Avalanche of 1st Period Goals Bury Lightning

By JC De La Torre

Another game, another bad 1st period for the Bolts. Tampa Bay continued their tendancy for slow starts and this time it cost them, as they were outshot 10-5 and they allowed 3 goals putting them behind the 8-ball for the rest of the game. To their credit, the Lightning continued fighting and made the Colorado Avalanche sweat a little before finally succumbing 4-3.

Jordan Leopold scored on the power play at the 15:20 mark of the first period to give Colorado an early 1-0 lead. Then, Wojtek Wolski scored twice in 1:36 to give the Avalanche a commanding 3-0 lead going into intermission. Olaf Kolzig was lifted for Mike Smith and Vincent Lecavalier scored the only goal in the second period to cut the lead to a two goal deficit. At the beginning of the third, David Jones scored his second goal of the season for Colorado to make it 4-1. Midway through the final stanza, Tyler Arnason got called for hooking Steven Stamkos and the Lightning cashed in with Ryan Malone's 4th goal in as many games (7th overall) to cut it back to two with 10:21 left in the game. Cody McCormick would get a double minor for high sticking Vincent Lecavalier at the 12:35 mark of the third and Lecavalier would make the Avalanche pay on the second half of the double minor, feeding Steven Stamkos for a power play goal, cutting the lead to 1 at 4-3. Unfortunately the Lightning could not find the final equalizer and ended up with another frustrating loss.

Tampa Bay eagerly ends November with a 6-10-7 record and they have fallen into the cellar of the Southeast division, stuck on 19 points.

Gators Devour Noles at Drenched Doak

By JC De La Torre

After Florida dominated their cross state rivals in rainy Doak Campbell Stadium, concerns were focused on the injured Percy Harvin, who slid awkardly on a muddy field and had an FSU defenseman fall on his right ankle. The injury's severity was not made public but it may force Harvin to miss the SEC Championship game next week in Atlanta against #1 ranked Alabama. It would be the only bad news for Florida, as the Gators crushed Florida State 45-15 for their fifth straight victory in the series.

Percy Harvin opened the scoring, capping Florida's opening 9 play 65 yd drive with a 9 yd run to give Florida a 7-0 advantage just 4:08 into the ballgame. Michael Garvin returned the ensuing kickoff 63 yds to the Florida 24 yd line but the stingy Gator defense forced Florida State to settle for a 37 yd field goal by Graham Gano to cut the lead to 7-3 with 9:20 left in the first quarter.

After a rare 3-and-out by the Florida offense, FSU QB Christian Ponder was intercepted on a pass that was tipped by Florida CB Janoris Jenkins then nabbed midair by Major Wright deep in Gator territory. Jeff Demps ripped off a 44 yd run that would lead to a Tebow to Aaron Hernandez 7 yd touchdown as time expired in the first quarter, the Gators led after 1 quarter of play 14-3. After a short kickoff trying to avoid Garvin set up the Noles at their own 45, Ponder could do nothing with the football and FSU punted back to the Gators. Florida's running back Jeff Demps would cough up the football on the Gators' own 14 yd line, setting up the Noles at point blank range. Two incompletions and a 1 yd scramble later, Florida State settled for their second field goal from Gano and a 14-6 deficit.

After a penalty set the Florida offense back at their own 14 yd line, Florida would march the length of the field against the staunch Noles defense, highlighted by a 28 yd Tebow to David Nelson pass and a pass interference penalty on FSU's Tony Carter. On a 1st and 10 from the FSU 13, Harvin darted for 5 yds but during the play was rolled up on by two Florida State defenders. Harvin grabbed his right ankle in obvious pain. Florida State fans cheered the injury, and ticked off Tebow.

"That kind of irritated me," Tebow told the Associated Press, "I told the coach to give me the ball because I really wanted to hit somebody."

Coach Urban Meyer obliged and Tebow pounded it up the middle with a little help from his offensive line surged into the endzone for a 4 yd score to increase the Florida lead to 21-6.

Florida State got the ball back at the 40 yd line thanks to Florida kicker Caleb Sturgis kicking the ensuing kickoff out of bounds. Ponder took advantage of the field position, driving the Noles 46 yds in 9 plays but once again, Florida State had to settle for only three points, this time 32 yds for Gano and the lead was 21-9 2:04 left in the first half. That would be too much time for the potent Gator offense. Ignoring the driving rain, Tebow hit on passes of 13, 8, 26, and finally a 24 yd touchdown pass to Aaron Hernandez for the second time in the game to give the Gators a commanding 28-9 lead.

Garvin would burn the Florida kick coverage again, returning it 28 yds to the FSU 46 with 0:57 left. It would be enough time for Ponder to move the Seminoles into field goal range, but instead of taking the points, FSU Head Coach Bobby Bowden called for some chicanery, faking the field goal and tossing it to the kicker Gano who promptly slipped and fell in the muck of the field, tackling himself and ending a dismal half for Florida State.

The second half would start no better. After Sturgis set up the Noles at their own 40 with another out of bounds kickoff, the very first play from scrimmage saw Ponder intercepted by Florida linebacker Brandon Spikes, who returned it 26 yds to the 20 of Florida State. Tebow would make the Noles pay for the turnover, connecting with Louis Murphy in the back of the endzone for a 23 yd score and a 35-9 advantage.

Ponder's work was done for the day and an old Gator friend, Drew Weatherford, took over at quarterback for the Seminoles. Weatherford's first effort wouldn't do much as they would go three and out. The Gators took over at their own 26 yd line - but wouldn't stay there for long as on 1st down, running back Chris Rainey ripped off a 62 yd run, finally being dropped at the FSU 12 yd line. Florida State's defense stiffened and the Gators had to settle for a 29 yd Jonathan Davis field goal and a 38-9 lead. FSU would answer with their finest drive of the ballgame, an 8 play, 58 yd drive that was capped by Jermaine Thomas' 4 yd score to cut the lead to 38-15. Gano's extra point was blocked by the Gators.

It would stay that way until the 13:09 mark of the 4th quarter, when Janoris Jenkins stepped in front of a D'Vontrey Richardson pass at the Florida State 38 yd line. Florida ran the ball in from there, Jeff Demps plunging in from 2 yds out on the option to give the Gators their final margin 45-15.

"It was a good tail-whipping," FSU Coach Bobby Bowden told the AP, "I didn't think they would beat us like that here. The last time we had a beating like that was last year against them."

So there's one game left for Florida before they know their bowl fate, the big one versus Alabama. The Tide looked good today as well, demolishing their big rival Auburn 36-0. It should be a good one next week, Gator fans. We wanted a playoff - well, basically the Gators are in the semi-finals facing Alabama and whoever wins will move on the BCS Championship game.

Matinee No Better for Bolts

By JC De La Torre

The Tampa Bay Lightning had a rare midday matinee performance against the Minnesota Wild. Unfortunately for the Bolts, it ended pretty much the same way most of the games in November have, in a 4-2 defeat. Perhaps no team in the NHL will be more happy to see the month of November come to a close as the Lightning, who finish up the month at Colorado tomorrow night. Tampa Bay is now 3-6-4 in November.

The Lightning were competitive from the drop of the puck for a change. The first typically is the worst for Tampa Bay but in this one they were only outshot 11-8, controlling play most of the period. Tampa Bay killed off a 5-on-3 man advantage early in the first period after questionable call on Steven Stamkos for boarding. and an additional penalty to the Lightning bench for "Abuse of an Official". Tampa Bay went right on the power play with a call the Wild's Antti Miettinen for tripping. The Lightning got several chances but failed to cash in, the last as the power play expired, Vaclav Prospal clanked one off the goalposts. Minnesota would open up the scoring at the 12:07 mark of the first when a shot by Owen Nolan deflected of Lightning goalie Mike Smith and into the net. In the closing seconds of the period, the Lightning back on the power play, Radim Vrbata would redirect a Steven Stamkos slap shot into the net to tie the game with 0:40 left in the first.

The second period has been the Bolts strongest all season and today was no different, Tampa Bay controlled play in the second, outshooting the Wild 10-8 and cashing in on Ryan Malone's 3rd goal in as many games. his 6th of the season. After two, Tampa Bay led 2-1.

The Lightning played extremely well in the 3rd period, outshooting Minnesota 19-14, but the bounces just seemed to not go their way. Wild Center James Sheppard, who game into the game with 5 career goals in 98 NHL games tapped in a Marc-Andre Bergeron slapper to tie the game at 2. Then at the 6:10 mark of the Third, Bergeron would set up Mikko Koivu on the eventual game winner on his backhand, giving the Wild a 3-2 lead. Tampa Bay did get a golden opportunity to tie the game when Nick Schultz got called for highsticking with 3:55 left in the game. A frustrated Mikko Koivu got called for unsportsmanlike conduct and the Lightning had a full two man advantage. Tampa Bay peppered Wild Goaltender Niklas Backstrom with six shots, mostly from long range but could not find the back of the net. Eric Belanger would score the empty netter sealing the win for Minnesota.

Tampa Bay falls to 6-9-7 on the season and has lost eight of their last nine (including shoot out losses). The Lightning remain with 19pts, good for 3rd place in the Southeast division and 8 points behind the Washington Capitals.

Bucs Start the Big 3 Slate

By JC De La Torre

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have begun the 2008 season winning 8 of their first 11 ball games. At home they're undefeated and on the road they've won two straight. The Bucs currently sit as the #2 seed in the NFC and in position to win the NFC South title. None of that matters now. All that matters for the Buccaneers and their hopes to become the first team in NFL history to play the Super Bowl in their home stadium are the next three games beginning Sunday with the hated New Orleans Saints at Raymond James Stadium, followed by the final two road trips of the year to Carolina and Atlanta.

Take two out of 3 games, and the Bucs are in good position to stay in the race. Win all three and the race is all but over with the Bucs on there way to the second round of the playoffs for the first time since the Super Bowl year. Lose 2 out of 3 or all 3 and the Bucs are in deep trouble, not only in the division race but the playoffs overall. The easiest of the three (if there is an easiest) is this week's New Orleans game. Of course, New Orleans has won two straight and just beat the Green Bay Packers 51-29 shellacking on Monday Night Football.

