The Buccaneers lost to the Tennessee Titans, 23-17.
There was a lot about the game on Sunday that showed promise. Legarrette Blount had another fine day, and the defense had some takeaways and pressure. But the Bucs would once again beat themselves with missed opportunities, penalties, and turnovers of their own.
Yes, the field was wet and sloppy, and so some errors are bound to be made. The Bucs certainly took advantage of similar mistakes by the Titans. But Tampa Bay continued to shoot itself in the foot.
What really represents this game as a whole was a particular Bucs drive. Blount had been fed the ball and was breaking off seemingly 10 yards with every touch. The Bucs were in a position to add to their 7 point lead, and momentum was in their favor. But then Kellen Winslow got a penalty for holding, setting the team back 10 yards, followed by a Jeremy Zuttah false start to tack on 5 more. What had once been a potential touchdown drive quickly turned into a punt from midfield. The Bucs would not score again, and a 6-point Titans win off of a drive late in the 4th quarter really stings.
Josh Freeman continued to be inaccurate and made more poor decisions, seemingly forcing to ball while ignoring defenders in the area at times. As good as Freeman was last year at controling the ball, he now has 16 interceptions this year, second most in the NFL. And many are in just horrible situations to throw a pick in, including several on passes to the endzone and a few picks late in the 4th.
The run defense was gashed again, this time by Chris Johnson, who has arguably been the biggest dissapointment in the NFL this year (at least for fantasy owners). The Bucs' drop into mediocrity began a few years ago on MNF against the Panthers, where they absolutely could not stop the run. Those Bucs lost 4 straight to somehow miss the playoffs, resulting in Jon Gruden's firing and the release of several veterans. Here, 3 years later, the youth movement has seemingly done nothing to improve this, even with the injury of Geral McCoy.
After a 4-2 start, the Bucs sit at 4-7 and playoff hopes are all but extinguished. And if they continue to make stupid mistakes, they may not win again.
Family and football obligations prevented me from writing recaps on the Lightning’s two victories against Florida this weekend. Here are official game recaps from the Lightning's website:
The world of sports is a world of business. Although we the fans may hate to admit it, the truth is that the goal of each sports franchise is to turn a profit. As in any other sector of the economy, the sports industry often involves stiff competition among the corporations, who fight for the limited funds of their patrons. A working-class family can only contribute so much to entertainment, and many times they have to decide between paying to see one sport or another.
Many of the large cities and regions in the United States, including the Tampa Bay area, are the homes to multiple professional and collegiate sports teams. In Tampa Bay, the major professional franchises are the NFL’s Buccaneers, the NHL’s Lightning, and MLB’s Rays; other pro teams include Arena Football’s Tampa Bay Storm and the North American Soccer League’s FC Tampa Bay Rowdies, as well as a number of minor league baseball teams. The Florida Gators, South Florida Bulls, Florida State Seminoles, Central Florida Knights, and the Tampa Spartans also all have strong fan bases as far as collegiate athletics go. With so many organizations competing for the money of a region that has about half the population of New York City, it would not come as a surprise if there was a bitter rivalry between these teams, especially the Bucs, Bolts and Rays.
Interestingly, however, that has not seemed to be the case in recent years. In fact, there has been quite a bit of love, or at least mutual respect, between the three major teams in the area. There have been several instances of the owners, coaches, and players of these teams interacting with each other as friends, not foes.
Raheem Morris and Joe Maddon have become good friends, and each has shown his support of the other team:
Morris, Maddon, and Guy Boucher met several months ago for a panel discussion by the Tampa Tribune, and since then Boucher has also kept in contact with his fellow head coaches. Boucher expressed his support of the Rays in their playoff run:
The rest of the Lightning also rooted on the Rays in the playoffs during the NHL preseason:
Earlier in the year, the Rays had hosted the Lightning's Steven Stamkos, Nate Thompson, Teddy Purcell, and then-Bolt Mike Smith during batting practice:
The Rays' Evan Longoria and BJ Upton have been known to attend several Lightning games a year:
Recently, following the announcement of postseason baseball awards, the LightningcongratulatedJeremy Hellickson and Joe Maddon:
The examples of the unity of the teams in the Tampa Bay area continue on. The Rays have hosted Bucs draft picks to throw the opening pitch; some of the teams have ticket deals for local students; The Buccaneers have held practice inside the Trop; and so on. The point is that these teams rather like each other. As someone who was born and raised on Tampa Bay sports, this status of these teams’ relationship brings that old “warm and fuzzy” feeling.
