In the scheme of things, it wasn’t the most important thing going. Last Friday the City of Tampa honored Plant High School for its football, volleyball and girls’ tennis state championships. There was a congratulatory banner above City Hall, certificates for players and speeches by Mayor Pam Iorio, Plant Principal Rob Nelson and the coaches: Robert Weiner, football; Leanna Taylor, volleyball; and Lynn Vu, tennis.
What it was – amid so many all-too-familiar reminders of what’s wrong in the world – was a refreshing focus on good news and nice people. No politics. No agendas beyond saluting achievement – in the sports arena as well as the classroom. All three teams are as academically accomplished as they are athletically gifted.
Both Mayor Iorio and MC Jack Harris alluded to the fact that state championship “Victory Rallies” for Plant had become almost, well, “routine.” Indeed, Coach Taylor’s volleyball squad has won four state titles in a row, Coach Weiner’s football squad three out of the last four.
Weiner, however, was having none of the good-humored talk of Plant’s seemingly habitual success. Channeling a mix of George C. Scott as General Patton and Pat O’Brien as Knute Rockne, he underscored priorities that his players have surely heard more than once from his lips. “Excellence,” he proclaimed to anyone within several blocks of City Hall, “never becomes ‘routine.’
“What drives us?” he asked in a raspy rhetorical voice. “Passion to do something great. To not settle for mediocre or routine. Yes, we have great athletes, but you’ve got to be more than that.”
At the end, Weiner was presented with a trophy emblematic of Plant’s nascent national status. MaxPreps and the Army National Guard recognized Plant as the 23rd-ranked team in the United States. Pretty heady stuff. It was, however, anti-climatic, the ensuing applause merely polite. You don’t with a state championship in football-flush Florida — and go through a draw that includes national powers Lakeland and Manatee plus top-ranked St. Thomas Aquinas — and only earn a ranking of 23. Plant isn’t sneaking up on anybody any more. They’re the real deal. They want a Panther in that pantheon.
Weiner smiled. He was pleased but not exultant. The national recognition was gratifying, but not a moment to truly savor. But it was what Weiner can always use. More motivational material.