So let's take a look at this match up a little more in depth -

Tampa Bay's Offense vs. New Orleans' Defense

Tampa Bay has the NFL's 12th ranked offense (13th rushing, 11th passing) and is averaging 23.4 points per game. The Saints defense is once again in the lower half of the league, ranked 22nd overall (18th against the run, 24th against the pass) and gives up an average of 25 pts a game. The Bucs will be without the services of their leading rusher Earnest Graham who is out for the season but is easing former NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Carnell "Cadillac" Williams back into the rotation. The Bucs will go primarily with Warrick Dunn at running back. As for their passing offense, Jeff Garcia continues to be steady but not spectacular at QB, while receivers Antonio Bryant and Ike Hilliard and tight ends Alex Smith and Jeramy Stevens have propelled the passing attack. Missing in action is Joey Galloway, who hasn't seen significant playing time since Week 1 against the Saints.

The running attack and short passing game is going to be crucial to Tampa Bay, as will be protecting the football. Playing keep away while sustaining drives, controlling time of possession and keeping the ball out of the hands of the New Orleans offense is just as crucial as scoring points when the opportunity presents itself. This week would be a great time for head coach Jon Gruden to take the the mothballs off of Joey Galloway.

New Orleans' Offense vs. Tampa Bay's Defense

The Saints offense comes in red hot, leading the league in total offense and scoring 51 points against a decent Green Bay Packers defense. New Orleans is #3 in scoring, #1 Passing, but #27 rushing. The Saints will be getting running back\wide receiver Reggie Bush back just in time to face the Bucs #4 ranked defense. The Bucs 2nd ranked pass defense will get its stiffest test since meeting the Saints in the opener, while the 13th ranked rush defense will need to contain Bush, Pierre Thomas and their old nemesis, Deuce McCallister. The Bucs defense is 3rd in the NFL in scoring defense and looks like they'll be getting a boost with starting strong safety Jermaine Phillips returning to the lineup.

Tampa Bay's Special Teams vs. New Orleans' Special Teams

Returner Clifton Smith has breathed life into an anemic Buccaneer return game. Thanks to Smith's heroics, the Bucs rank 3rd in the NFL in kick return yardage, and have risen to 16th in punt return yardage after spending most of the season dead last. The Bucs have a kickoff return and punt return for touchdowns (both by Smith) in the same season for the first time in team history. The Saints have had their share of heroics as well, getting three punt returns for touchdowns and leading the league in punt return average. The Saints kickoff and punt return coverage are a little suspect as they rank 21st and 26th respectively. The Bucs boast solid coverage play ranking 5th on kickoff coverage and are 17th in punt coverage. Bucs Punter Josh Bidwell ranks 10th in the NFL in punt average, while the Saints Ben Graham ranks 23rd. The Saints are on their third kicker this season, Garrett Hartley, who has made all six field goal tries since coming aboard, including a 44 yder. The Bucs Matt Bryant has been solid for Tampa Bay, making 86% of his field goals with a long of 49.

Coaching

Jon Gruden is the winningest coach in Buccaneer history and has the Bucs in contention for their 4th division championship in the 7 years of the NFC South. Sean Payton is one of the most innovative offensive head coaches in the NFL and his passing attack is feared through out the league.

Intangibles

The Bucs have won 4 of the last 7 meetings with the Saints and 2 of the last 3 in Tampa. Brees has had trouble finding his rhythm on the road as he has thrown five touchdown passes and seven interceptions in five road games compared to 17 TD passes and four picks in five home games. The Saints have also struggled on the road, as they opened the season with four straight road losses before a 30-20 win at Kansas City on Nov. 16. The New Orleans defense gives up an average of 29.7 points on the road. The Bucs are 5-0 at home this season, winning by an average of 13 points. New Orleans won the last meeting in Week 1 24-20, holding off a last minute drive by Jeff Garcia and the Buccaneers with a late interception.

Final Prediction

Its an irresistible force meeting the immovable object. Frankly, the Saints offense vs. the Bucs defense isn't what will decide this ballgame - the two will battle to a stalemate. I think what will be the difference is whether or not the Bucs offense can score on a Saints defense that gives up an average of 29 points a game on the road, whether they can control the ball, thus the clock limiting the cracks Drew Brees has at the Bucs secondary. The Bucs offense must also avoid the costly turnover and short field for the Saints. Don't help them. A few nice returns by Clifton Smith certainly wouldn't hurt things. The Bucs have it all ahead of them starting this week. I think they get the job done against a tough New Orleans team coming off an emotional win on national television.

Final Score: Tampa Bay 27, New Orleans 20.

Gators vs. Noles - We Don't Like Them, They Don't Like Us

By JC De La Torre

I'm a Florida Gator fan. I never attended the University of Florida but most of my family did. My uncle coached the offensive line for the Gators in the 1980's during the Charley Pell-Galen Hall years, most of my cousins went to UF. I was the black sheep, deciding to stay close to home and go to school here in Tampa (not that I could have got into UF. My rambunctious childhood was more in tune for FSU, but I digress). I grew up raised a Gator and when I was very little was taught to love the Orange and Blue and hate anything Garnet and Gold.


Sure, Florida has plenty of rivals – Miami, Tennessee, and Georgia come quickly to mind - but no school seems to pull the hatred out of me like the Seminoles. Perhaps its simply the arrogance of their fans, the “dadgumit” nature of their coach, that annoying-assed Seminole War Chant, or the erector set they call a stadium – for whatever the reason there's no hate like the one for Florida State. (I do admit that when playing EA Sports NCAA 09, I have added the Seminole War Chant and other music for the Noles into the game, so when I go on the road at Florida State – it feels like I’m really there).

Keep that in mind as we break down the UF-FSU matchup that could decide who takes this year’s Governor’s Cup. Interestingly enough, if Florida wins, it would be the first time they earned the Seminole War Canoe (for beating Miami) and the Governor’s Cup (for beating Florida State) in the same season since 1985.

The Series

Florida leads the overall series 31-19-2 and has won 4 straight against Florida State, including last year’s 45-12 woodshed whuppin’. Florida coach Urban Meyer has never lost to Florida State 3-0. Before Meyer, Bobby Bowden’s Seminoles won 13 of 16 contests with 1 tie (the infamous Choke at Doak).

Florida’s Offense vs. Florida State’s defense


By now you know Florida’s cavalcade of stars. Tebow, Harvin, the triple headed monster at running back (Rainey, Demps, Moody). Florida’s #3 in the country in scoring, #5 in passing, 18th in total yds and 11th in rushing. However, the strength of the Florida State football team is their defense. While they’re 19th in scoring defense, FSU is 7th in the nation in yds allowed, 20th against the run but 4th against the pass. Florida State is tied for 61st in the nation with turnover margin of 0.


For the Seminoles to have a chance, their defense will need to slow the Gators down and force turnovers. In the Gators only loss this season, Florida turned the ball over three times in their upset loss to Mississippi. It allowed the Rebels to stay in the game and steal it at the end. This is where FSU needs to be. Keep the Gator offensive machine in check, stay in the game, take a lead late. Florida is 0-5 when trailing in the second half with Tim Tebow at QB.


Since the loss to Mississippi, Florida has outscored their opponents 369-82. Florida has outscored its opponents 122-0 in the first quarter of its past six games. Florida State has fallen behind in the opening quarter in four of its past six, usually by double digits, weathering the early barrage by the Gators and staying in the game early will be paramount for Florida State.


Florida State’s Offense vs. Florida’s Defense

While the Noles lack the firepower of the Florida offense, they can score. FSU 22nd in the Nation in scoring, averaging 34.3 points per game. The Noles are 47th in total offense, 30th in rushing and a dreadful 85th in passing. Those numbers must improve if the Noles hope to win this football game. Florida State needs to hold on the to football and limit the Gators opportunities with the ball. Unfortunately for the Seminoles, the Florida defense is the best is been in quite some time and the most improved part of the football team under the direction of Coach Charlie Strong. The Gators are 3rd in the nation in scoring defense, 9th in total yds allowed, 13th against the run, 20th against the pass. What really makes this Gator defense go are the splash plays. The Gators are 3rd in the nation in interceptions, and #1 in the nation at turnover ratio as a +10. Florida also leads the nation with 5 interception returns for touchdowns.

The Seminoles offense will need to protect the football, grind out yards on the ground and find some big plays from Antone Smith and Jermaine Thomas at the running back position.

Florida’s Special Teams vs. Florida State’s Special Teams

Both teams return kickoffs and cover kick returns fairly well, but the difference may be in the punt return game. Florida is 6th in the nation in return yardage for punt returns, including 2 touchdown returns by Florida’s Brandon James (Florida State ranks 59th in punt return yardage). Florida is also 4th in the nation in punt coverage while the Noles struggle at 59th in coverage. The Gators are also 3rd in the nation with 7 blocked kicks/punts this season. Florida State is 45th with 2.

Coaching

Urban Meyer has the Gators primed for another National championship run, while Bobby Bowden appears to be winding down his career at Florida State. Bowden’s Seminoles definitely are a better squad this season then they’ve been the last few years but they are not an elite level program that they were in Bowden’s heyday in the 90’s. Jimbo Fisher has been named the successor-in-waiting for Florida State but Bobby seems to be hanging on as long as he can, hoping to outlast Penn State’s Joe Paterno and take the most victories mantel. That’s not going to better FSU as a program and that’s not going to help them out recruit Urban Meyer.

The Spread

Urban Meyer knows that Florida football alumni enjoy their small term investments and Florida is typically a very good bet to cover. Most betting services have Florida favored by 16.5-17 pts.

Final Score Prediction

In rivalries, you never know what you’re going to get. Many times you can simply throw out the records as they don’t matter in these types of games. However, adrenalin and intensity because you’re playing your hated rival will only get you so far – you have to have the talent to be able to compete. Florida State is on the upswing, they’re definitely getting better – but they are not in Florida’s class right now. I think the Noles will have plenty of fight in them but in the end the Gators will be just too much.


My Pick: Florida 42, Florida State 24

I will say this, though, Florida State fans sure know how to remind you they were once an all girls school!

Happy Thanksgiving from the TBSB!

By JC De La Torre



Greetings folks! We at the Tampa Bay Sports Blog would like to extend our best wishes for a safe and enjoyable holiday! We'll be signing off for today but rest assured there's much more Tampa Bay content to come.

• A Florida-Florida State preview is definitely in the works


• Bucs take the first of a three game gauntlet, will give you previews and reviews of that one


• We'll have extended coverage of the race for the NFC post-season and where the Bucs fit in it.


• The USF Bulls continue their quest to get into a better bowl


• The Lightning are still trying to find their stride.


