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Colts-Bucs Game A Conflict For Jesuit's Donnelly

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By MATTHEW POSTINS, Tribune correspondent

Published: October 3, 2007

This weekend's game between Indianapolis and Tampa Bay could cause a conflict for area fans, given their love for the Buccaneers and respect for former Bucs head coach and current Colts coach Tony Dungy.
Jesuit junior Vinny Donnelly feels that conflict.

His parents have been season-ticket holders for years. Plus, the family knows Dungy. They used to live near each other when Dungy coached the Bucs.

So what was Donnelly doing wearing a Colts hat to practice on Monday? Trying to figure out which team to root for Sunday.

'It's going to be hard to decide,' Donnelly said. 'I've been a Bucs fan since I can remember. I go to a lot of the games. We're great supporters of Tony Dungy and we were disappointed when he left. When he moved we became Colts fans too. I'll have to say the Bucs, but I won't be mad whoever wins or loses. The Bucs have started the season great and I'm real excited about that.'

SWANSON'S NEW RECORD: Sickles swimmer Conor Swanson set a school record in the boys 200 freestyle last Tuesday during the Gryphons' meet against Freedom. Swanson recorded a time of 1 minute, 48.62 seconds.

That blew away the old mark of 1:52.10, set in 2001. According to Coach Scott Parlett, the 200 freestyle record was Sickles' longest-standing school record.

CARTER ON MEND: Jesuit swimmer John Carter is recovering from a bout with colitis, a malady that may keep him from swimming the rest of this season, Coach Bill Shaffer said last week.
Shaffer said the swimmer, who was a regional points scorer for Jesuit last year and had designs on a berth on a pair of possible state relay teams, has had difficulty holding down solid food for the past two weeks. Doctors have inserted a feeding tube to keep Carter nourished.

'We're praying for him,' Shaffer said. 'All our kids signed our banner after the Plant meet and we took it to him in his hospital room. I told him, 'When you get better you sign it and bring it back.''
Jesuit senior Andrew Werdine said Monday Carter returned home last weekend.
Shaffer still hopes that Carter may be able to swim, in some capacity, this season.

A MAJOR TUNE-UP: Many of the area's top swimmers will head to Orlando this weekend for the Florida Swimming Pool Association's Invitational Swimming and Diving Meet at the Central Florida YMCA facility.

The invitational meet serves three purposes. First, it's at the same facility as the state meet in about a month, so swimmers can get familiarity with the pool. Second, because the meet is invitation-only, the competition is better, which Sickles coach Parlett said leads to better competition and better times.

Third, it's an opportunity for the area's best swimmers to see the competition they might see at the FHSAA state meet. The event attracts more than 2,000 high school swimmers every year, making it the largest event of its kind in the Southeast United States.

'There are kids from all over the state that you don't usually get to race against,' Parlett said. 'You can schedule a dual meet outside the county, but a lot of times you don't see the competition some of your year-around swimmers need. The kids get to race at the speed they want when they get to district. Plus they get used to swimming twice a day.'

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