The Wake-Up Call greets you each weekday with news, views and a few Tampa Bay area sports offerings to anticipate for the day and night. We encourage suggestions and contributions.
Good morning!
Plant (11-1) at Lakeland (13-0). Here we go.
Here are two juggernauts colliding. Here are two premier programs, two brand names, meeting in the playoffs for the first time in 25 seasons.
Here is a great setting for tonight's Class 5A state football semifinals at Lakeland's Bryant Stadium - with cannons blasting, bells clanging and that Jumbotron overseeing it all.
"When you look at this game, you know they have a lot of speed and we have a lot of speed," Plant coach Robert Weiner said. "I know they're tough and physical and fly around the field. Well, we're tough and physical and fly around the field. They have a couple of guys who are really special and we have a couple of guys who are really special.
"Then we have James Wilder. They don't have James Wilder. We like having James Wilder."
Who wouldn't?
Wilder, the 6-foot-2, 225-pound junior who will be one of the nation's top recruits for 2011, might be the most compelling force in tonight's game.
He certainly was that last week.
In a monsoon at Countryside, a 24-9 region-final victory for Plant, Wilder pounded away in the second half, running for the tough yards, creating havoc on defense.
By game's end, he was encased in mud from head to toe.
And he never stopped smiling.
"He's the ultimate warrior," Weiner said. "He's so much like his father (former Bucs running back James Wilder). It's ingrained in his blood.
"I look at Plant-Lakeland and I see a game that calls for legendary moments and football warrior heroes. It's the kind of game where James Wilder can thrive."
Wilder, a transfer from Chamberlain High School, has been thriving all season.
He has rushed for 757 yards (nearly 8 yards per carry) and 13 touchdowns.
On defense, where he plays end/linebacker, he has 114 tackles and 16 sacks.
"He's definitely the X factor," Panthers senior offensive lineman Andre Mondor said. "It's absolutely amazing to watch him on film every Saturday."
"Seeing him operate in the mud, that was something," Panthers junior quarterback Phillip Ely said. "He's like a little kid in a grown man's body."
That kid remembers last season - a season that ended at Lakeland's Bryant Stadium. When Wilder was a Chamberlain sophomore, the Chiefs lost at Lakeland 40-20 in the region final. It was Coach Billy Turner's final game.
"I remember that song, playing over and over," Wilder said.
So hot ... so hot to be a Dreadnaught ... so hot ... so hot to be a Dreadnaught.
"I remember them shutting off all the lights before the game, while we were warming up, before they did their intro," Wilder said. "We're looking all around, saying, 'What is going on?' and all the lights are off. It was crazy.
"It might be intimidating for a lot of teams. I think we'll be fine."
The corps of Plant's team - it still has four players who were suited up for the Class 4A state-championship contest of 2006 with Robert Marve at quarterback - has experienced plenty of big games.
"I'm looking at this like it's my game," said Wilder, who briefed his teammates on the Bryant Field atmosphere earlier this week. "It's kind of personal. They kicked us out of the playoffs last year when I was at Chamberlain. Now I get a second chance.
"Last year, some of us (at Chamberlain) didn't know what it was like to get that deep into the playoffs. Now I'm playing with a bunch of my brothers who have been to this stage before - and won."
Wilder told his teammates about the Jumbotron, the clanging bell, the cannons, the crowd hostility, the lights-out introduction and that song.
So hot ... so hot to be a Dreadnaught ... so hot ... so hot to be a Dreadnaught.
He also said this.
"It's a football game," Wilder said. "When they get a first down or a sack, there's going to be noise and we have to blank all of that out.
"Bottom line, it's a football game. It's a field with a giant 'L' in the middle of it, that's all. It's nothing we haven't seen before. We just have to do our thing."
Wilder has done that - and more - all year.
Under clear skies, through the mud, before an admiring Dad's Stadium crowd and now in the ultimate atmosphere at Bryant Stadium, it has been his showcase season.
"This is the game everyone has wanted to see," Ely said. "Even when we weren't in the same classification (before this season, Lakeland was Class 5A and Plant was 4A), this was a game anticipated for a long time. You'd hear people say, 'What would happen if Plant played Lakeland?' "
Now we'll know.
Here comes Lakeland.
And here comes Plant - led by James Wilder.
Plant-Lakeland: Truly a big game
Tonight's Class 5A state semifinal between Plant and Lakeland is unquestionably one of the biggest football playoff games ever staged in the Tampa Bay area.
In fact, in my mind, it can only be surpassed by the handful of state championship games held in the area.
Here are five to remember:
1. Coral Gables 16, Robinson 14 (Class 2A state final, 1963, Phillips Field) - The championship game of the first state playoffs (before 1963, there were mythical state champions, determined by a vote). Coral Gables won on a last-second field goal, which occurred after a controversial fumble (Robinson thought it was a non-fumble) call that went against the Knights.
2. Manatee 50, Pensacola Woodham 22 (Class 5A state final, 1985, Manatee) AND Pensacola Escambia 27, Bradenton Southeast 7 (Class 4A state final, 1985, Southeast). - These games can't be separated and the scenario still seems difficult to believe. Two Panhandle powerhouses journeyed into Bradenton - and the two big-school state-championship games were only a few miles apart on the same night. Escambia had a pretty fair junior running back (Emmitt Smith).