• Any new Rays tidbits from the hot stove league


• Plus anything else we can bring!

So have a happy, enjoyable Thanksgiving, we'll talk again soon!

TAAAAAMPA.....................................................................BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!

Lightning Show toughness, Still Can't Beat the Rangers

By JC De La Torre

Before Wednesday night's game against the top team in the Eastern Conference, the New York Rangers, interim head coach Rick Tocchet made it clear that the effort against the New Jersey Devils was unacceptable and gave the edict of get tougher or get out. The Bolts were definitely tougher against the powerful Rangers, but the results were still the same - a 3-2 shootout loss.

"This is for everybody," Tocchet told the St. Petersburg Times before the game, "If the results aren't there, I don't care who it is, you're not going to play. I don't know if we're at that time yet, but it's getting close. We're going to have to get a little bit of urgency. We thought we had some baby steps, but then New Jersey happened. Was Jersey something that just happened or is it something that we have problems, we're going to start getting rid of people here?"

The message was sent and the Bolts responded in a scoreless first period where rookie Steven Stamkos got into his first NHL fight, while Evgeny Artyukhin and Colton Orr exchange pleasantries at the end of the first.

The second period opened with the teams trading goals, New York's Markus Naslund opened the scoring at 2:40 of the second and two minutes later Ryan Malone answered on the power play. Finally, with 7:23 left in the 2nd period and the game tied at one the heavyweight bought everyone was waiting for took place. Lightning toughman David Koci versus Rangers Enforcer Colton Orr.

Courtesy HockeyFights.com and youtube

Orr got loose on a few blasts early in the fight, but Koci connected with a right hand to the snoz of Orr and rocked him, dominating the rest of the battle until Orr turtled.

Late in the Period, with Ryan Malone off for hooking Scott Gomez, the Rangers took the lead on the power play with a Naslund blast from the point. New York took a 2-1 into the second intermission.

The lead would hold until late in the third period when with 0:50 left in the game, Mark Recchi redirected a Martin St. Louis shot past Henrik Lundqvist to tie it at 2.

After the scoreless overtime period, we went to the Lightning's dread - the shootout. Vrbata and Jussi Jokinen would miss their chances, Markus Naslund and Nikolai Zherdev wouldn't and there's your hockey game.

Tocchet seemed pleased with the Lightning's effort but graded their net presence a B-. "We're just having a tough time scoring goals. We've got to roll up our sleeves and keep going to work," the interim head coach told the Times, "It was an intense game, and that's going to happen. The intensity I'm talking about is coming up with loose pucks, going to the net. It's still a work in progress. Overall, the guys worked hard."

USF Bulls Basketball Update - Week of Nov. 26th

By JC De La Torre

There was a time back in the day when the start of the USF Basketball season would greeted with great fanfare. With the decline of the program and the rise of the football program, the Bulls basketball team has pretty much been second fiddle. It's understandable considering the Bulls performance since joining the powerhouse Big East.

Until the football season is over, we won't really be focusing too much on Bulls basketball. Truth be told, even when football season is over - we might not. Oh, we'll chronicle the bigger games of the Bulls schedule - but let's face it - covering a 30 point blowout to one of the Big East powers isn't exactly exciting reading (unless you're a fan of said Big East power). We all hope the Bulls will be competitive this year in the Big East and we do think they'll be better, but realistically an NIT bid may be the highest aspiration if you're a Bulls fan. Then again, who knows? Many said that the Rays could never compete in the AL East and they found their way - maybe South Florida will, too.

In any event, let's give you some thumbnails of the season thus far -

South Florida 60, Southern Methodist 46
Jesus Verdejo scored 18 points and Mobolaji Ajay nabbed 11 rebounds to lead the way for South Florida over the SMU Mustangs. The Bulls were strong defensively, limiting the Mustangs to only 28% shooting and out rebounding the Mustangs 43-39.

Virgina 77, South Florida 75
USF lost a heartbreaker on the road as Virginia's Slyven Landesberg scored with 13 seconds left and sank a free throw with six seconds to go to seal the game for the Cavaliers. Landesberg scored 21 pts in the game, while Jamil Tucker tossed in another fifteen points and seven rebounds for Virginia. The Bulls were solid defensively again, holding Virginia to only 40% shooting from the floor. The Bulls Dominique Jones drove the hoop and put USF up 74-73 will 1:11 left in the game, but their upset bid would fall short in a competitive game that saw 19 lead changes and 14 ties. Jesus Verdejo went over 500 points for his career as he poured in career high 22 points.

South Florida 59, High Point 46
The Bulls rebounded from the loss in Virgina with a victory over High Point, but South Florida had to rally from a half time deficit to do so. USF's Aris Williams triggered a 17-4 run by scoring 8 straigh points, while Chris Howard and Jesus Verdejo added 14 and 12. The Bulls got a quick glimpse of the future as Freshman Eladio Espinosa pulled down a career high ten boards.


Up Next for the Bulls -
Next week, the Bulls play host to Northeastern University before heading on the road to face old Conference USA rivals UAB and UCF.

Gator Basketball Update - Wk of Nov. 26th

By JC De La Torre

Until the football season comes to an end, the Florida Gators basketball team is typically on the backburner in the minds of Gator fans and this blogger. That will change in January-March, when Florida basketball gets into their SEC schedule and really start to get going.

In the meantime, I'll give you these quick hit Gator Basketball updates every week to let you know how they're doing. I'll of course focus on some of the bigger matchups like the Florida State game on December 7th (I'm a little disappointed its not this weekend, I had begun to enjoy the basketball-football doubleheaders) but for now, let's just get caught up to where we are.

Florida has already played 5 games this season, mostly against Wimama Tech type teams -

Florida 80, Toledo 58
The Gators beat up on the overmatched Rockets getting 19 pts from Dan Werner and shooting 52% from the floor. Nick Calathes led with 7 assists and 3 steals. Florida won their season opener for the 18th consecutive season.

Florida 81, Bradley 58
Walter Hodge scored 17 points and the Gators actually shot better from the 3pt line (43%) than from the field overall (41%) as they pounded Bradley. Chandler Parsons led with 10 rebounds while Nick Calathes led in assists (6) and steals (4). Bradley snapped a seven-game win streak vs. teams from the state of Florida.

Florida 64, Southern Utah 50
The Gators essentially sleptwalked through this one. The Gators struggled to find the bottom of the net, going 1-for-16 from three point land, missing ten free throws and shooting only 46% overall. Southern Utah's Davis Baker led all scorers with 23 points, while the Gators Nick Calathes led the way for Florida in points (18), rebounds (7), and assists (4).



CBE Classic Semi-Finals: Syracuse 89, Florida 83
In the Gators first major test of the season, they failed as the fell in the CBE Classic to the Syracuse Orange of the Big East, 89-83. Paul Harris had 18 pts and 11 rebounds, while Johnny Flynn tossed another 18 in for the Orange. Syracuse pretty much led throughout, get ahead by as much as 12 points at one point. The Gators stayed within 6 the majority of the way but never seemed to be able to get that big stop on defense or key field goal to bridge the divide. Florida was outrebounded 53-42. Florida's young sophomore Alex Tyus scored 24 points in a losing effort.

"We scored 64 points against Southern Utah, but we held them to 50," Florida coach Billy Donovan told the Associated Press, "I know Southern Utah talent level isn't at where Syracuse is, but I think when you start to start playing the type of teams like Syracuse, it's very difficult to expect to try to win giving up 89 points."

CBE Consolation Game: Florida 86, Washington 84
The Gators withstood a furious Huskie rally in the final five minutes to hold on and beat Washington by 2. Florida led by 10 points with less than 5 minutes left in the game, but held on as Washington's Jon Brockman's rebound tip clanked off the rim as time expired. The Gators played a pretty good ball game, shooting 52% from the floor and hitting 11-of-22 from the three point line. Nick Calathes led the way for Florida with 21 points and 8 assists, while Brockman scored 22 and had 11 rebounds for the Huskies.

Up Next Week -
Florida returns to the creampuff circuit facing UMCK (University of Missouri-Kansas City) Roos on November 30th.

A message to other Bloggers

By JC De La Torre

I don't pretend to be god's gift to blogging. In fact, I'm a newb nobody that is just trying to get my readership up and trying to establish a following. I like that there are some out there who dig my work and want to reference it on their own sites. I welcome that with one little caveat.

If you are going to use any of my work - you MUST link back to the original article. Not only is it blogging etiquette, its the right thing to do. Whenever I use someone else's info or work - I've ALWAYS linked back. I take time in crafting the way I want to say things, sometimes I'm a little to rough on our local teams, sometimes I try to be funny (occassionally I succeed), sometimes I can be very opinionated and provide that to you, sometimes I do hours of research on a topic and try to provide you some good analysis, other times its just straight news reporting from the wires or the local papers.

Whatever it is, if I use someone else's work - I post a link back to the source. Now, there's been a lot of folks who have done that in the past and I thank you for reading and for caring enough to link back to me. There have been other bloggers who blatantly have stolen my work and for that I cannot stand idly by. At the bottom of this blog there's a copyright and I will defend my copyright. If I find that you have used my work on your blog with out a link back or my expressed permission to do so - your ISP will be contacted and you better starting looking for a good attorney.

While I don't make a lot of money doing this - and honestly its not a money making venture for me, its more of a fun diversion from the everyday - its still MY intellectual property we're playing with here.

Please - save us both some grief. If you dig something I write - cool, I'm thrilled about that. Just link back. It takes two seconds to post a linkback, its not brain surgery and I'd do it for you.

Lightning Bring Back Sully and other Bolts of Info

By JC De La Torre

The Tampa Bay Lightning brought back one of the members of the old regime, Mike Sullivan, to return to the role of associate coach with the hockey club. Sullivan was head coach in Boston and was a key member of John Tortorella's staff last season. Sullivan was already being paid the balance of his contract by the Lightning, so it made natural sense to management to bring him back.

"He has the same philosophy," Tocchet told the St. Petersburg Times, "He wants to play a high-tempo game and practice at a really high tempo. He wants guys to be more aggressive on the puck."

"It's easier when you have established relationships," Sullivan explained to the Times, "I went through the process with Brian Lawton and Tocc, and wanted to make sure it was the right fit for both of them. It's important coaches share the same philosophy. It was a fairly smooth process, and here I am."

