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Bratt, Florida 

MarkECannon, how far would you be willing to travel to attend a high school football game? Do you have a limit to how far that you would go, for instance 50-75 miles? 

I second this post and it is a honor to do so.

Part of the reason that coaching salaries are much higher in Georgia and Texas is because of the influence and pocket books of many boosters in those states. Why that is true is because people in the community actually care about their local high school football team, and remain fans even though they might not have a child attending or playing sports for the school. That is what is missing in Florida, the fan who attends the game to support his/her alma mater, or the fan who loves the game and attends the "Game of the Week" in their area, fans such as MarkECannon and JDHoss. This bill aims to help young men and women who can use the support from coaches and other adults, and I am not sure why anyone would have a problem with this proposed solution that tries to fix a problem. It is hard to compete for coaching salaries with these other states in Florida until more people take interest in their local high school football teams. 

Week 2 of Spring Tour 2026 did not come close to Week 1.   * It started well at Piper High on Tuesday night against South Dade.  The great gentleman JDHOSS joined me.  Piper has decent skill talent but is woefully inadequate on the OL and DL.  I would be surprised if their promising young QB is not fielding offers from other schools.  I would applaud him if he stays at Piper but in today’s world I wouldn’t mind being his agent.  South Dade looks like the Buccaneers from last year.  Plenty of skill talent with adequate line play.  They ran out to an early lead, let up, then finished strong in this game. *  On Wednesday attended the jamboree at Archbishop Carroll with Braddock and Goleman.  It began at 3:30pm on what was a hot but not overly hot day.  Archbishop Carroll is adjacent to large agricultural fields and is less than a mile from an eastern border of the Everglades.  When I first saw that Goleman was participating in this I thought this would not be much of a challenge for them.  I could not have been more wrong.    Archbishop Carroll is a very well coached machine.  Running the old school wing t to perfection the 1A Bulldogs could not be stopped.  They should be a definite team to watch.  Braddock was no match.  Braddock’s version of Bulldogs was looking for the shade and their water bowls as quickly as possible when their half with Archbishop was over. Next, Archbishop embarrassed last year’s 7A Regional Finalist, Goleman.  I’m sure Goleman lost a lot to graduation but with last year’s success I did think they would not fall off this much.  I’m not writing them off but the Gators defense had not prepared for the wing t.  This was domination.  Goleman did find their way in the end zone on their first drive but was completely shut down for the remaining of the half.     The Goleman/Braddock matchup turned out to be a surprisingly even matchup.  What wasn’t an even matchup was the increasingly aggressive gnats that had me headed towards my air conditioned automobile a little more than halfway before the 2nd quarter was over. * What did Friday bring?  If you would like, read my earlier post about it.     * I decided to travel to Ft. Myers on Saturday to watch South Fort Myers @ Bishop Verot.  These two teams personally know each other so well that the game included a lot of trash talking.  Is it just me but a lot of the Catholic schools trash talk with the best of them and usually initiate it?  Please, spare me the political correctness.  I like to see the passion of competition unless it overflows to ugliness.   Verot came out like a machine much like Archbishop Carroll (both teams were also wearing all-black uniforms), taking a 14-0 lead.  Then, the talent that has made its way to the Wolfpack began to take over tying the game and getting a stop.  Then a momentum changing Pick 6 by North Dakota State commit, Robi Duclona, allowed the Vikings to right the ship.  South Ft Myers was keeping it close but in the second half the Verot onslaught turned this into a rout.  I’ve seen Verot play for 5 years straight.  I like what I saw from them Saturday night.  They may not have the elite players from those teams but they still have and are more balanced.  A less demanding schedule this year should help this team get into the playoffs to make a good run.  South Ft. Myers should beat most teams on their schedule.  Their OL and DL will be better than most teams they play.  Their skill players have what it takes.  Depth may become an issue.     * To further prove to you I am a sick puppy, I plan on attending Dade Christian @ Pine Crest this Thursday night.  Dade Christian did not field a team last year but did the year before. ** This was a good but somewhat disappointing Spring Tour.  The South Florida area appears to not put as much emphasis on contests as some other areas of the state and that’s okay.  If I’m still living here for next year’s Spring Tour I will definitely hit the road more.