FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 3, 2006


FHSAA honors Panhandle duo for 50, 60 years
of consecutive attendance at boys basketball finals

LAKELAND – Morrell Bailey of Altha and Paul Sewell of Port St. Joe were honored by the Florida High School Athletic Association on Friday during halftime of the Class 5A championship game of the 2006 FHSAA Boys Basketball Finals for their consecutive years of attendance at the event.

Bailey marks his 60th consecutive year of attendance at the boys finals. For Sewell, this year’s tournament is his 50th straight.

FHSAA Commissioner John A. Stewart, and FHSAA board members Charles Bethel and Dalton Sheffield presented both men with commemorative certificates and lifetime passes good for free admission to all high school athletic events in Florida, including FHSAA state championship series contests. Bailey and Sewell also received souvenir windshirts compliments of Team IP Sportswear, the FHSAA’s official souvenir merchandiser.

“It is an honor to recognize the number 1 and number 2 fans of our boys finals,” Stewart said. “I doubt their consecutive years of attendance at the boys finals is matched by any spectator at the FHSAA Finals in any other sport.”

Bailey, 78, first attended the FHSAA Class C Finals at Mount Dora High School in 1947 when there were only three classifications (A, B and C) and the state tournaments in each classification were held at different high school gyms.

“Nobody who played back then could play today,”Bailey said. “There is so much more speed, height and jumping ability today. It’s a much, much better game today.”

Sewell, who turns 68 on Monday, March 6, first attended the boys finals at the University of Florida Gymnasium in 1956. By that time the state series had expanded to four classifications, all at one central site.

“Going to the 3-point shot, to me, is the most significant change to the game in my 50 years of attending the tournament,” Sewell said. “The game is so much more exciting because of it.”

The duo have seen dozens of outstanding players perform in the FHSAA Finals. Bailey’s 10-member, six-decade all-tournament team consists of Otis Birdsong of Winter Haven, Vince Carter of Mainland (Daytona Beach), Darryl Dawkins of Evans (Orlando), Derek Harper of North Shore (West Palm Beach), David Langston of Port St. Joe, Toney Mack of Brandon, William Moody of Greensboro, Roger Strickland of Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville), Danny Tharpe of Cocoa Beach, and all-time most outstanding player “Sudden” Sam McCants, who scored 51 and 48 points respectively in the semifinal and championship games to lead Pensacola Catholic to the 1971 Class 1A state title.

About the FHSAA
Headquartered in Gainesville, the Florida High School Athletic Association is the governing body for interscholastic athletic competition in Florida. It has a membership of more than 720 middle and senior public and private high schools. More than 175,000 student-athletes annually participate in one or more of the FHSAA’s 28 championship sports programs. More information is available at www.fhsaa.org.


Contacts:
Jack Watford
Director of Communications, FHSAA
(352) 372-9551 ext. 170
jwatford@fhsaa.org