Carpe diem 2007, Part IV

Ending the curse, ending the three year run of bad luck at the state Final Four was the goal for the Lake Howell Silver Hawks in 2007. Nothing less than a state championship would do. In Part IV of “Carpe Diem 2007” watch how Lake Howell systematically took apart St. Petersburg Lakewood for the state title, and in particular, focus in on the play of Florida recruits Nick Calathes and Chandler Parsons.

In the state tournament, Lake Howell embarrassed Fort Lauderdale Dillard in the semifinals and then against Lakewood in the finals, it wasn’t even a contest after the first five minutes. When the carnage was over, it was an 85-42 Lake Howell win and Calathes and Parsons shared the MVP with the third of “The Three Amigos”, Joey Rodriguez. It was the first time in state history that three teammates had tied for the MVP award and it happened on a night when the Silver Hawks won the state title by the largest margin in state history.

Watch closely at the passing and the way Lake Howell simply ran teams in the dirt. Maybe the last team that could run like the Silver Hawks West Palm Beach Roosevelt in 1968, a team that averaged 103 points a game. This is a fun segment. Enjoy and by all means give lots of thanks to John Calathes, Nick’s dad, who shot and produced “Carpe Diem 2007.” This is truly a labor of love and a very professionally done video.

So, from Gator Country to you, here’s Part IV.

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Franz Beard
Back in January of 1969, the late, great Jack Hairston, then the sports editor of the Jacksonville Journal, called me on the phone one night and asked me if I wanted to work for him. I said yes. The entire interview took 30 seconds. It's my experience that whenever the interview lasts 30 seconds or less, I get the job. In the 48 years that I've been writing and getting paid for it, I've covered Super Bowls, World Series, NCAA basketball championships, BCS championship games, heavyweight title fights and what seems like thousands of college football, baseball and basketball games. I'm a columnist and special assignments editor for Gator Country once again, writing about the only team that ever mattered to me, the Florida Gators.