3. Lakeland 14, Dunedin 10 (Class 6A state final, 1986, Dunedin) - The first of six state titles for Lakeland coach Bill Castle. It was the first state championship for Lakeland since 1935 (when mythical titles were awarded by a state poll, well before the playoff era).
4. Jesuit 39, Kathleen 25 (Class 1A state final, 1968, Tampa Stadium) - The only state title for Jesuit coach Bill Minahan is best remembered for the brilliant game by senior running back Leonard George (four touchdowns), who became the first black football player to sign with the University of Florida.
5. Blake 27, Leesburg 6 (Class 1A state final, 1969, Tampa Stadium) - Coach Abe Brown's Yellow Jackets capture a state title at home behind the three interceptions of Bobby Bennett. Two years later, Blake students were dispersed to other schools due to integration.
Lakeland's Nealy commits to Georgia Tech
Lakeland linebacker Quayshawn Nealy, the Dreadnaughts' best defensive player, has orally committed to Georgia Tech. Nealy watched the Yellow Jackets defeat Clemson in Saturday night's ACC Championship Game at Raymond James Stadium.
Nealy told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution he selected Georgia Tech over Georgia, Kansas, Michigan, Ole Miss and Nebraska.
Outback coaches: Glad to be here
Auburn's Gene Chizik and Northwestern's Pat Fitzgerald - coaches for the Outback Bowl on New Year's Day at Raymond James Stadium - were in town on Thursday for the game's contract signing party.
Auburn (7-5) and Northwestern (8-4) are elated to be here.
Chizik, a graduate of Clearwater High School, has family in the area, including his mother.
"I haven't stopped being excited about this since it was announced," Chizik said.
Coach Fitzgerald?
"When we left Chicago today, with the wind-chill, it was 25-below," Fitzgerald said. "Being in Florida, believe me, it's great."
Road to Tampa continues today
The NCAA Women's Volleyball Tournament Sweet 16 begins today with regionals at Gainesville; Stanford, Calif.; Omaha, Neb.; and Minneapolis.
At Gainesville, the Florida Gators (25-5) have a difficult task, facing No. 1-ranked Penn State (34-0), the two-time defending national champion that has won 98 consecutive matches.
At Minneapolis, the Florida State Seminoles (30-2), the overall No. 3 seed, meet Kentucky (29-4) with the potential of facing host Minnesota (26-8) in Saturday's region final.
By early Sunday morning - Saturday's Stanford Regional final begins at 11:30 p.m., ET - we will know the field for the NCAA Final Four, held next Thursday and Saturday at the St. Pete Times Forum.
Here are the Sweet 16 pairings for tonight and Saturday (with Saturday's region finals scheduled for ESPNU telecasts):
Gainesville Regional
No. 1 Penn State (34-0) vs. No. 16 Florida (25-5)
No. 9 California (20-0) vs. Baylor (24-9)
Stanford Regional
No. 5 Illinois (26-5) vs. No. 12 Hawaii (29-2)
No. 4 Stanford (23-7) vs. No. 13 Michigan (26-9)
Minneapolis Regional
No. 3 Florida State (30-2) vs. Kentucky (29-4)
No. 11 Minnesota (26-8) vs. Colorado State (25-5)
Omaha Regional
No. 7 Iowa State (27-4) vs. No. 10 Nebraska (25-6)
No. 2 Texas (26-1) vs. Texas A&M (20-10)
Boof dealt to the Red Sox
Right-hander Boof Bonser (Gibbs) was traded Thursday from the Minnesota Twins to the Boston Red Sox (for the ever-popular player to be named).
Bonser, 28, was designated for assignment by the Twins, who made room for Carl Pavano.
Bonser, once a first-round draft pick of the San Francisco Giants, is 18-25 with a 5.12 ERA in the big leagues. He missed the 2009 season after undergoing right shoulder surgery in February.
Ray of hope
Relief pitcher Chris Ray (Hillsborough), once the Baltimore Orioles' closer before suffering an elbow injury, was traded Wednesday to the Texas Rangers for starting pitcher Kevin Millwood.
In 2006, Ray was 4-4 with a 2.73 ERA and 33 saves for the Orioles. He slumped to 5-6 with a 4.43 ERA and 16 saves in 2007, when his physical problems began and he underwent Tommy John surgery.
Ray missed all of 2008, then went 0-4 with a 7.27 ERA in 46 games last season.
Random historical note
Thirty-two years ago today, the Bucs ended their infamous 0-and-26 streak to win the first game in franchise history, beating the New Orleans Saints 33-14 at the Louisiana Superdome.
Birthday wishes
Happy birthday to Fred Nordgren, former nose tackle for the USFL's Tampa Bay Bandits. Nordgren. Yes, the last name even sounds like a nose tackle. And he was a good one - with 15 sacks in 1983, the USFL's initial season.
Today, Nordgren turns 50.
The Answer Man
Here's the answer to Thursday's trivia question:
Tampa Catholic's Joe Joiner caught a 7-yard touchdown pass from Christian Green in the Crusaders' 28-7 loss against Madison County during the 2007 Class 2A state championship game. TC plays in school's second state football final on Saturday afternoon against Jacksonville Bolles.
Friday trivia
Here's our daily sports trivia question, featuring a Tampa Bay/Florida spin. Try your luck by commenting below.
When Plant last played at Lakeland's Bryant Stadium in a state-playoff game, the Dreadnaughts prevailed 13-12 in 1979. Who were the starting quarterbacks that night?
Check for the answer in Monday's Wake-Up Call.
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