Sullivan is expected to work on the defense and share some power play coaching duties. Assistant Coach Cap Reader has been re-focused on goaltending and will also contribute in other unspecified capacities throughout the organization.

In other Lightning news, Tampa Bay appears to be getting healthy again. Karri Ramo was sent back to Norfolk, a clear indication that Mike Smith is ready to at least dress. The Times also reports that D Lukas Krajicek may be able to play tonight against the Rangers.

Finally, when watching tonight's game, keep an eye on the Bolts presence in front of the net. Head Coach Rick Tocchet will - in fact, he'll be grading the players on their time in front of the net. He calls it "net presence" and each player will get a rating on how often and how well they created chaos in front of the opposing goaltender. The prevailing belief is those who do well with Net Presence will get more time on the ice. Tocchet is a strong believer in that most goals in the National Hockey League are scored by players standing near, infront of, or by the goaltender.

The Bucs Fan Thanksgiving Primer

By JC De La Torre

Wow, its amazing isn’t it? Turkey day is upon us already and we have our annual excuse to gorge ourselves on fowl, corn, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, and all the other fixings that are traditional for your family. There’s one other meal that this certain Thursday on the calendar fulfills and that’s our appetite for NFL Football.

For Buc fans, Thursday will matter a little bit. Tampa Bay is currently 8-3, tied for first place in the NFC South. If the playoffs were to begin today, the Bucs would have a 1st round bye. The Bucs desperately want to hold on to the division title and that bye. It’s a lot easier to reach the Super Bowl by winning two games than three. Certainly, there’s been cases where the eventual Super Bowl Champions made it there by going through the wildcard round (our current champions are prime example), but its certainly an easier road to battle your way through a tough divisional fight, then get a week off, play a home playoff game – win it – and then play for the right to go to the Super Bowl. That’s the formula that worked so well in 2002 for Tampa Bay.

In fact, if you think about it, the similarities between 2002 and this season are uncanny.

1. The Bucs lost the season opener to New Orleans 02 and this year.
2. If the Bucs win the division and earn a bye, Atlanta has a darn good shot at making the playoffs as a wildcard. The Falcons were a wildcard in 2002 as well.
3. With a win over Carolina on the road in two weeks, the Bucs will sweep the season series with the Panthers. The last time that happened? You guessed it – 2002.
4. If the Bucs and Giants advance to the NFC Championship game, the Bucs will face a team in the playoffs that eliminated them the year before. The last time that happened? Yep. 2002.
5. With a victory over the New Orleans Saints this week, the Buccaneers will improve to 9-3 after 12 games. The last time the Bucs stood 9-3 after 12 games? 2002.
6. In 2002 the Buccaneers defense was a Top 5 unit but weren’t number one. The Bucs defense this year is a Top 5 unit – but they aren’t number one.
7. This year Buccaneers faced their old rivals in the NFC North and swept them. The last time the Bucs swept the NFC North? 2002.

It’s like that horrible Jim Carey Movie, the Number 23, but you get the idea. To keep the good vibes rolling for the Buccaneers, they will be taking a keen interest in the goings on this Thursday.

Tennessee at Detroit 12:30pm EST– This game is essentially meaningless to the Buccaneers, other than hoping that our former buddies Rod Marinelli, Joe Barry, Jimmy Lake, Ryan Nece, Brian Kelly, Dewayne White, Kalvin Pearson, and the other Buccaneer alumni get off the snide and find a victory. On the other hand, the Lions inch closer to replacing the 1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers as the last team to go winless in a non strike year. Plus, if the Lions go 0-16 this year, they only need to start 0-10 next year to break the Buccaneers record of 26 straight losses.

Bucs fans should root for: Detroit, Rod’s to great a coach and guy to live in oh-mortality

Seattle at Dallas 4:00pm EST – Well, in a perfect world, the Bucs would win the NFC South and not have to worry about wildcard tie-breakers but we all know the Bucs have a tough slate down the stretch and could very well be concerned about wildcard positioning. A loss by Dallas to Seattle would help the Bucs chances significantly.

Bucs fans should root for: Seattle, another loss for Dallas gives the Bucs a bit more cushion between them and America’s team.

Arizona at Philadelphia 8pm EST – Buccaneer fans will find themselves in the unenviable position of rooting for the Eagles Thursday night. With the NFC North’s Chicago Bears a full two games back, the Arizona Cardinals (along with the teams in the Bucs’ own division) are the primary competition for Tampa Bay achieving a first round bye.

Bucs fans should root for: Philadelphia, Yes Buc fans, I know it’s difficult for us to find a way to root for success for any team from Philadelphia – but on Thursday night, we’ll need to do it. A loss by the Cards would give the Bucs a two game buffer for the bye week, saddle Arizona with another conference loss and allow Tampa Bay to simply concentrate on taking care of business within the NFC South, also giving the Bucs a little wiggle room if they stub their toe in one of the remaining divisional games.

New Threads, Same Old Garbage On the Ice for Bolts

By JC De La Torre

You can take the jersey off the team, but you can't take the team out of the jersey. With apologies to those god-awful NHL Network commercials, the Tampa Bay Lightning introduced their spiffy new alternate jersey Sunday evening but saw yet another lackluster effort in a 7-3 embarrassment against the New Jersey Devils. The Lightning were beaten in every phase of the game as New Jersey showed Tampa Bay the gulf between playoff contender and sub par team.

In the Bolts defense, they were a little shorthanded in this game. Stellar goalie Mike Smith was out of this one with a "nagging" lower body injury, defenseman Lukas Krajicek was out with a body injury and forwards Chris Gratton and Gary Roberts were placed on the 7 day injured reserve list, creating room for Goalie Karri Ramo and defenseman Jamie Heward to be called up from Norfolk.

Still, the Lightning maintained their m.o. of slow starts, getting outshot 15-6 while Mike Rupp and Zach Parise scored to make it 2-0 after one. As typical for the Bolts, Tampa Bay came out fighting in the second period, but goaltender Olaf Kolzig did not, as he gave up another three goals, two to Danais Zubrus, to begin the second period and allow the Devils to take an insurmountable 5-0 lead. Kolzig would be lifted for Karri Ramo after giving up 5 goals on 28 shots. To Tampa Bay's credit, they didn't quit. The Lightning scored three goals in less than three minutes in the final five minutes of the second period. Vrbata and St. Louis scored within less than a minute of each other, then Ryan Malone was taken down on a breakaway and scored on the ensuing penalty shot to close the gap to 5-3.

The Devils would reestablish their dominance in the third as at the 7:12 mark Danais Zubrus would put the game out of reach with a breakaway goal to complete a hat trick. Zubrus would add another midway through the third, giving him a team record tying four goals for the contest.

In the aftermath, the Lightning coaches and players admitted that this performance was a setback in the progression of the team.

"That's a couple of steps back," coach Rick Tocchet told the St. Petersburg Times, "(Due to the lack of hustle) The trainers won't be passing out ice bags to the players. It was a pretty bad effort."

Martin St. Louis was even more succinct, telling the Times, ""We took a huge step back. This is nowhere near the effort we need, the desperation. We were second on the puck all night long, weren't supporting each other. … It's just really disappointing when you take some great strides forward and then you take a dump like that."

The Lightning fall to 6-8-6 (18 pts) on the season, 3rd in the Southeast Division and remain 4 points out of a playoffs spot in the Eastern Conference.

Bulls Hold On Against UConn to Snap Skid

By JC De La Torre

The USF Bulls will be watching with the rest of the country when the better teams take the field on New Year's Day, but they moved a step closer to going bowling themselves with a big victory over the UConn Huskies 17-13 to improve to 7-4 on the season, snapping a four game skid and finally getting their second conference victory of the season during the school's first ever Sunday contest.

In the process, the Bulls contained the nation's leading rusher, Donald Brown, holding him to 96 yds on 28 carries, his lowest average of the season (3.4 yds per carry) and no scores.

Things started out well for USF as Dontavia Bogan took the opening kickoff 64 yds to the UConn 30 yd line. From there, QB Matt Grothe drove the Bulls down to the 3 yd line where Benjamin Williams cashed it in for a 3 yd score and a quick 7-0 lead. South Florida would extend its lead in the second quarter, capping an 11 play 73 yd drive with a 29 yd Maikon Bonani 29 field goal. The score was set up by a nice 32 yd Grothe to Mark Edwards pass to the UConn 13 yd line.

UConn would get on the board after stopping the Bulls on a 4th and 1 at their own 45 yard line (why the Bulls went for it in that situation remains a mystery), as the Huskies pounded Tyler Lorenzen and Donald Brown all the way to the USF 4 yd line before settling for a 21 yd Dave Teggart field goal with 0:28 left in the half. After two quarters of play, USF led 10-3.

UConn would tie the game on a brilliant 12 play 87 yd drive that came mostly on the ground. With a first and 10 at the South Florida 43, the Huskies QB Lorenzen showed he could throw the ball in addition to being a runner, rainbowing the ball 43 yds to Ellis Gaulden for the tying touchdown. USF would go three and out, as would UConn on their next drive. As the 3rd quarter expired, UConn punter Desi Cullen shanked his 4th down punt, having it travel only 24 yds and giving the Bulls a short field at the Connecticut 48.

Grothe would rush three consecutive plays for 17 yds, then hit Jessie Hester for another 6 to the UConn 25. Running back Jamar Taylor would take it from there, slicing 25 yds for the score, giving the Bulls a 17-10 advantage with 12:38 left in the game. UConn would answer with a 47 yd drive, but had to settle for a 35 yd Tegget field goal, cutting the Bulls advantage to 4 with 9:19 left.

After another South Florida 3-and-out, UConn began to march downfield getting all the way to the USF 39 yd line. UConn QB Tyler Lorenzen would attempt to run, gaining 8 yds before fumbling, allowing the Bulls to hold on to the lead with 5:38 left to play. UConn would get one more shot late, but failed to convert a 4th and 20, allowing South Florida to run out the clock.

The Bulls victory keeps their bowl hopes very much alive. Right now South Florida has been mentioned for the Texas Bowl and Meineke Car Care Bowl as potential post-season destinations, although a strong finish by the Bulls could garner them consideration for something a little more prominent.

