Tampa Bay Sports Blog

The playoff games yesterday were outstanding. I found myself just completely drawn to both games and could barely move while watching them, which was bad because I was at work. Oh well, my job is safe. There wasn’t much else on so I decided to watch a little of the Phoenix/Edmonton hockey game and I learned something real quick. If it’s not the Lightning, I don’t really want to watch it. I used to love watching hockey of any kind, but I just couldn’t do it yesterday. I will watch Ovechkin, Crosby and even Jarome Iginla, but that’s pretty much it. Anyway, here’s what I thought of the two playoff games.

Though I’m not a fan of either team, my hatred of Philly led me to root for the Cardinals. After watching the game I really don’t think that either one of those teams stood a chance against the Ravens or the Steelers. Warner still looks as scared as a man can possibly look on the football field when anyone gets a shot at him. I can’t wait to see the look on his face when the Steelers get a hold of him. It’s not going to be pretty. The Arizona defense looks to be good enough and Larry Fitzgerald is just a freak. Fitzgerald is playing like a man amongst boys and it should be fun to watch what he does against the Steelers.

The Ravens/Steelers game was sick. I really mean sick. The hitting that went on in that game hurt me just watching it. I jumped out of my chair and had a sick feeling when I saw that hit on Willis McGahee from Ryan Clark and I can only hope that Willis recovers from that. That was one of those hits that kills guys careers and it still makes me ill when I just even think about it, much less see it. I must send out my best wishes to McGahee and his family after that one. There was a ton of hitting in that game and it looks like the Steelers are on their way to another Super Bowl win. I’m rooting for them too because of Mike Tomlin. He looks like an outstanding guy to play for and it would be pretty cool for him to come home to Tampa and win a Super Bowl here. That’s about it for now, I’m looking forward to the Cavs/Lakers game tonight and I’m not sure if I want to even try to watch the Bolts invite Brad Richards back to town. That one could be ugly. I know I’ll end up watching it though and I can only hope that if the Stars win, it’s Brad doing the damage.

Technorati Tags: Alexander Ovechkin, Arizona Cardinals, Baltimore Ravens, Brad Richards, Dallas Stars, Jarome Iginla, Kurt Warner, Larry Fitzgerald, Mike Tomlin, Philadelphia Eagles, Pittsburg Steelers, Ryan Clark, Sidney Crosby, Super Bowl, Tampa Bay Lightning, Willis McGahee

I have to admit I was a little surprised to learn that the Gruden/Allen era came to an end on Friday, but was happy I was at work when I heard it. My immediate reaction was laughing and jumping for joy, but as I let it settle in I tried to put things into perspective. When Gruden first arrived in Tampa I was as excited as anyone else with the thought that he would be bringing his high powered offense to the Bucs. Matching that offense with the defense we had in place, I thought we were looking at least one Super Bowl victory, but had thoughts of a couple in my head.

After winning the Super Bowl in his first season with the team I couldn’t have been happier. Since then the team has been up and down and things have slowly gone downhill. All of the excuses we’ve heard made for Gruden are partially true. The injuries, salary cap, draft picks and what not, but it all comes down to the fact that the team has no direction. The spats with players, the lack of major free agents being brought in and the botched draft picks sealed Gruden’s fate. 

I think this is the best thing that could’ve happened for the Bucs and Jon Gruden. Gruden will get another job and, if he learns from his mistakes here,  will do a much better job than he did here. I have not been a fan of Gruden’s for many reasons, but he’s very young by coaching standards and has a long time left to re-establish himself in the NFL. Jon will most likely take the ‘09 season off and jump back into the ranks the following year. He should work with kids in his time off so he can learn some patience with younger players, QB’s namely, as that is the biggest knock on him there is.

One thing directed at Jon Gruden directly here. Please Jon, DO NOT BECOME A COLLEGE COACH! You are an NFL coach and do not need to torture teenagers and their parents at the college level. I am a lifelong Notre Dame fan (stop laughing!) and have heard the rumors over and over again about Gruden coaching Notre Dame. While I think he would be one of the best on-field coaches Notre Dame could employ, I don’t want to see him cussing out any kids on the sideline in college.

Moving on to Bruce Allen now. I’m glad he’s gone and think he needs to choose a new career path. Allen seemed to bring this area nothing but trouble and mediocrity. He was touted as a capologist and the team is well under the cap, but it’s easy to stay under the cap when you don’t sign any big name free agents or refuse to negotiate with current players when they deserve it. If Gruden gets away from this guy his coaching career will improve because of it. Good riddance to Bruce Allen.

Knowing now that Raheem Morris and Mark Dominik have replaced Gruden and Allen I’m excited at the thought of the team going in a new direction. I think that this will be a good move. Morris seems to carry much respect from the players and coaches and looks like he will be a good figure at the top. We all need to see his decision making on the field still so I’ll reserve judgement on him til then.

