Sights, sounds from Seffner

While doing a brief radio interview the other day involving Plant-Armwood, someone suggested it be held at Raymond James Stadium to accommodate the thousands wishing to attend.

To which I said, humbug. The atmosphere tonight at Flagg Field only reinforces my belief this game is being held right where it should -- in a high school stadium.

The place is overflowing, late arrivals are standing along the chain-link fences, and homemade banners are draped over railings in profusion. Such an ambience would have been lost amid 50,000 empty seats in an antiseptic pro stadium.

Many of Armwood's banners are mocking Plant's mantra of "One Heartbeat." Among them: "You better call a donor. I don't hear a heartbeat." At the south end zone entrance, a sign reads "Two-Ringers This Way" (toward Armwood's bleachers) and "One-Ringers That Way." It's a reference, naturally, to Armwood's two state title rings -- one more than Plant.

The sidelines, meantime, are rife with scouts representing, among other programs, Auburn, Florida and South Florida. Bucs receiver Joey Galloway is here, as is ex-Hawks standouts Torrey Davis (now at Florida) and Mike Pearson (now with Toronto of the CFL).

Pearson's son, incidentally, is celebrating his seven-month birthday today.