The Anna Maria Island Sun Newspaper

Vol. 11 No. 36 - June 22, 2011

sports

Buccaneers off to great start

Anna Maria Island Sun News Story

 PHOTO/SCOTT DELL
Shawn Kaleta, of Beach to Bay Construction Bucs,
evades a defender as he runs for a big gain.

The Sun sports game of the week was an adult Co-ed NFL Flag Football matchup between the Beach to Bay Construction Buccaneers and the Integrity Sound Redskins. The NFL may still be in a lockout, but the Anna Maria Island Community Center's adult flag football eight team league is just heating up.

The Beach to Bay Construction Bucs got off to a great start on their opening drive. They marched down the field and scored first on a 10-yard Larry Berkery TD pass to Don Purvis. The extra point was good on a Berkery pass to Scott Eason. On the very next play, Don Purvis picks off a Redskin pass for a touchdown. Just like that the Bucs are up 13-0. The Bucs' defense held the Skins to a three and out on their next possession. Four plays later Berkery found Purvis in the end zone again for an eight-yard TD. The extra point was good on a pass to Shawn Kaleta which made the score 20-0.

With 33 seconds left before halftime, the Integrity Sound Redskins scored when quarterback Danny Murphy hooked up with Scott Rudacille for a 31-yard strike. The extra point was good on another pass to Rudacille which made it 20-7. Quickly the Bucs roared back. Berkery threw a 22-yard pass to Kaleta who then went out of bounds to stop the clock. With five seconds left, Kaleta caught a middle shuttle pass and scored from 11 yards out. The extra point was no good and left the score 26-7 at the half.

The Redskins came out gunning in the second half. On the first play, Murphy throws a bomb to Rudacille for a touchdown. The extra point was good on a nice catch by Dina DeJesus, score 26-14. Both defenses found their mojo and scoring was halted until late in the second half. With less than five minutes, Berkery connected with Kaleta for a 20-yard TD pass. The extra point was good to Purvis, score 33-14. On the Skin's last drive, Murphy threw a one-yard TD pass to Brad Lowery. The extra point was no good and made the final score 33-20 Buccaneers.

Game Summaries:

Adult Co-ed League Scores:

Tyler's Ice Cream Steelers - 25
Sato Real Estate Browns - 18

For the Steelers, Paul Kurtz threw for 197 yards and four TDs, Alan Conley had 97 yards receiving and two TDs, Chuck McCracken had two receiving TDs, Jason Garden had 79 receiving yards and one interception, and Aris Thompson had one extra point. For the Browns, Jason Sato threw for 179 yards and three TDs, Tommy Tyrell had 79 yards receiving and a TD, Lexie Braxton had two TD receptions and a sack, and Josh Sato had 63 yards receiving and three flag pulls.

MartiniVille Saints – 31
Agnelli Pool & Spa Dolphins – 19

For the Saints, Ryan Moss threw for 110 yards and three TDs; ran for 49 yards and scored a TD and extra point, Jonathan Moss threw for 78 yards and one TD; had 31 yards receiving with a TD and a two-point conversion, Nate Talucci had 61 yards receiving and one TD and one extra point, David Moss had one TD and a two-point conversion. For the Dolphins, Mike Shaugnessy threw for 128 yards and two TDs, Frank Agnelli had 97 yards receiving and one TD, Tim Shaugnessy had 28 yards rushing with a TD and 13 yards receiving and a TD, and Brianna Shaugnessy had five yards receiving and an extra point.

Slim's Place Patriots – 34
Island Sun Newspaper Panthers – 20

For the Patriots, David Johnston threw for 277 yards and five TDs, Dustin Swain had 150 yards receiving and three TDs, Tommy Hutchinson had 50 yards receiving; one TD and a two-point conversion, Heidi Johnston had 45 yards receiving and one TD, and Ben Conlon had 52 yards receiving and a two-point conversion. For the Panthers, Scott Dell threw for 225 yards and two TDs, Tyler Bekkerus had 97 yards receiving and three TDs, Kevin Austin had 51 yards receiving; threw a TD pass and had one interception, and Kevin Gregorich had 39 yards receiving and a two-point conversion.