In capping this whole thing off I would like to re-state something I’ve said in the past. The Super Bowl we won here is Gruden’s, not Dungy’s. Jon Gruden won that Super Bowl and did something Tony Dungy didn’t here, so beg all of you out there that continue to say “it was Dungy’s team” to stop it. Give the man his credit. You all know that I’m no fan of Jon Gruden, but I give the man his due. He’s a Super Bowl winning coach and he will not be out of work for too long. I wish him the best of luck and hope he has learned from his missteps here and takes the next step in making his career a successful one. I won’t miss Gruden, but I’m happy with the Championship he brought to us.

Technorati Tags: Bruce Allen, Jon Gruden, Mark Dominik, Notre Dame, Raheem Morris, Super Bowl, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tony Dungy

I’ve been attempting to watch as many Lightning games as possible this season as I work 60 hours a week and I find myself wondering, why? If there were Rays, Bucs, Magic and Lightning games on all at the same time, they basically go in that order as I choose to watch them. My first love is baseball and so on, but I love my hometown teams and have stuck with them through thick and thin. I’m really having a hard time with the Lightning though. It’s not just because they’re bad, it’s because there is no direction. I gave the Rays too much attention under Naimoli because they were going nowhere and I knew it, but stuck with them. I give the Bucs too much attention now because Gruden gave me a Super Bowl and I try to pretend he’s not as big a piece of crap as he his because of it, but I stick with them. The Magic give me every reason to believe now, but those Grant Hill years were tough.

The Lightning aren’t giving me anything right now and I keep looking for the silver lining. The problem is that I’m having trouble holding on to it. I posted before that I’m optimistic about them, and I still am, but I’m having a real hard time keeping that attitude. They play well on some nights and that gets me a little. Rick Tocchet is a very likable coach who seems to be the type of guy we want here, and that’s good. The problems still linger though.

The first problem is the ownership. They have been a cluster fuck since they got here. The hiring and firing of the Mullet, the trade of Dan Boyle,the constant rotation of players in and out, and now more Vinny crap. I have no problem with ownership moving a crazy amount of guys if they’re trying to find their way, that’s acceptable. I do have a problem with them moving Vinny right now though.

If they pull this crap on Vinny it will destroy every relationship with the players they have, or could have in the future. Don’t sign a guy to big extension, tell him he won’t get traded, and then trade him. I already wonder if there is any ethics left in our society, please don’t make it any worse. I’m one of the few in the area that thinks Vinny has underachieved since his arrival, but I don’t see the need to move him now. If they would have done it in the off season, I could have accepted it, but to do it now is just dumb. You’re not going to get enough in return now to justify the move and make this team competitive, so please don’t do it.

I truly believe that Oren Koules and company could improve their standing here if they don’t move Vinny. We all know the circus that has invaded town since Koules got here and we know how bad this team has played, but if they go nuts and move the face of the franchise now, I don’t see how they recover. There’s no shot of them turning around and selling the team for more money either so that’s out. Maybe these are just rumors like in the past, but I believe them more now because our ownership is so stupid. We’ll see what happens, but I’m still clinging on for dear life with this franchise and I hope they give me something more to hang on to before I start recording Seinfeld reruns over Lightning games.

Technorati Tags: Barry Melrose, Dan Boyle, Grant Hill, Jerry Seinfeld, Jon Gruden, Oren Koules, Orlando Magic, Rick Tocchet, Super Bowl, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Tampa Bay Rays, Vinny Lecavalier

Well, it was as ugly as it could possibly be. Not only did they drop the final four games of the season and miss the playoffs, but they did it in old school orange Buccaneer fashion. I think we all took the Carolina loss fairly well, it was on the road against a tough team and the Bucs were banged up. The Atlanta game was tough to swallow, but it was another tough road game and we could all understand it a little. The San Diego game was an absolute disaster and no one wanted to believe that it actually happened. It all could have been salvaged though with a win against an awful Oakland team and a Cowboy loss. The Cowboys did their part by taking an absolutely laughable beating at the hands of the Eagles, but it was too little too late. The Bucs had already lost to the second most dysfunctional team in the NFL, and it wasn’t as close as the 31-24 score would lead one to believe. This monumental collapse has left me wondering, who do we blame for this? Let’s try to figure it out.

