Today at Titan

For the 5th straight year, I have been selected to the Philippine national rugby team. I love the competition. I love the fellowship with my overseas teammates. I love going back to the Philippines where I can get in touch with my roots, enjoy the notariaty of representing a whole country in a sport, and humbling myself to the blessings that I have in life living in the best country in the world, the United States of America.

What is not as loveable is the travel. It is a trip that requires flying more that 24 hours to get to the other side of the world. Every year I wonder, my family and friends wonder, why I continue to choose to put my body under the stress of travel let alone the physical stress of playing rugby. Then videos of our triumphs from the last season surface on media like youtube. And then I remember why I love to do what I do. I can’t wait to go back…

This is a narrated video from the 2010 A5N Division 2 Championships, where we take on India in the finals. For those of you who are wondering, I wear number one, and you have to look fast because either I am quickly going into a scrum or burying myself in a ruck or maul. I have the privilege of doing the dirty work for all of the young, handsome, and very skilled young men that have helped our country to rise in the ranks of the Asian Rugby Union. Enjoy…I did.

Here at Titan, we work hard everyday to get people better, and even more, try to keep them better, but there are moments in every one of those days that we have to just kick back and enjoy our patients.

This is Jacob. He has been with us since he was in his mommy’s tummy. He is almost two years old now, and I’m feeling older every time I see his smiling little face. But on this day, a day that was quite stressful, he and his mom came in right before lunch and he brightened my day with this new skill…the silent laugh.

I had to record it because he used it to get my attention, to keep my attention, and to keep a smile on my face. I think he could sense my stress. He did a great job in changing my mood, and in fact, you can hear me laughing more than Jacob is. Mom said it was fine to record him and post him on the blog because as I said to him, he is quite a ham, and quite a ladies man…just ask my assistant, Amber.

So if you’re having a bad day today, just keep hitting replay. Jacob will make your day. He made mine.

At this year’s football banquet there was an aire of accomplishment for a good first varsity season and yet an eagerness for the 2011 season to begin. We said goodbye to a number of senior players who will be missed, but had many encouraging words for those upcoming juniors, sophmores, and freshmen who we are looking to fill big shoes come August.

The grand finale of the 2010 banquet was a highlight video that was painstakingly created by Tim Jones, the father of upcoming junior, Zack Jones. It must have taken hours to splice all of this footage together and then all the soundtrack as well, but it turned out excellent and was a delight for all that day, and now for your viewing pleasure. Thanks Mr. Jones…

***PLEASE CHECK OUT www.steinbrennerfootball.com FOR ALL LATEST SCORES, UPDATES AND PHOTOS***

What a season it has been for the Warriors. Our first varsity football season is in the books and can be certainly considered a success, even without making the playoffs, finishing third in the district with 5 wins and 5 losses.

Led by the first senior class, Trey Adema, Zach Alphonso, Tobi Antigha, Alex Bombino, Austin Brautigam, Christian Carriere, Kai Fariss, Tony Garcia, Jake Hubbell, Ryon Keith, Zack Marcario, Jordan McClain, Tyler Mitchell, Alex Nelson, Alec Peterson, Nick Rivera, Christian Rossi, Cody Shepeluk, Mylez Smith, Tyler Trotter, Gabriel Villar, the Warriors collected two more wins in the final two games of the season.

Both games were away at the two most southern high schools in Hillsborough county, so winning was more important or the ride back home, which is the most northern high school, would have been longer and more akward that other rides back after losses.

Below are the newspaper reports on both of those games, but before I post them I just want to send a personal thanks out to all of the parents, families and friends of Steinbrenner Football. Your on and off the field support of the boys and of our coaching staff has not gone unoticed. Without you, we would not have had a quality season like 2010, nor the footsteps to many successful seasons in the future. From all of the coaches and players in 2010, our deepest gratitude…

The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 5, 2010

Steinbrenner set the tone early, blocking a punt to set up its first score, and led by a solid defensive performance by senior A.J. Brown, who snagged two interceptions including a 98-yard touchdown return, defeated the Longhorns for a Class 2A-District 5 victory Friday night.

After Lennard (5-4) went three and out on the game’s first series, Steinbrenner (4-5) blocked Alejandro Chavez’s punt and recovered the ball on the 15, scoring two plays later on a 13-yard strike from senior Warriors quarterback Christian Carriere to receiver Tobi Antigha.On the Longhorns’ third series, quarterback Fred Porter fumbled the ball after a 25-yard scramble, and the Warriors took over possession from the 42, where freshman running back Jake Carroll went the distance one play later to give Steinbrenner the lead and the early momentum.