OH THE HUMANITY! Bucs Survive Motown Scare

By JC De La Torre

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have gotten this rally thing down pat. Now let's not see it anymore. Tampa Bay fell behind 17-0 to the putrid Detroit Lions, then rallied with a 21 point 2nd quarter and two more scores in the 3rd to subdue to plucky Lions 38-20. The victory, combined with Atlanta butt kicking of the Carolina Panthers move the Bucs into a 1st place tie in the NFC South. If the playoffs ended today, the Buccaneers would have their third division title in four years and a first round bye.

The Bucs began this game as a team that looked anything but a team in playoff contention. After the teams exchanged punts on their opening series, the Lions drove 71 yds in 7 plays with new Lions QB Daunte Culpepper hitting the monster WR Calvin Johnson for a 41 yd strike to the Tampa Bay 17 yd line, then found Johnson again in the endzone for a 15 yd score and a 7-0 lead.

The Bucs got the ball back at the 29. Garcia hit Jerramy Stevens for a 5 yd gain, then WR Antonio Bryant for 17 to the Lions 49. Then disaster struck. Head Coach Jon Gruden inserted running back Carnell "Cadillac" Williams for his first action of the 2008 season - showed. Garcia had the inclination to play action to Williams and go for Antonio Bryant deep, unfortunately Garcia and Williams collided in the backfield, knocking the ball loose and Detroit safety Daniel Bullocks picked up the fumble and rumbled 49 yds for a score. The stunned Buccaneers trailed 14-0.

Tampa Bay would go three and out, then normally reliable punter Josh Bidwell shanked a punt 34 yds, setting the Lions up in superb field position, allowing them to drive it 36 yds to set up a 38 yd Jason Hanson field goal with 0:15 left in a nightmare first quarter for the Buccaneers. After one quarter of play, it was the Lions 17, the Buccaneers 0.

Then the second quarter began and things changed. A terrific kick return by Clifton Smith set the Bucs at midfield. From there, Garcia would drive the Bucs 50 yds in 7 plays, setting up a whirling derbish touchdown run by the ageless Warrick Dunn, cutting the Detroit advantage to 10. After a 3-and-out by the Lions, Garcia marched the Bucs back down the field again, driving Tampa Bay all the way down to the Lions 36. On 3rd and 13, Garcia scrambled, then found WR Ike Hilliard wide open for a 36 yd score, suddenly the daunting lead of the Lions had been shaved to only 3.

In typical Lions fashion, Detroit would set the Bucs up in prime field postion, as Daunte Culpepper's short pass that was intended for Shaun McDonald ended up in the hands of Bucs CB Ronde Barber, setting the Buccaneer offense at the Detroit 24 yd line. The Bucs would take advantage immediately, in almost a carbon copy of their last score Garcia found a quarrantined Jerramy Stevens all alone for a 24 yd touchdown. Shocker reversed - Tampa Bay led at the half 21-17.

In the 3rd quarter, the both teams would punt on their opening drive - but Tampa Bay's Clifton Smith would return the Detroit punt 70 yds for a touchdown. Clifton Smith became the first Buccaneer in team history to have a kick return and punt return for a touchdown in the same season. If Smith can ever figure out how to not lose the pigskin (he fumbled for the fourth straight game today), he might become a special teams superstar in the vein of Devin Hester or Dante Hall. This guy has the chance to break it each time he touches the ball. Smith is an undrafted rookie free agent out of Fresno State - what a find by the Buccaneer scouting department.

With 9:33 left in the third quarter and the Bucs driving, Jeff Garcia was hit from behind and fumbled the football. The Bucs challenged the call and replays appeared to clearly show Garcia down, but inexplicably, referee Bill Corollo decided there wasn't enough evidence to overturn the call. The Lions had the football at the Tampa Bay 45, then promptly threw it away. Daunte Culpepper telegraphed an out intended for Shaun McDonald and Barber, as he's done so many times before, stepped in front for his second pick of the game and raced 65 yd for the score, putting the Bucs up 38-17.

Jeff Hanson would take advantage of a muffed punt by Ike Hilliard to pound in a 40 yd field goal to pull the Lions within 18 but they would get no closer. Drew Stanton would briefly make an appearance for the Lions going 2 for 6 for 13 yds before being knocked cuukoo and out of the game. The benched Culpepper would re-enter the ballgame and basically not do much. Someone who did get a chance to do a lot was Carnell "Cadillac" Williams. The Bucs rested Warrick Dunn in the 4th quarter, allowing Williams to get a good feel for the game. Williams at one point carried the ball eight straight times, finishing with 27 yds on 16 carries. Sure the average isn't much, but Williams got an opportunity to get a feel for the speed of the game, got to cut on the fieldturf, got hit, and survived, feeling sore but great. No ill effects from the knee injury and it appeared that he still had that speed and power that was a trademark of Williams game. It will take some time, but Cadillac definitely showed some glimpses of why the Bucs were so proud of the miraculous comeback he has made.

Tampa Bay improved to 8-3, tied for 1st in the NFC South and head back home to host the struggling New Orleans Saints in a big time revenge game for the Buccaneers. The Lions fell to 0-11, and their bid for OH-mortality remains intact.

Gators Take it Easy on the Citadel, Only put up 70

By JC De La Torre

For a lot of the Gator players, this homecoming game will be the final memory of Florida Field as a football player. Some will move on to the Pros, others will find careers in business, science, or law. All of them will remember this was the day that the Gators were charitable, calling off the dogs and even letting their opponent get a couple cheapo touchdowns against the waterboy. The Gators dominated the Citadel Bulldogs 70-19. They could have easily scored 100.

Urban Meyer understood the fine line between making it look good for the pollsters and just being downright cruel. When the Gators pulled Tim Tebow and the starters midway through the 2nd quarter, it was 42-0. Tebow attempted only 11 passes, but had 201 yds passing and 3 touchdowns. Chris Rainey carried the ball just 7 times, but had 143 yds and a score. Percy Harvin touched it just 5 times, yet had 125 yds and a touchdown (his 13th straight game with a score). Before unloading the bench on defense, the Citadel's offensive possessions consisted of four punts and two interceptions.

Eight different Gators scored, and they scored 70 points for the first time since 2001. Florida totaled 706 yards of total offense -- the third most in school history. Gators running backs Chris Rainey and Emmanuel Moody each went over 100 yards on the ground, the second time in seven games Florida has had two 100-yard rushers (previously they hadn't done it since 1997). During their 7 game winning streak, Florida has outscored their opponents 369-82.

Even the ultra-focused Urban Meyer admitted that at halftime he was already thinking about Florida State next week.

So what does this do for the Gators in the polls? Honestly, not much. Despite putting a 70-burger on the Bulldogs and continuing to destroy every opponent they face, the Citadel game actually hurt Florida's strength of schedule. It didn't help that Ole Miss, the bug of the SEC, took down LSU - who is gaspiping the end of this season and hurting the Florida strength of schedule. It does help Florida in that the team that beat them nearly beat #1 Alabama (losing by 4), beat Florida, and now took down a ranked team in LSU. Ole Miss may actually be a ranked team by next week, making the Gator upset all the more legitimate. Florida was also helped by Florida State's dominant victory over a ranked Maryland team, which may allow the Noles to climb back into to top 25 before the Gators head to Tallahassee. Of course, Oklahoma's demolition of #2 Texas Tech has sent the Big 12 in to disarray, it will be interesting to see how the BCS rankings realign. Will Oklahoma jump both Florida and Texas? Will Texas, who had a bye week, move up to #2, Oklahoma #3, and Florida staying at #4? Or will it be #1 Alabama, #2 Florida, #3 Oklahoma, #4 Texas? As I said, its going to be interesting. One thing is certain, the BCS will not have a non-conference champion play for the BCS title. So you will see the champion of the Big 12 face the Champion of the SEC...barring some awful chicanery that may cause a congressional investigation into the BCS.

In any event, no Gator fan cares about anything this week but making Florida State look like the Citadel on Saturday.

VICTORY! Tampa Bay gets Tocchet His First Victory

By JC De La Torre

The Tampa Bay Lightning got two goals from Vincent Lecavalier, 3 assists from Ryan Malone, and 34 saves from Mike Smith as they pounded the Nashville Predators 4-1 to give interim Head Coach Rick Tocchet his first coaching victory.

The Lightning wasted little time jumping on Preds goalie Dan Ellis as at the 4:57 mark of the first, Lecavalier connected on an open net rebound for a power play goal. A couple minutes later, Lecavalier was back on the ice, found a loose puck and ripped a slapper past Ellis to stake Tampa Bay to a 2-0 advantage. Jordin Tootoo got the Preds on the board at the 10:40 mark of the first with his 3rd goal of the season, a seeing-eye blast from the glass. Two minutes later, Recchi would reestablish Tampa Bay's two goal lead with a tip in off a scrum, his 4th of the season. It was 3-1 Bolts after one period.

In the second period, Prospal found a rebound after a scrum, depositing it for his 4th of the season to stake Tampa Bay to a 4-1 advantage. The Lightning defense killed 7 Nashville power plays as Mike Smith continued his sensational play, especially in the second period where he made 15 of his 34 saves.

The Lightning improve to 6-7-6, 18 pts, snapping a 5 game winless streak. The Lightning move into third place in the Southeast division and 11th in the conference (3 points out of a playoff spot).

Bolts Goaltending Dramatically Improved

By JC De La Torre

From the Rink's James Mirtle wrote a very interesting article on comparing this year's goaltending to last. It seems, your Tampa Bay Lightning have made the largest improvement of any team in the league, despite suffering with one of the worst defenses in the league.

Tampa Bay's tandem of Mike Smith and Olaf Kolzig have made a 3.81% improvement in save percentage over the immortal trio of Holmqvist/Denis/Ramo good for best improvement in the NHL. This, despite allowing the most shot per game (35.4) than any other team in the NHL.

Here is the top 5 of From the Rink's List-
Source: From the Rink

It just goes to show you if the Lightning could get their offense and forecheck going, this team could be viable for a playoff spot THIS YEAR. With the high shot total, Tampa Bay is about middle-of-the-pack when it comes to goal against (2.72 GAA, good for 13th in the league). That, coupled with the surprising league worst goals for (2.11 GPG) and averaging nearly 14 penalty minutes a game (13.8) have put the Lightning at their current predicament of 5-7-6.

Sooner or later, the myriad of Tampa Bay superstar forwards of Lecavalier, St. Louis, Malone, Stamkos, and Vrbata are going to start lighting the lamp. The Lightning, under new Head Coach Rick Tocchet, are already showing that they are doing a better job at taking care of their end and applying pressure on the opponent.