That said, many people living in the region are transplants from other areas of the nation, and may only be a fan of one or two of the local teams while still adhering to their native teams. A Bolts fan may like the Yankees, a Rays fan could root for the Packers, and a Buccaneers fan may cheer of the Red Wings. While the teams in the area may be unified, the fan bases for the most part are not. If the whole community rooted for only the local teams, then not only would fanatic fervor increase, but more money would stay within the area in merchandise, ticket sales, and television viewership. I think the Tampa Bay area’s sports organizations can use their own unity to try and unite the fan bases.
And so, that brings me to the whole point of this post: let’s start an annual Tampa Bay Sports Fan Festival.
Each team usually has their own individual fan fests, with games, prizes, ticket and merchandise sales, and autograph opportunities, and these fan fests tend to draw massive crowds and are fun for all involved. The teams can certainly continue their own fan fests at their own locations, but the idea of a Tampa Bay Sports Fan Festival is essentially like a huge convention, and each team in the Tampa Bay area has a ‘booth’ with their own mini fan fest.
The location would likely be at a fair grounds type of area, perhaps during the summer when children are out of school and some adults may be on vacation. The event would probably span a few days, as an individual fan fest can be known to draw several thousand people. There could be a centrally located stage for musical acts and entertainment, surrounded by large areas designated for each team to do with what they please. They can set up team stores, have guest speakers, have player and coach autograph sessions, have games, giveaways and prizes; the kinds of things you would see at a normal fan fest. And when a fan is done checking out one area, he can move on to the next team’s area. Imagine, a fan can attempt a field goal at the Bucs’ zone, take batting practice in the Rays’ zone, get an autograph from his favorite players in the Lightning’s zone, try to score a penalty kick in FCTB’s zone, and try to field a ball off of the net in the Storm’s zone, all in one day. The idea is to not only provide a lot of fun and excitement for the fans of each team, but to possibly get those fans to venture into the zones of a team they don’t particularly cheer for and perhaps spark some interest. Maybe an autograph or a free hat can make that fan take the initiative to go to a game.
In addition, the festival could be a great way to help local businesses and charities. Invite locally-based restaurants to cater the event; getting their product out to a new audience can have fantastic benefits. The festival would also be an ideal location to house a fundraiser for local non-profit organizations, perhaps with a silent auction on various sports memorabilia.
An annual Tampa Bay Sports Fan Festival could have outstanding benefits for all involved: the teams, the fans, and the local businesses and charities. With the mutual respect between the teams in the Bay area, I think this idea is certainly doable and can have great success.
The Lightning lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs, 7-1.
The Lightning played well at the start of the game, something that was great to see after the traditionally slow starts this year. Unfortunately, sustained offensive pressure just could not be turned into goals. A Vinny Lecavalier PPG in the first is all the scoring the Bolts would be able to muster, despite numerous great scoring chances. The Leafs would add three of their own in the first, partially due to a 4-minute power play opportunity. The Leafs scored in the first half, so they retained the extra 2-minute power play, which was made worse when another Lightning penalty made it a lengthy 5-3, resulting in another Toronto goal. The Leafs would continue to pile on from there, and with the game eventually out of reach with about 15 minutes remaining, the effort by the Bolts seemed to be gone.
In many cases, the Lightning were extremely unlucky Tuesday night. Those missed scoring chances usually went by the wayside because the puck was bouncing or was just barely tipped. On the flip side, Toronto was getting all the bounces and breaks, and they capitalized on them. Keep in mind that the Forum had just hosted the Florida-Wright State basketball game the previous night, so the ice may not have been in peak condition. After several bad breaks, the Lightning players seemed to get discouraged. Missed opportunites can be disheartening, but especially when stuck in a losing skid you would like to see the players have a bit more tenacity.
UPDATE:
On Wednesday, the Lightning anounced that Blair Jones had been placed on waivers, and Dana Tyrell has been recalled. Tyrell is known for his heart and hustle, so hopefully his return can spark some energy into the team after a rough stretch.
The Buccaneers lost to the Green Bay Packers, 35-26
The optimist in me had hoped for a miraculous upset by the lowly Bucs over the undefeated, defending Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers, but the realist in me expected another blowout at the hands of all-pro QB Aaron Rodgers and his repertoire of offensive weapons. The result of the match-up turned out to be somewhere in the middle - David came close to slaying Goliath, but the Bucs were once again done in by the same mistakes that haunt them week in and week out.
The Bucs were once again in an early hole, trailing 14-0 a few minutes into the second quarter, partially due to an unlucky break where the Green Bay punter, deep in his own territory, botched the snap and yet somehow was able to bumble and stumble the ball past the first down marker. But the Bucs seemed to get energized by an amazing play by Legarrette Blount, who broke at least five or six tackles during a 54-yard TD run. Isn't it incredible what happens when Greg Olsen actually gives the ball to probably the Bucs' greatest playmaker?