• The offense? Jon Gruden’s offense has never really taken off in Tampa Bay and this season seemed to showcase all the problems we’ve had offensively in the Gruden era. Joey Galloway was the once favored WR who all of a sudden vanished. Warrick Dunn was the aging RB who emptied his tank yet didn’t have enough to carry them. The QB madness continued on with Garcia, Griese and McCown. The offensive line was up and down, mostly down. Any of this sound familiar? As bad as it seemed, this wasn’t the problem.
• Injuries? There is no doubt that the Bucs lost more than their fair share of guys to injuries and that always plays a factor, but this team has been allegedly avoiding big name free agents to build depth. Where was the depth? Again though, this wasn’t the problem.
• The players? Now I’ve got to admit, I’m going to put a lot of this on the players, especially in the playoff stretch. The stars in Brooks, Barber, Galloway and Garcia are all close to the end and their skills have diminished noticeably. That being said, I expected a lot more out of the defense, especially since Monte Kiffin announced his intent to depart to Tennessee, but they didn’t step up. I thought we might see that one last charge of Kiffin and his boys toward greatness, but they didn’t even achieve averageness (is that a word?). I put much of the demise on the players, but not all of it.
• Monte Kiffin? I do not put this one Monte Kiffin. As bad as the defense was in the final quarter season and as equally bad the timing was on the announcement of his decision to leave, I don’t blame Monte. He has shown us that he’s nothing if he’s not prepared and professional. I guarantee you Monte had the scheme’s in place to beat every last one of the teams the Bucs played throughout the entire season. He can’t force guys to not miss assignments or actually tackle someone that they are close to. This is not on Monte Kiffin.
• The defense? I will lump this one in with the players. Ronde Barber has been exposed as an aging corner, Derrick Brooks was in on less plays than in any season I could remember and there still isn’t enough of a rush being put on by the front four. The defense had enough physical impairments that the schemes couldn’t overcome. Barrett Ruud went from all-world to all-ok late in the season. Gaines Adams I’m officially calling a bust. Phillip Buchanon looked like he was still a Raider and the rest of everyone on the team basically filled in where they could. I think Monte saw this and that helped him make his decision to leave easier. Trying to find replacements for Brooks and company will be tough and I think he wants to spend his golden years having a little more fun than that. Defense is lumped in with the players so that’s not it either.
• Gruden/Allen?I think we all know where I was headed with this. I put it on Gruden and Allen.

Now it’s hard to put a late season meltdown on Bruce Allen, but he’s Jon Gruden’s do boy, so he takes it on the chin there. Bruce Allen has not done a good job of enticing quality free agents to come here and the drafting has been questionable at best. The draft’s have gotten somewhat better, but not much. This all still leads to Jon Gruden though.

Gruden has been the man here, especially since Allen arrived, and all things get fixed on his shoulders. The drafting of offensive talent, particularly the skill positions, has been bad. The management of talent on the field has been questionable at best and the lies have become more abundant in the process. Galloway is hurt, oh wait no he isn’t. Jeff Garcia is hurt, oh wait he isn’t. How bout this one, hey Luke McCown, if Garcia is hurt this week, you will start so I’ll have you take a majority of the snaps this week to get ready. Sunday comes and Brian Griese starts? Now I’m going to try and come at this from a different angle for all those Gruden defenders and everyone else who thinks Gruden should keep his job. The “core” of this team is still on defense and is getting on in years. Derrick Brooks and Ronde Barber don’t have time on their side. The offensive core is really questionable. This is an offensive coach who’s core right now are an aging QB in Garcia he can’t get along with, an offensive line that is still a work in progress, a WR in Galloway that watched the season from the bench, another WR in Bryant who is going to get big money and doesn’t seem all that happy here, a RB group that includes an aging Warrick Dunn and a broken Cadillac Williams (whose career is now in jeapordy) and TE’s that are seldom utilized or productive. I think the time has come for all us fans to realize that the run is over.

It’s time, especially with Kiffin’s departure, to lovingly let go of the old and bring in the new. We all loved Gruden in the Super Bowl season and we all have loved the run of the defense under Kiffin that gave us Brooks, Barber, Sapp, Lynch, Nickerson, Quarles and so on. I will cherish these memories for the rest of my life as we all will as fans. But we now must look at turning the page and starting over. We have tons of cap room and great ownership who let’s football guys do their jobs so when, if not now, will it be time to turn the page? It’s hard to do, but don’t you think you’ll be excited when the new wave comes through? I was excited with what I saw from Ruud and Talib this season and there could be more than that if we start looking toward the future now instead of holding on to the past. I hear people saying “who would we get better than Gruden if we fired him?” I don’t know, but do you think no one is better than him, seriously?

Look at what Mike Smith did in Atlanta this year. Look at what Tony Dungy did here when he was an unknown. It doesn’t matter whether you are a Gruden basher or a Garcia basher or whatever, it’s time for us to let the past go and embrace the future. I’m not saying that Gruden can’t build it from scratch here, but I would bet against it. How’s his track record with young players? Do you think that Matt Ryan would play that well under Gruden? I think not. Gruden’s success has always been with veterans and I haven’t seen any veteran players beating down the door to play here other than Jeff Garcia and we see how that’s going. Let’s all let it go and Gruden/Allen with it. Let’s take a chance on one of those up and coming coordinators and see what happens. Maybe it will work out again.

Technorati Tags: Antonio Bryant, Aqib Talib, Atlanta Falcons, Barrett Ruud, Brian Griese, Bruce Allen, Cadillac Williams, Carolina Panthers, Dallas Cowboys, Derrick Brooks, Earnest Graham, Gaines Adams, Hardy Nickerson, Jeff Garcia, Joey Galloway, John Lynch, Luke McCown, Matt Ryan, Mike Smith, Monte Kiffin, Oakland Raiders, Philadelphia Eagles, Phillip Buchanon, Ronde Barber, San Diego Chargers, Shelton Quarles, Super Bowl, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tennessee Volunteers, Tony Dungy, Warren Sapp, Warrick Dunn