Lightning fans can take heart in the fact that they appear to finally have the goaltending in place to be a contender again, now the offense and defense need to show up.

2009 Pro Bowl - AFC vs. The Washington Redskins?

By JC De La Torre

In a nearly inconceivably laughable circumstance and brilliant campaigning by the Washington Redskins, 20 members of the 6-4 Washington Redskins are leading in fan voting for their respective positions for the Pro Bowl. The Redskins have had an aggressive Obama-styled get out the vote campaign that has led to the Redskins leading the NFC ballots in 16 of 19 positions, eight of the 11 NFC starters on both offense and defense would be Redskins, plus all four special teams players. Shawn Springs who has missed six games with injuries, is the leading vote-getter at cornerback.

None of the 7-3 Tampa Bay Buccaneers or 8-2 Carolina Panthers are leading in any position and only Justin Tuck of the 9-1 New York Giants is leading at his position. Basically, the Redskin fans have made a mockery of the Pro Bowl. However, they are not to blame, nor is the Redskin organization. The National Football League invited this kind of sham with the "Vote Again" option. If you had the stamina and the where-with-all to do so - you could vote a million times for the same player and "stuff the ballot box". The NFL invited this type of silliness.

This is not to say that when the Pro Bowl kicks off in February that 20 of the 22 positions will have Redskins as starters. Fan voting is just one third of the complicated equation that the NFL uses to decide who earns a trip to Honolulu. Some players, like Fullback Mike Sellers, has such a substantial lead in voting that even votes from the players and coaches vote for others it will not matter.

Needless to say, its likely because of the chicanery of the Redskin fans that the Buccaneers and perhaps the majority of the second best division in football, the NFC South, will be shut out of the Pro Bowl proving what a farce this game really has become. How not one player from three teams with a combine record of 21-9 .700 (Tampa, Carolina, Atlanta) goes to the Pro Bowl is proof enough that the game needs to be done away with and league all-star honors should be issued by players, coaches, and beat writers. Fans should not be included when deciding player's bonuses and hall of fame credentials.

Ironically, most NFL players have incentives for making the Pro Bowl in their contracts. If all 20 players made the Pro Bowl, not only would Daniel Snyder get drilled in the pocket book, it could have damaging ramifications to the team's salary cap for next year. Redskin fans could be hurting their team's ability to compete in 2009.

Cowardly About the Lions - Bucs Must Beware the Oh

By JC De La Torre

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers take their show on the road Sunday to Detroit, where they face the Bizarro-Patriots, the Detroit Lions. The Lions are 0-10 and making a run to become the first team since the 1976 expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers to go winless for an entire non-strike shortened NFL season (the Indianapolis Colts finished 1982 strike year 0-8-1). While playoff favorite Tampa Bay should dominate the Lions, history suggests that the Bucs should be worried about facing a winless team this deep into the season. Not including the 82 strike season, since the Expansion Bucs achieved the Oh, thirteen NFL teams have started 0-10 or worse, five of those teams found victory in their 11th game. Guess which game is the 11th for the winless Lions?

Here are the worst starts since the 1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers -

The 1977 Tampa Bay Buccaneers continued the NFL's longest losing streak for 12 more games (26 straight losses total, still a record today), before finally getting the franchise's first victory in New Orleans in Week 13, beating the Saints 33-14.

The 1980 New Orleans Saints came the closest in the quest for Oh, going 0-14 before finally beating the New York Jets 21-20.

The 1983 Houston Oilers lost their first 10 games before finally breaking through against the Detroit Lions 27-17

The Oilers loved the quest for Oh so much in 83, they decided to try for it again in 1984, starting once again 0-10 before beating the Kansas City Chiefs 17-16.

1984 was apparently a banner year for bad as the Buffalo Bills started 0-11 before upsetting the Dallas Cowboys 14-3.

The 1986 Indianapolis Colts went 13 weeks without a win, before finally beating Atlanta 28-23. The Colts went on to win their final 3 games to finish 3-13.

The 1991 Indianapolis Colts would try once more, going into Week 11 before finding victory against the New York Jets 28-27 .

The 1993 Cincinnati Bengals under David Shula started 0-10, before finally beating the Los Angeles Raiders 16-10.

The 1997 Indianapolis Colts took another stab at "Oh-mortality" starting off the 97 campaign 0-10. The Colts shocked the eventual NFC Champion Green Bay Packers 41-38.

The 2000 San Diego Chargers went 0-11 before finally getting their first win against the Kansas City Chiefs 17-16.

The 2001 Detroit Lions started 0-12 before beating the Minnesota Vikings 27-24.

The 2007 Miami Dolphins went 0-13 until finding victory for the 1st time, getting the Baltimore Ravens in overtime - 22-16.

The eggheads at AllExperts.com say, "When the NFL was formed in 1920, winless seasons were not uncommon. In fact, for the first ten years, from 1920-29, there was always at least one team which went winless. Between 1930 and World War II, only the 1934 Cincinnati Reds went winless. The Reds were 0-8-0 when they folded with three games remaining in the season. A new team, called the St. Louis Gunners, was formed. The Gunners had been an independent team operating in the area and they went 1-2 in the remaining three games.

World War II saw a fewer players available for NFL action and, as a result, some teams suffered more than others. The 1942 Detroit Lions went 0-11; the 1943 Chicago Cardinals went 0-10 and the combined Card-Pitt team of 1944 went 0-10.

Since World War II, only the expansion Dallas Cowboys of 1960 (0-11-1), the expansion Tampa Bay Bucs of 1976 (0-14), and the 1982 Baltimore Colts (0-8-1 in a strike-shortened season) have gone winless. "

Winless Teams in the NFL history are -
1934 Cincinnati Reds (0-8)
1942 Detroit Lions (0-11)
1943 Chicago Cardinals (0-10)
1944 "Carpets" (Chicago Cards-Pittsburgh Steelers merged team) (0-10)
1960 Dallas Cowboys (0-11-1)
1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-14)
1982 Colts (0-8-1) (strike-shortened season)
source: AllExperts

The Buccaneers have never lost to a team that was 0-10 or worse, but they definitely do not want to join that dubious list. Four of the Lions last six games were decided by a touchdown or less and we all saw what the Bucs did in Kansas City. The Buccaneers have the propensity to play down to their opponents.After the Bucs, the Lions host Tennessee on Thanksgiving in the NFL's first ever 11-0 vs. 0-11 matchup. Then Detroit hosts Minnesota before going to Indianapolis, coming home for the Saints, then ending the year in Green Bay.

Tampa Bay may be the Lions last real shot at victory in 2008. The Bucs must end those thoughts quickly with a good start in Detroit.

Rally Falls Short, But Bolts Are Turning it Around

By JC De La Torre

Under former Head Coach Barry Melrose, the Tampa Bay Lightning looked like dead men skating. Under new interim Head Coach Rick Tocchet, the team showed passion, guts, and determination in blistering a Lightning team record 52 shots on goal and rallying from a 3 goal deficit before finally falling to their hated rival Florida Panthers in their albatross - the shootout.

Tampa Bay outshot their opponent in each of the 3 periods for the first time this season, but in the 1st it got them little, as the Panthers Bryan McCabe and David Booth found the back the net for a 2-0 lead. McCabe scored again in the 2nd period on the power play to stake Florida to a 3-0 advantage and seemingly insurmountable lead with stellar Panthers Goalie Tomas Vokoun between the pipes but midway through the 2nd, the game turned. Steven Stamkos, who played a career high 17:55 alternating between the top two lines and leading all Lightning players with 9 shots on the night, drove toward the net, setting up a scoring chance for the snakebit Radim Vrbata. Vrbata finally broke through, depositing the puck to cut the Panthers advantage to 3-1.

The goal energized the Lightning, who dominated the game from that point on. Tampa Bay drew within one on a Gretzky-esque play behind the net, feeding a charging Evgeny Artyukhin who jammed it in to cut the Panthers lead to 1. Defenseman Steve Eminger, acquired in the Matt Carle Philly deal, completed a 3 point night with his first goal as a member of the Tampa Bay Lighting and ended a goal drought of 63 games, tying the game at 3 with a blast from the point with only 2:51 left in the game.

That goal got the Bolts a point in the standings after being blown out (at least on the scoreboard) through the first half of the game. Tomas Vokoun may have been the only reason the Panthers emerged from this one victorious for Florida. Vokoun was outstanding, making 49 saves, including a stick check of Vaclav Prospal who was charging to the net, stopping a last second shot by Mark Recchi wide with a stick. Vokoun also benefited from a little luck, as with three second left in overtime, Paul Ranger's slapper went off the glove of a spralling Panthers defenseman and trickled wide.

Many of Steven Stamkos' minutes were spent alternating between Center and Right Wing on the number one line with Vincent Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis.

"I felt like I was in the game," Stamkos told the St. Petersburg Times, "I had a ton of shots and felt great. We dominated them tonight, outshot them and outplayed them in their end. When you're not winning, these games slip by you."

Tocchet agreed but still believed there was a lot to work on, "There were so many good things," Tocchet said, "(On the penalty kill that failed twice against the league's worst power play) We have to start boxing out a little better, The defense has to start taking sticks."

As for their sixth shootout loss, Vokoun was again the difference. After Tampa Bay's Vincent Lecavalier and Jussi Jokinen and Florida's Stephen Weiss failed, Nathan Horton - Lightning Killer extraordinare, deked and found the back of the net past Lightning goalie Mike Smith. Martin St. Louis was stoned on his last chance, giving the Panthers the victory.

Tocchet took responsibility for another failed shootout for the Bolts, telling the Times, "It's probably our fault, we have not practiced penalty shots much this year. It's on my list, trust me, on the top."

"Tocch", as he's called by his players, better hurry as the shootout right now is the difference between Tampa Bay being near the bottom of the Eastern Conference and contending for a playoff spot. If Tampa Bay had just taken 3 of the 6 shootouts they have lost, they would be 8th in the Eastern Conference right now instead of 13th.

#47 Retires

By JC De La Torre

John Lynch has officially retired from the NFL...

Check out Lynch's speech from One Buc Palace here on NFL.com

This was the man hall of famer Barry Sanders said hit him the hardest. This was the man who destroyed his own brother-in-law on a sideline route, knocking him out of the game. This was a man who was the brains and unquestioned leader of the Buccaneer defense during its heyday of the late nineties and early 00's. He, along with Warren Sapp, Derrick Brooks, Ronde Barber and Hardy Nickerson created what is now known today as BUC BALL.

