the furthest, I ask myself if the team would have gone that far without that player.
Keep in mind - the player of the year doesn't always come from the best team. There was a girls basketball team that won a state championship while I was working for a paper in Pennsylvania, and we picked a player for another team. The state championship team, as good as it was, didn't have a standout player. So like I said, this is a formula-free process.
The hardest part of picking a team in this area, however, is we have nearly a dozen teams spread out over five classifications. Do we punish the kids who play for small schools? No. But at the same time, should we measure a player who faces Class 5A or 6A competition against someone who sees Class 1A and 2A teams?
So yes, stats from a Class 5A player are weighed against those from 1A and 2A schools. Face it - the competition at the higher level is tougher. That's not to say there isn't any talent at the lower levels. If there wasn't, there wouldn't be any Class 1A or 2A players on our teams, or wouldn't earn Player of the Year status, which as has happened quite frequently.
So that's how it's done. That's how the team is picked. We do our best to be fair, all the while knowing everybody won't be pleased. But keep this in mind - there are no biases. We don't play favorites. We put the most deserving players on the team, and go from there.
Will everybody agree?
Nope.
But let's be honest. That's part of the fun.

Spring football pairings

Let the games begin.

Here are the area matchups for the annual spring football games:

Thursday, May 21
Southeast at Cardinal Mooney, 7 p.m.
Friday, May 22
Sarasota at Bayshore, 7 p.m.; Bradenton Christian at St. Petersburg, 7 p.m.
Saturday, May 23
Bradenton Prep at Ocala jamboree.

Thursday, May 28
Braden River at Riverview, 7:30 p.m.; Palmetto at St. Petersburg Northeast, 7 p.m.
Friday, May 29
Largo at Manatee, 7 p.m.; Cape Coral Island Coast at Lakewood Ranch, 7 p.m.
Saturday, May 30
Saint Stephen’s vs. Lakeland Victory Christian at Bryant Stadium, 7:30 p.m.

Kinnan challenging Canes

When it came time to schedule a game for the spring and another for the Kickoff Classic, Manatee coach Joe Kinnan went looking for quality opponents.
He sure found them.
Manatee hosts Largo this month and heads to Tampa Plant for the Kickoff Classic in August.
Largo has made consecutive trips to the Class 5A final four. And Tampa Plant, now competing in Class 5A, won the Class 4A state title last year.
Manatee's quarterback, Brion Carnes, is set to enter his fourth season as a varsity starter. And the Canes return three offensive linemen from last year's squad, which went 7-3 but missed the playoffs for the first time since 2004.
"We thought we'd throw a challenge at them right away," Kinnan said.
Largo went 12-2 last year and recorded four shutouts en route to winning its second regional championship.
Plant, which was ranked among the top 50 football teams in the country, was 14-1 but got a scare from Southeast in the Class 4A-Region 3 semifinals, which Plant won 13-7.

Big turnout at Palmetto

Making consecutive playoff appearances, winning a district title and a playoff game, as well as sending three players to top-tier Division I schools, pays dividends.
Just ask Palmetto football coach Raymond Woodie, who had 100 kids report to practice this spring.
"It's no special formula - it's just the process of doing it the right way," Woodie said. "These kids are excited."
Palmetto has made the playoffs the last two years and clinched the program's first district title in nearly a decade last fall. The Tigers won 17 games combined in 2007-08, and have sent Joe Hills (South Carolina), Damian Copeland (Louisville) and Kedric Johnson (Florida) to Division I schools since '06.
And Division I scouts are coming back to Palmetto this year to get a look at guys such as Donald Campbell, Ty Scott and Brandon Tarpley. A scout from North Carolina was in attendance Tuesday.
"You have to have structure, and that's in anything you do," Woodie said. "Structure includes modeling the behavior and discipline, and that's what I told these coaches you have to do."
Palmetto, which heads to St. Petersburg Northeast on May 28 for its spring game, will move up to Class 4A-District 11 after competing in 3A.
Joining the Tigers in their district will be Port Charlotte, Punta Gorda Charlotte and Lakewood Ranch.

Regional baseball pairings

Cardinal Mooney and Out-of-Door Academy have advanced to baseball's regional championship series.
Both series begin Friday.
Listed below are the matchups:
Class 3A-Region 3
Fort Pierce John Carroll vs. Cardinal Mooney at Twin Lakes Park, 4 p.m. Game 2 is scheduled to begin 60 minutes after the completion of Game 1.
Game 3 - 1 p.m. Saturday (if necessary).
Class 1A-Region 3
Tampa Cambridge at Out-of-Door Academy, 1 p.m. Game 2 is scheduled to begin 60 minutes after the completion of Game 1.
Game 3 - 1 p.m. Saturday (if necessary).

Tigers take second

Palmetto's girls 400 relay team of Alexis Love, Kymbrell Smith, Trijala Kelly, and Brandy Gordon took second at the Class 3A state track and field championships in Winter Park today. They had a time of 47.82.
Pine Forest won with a time of 46.96.
It was the second medal of the day for Love, who was seventh in the 100. She is also competing in the 200.

Two more county medals

Lakewood Ranch's James Fulmer capped his prep track career in fine fashion Friday the Class 3A state track and field championships at Showalter Field in Winter Park.
The senior placed fourth in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 14.57.
Palmetto's Alexis Love earned a medal - awarded to the top eight in each event - by placing seventh in the 100 dash (12.22).
Love, a senior who is on her way to Murray State on a track scholarship, has two races left. She qualified in the 200 and is the anchor on Palmetto's 400 relay team.