Riptide Hold Tryouts to Fill Roster
Keith Antigiovanni
Tuesday February 19, 2002
"The turnout was much more than we expected. There was an unbelievable pool of talent at the tryouts," Riptide Head Coach Cree Morris said. Morris feels certain that the tryouts have produced potential starters for the club. Going into the tryouts San Diego had 17 players signed and were looking to fill 23 spots going into training camp in preparation for the season opener against Bakersfield on April 6.
Going into the workout the Morris felt the teams` biggest need were linemen. "We found about 5 or 6 guys that we can bring to camp and possibly become starters," Morris said. Other guys who were impressive were Jason Burke out of Nevada-Reno trying out at Fullback/Linebacker and a pair of Kevin’s, Brown and Burton, at the defensive specialist position.
Pernell Mohammed who tried out at wide receiver/defensive back said, "I`ve been to other camps and have to say that this one (Riptide) is very professionally done." Mohammed was a college teammate of San Jose Sabercat quarterback Mark Grieb while at UC-Davis. He had been in the Carolina and New York Giant camps previously.
"There was a phenomenal turnout and overall I am very pleased with what I saw. We are blessed to have the pool of talent that exists here," Morris added.
Keith Antigiovanni is a free-lance writer in San Diego, California. He has worked for several local newspapers covering sports, government and business. Keith started writing in 1995 after graduating with a Bachelors Degree in Mass Media Communications from the University of San Diego. Aside from working as a sportswriter he has a side business of providing marketing assistance/research for small businesses and also directs,produces and hosts a regular public access television show on Time-Warner Cable named "San Diego Yesterday". Antigiovanni is also a member of the San Diego Sportswriter Association.