And here is a great video package that shows why all Buccaneer fans love John the Lynch Mob!

Good luck in your future endeavours #47. We love ya, man!

Bucs RB Earnest Graham's Season May Be Over

By JC De La Torre

In his Monday Press Conference, Jon Gruden told the media that starting halfback Earnest Graham's season may be over.

"Earnest Graham's ankle looks to be a serious injury," Gruden said, "and his status for the rest of the season is very much in question right now."

If Graham is finished, the Bucs will have to lean on Warrick Dunn and Cadillac Williams a little more than they intended. Dunn has advanced in age and he cannot absorb the pounding he once could. Every Buc fan knows the story of Cadillac Williams, whose patella tendon blew up 14 months ago and he's made a miraculous recovery to become eligible to play. The question is - can Cadillac handle the pounding of an NFL stretch run?

"We brought Cadillac up with the understanding he was ready to go," Gruden said Monday.

The Bucs may also lean on rookie free agent Clifton Smith, but Smith's propensity to put the ball on the turf is a concern.

Special teamer\linebacker Geno Hayes may also be lost for the season with a knee injury.

Signs of Life but still a Loss for Bolts, Melrose whines to HNIC

By JC De La Torre

While former head coach Barry Melrose whined to Hockey Night in Canada, the Tampa Bay Lightning definitely looked feisty and more passionate in the debut of new interim Head Coach Rick Tocchet, unfortunately, the results were the same as Tampa Bay fell to the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2 in a shootout. Tocchet's shorter shifts and reuniting of the MVP (Marty, Vinny, Prospal) line allowed for more scoring chances and kept the Bolts fresh for the 3rd period where they outshot Carolina 8-1, a dramatic turnaround from previous third period performances.

Tampa Bay's scorers were frustrated with their inability to convert on their scoring chances. Three Lightning shots hit goalposts and they were 1-for-6 on the power play including a 4-on-3 power play in overtime in which they had a man advantage for nearly two minutes.

"You get a 4-on-3, you need to score a goal, because then it can to a shootout, and then who knows," Martin St. Louis told the Associated Press, "I take full responsibility. I'm the guy that's out there, and I've got to get the job done, and I didn't."

Tampa Bay jumped to a 2-0 with a goal in the 1st by St. Louis and a power play goal in the 2nd period by Vincent Lecavalier. Carolina came to life in the second half of the 2nd period, getting goals from Wade Brookbank and Rod Brind'Amour. After a scoreless third period and overtime - the game went to a shoot out where Carolina shooters Tuomo Ruutu and Rod Brind'Amour scored on their attempts but Vincent Lecavalier was stoned and Jussi Jokinen hit the post to end it in favor of the Hurricanes.

"It's a step in the right direction," Tocchet said, "I thought the guys played well, I think they're really starting to get what we're trying to do here."

Meanwhile, former Head Coach Barry Melrose did the whine and cheese circuit over the weekend, getting interviewed by Hockey Night in Canada where he complained about the Lightning players not wanting to play for him and controlling the power in the organization.


According to an article in the St. Petersburg Times, Melrose told HNIC, "I think the players didn't want to play for me. I'm not a guy who sings Kumbaya around the fire. I'll let you know if I'm not happy with you.

"And obviously, a lot of guys didn't like to be held accountable with this team, and obviously, they went to (owners) Oren (Koules) and Len (Barrie) and said they don't like this style of coaching and 'would you get rid of him.' I don't think there was any secret about that."

True enough, there are rumors to that effect, which we discussed last week when we covered the dismissal of Melrose. But Melrose took it to the extreme, stating "the players have the power in the organization" and that they "exercised that power" with his firing.

"Now they can play who they want and how much they want and when they want and (not) demand a lot of them," he said. "Everybody's happy in Tampa right now."

This has not been mentioned in the rumors behind the termination of Melrose. While the players, it appears, definitely went to management asking for Melrose's head - its ultimately the owners Koules and Barry as well as Brian Lawton who ultimately made that call. I don't think there's any doubt who's in charge of the hockey organization and its not the players - as evidenced by the revolving door at the St. Pete Times forum.

For the record, Koules texted the St. Pete Times stating that Melrose comments were "absolutely not true".

So while one overmatched coach whines on National Television, there were glimmers of hope that the Lightning in the Tocchet era could be much more passionate and competitive than they were under Melrose. Now if only they'd stop hitting goalposts...

Red Zone, Schmed Zone - Bucs Outslug Vikes

By JC De La Torre

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers continued to struggle in the Red Zone, scoring only 1 touchdown in 5 trips inside the Minnesota 20. Despite their continued struggles, the Bucs outslugged the rugged Vikings 19-13 to keep pace in the NFC South and improve to 7-3. The Buccaneers defense got off to a slow start against Vikings superstar running back Adrian Peterson, giving up 51 yds on his first six carries - but the Bucs D shut down Peterson the remainder of the game, stopping his streak of 100 yd games as they held him to 85 yds on 19 carries.

The Bucs opened the game forcing a 3 and out by the Vikings, and then drove all the way to the Minnesota 37 yd line - but failed to convert on a 4th and 1. The Vikings would take possession and thanks to the running of Peterson, they drove 36 yds on 8 plays to set up Ryan Longwell's 43 yd FG to put Minnesota up 3-0. Tampa Bay answered right back, driving all the way to the Minnesota 17 before Jeremy Trueblood's personal foul back the Bucs up and essentially killed the drive, forcing the Bucs to settle for a 39 yd Matt Bryant field goal to tie it up at 3.

In the 2nd quarter, the Vikings answered right back, driving 76 yds in 8 plays, assisted by a roughing the passer penalty on Bucs defensive lineman Jimmy Wilkerson and a defensive holding penalty on defensive back Ronde Barber. The penalty set up a 4 yd touchdown pass from QB Gus Frerotte to WR Bobby Wade, giving Minnesota a 10-3 advantage.

The Bucs again would march down the field driving 64 yds in 10 plays. During the drive, the Buccaneers Quarterback Jeff Garcia took a vicious late hit by Minnesota D-lineman Ray Edwards, setting up the Bucs first and goal at the three yard line. Unfortunately, the Bucs would stall again, as Warrick Dunn would be hit in the backfield on first down losing four yards. Garcia then rolled out and just missed hitting Michael Clayton in the endzone. Jon Gruden then inexplicably called a center screen which was easily foiled by the Vikings defense, forcing the Bucs to settle for a 26 yd Field Goal by Matt Bryant. Once again the Vikings would answer, driving 51 yds in 6 plays and matching the Bucs scoring drive with a 37 yd field goal by Longwell. At the half, the Bucs trailed 13-6.


The Bucs opened the second half driving the length of the field, all the way to the 17 yard line. Warrick Dunn rushed for 10 yds to the Minnesota 7 but Tight End Jeramy Stevens was called for holding. Garcia dropped back to pass and found Antonio Bryant, who danced 27 yds for a touchdown - but Davin Jospeh got called for holding, eliminating the score and setting the Bucs up on 2nd and 30. After Minnesota was called for offside, Garcia found Tight End Jeramy Stevens 31 yds to the Viking 1 yard line. 1st and goal from the 1 yard line, Fullback BJ Askew dove into the endzone, scoring the first touchdown of his 6 yr NFL career, tying the game at 13.

Minnesota drove to the 49 yd line but failed on 4th and 1, allowing the Bucs to take over and drive all the way to the to the Viking 30 yd line.This time, they self destructed before they got to the endzone as for the third straight game, Bucs rookie running back Clifton Smith coughed up the football. After 3 quarters of play, the game remained tied at 13.

After forcing a Minnesota punt, the Bucs drove 63 yds on 13 plays, eating up 8:52 off the clock, driving all the way to the Minnesota 10 yd line. Unfortunately, on 3rd down and 1, Warrick Dunn was stopped cold, and Tampa Bay again would settle for 3 points, this time a 29 yd field goal by Matt Bryant to give the Bucs their first lead of the game at 16-13. Minnesota fumbled the ensuing kickoff and the Bucs would drive 18 yds in 7 plays, but Jeff Garcia's two incomplete passes would end the drive and Tampa Bay for the fourth time settled for the field goal. Matt Bryant was true on a 26 yd field goal to put the Bucs up by six points, 19-13.

The Vikings would start from their own 20 yd line but failed to get a first down. On 4th down and 3, Frerotte's short pass intended for Sidney Rice fell short. It appeared the ball game was over. After three dive plays took it to the 2 minute warning, Matt Bryant attempted a 46 yd field goal that would just about put the game out of reach. Bryant, though hooked it slightly right and missed the field goal, giving the Vikings one last gasp. It wouldn't matter as Jimmy Wilkerson would sack Frerotte, then on the next play strip running back Chester Taylor of the football, Ronde Barber would recover and the Bucs would run out the clock for the win.

Tampa Bay outgained the Vikings 363-210, held the 5th best rushing offense to only 99 yds on the ground. The Bucs have now beaten Minnesota 4 straight times and have won eight of the last 9 meetings against the Vikings in Tampa. The victory improves the Buccaneers to 7-3, 2nd in the NFC South. Minnesota falls to 5-5, entering a 3 way tie for first in the NFC North.

South Carolina No Match for the Gator Machine

By JC De La Torre

Steve Spurrier has seen many blowouts at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, the place that he nicknamed "The Swamp". He's seen the Gators completely dominate overmatched opponents time and time again. Spurrier has never been beaten in the Swamp the way the Gators unleashed on South Carolina today. #3 Florida demolished the 25th ranked Gamecocks 56-6, churning up 516 yds of offense and limiting Spurrier's offense to 173 yds and 4 turnovers. The fifty point loss was the worst for South Carolina since 1995, when Spurrier's Gators ripped the Cocks 63-7.

The Gators opened up the scoring when Brandon Spikes intercepted SC QB Chris Smelley and returned it for a touchdown to make it 7-0. After receiving the ball back, Smelley would be picked off again, this time by Ahmad Black, who returned it to the South Carolina 26 yd line. From there, Percy Harvin took over, running the remainder for the score and a quick 14-0 advantage. Spurrier thought his team needed a spark, so he called for a trick play on the ensuing kickoff. After fielding the kickoff, Deion LeCorn attempted to lateral the ball to a waiting Chris Hail, but the ball sailed over his outstretched hands, where Gators special teamer James Smith would recover and rumble to the goal line for an apparent touchdown. After review, Smith was ruled down at the one, but it would only delay the inevitable as Florida QB Tim Tebow would plunge it in from a yard out to make it 21-0.

