Part II of Carpe Diem 2007

In 2006, the Lake Howell Silver Hawks made it to their third straight Final Four in Lakeland only to fall in the semifinals to eventual state champ Gainesville Eastside. Part II of our six-part series, “Carpe Diem 2007” focuses in on that spectacular junior season with plenty of highlight video of Gator signees Nick Calathes and Chandler Parsons.

(Part II of a 6-part series)

(Publisher’s note—this series will be free to give you an idea of the kind of unparalleled and exclusive coverage Gator Country subscribers receive daily!)

This marvelous documentary about the Lake Howell Silver Hawks was put together by John Calathes, Nick’s dad. This is a labor of love that he made for each of the players and coaches on Lake Howell’s 2007 state 5A championship team. He’s been kind enough to share it with Gator Country and we are presenting it in six parts each night through Friday.

What made this team special and so much fun to watch was the unselfish play and camaraderie of the kids. Yes, this team had three mega-stars — Calathes and Parsons, who will be Gators next year, along with Joey Rodriguez, who will play for Anthony Grant at VCU — but even the stars shared the ball as you will see. They were a true team made up of kids that genuinely cared about each other and perhaps that, more than anything else is the secret of their success.

Enjoy part II of Carpe Diem 2007, a Gator Country exclusive.

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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.