The rest of the way, the Bucs gave a tremendous effort. For most of the game, the defense was playing a bend-but-don't-break-except-for-Quincy-Black-and-EJ-Biggers-and-Myron-Lewis type of game, which except last part was all this team could have asked for against the potent Packers. Unfortunately, blown assignments and just poor play by the aformentioned trio would ultimately give the Packers too much breathing room. On offense, Blount (18 CAR, 107 YDS, 1 TD) played well, and Mike Williams (7 REC, 83 YDS, 1 TD), Rejus Benn (5 REC, 75 YDS), and Kellen Winslow (9 REC, 132 YDS) played probably their best games of the year. But again, unfortunately, an offensive pass interference on Winslow negated a touchdown, and later Winslow just flat-out dropped the potential game-tying two-point conversion. Josh Freeman actually had one of his better games this year as well, completing 28 of 38 passes for 342 yards and two touchdowns , but he still had several instances of overthrowing or underthrowing open receivers and throwing two more key interceptions.
I want to make two main points about this game. The first is that the penalties absolutely NEED to stop. Big gains on offense are negated by a holding call or an offensive PI, or whatever other stupid thing Kellen Winslow does to earn a flag, and stops on defense are negated by a defensive PI or an offsides (which is one of the most boneheaded mistakes a player can make in my opinion - defensive linemen are essentially lined up staring at the ball; if it doesn't move than they shouldn't either). Tampa Bay had 9 penalties for 55 yards, and that doesn't incorporate the number of missed chances caused by the penalties (like Winslow's TD or a Corey Lynch interception that was wiped out by an offsides). You CANNOT shoot yourself in the foot like that and hope to beat the best team in the NFL.
Second, I'd make a claim that at this point in the year, Josh Freeman has some of the worst time management in football, second only to Les Miles. With just over a minute left and time running, down by two scores, and with no timeouts, Freeman held on to the ball and took a sack when he clearly had an opportunity to scramble or throw the ball away. You CANNOT afford a sack in that situation. And even after that, I see Freeman slowly walking around before the snap, taking his sweet time pointing out defensive alignments and calling out plays. At that point in the game, you need to forget about specific blocking assignments and just take the ball and throw it - and please, throw it towards the end zone, or at least the first down marker. Generally, throwing to a guy a foot past the line of scrimmage on 4th an 15 is not a very good idea.
Many will blame Raheem Morris' decision to attempt an onside kick with about 5 minutes left down by one score as a reason for the loss. I honestly did not have a problem with it. With as good as the Pack's offense has been, there's a chance you could never get the ball back. That said, I think the method of the kick was poor; you had already attempted that earlier in the game, and Green Bay was expecting it. In my opinion, seeing how many Packers were lined up near the front line, I would have tried to squip kick it a few yards past them and see if my team can beat the surprised Packers in a foot race to the ball, much like Baylor recovered a squip kick Saturday night against Oklahoma.
Overall, though, fans finally got to see parts of the exciting young football team we saw last year. Great runs, some great receptions, and - gasp - some decent tackling. The loss stings a bit, but hopefully the good effort creates some positive momentum for the rest of the year.
For those so inclined to the social media world, you can now "Like" TBSB on Facebook. The Facebook page will provide notifications and links to new articles, and perhaps other interesting content in the future, and is a great way to stay connected and updated on the blog.
When I first heard that the Rays were close to bringing one of the trio of catching Molina brothers, my reaction was that no matter which one it was, they would be a fantastic addition to our team, because, well, all three are pretty dang good.
With Yadier entrenched in St. Louis and Bengie in Texas, the remaining brother is Jose, who was a member of the Blue Jays last year. Jose Molina is known for having a rocket arm and a good glove, and a knack for working well with pitchers. His bat has not traditionally been an area of fear for other teams, but he hit .281 in a very lucky (high BABIP) 2011 season.
This would be a tremendous signing if it is completed. The Rays' rotation is fantastic as it is, but bringing in Molina can make young starts like David Price, Jeremy Hellickson, and Matt Moore even better. His defense will also be a great point. Kelly Shoppach did suprisingly well defensively in 2011, but Molina would undoubtedly be an upgrade. The best part about having Molina on our defense is that he wouldn't be on another team's defense, as he gave the Rays' running game fits last year. And although his bat is not tremendous, it still is better than the abysmal offensive output the Tampa Bay backstops produced last season.
Molina also brings some good fortune with him; a Molina brother has made the World Series in each of the last three seasons (Jose w/ NYY in 2009, Bengie w/ TEX in 2010, Yadier w/ STL and Bengie w/ TEX in 2011).