Carroll finished the night with 15 carries for 123 yards and two touchdowns.Lennard had a chance to keep the game close, but midway through the fourth quarter Porter threw his second interception, and Brown went untouched to put the game away with 6:55 left.

Football: Steinbrenner 20, East Bay 19

By Matt Hooper, Times Correspondent
In Print: Saturday, November 13, 2010

GIBSONTON — Tobi Antigha caught a 10-yard touchdown pass with nine second left, then Christian Carriere hit Logan McKnight on the two-point conversion as Steinbrenner toppled East Bay 20-19 on Friday night.

The Indians had taken a 19-12 lead when Tajee Fullwood tossed a 27-yard touchdown to Eric Hood on a halfback pass with 4 minutes, 52 seconds to go in the game, but the point-after was missed.

Still, East Bay seemed as if it would win its first home game after the Warriors failed to convert on fourth-and-3 play with 2:14 to go. But then the Indians failed to run out the clock.

They punted, and on the first play, Curtis Fitch connected on a 39-yard pass to Antigha (156 yards). Three plays later, Fitch found Antigha to set up the drama. Fitch finished 12-for-18 for 232 yards.

Matt Hooper, Times correspondent

***PLEASE CHECK OUT www.steinbrennerfootball.com FOR ALL LATEST SCORES, UPDATES AND PHOTOS***

It has certainly been an exciting 2010 football season so far at Steinbrenner High School. Since I last posted, we had just earned our first ever varsity win vs. Bloomingdale High School. To bring you up to speed, we followed a close win up with a comfortable win vs. St. Pete Catholic High School 31-14, where my running backs totaled 363 yards on the ground including 4 touchdowns and 2-2 point coversions. We then improved our record to 3-3 with the school’s biggest win vs. a formidable opponent, Middleton High School, and on Homecoming to boot. Our running back unit was not as successful as the week before, but did enough to meet our weekly goals and help the team pull of a last minute 27-24 win.

The last two weeks, however, have not been the easiest. Two weeks ago we played our county rival, Strawberry Crest High School in Plant City for their Homecoming. It was a battle until the end, with us falling 24-25. Last week, we faced district champion Robinson High School and put up a fierce battle, but came up short losing 7-45. The most surprising stat of the game was that we gained only 55 yards less than Robinson in that lopsided loss.

The next two weeks will be a challenge but should be victories for us in the end. Tomorrow we face Lennard High School in Ruskin, and next week vs. East Bay High School away also. A 5-5 season will be quite an accomplishment for a second year school playing it’s first varsity season, but it will also be an accomplishment that we will have to earn every play of every game. I’m confident in us, but then again, I’m a Warrior…

Here are the articles from the St. Petersburg Times newspaper:

Steinbrenner 31, St. Petersburg Catholic 14

By Nathan Cowan, Times Correspondent
In Print: Saturday, October 9, 2010

ST. PETERSBURG — Coach Floyd Graham didn’t want Steinbrenner to become complacent after last week’s win over Bloomingdale.
So the Warriors had 363 yards and four touchdowns on the ground to beat St. Petersburg Catholic 31-14.
“We’re finally healthy, and that makes a big difference,” Graham said. “We played the first few games down 12 guys.”
Steinbrenner struck first with a 12-play, 55-yard drive capped by Shaheen Bartheau’s 10-yard run.
The Barons fought back to take a 14-7 lead into halftime. But it was all Warriors from there.
They opened the second half with a 16-play, 77-yard drive that Christian Carrier finished with a 1-yard plunge. The two-point conversion gave Steinbrenner a 15-14 lead.
“We gave up two big plays in the first half, and I challenged our defense to play better in the second half,” Graham said.

