Bruised Bucs can't complete comeback in London

The Buccaneers lost to the Chicago Bears, 24-18 in a game played at Wembley Stadium in London.


The Pewter Pirates again got off to a slow start, only scoring 5 points (two off of a safety by Ronde Barber) through the first three quarters. The Bucs again put up a tough fight near the end, scoring 13 in the fourth quater, but the 4th interception against QB Josh Freeman on the day sealed the win for the Bears.

Freeman is having a rough year so far. His 4 interceptions on Sunday were just two less than his total amount of INTs all of last year. He is still having some issues of forcing plays that aren't there - throwing into double coverage or completely ignoring a linebacker waiting underneath to pick off a pass. While his comeback skills still seem to be present, he has not been able to put the finishing touches on some of the ones the Bucs have had so far this year. In my opinon, offensive coordinator Greg Olson isn't helping much either. With the Bucs struggling early but having success in their hurry-up, two-minute offense, why not stick to that style of play full-time? Also, his under-utilization of good weapons such as Arrelious Benn and Freeman's legs and size (QB draws and jump passes, anyone?) is getting to be a bit aggravating.


A lot of credit must be given to the young Bucs team for keeping the game close and nearly winning despite a nightmarish string of injuries in the last few games. Already without starters Gerald McCoy, LeGarrette Blount, Cody Grimm and Jeff Faine going into the matchup in London, the Bucs lost several other key starters throughout the course of the game. The first to go down was Earnest Graham, who was starting at running back in place of Blount. Graham injured his Achilles tendon and is likely out for the year. Later Mason Foster, Tanard Jackson, and Jeremy Zuttah (who was starting in the place of Faine) also suffered injuries. Erik Lorig and Brian Price also had to leave the game, but both returned. That's 8 starters who are currently banged up, and with a team as young as the Bucs are, it's going to be tough to win tough football games in crunch time. Hopefully the coming bye week will give an much-needed opportunity to heal before heading to New Orleans.

Bolts Shock Sabres, 3-0

The Tampa Bay Lightning shut out the Buffalo Sabres, 3-0.

The Bolts played one of their best overall games so far this season. They were pretty aggressive, playing fast and hard, taking advantage of the fact that this was the second game in as many nights for the Sabres. The Lightning played well on special teams, only going on the penalty kill 3 times and killing off each and scoring on their only power play (although they probably should have had more). The defense played superb, blocking several shots and causing turnovers with some good poke checks.

Pavel Kubina opened the scoring with a rocket shot from the point on the Bolts’ power play in the second period. In the third, Marty St. Louis added a beautiful one-on-one deke-and-shot goal that was set up by a nice steal by Vinny Lecavalier. Victor Hedman’s empty-net goal in the closing moments sealed the scoring.

The three goals were more than enough for the Lightning, as Mathieu Garon stopped all 21 shots he faced en route to the first shutout of the year. Garon, who has replaced a struggling incumbent starter Dwayne Roloson, has had a hot hand in the last few games. It’s still early, and the defense has played much better in the Lightning’s two game winning streak, but given the results so far I don’t expect Guy Boucher to go back to Roloson unless Garon gives him a reason to.

Side Notes:

-          As the above photo indicates, the much-anticipated tesla coils saw their first public action on Saturday. They were only used during the pre-game festivities, and not after the Lightning goals like they should in the future, but it was still cool. Check it out (Skip to about :55):

-          The Lightning wore their third alternate uniforms, which they will do every Saturday. They retained the same black pants and helmet, as well as the blue sweaters with “BOLTS” written on the front. Surprisingly, the shoulder patch remained last year’s logo as well. I’m curious as to why the uniform wasn’t adapted with the new logo set. It’s possible that the changes were not submitted by the silly uniform change deadline the NHL has (the same reason why no victory stripes were added to the re-done version of the new uniforms), but at this point it remains a mystery.

Lightning get back on track, defeat Islanders

The Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the New York Islanders 4-1 on Thursday night, the 15 year anniversary of the first hockey game played at the St. Pete Times Forum.

The Lightning were much better at correcting some of the biggest problems leading to their five-game winless streak. While Mathieu Garon played well in net, including a fantastic toe save int the opening minute, he only had to face 17 Islander shots. The Bolts had 30 shots of their own, so they look to be getting closer to Guy Boucher's goal of having the Lightning get 40 shots while holding the opponent to 20.

In addition, the Lightning only took 3 penalties on the night, allowing the players on the pnalty kill unit to get a fair amount of rest. This also contributed to the Bolts' victory in the shots on goal category, as the team was able to play less in their end.

Another day of 4 goals - including Ryan "Bugsy" Malone's 150th career goal - was encouraging. Vinny Lecavalier, Steven Stamkos, and Brett Clark also scored, and Teddy Purcell picked up two assists. There were quite a few more opportunities for goals as well, as at least three or four shots hit the goal post or cross bar.

Thursday Tidbits: 10/20/11

Bucs

- Gerald McCoy, Luke Stocker, and Sammie Stroughter returned to practice, but Jeff Faine, LeGarrette Blount, Michael Bennett, and Mason Foster sat out. [TBO]
- The Bucs will try to avoid kicking to the Bears' dangerous return man Devin Hester. [Twitter - Rick Stroud]

Lightning

- The tesla coils will not be ready for action in tonight's game. [Twitter - Erik Erlendsson]

Rays

- It has been confirmed by several sources that GM Andrew Friedman met with Angels executives over dinner Tueday night, as local blog DRaysBay was the first to report. It is not known what Friedman's level of interest in Los Angeles' open GM is. [DRaysBay]

Lightning fall to Panthers in Home Opener

The Tampa Bay Lightning lost to in-state rival Florida Panthers 7-4 Monday night, in front of a sold-out crowd of 19,204 at the newly-renovated St. Pete Times Forum.

This game had been highly anticipated for a number of reasons, primarily due to the introduction of the Forum's new features such as a massive pipe organ, redone concourses, and artificial lightning produced by tesla coils (which were not in operation Monday, as they need further testing), as well as the debut of the Bolts' new blue home sweaters. Unfortunately for Lightning fans, the display on the ice was not nearly as good as the one around it.

Most of the Lightning's main issues contributing to a disappointing 1-2-2 season-opening road trip remained on Monday. Although they outshot Florida 39-33, a number of turnovers and 11 more penalties would result in 7 Panther goals, including 5 power-play goals and a short-handed goal. Bolts goaltender Dwayne Roloson had another rough night; even taking some poor defense in front of him into account, Roloson’s 42 years seemed to show tonight, with a less-than-favorable reaction time, especially with his glove hand. Through four games this season, Roli has a 5.09 goals-against average.

The Lightning did seem to play with a lot of energy Monday, as to be expected in a home opener, and their offense showed signs of life. But if the Bolts continue to take silly penalties and give up bad turnovers, then they could find themselves in a deep hole that will be hard to dig out of.

Welcome to Tampa Bay Sports Blog!

This blog is being established as a school creative writing project. Here, I will discuss my thoughts and opinions about the Tampa Bay area professional sports teams, including the Buccaneers, Lightning, and Rays. I hope you enjoy the content, and any feedback is welcome.