AMICC NFL Flag Football Schedule

Adult Co-ed League

June 23, Thursday, 6 p.m.
Tyler's Ice Cream Steelers vs. MartiniVille Saints

June 23, Thursday, 7 p.m.
Agnelli Pool & Spa Dolphins vs. Slim's Place Patriots

June 23, Thursday, 8 p.m.
Integrity Sound Redskins vs. Sato Real Estate Browns

June 23, Thursday, 9 p.m.
Island Sun Panthers vs. Beach to Bay Construction Bucs

Publishing in an E-book Era

Life just jumped into fast-forward this week. It's like looking into a crystal ball and knowing that what you've been imagining since the age of 5 is about to come true.

Do you remember the game Careers? Google it (of course), and you'll find that it is still in print as well as online. Players set their own victory conditions. A player may choose to pursue Fame, Happiness, Money, or a combination of all three. Funny how some things you know as a child remain constant throughout your life. 18 years in TV news, followed by another media career in front of a camera or audience, and now, on the verge of what I'm told is a pretty big deal book I wrote, guess which sector of Careers I excelled at? Money was always last. That's what happens to do-your-passion-and-the-money-will-come types. Oh well.

Enough people who know that I've published Eat Vegan on $4 a Day asked me to write about the process of getting published. I can't tell you how many now want me to read their manuscripts. I'm often asked, how long did it take you to write it? How did you find your publisher? Why didn't you self-publish where there's more money?

The book still isn't released on Amazon until mid-June. But it is already climbing Amazon's top seller list. The CEO of the publishing company, Book Publishing Co., is coming to meet with me in a couple of weeks to tell me what my life will look like the next year. He says if I want, I could travel for three years to all of the 17 vegetarian festivals in the U.S., and even more abroad. I thought that might be a bit of an exaggeration, but I have already been invited to Boston, Toronto and Tampa this fall. And the book isn't technically even out yet! Based on pre-sales and demand from the health food store industry already, I've been told it could be their #1 seller next year!

The publisher says 400 radio interviews, many Internet programs, are being scheduled in July and August. I've submitted my list of questions the publisher wanted to distribute to interviewers. A new way of doing journalism these days. My j-school professors would roll over…

What my agent told me is true: On day one, publishers want to know that through Facebook and Twitter, the book will sell 50,000 copies. I actually hired a local company who does workshops for the Manatee Chamber, Netweave Social Networking. They are building what's called, my "social media presence." In just two weeks, my "Eat Vegan on $4 a Day" fan page has gone from zero to 1,200 and rapidly climbing. He believes the future is Facebook. He could be right. Time will tell, as the cliché goes.

All I know is that there is definitely a correlation between book sales and posting and tweeting. And I am very careful about what I tweet. As a reporter, I was always amazed at how politicians and public figures who worked so hard all their lives blew themselves up on a ridiculous, totally preventable mistake. Still amazed…ah, don't get me started.

So the questions: How long did it take you to write? Started thinking about it at age 5 when my aunt died of breast cancer in our home. As the youngest, we used to joke that our family reunions took place at hospitals as everyone's health declined. I kept asking, "how do we avoid that?" I really started writing two years ago, living on the floors of big-box stores, writing down and tracking prices like I did when I reported on the Consumer Price Index. I read tons of books, as always. But I read a number of "how-to" books on getting published. My favorite was, "Damn I Should Have Written That!"

How did you find your publisher? I originally had a referred agent who shopped the big publishers. Simply, they didn't want a first-timer. But my agent recommended me to my current publisher at a convention. They loved the concept.

Why didn't you self-publish? My publisher is the largest vegetarian publisher in the U.S. Need I say more? Dreams aside, getting published in a printed book now seems to be a miracle. The profit margin? Not so much. But then, that was never important.

You can follow Island resident Ellen Jaffe Jones on her Facebook page and keep up with her just released book:,"Eat Vegan on $4 a Day," or her website: www.vegcoach.com. She is also a nationally certified personal trainer and running coach. For training in a gym or private hire, contact Ellen at ejones@vegcoach.com or 941-704-1025.


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