Football: Steinbrenner 27, Middleton 24

Mike McCollum, Times Correspondent
In Print: Saturday, October 16, 2010

LUTZ — Steinbrenner’s defense and special teams proved key Friday night in a 27-24 win over Middleton, a game in which the lead changed hands six times.
Early in the second quarter junior Tyler Reed scooped up a Middleton fumble and returned it 15 yards to pull within 12-7. Junior Zack Jones returned a kickoff 75 yards to open the second half. And early in the fourth, Trey Johnson shot through the Middleton protection and blocked a punt, then picked up the ball and ran it 10 yards into the end zone.
After Middleton regained the lead late in the fourth, Steinbrenner freshman Curtis Finch connected with Tobi Antigha for a 79-yard TD strike with 1:32 remaining.
“…It was extra special for Antigha to be the one to make the game-winning catch because he’s a transfer from Middleton,” coach Floyd Graham said.

Football: Strawberry Crest 25, Steinbrenner 24

Travis Puterbaugh, Times Correspondent
In Print: Saturday, October 23, 2010

DOVER — Tommy Herrera scored his third rushing touchdown of the night with 1:17 left to lift Strawberry Crest to a comeback win.
That capped a wild fourth quarter which saw Steinbrenner take the lead after falling behind 19-8 with 8:29 left. Warriors quarterback Curtis Fitch’s 27-yard touchdown to John Marc Carrier with 6:35 left cut the Charger lead to 19-16.
After forcing a punt, the Warriors needed just one play to take the lead as Christian Carriere connected on a 69-yard bomb to Zack Jones, giving the Warriors their first lead, 24-19.
The Chargers took over on their 45-yard line with 2:50 to go and quarterback Brandon Reaves quickly moved them, with the big play a 30-yard completion to Karel Hamilton. Herrera’s 2-yard score capped the dramatic finish.

Football: Robinson 45, Steinbrenner 7

Mike McCollum, Times Correspondent
In Print: Saturday, October 30, 2010

LUTZ — It was senior night for Steinbrenner, but it was the senior offensive standouts for Robinson who stole the show as the Knights dominated 45-7 Friday.

Senior running back J.J. Hubbard rushed for 164 yards and two touchdowns, and quarterback Blake Rice connected with receiver Ruben Gonzalez for two more scores, helping Robinson (7-1, 4-1) to a 35-7 lead by halftime.

With Strawberry Crest falling to Lennard, Robinson clinched at least a second-place finish in Class 2A-5. Despite holding Steinbrenner (3-5, 2-3) to seven points, coach Mike DePue wasn’t satisfied.

“We won, but we did not play well enough defensively,” he said. “Going into the playoffs we have got to play with much greater defensive intensity if we want to be successful.”

As written by Tim McClain on steinbrennerfootball.com:

Steinbrenner Wins First Official Varsity Game

The Steinbrenner Warriors defeated Bloomingdale 13-7 for their first official Varsity win in school history. After a slow start the Warriors put together a scoring drive right before half time and then came out the second half with the momentum and desire to win the field position game which they struggled with in the first half.

After a scoreless 3rd quarter, the Warriors finally crossed the goal line on a QB sneak by Senior Christian Carriere with 1:30 left in the game. The defense then held the final attempt by Bloomingdale to tie the game and the only thing left to do was to soak Coach Graham with any liquid the players could find.

As written by Rick Harmon from TBO.com:

TAMPA – During practice this week, Steinbrenner coach Floyd Graham reminded his Warriors it had been a year and two weeks since they had won a game. And that one was a junior varsity win against Sickles.

He won’t have to remind them this week. Quarterback Christian Carriere scored on a 1-yard run with 1:30 remaining in the game to give Steinbrenner a win against Bloomingdale and its first varsity victory in school history.

“I’m very proud of them since we hadn’t won a game in such a long time,” Graham said.

Steinbrenner (1-4) held the Bulls to zero yards rushing (on 21 carries) and only 78 yards passing. Bloomingdale had 11 plays in which it had negative yards.

“Our defense has played well all year,” Graham said. “It’s our offense that hadn’t played up to par. We moved the ball when we had to. I’m very proud of them. Since the beginning of the season, we’ve lost 12 starters to injury.”

Bloomingdale (1-4) scored its only touchdown in the first quarter on a 5-yard run by Eugene Baker to cap a 3-play, 5-yard drive after a Warriors fumble at their own 11. Steinbrenner tied the score with 18.9 seconds remaining in the first half on a 5-yard pass from Carriere to Tobi Antigha.

Bloomingdale 7 0 0 0 - 7
Steinbrenner 0 7 0 6 - 13

B – Baker 5 run (Doughtery kick)
S – Antigha 5 pass from Carriere (Villar kick)
S – Carriere 1 run (kick blocked)