State Champs Celebrate, Circus Style

Coach Joe Kinnan took to the gridiron Monday night atop a circus elephant. Behind him stood a tent fit for a circus. And then the ringmaster stepped on to the field to introduce the approaching parade.

While it wasn't actually a circus, it was a celebration unparalleled by any in recent memory at Manatee High School, where the state championship football team was feted Monday night. The tent served as a fancy dining room for the hundreds who came to attend the Hurricanes annual football banquet. Grills stood in the background fired up for the feast that was about to be served.

Fans were lined up to partake in the evening's banquet to honor the team members. But before the crowd could take their seats inside the decorated and lighted tent Monday night, visitors were first treated to a parade worthy of a state championship football team.

The evening's celebration came courtesy of Debbie Crowe, the owner of the Shake Pit, located just a couple of blocks away from Manatee High School.

This was an event three years in the making. Crowe first asked Kinnan if she could orchestrate an event for the team when they were runners up for the state championship. Kinnan declined, but promised Crowe that if the team did win a state championship she could throw a party for them.

He had no idea an elephant was in his future when he made that promise.

"It was a surprise to me," Kinnan said. "I found out about the elephant at six o'clock."

Still he climbed aboard, saying the elephant seemed big and stable. And as he sat atop the elephant in his suit and tie he seemed slightly giddy, but maybe riding on an elephant can make anyone light-hearted and joyful.

Kinnan, who is the football coach and the school's athletic director, was perched atop the elephant, accompanied by the school's marching band. He was followed by the other members of the coaching staff, who were driven on to the field in Corvettes and Mustangs. Finally football players rode in on an antique truck driven by the city's fire marshal. The rest of the team and the cheer leaders followed on a pirate ship float.

The crowd was on its feet from the moment the elephant marched on to the field. After the parade, parents, boosters and fans lined up to participate in the awards banquet.

Monday's banquet kicked off a week of celerations for team members as national signing day approached. Manatee High School has seven football players set to sign with college teams on Wednesday. Those teams include the University of North Carolina, Western Kentucky, Iowa State, Tennessee State  and Brown University.