In the 2nd quarter, Tebow would connect with Deonte Thompson 46 yds for a score to balloon the advantage to 28-0. South Carolina would finally get on the board with 2:36 left in the first half with a 42 yd field goal by Ryan Succop. Florida led 28-3 at halftime.

The Gators received the kickoff to start the second half and on their first play from scrimmage, Harvin would take a handoff and race 80 yds for a touchdown - 35-3 Gators. South Carolina responded with their best drive of the game, going 56 yds in 11 plays and capping it with a 44 yd Ryan Succop field goal to narrow the Florida advantage to 35-6. The Gators would come right back, driving 82 yds in 6 plays with Jeff Demps going the to the house on a 38 yd jaunt. 42-6 Florida.

On the first play of the 4th quarter, Aaron Hernandez's circus catch in the back of the endzone capped a 40 yd 6 play drive to add another 7 points to the Gator lead. Chris Rainey would take on another score late to provide the final margin, 56-6.

Florida ran for 346 yards, 167 of those by Percy Harvin with the two touchdowns. South Carolina was the 11th best team in the country against the run, allowing just over 101 yards. Since losing to Ole Miss back in September, the Gators have outscored their opponents 299-63 and has won each game by at least 28 points.

After yet another destruction of a ranked team, it will be interesting to see if the pollsters continue to have Texas ranked over the Florida juggernaut. As I type this, Alabama is struggling with Mississippi State and Florida State is in a dogfight with Boston College. Both may eventually come back to win their games but these are the two teams that stand in the way of the Gators advancing to the BCS Title game.

Tonight, its great to be a Florida Gator.

JC De La Torre is an author of Science Fiction/Fantasy and other realms of Speculative Fiction - check out his latest works at JC Delatorre.com

Bulls New Years Day hopes Finished After Confounding Loss

By JC De La Torre

Earlier today I wrote that the USF Bulls were playing to get into a New Year's Day bowl game and avoid the minor bowl circuit. Well, with their latest dissapointing performance against a mediocre Rutgers team, the Bulls better start checking out the Tampa Bay Rays locker room at Tropicana Field - because they may be headed to the inaugural St. Petersburg Bowl on December 21st as the last bowl eligible Big East participant. After the Bulls were thrashed at home by the Scarlet Knights 49-16, maybe St. Pete won't even want them.

South Florida fell to 6-4 on the year, losing for the 4th time in 5 games. Rutgers QB Mike Teel threw for 294 yds and 3 touchdowns, while QB Matt Grothe threw another 3 interceptions. After a scoreless first quarter, Mike Teel rumbled in from 3 yds out to give the Scarlett Knights a 7-0 lead. Grothe drove the Bulls 8 plays and 54 yds in 3:10 to set up Maikon Bonani's 22 yd field to cut the lead to 7-3. After the Bulls defense pitched a 3-and-out and the punt was fielded at the USF 43, Grothe would throw a pick to George Johnson who returned it 26 yds to the USF 23. Disaster would be averted, as Carlton Williams would pick off Teel to end the threat.

Unfortunately for the Bulls, it was just a delay of the inevitable, as Grothe threw another pick, this time Jason McCourty who returned it 30 yds for a touchdown and a 14-3 Rutgers lead. The Bulls would show some life, driving 67 yds in 8 plays, capping it with a 5 yd run by Benjamin Williams to cut the Rutgets advantage to 4. The Scarlet Knights wouldn't be denied. After a huge return by Jason McCourty, with 2:59 left in the first half, Teel passed Rutgers 41 yds in 6 plays, finishing with a 2 yd TD pass to Jack Corcoran with 0:26 left in the half to stake Rutgers to a 21-10 lead at the break.

Jason McCourty would return the opening kickoff of the 2nd half 64 yds, setting up Joe Martinek's 1 yd touchdown, ballooning the Rutgers lead to 28-10. Grothe and the Bulls would answer, driving 52 yds in 9 plays, finishing with a 10 yd touchdown pass to Taurus Johnson. Bonani would botch the extra point, as the Bulls trailed 28-16. South Florida would force a punt, but the Bulls offense would fumble it away on the ensuing possession, setting the Scarlet Knights up at midfield. Rutgers wouldn't waste the chance as they pounded Joe Martinek at the soft underbelly of the Bulls defense for four straight plays, then Teel play actioned and hit Shamar Graves for a 28 yd score - expanding the Rutgers advantage to 35-16.

USF's Delbert Alvardo would start the 4th quarter by pinning the Scarlet Knights back at their own 6 yd line with a beautiful 51 yd punt. Unfortunately for the Bulls, it was just a set up for the longest play against USF this season. Teel found their impressive Junior Wide Receiver Kenny Britt wide open, who then raced 93 yds for the score. 42-16.

Grothe would get picked off one last time, eventually leading to Martinek's second score of the game, giving the Knights their final margin.

South Florida falls to 6-4 (1-4 in the Big East) with Conneticut and West Virginia remaining on the schedule. If the Bulls fail to win either, you have to wonder if USF will even be Bowling this season. An amazing dissapointment for the fans who had such high expectations at the beginning of this season.

Ol' Ball Coach Back at the Swamp Again

By JC De La Torre

Storm clouds are on the horizon for the Swamp. 40% chance of rain threatens the Florida-South Carolina matchup at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at Florida Field today, but there's a larger cloud looming. Its that of South Carolina Head Coach and former Gator great Steve Spurrier returns to the place he named the Swamp, trying to derail the Gators freight train to the BCS Championship game.

For the Gators, its all about style points right now. The Gators need to win and do it impressively to try and jump Texas, putting them in the driver seat for a BCS Championship game berth. Since Spurrier has arrived in South Carolina, Florida has had trouble distancing themselves from the Gamecocks. Spurrier won his first meeting against Urban Meyer in 2005, ending a fourteen game winning streak against South Carolina. In the National Championship season of 2006, it took a blocked extra point in the closing seconds of the game for the Gators to escape the Gamecocks and go on to win the BCS title. Last season, South Carolina lead 14-13 after the first quarter before finally succumbing to the Gators in a 51-31 shoot out.

If the Gators can get by Spurrier's hot South Carolina squad (they have won six of their last seven after starting the season 1-2), Florida State is all that stands in the way of Florida's having a meaningful showdown with Top Ranked Alabama in the SEC Championship game for the right to play for the national title.

Florida has the better atheltes on both sides of the ball and it will be difficult for the Gamecocks to keep up with the Gators in this one. Florida has been dominant since being upset by Ole Miss in September. I don't look for a let down against SC - Florida should win this one handily.

JC De La Torre is an author of Science Fiction/Fantasy and other realms of Speculative Fiction - check out his latest works at JC Delatorre.com

USF looks to improve Bowl Ranking against Rutgers

By JC De La Torre

Barring a historic collapse of the five teams ahead of them in the Big East, the South Florida Bulls (6-3, 1-3)will not be BCS bowling this year. No, the Bulls right now are in New Years Day mode, trying to improve their record and status with bowl folks so they can play on New Years and not in the St. Pete "So Bad We Have No Sponsor" or Pappa Johns Bowls that are shown on ESPN and only draftniks or college football fanatics watch.

How the Bulls got to this point is a sordid tale of lack of defense, playing down to their competition, overconfidence, and just poor play overall. Quarterback Matt Grothe was supposed to supplant Florida QB Tim Tebow as THE QB in the state - but has hardly been that. Battling injuries and poor decision making through out the year Grothe has thrown for 2070 yds, 14 touchdowns and 8 ints (5 which have come in the last two losses). Surely, not terrible numbers but hardly the Heisman trophy level some fans unrealistically thought they would see.

Its not just Grothe, though, as the Wide Receiving core has done their share with bad drops at crucial times and the defense has been unspectacular, getting off to slow starts in their three losses and forcing the Bulls to abandon their game plan to rally. Undiscplined penalties and turnovers have made the Bulls seem like the Tampa Bay Lightning of college football.

South Florida rolled into Big East play a strong 5-0, including a big win against then top ten ranked Kansas. They've gone on to drop three of their last four games, all three to unranked schools.

The Bulls host Rutgers (4-5, 3-2) today trying to snap a two game skid. A victory would take them to 8-3 and may move them up a few notches in the Big East standings.

JC De La Torre is an author of Science Fiction/Fantasy and other realms of Speculative Fiction - check out his latest works at JC Delatorre.com

Caddy's Comeback a Long, Tough Road

By JC De La Torre



There was just an absolutely terrific article in the St. Pete Times by columnist Gary Shelton today about the long, hard road back for Cadillac Williams. There were nights of doubt, tears - its just gut wrenching stuff.


"I'm human,'' he told the Times, "To be honest with you, yeah, the doubts were there. There were nights when I would just wonder if I would ever be able to play this game that I love so much again. The first four months were really tough. There was all this speculation that I wouldn't be able to make it back. I'm sure the Bucs wondered. When I came back in December, I had lost my thigh. It wasn't as big around as my arm. My knee wouldn't bend past 95 percent. I'm not going to lie. There were definitely some doubts.

If you would see me, I wouldn't show it. But I was really going through it. At night, when I was by myself was the worst time. Yeah, I would cry. Sometimes, I would ask, 'Lord, why me?' My mom helped me through the process. She was there every day, all day.''


Cadillac will likely be inactive for Sunday's game against Minnesota, as the team is trying to ease him back into the lineup and co-starters Earnest Graham and Warrick Dunn are a go for Sunday. I for one, can't wait to don that #24 and become Cadillac again.

JC De La Torre is an author of Science Fiction/Fantasy and other realms of Speculative Fiction - check out his latest works at JC Delatorre.com

Lynch Comes Home to Tampa Bay

By JC De La Torre

One of the greatest players in Tampa Bay Buccaneers history and one of the integral parts of the 2002 Super Bowl Champion squad, Strong Safety John Lynch, is returning to One Buc Palace to announce his retirement from football. He currently ranks fifth all-time in franchise history with 973 tackles and finishes his career with 13 sacks and 26 interceptions and made the Pro Bowl nine times (five with Tampa Bay).

Buccaneer fans remember Lynch not only as a ferocious hitter but one of the leaders of the great Buccaneer defenses of the Tony Dungy era. In fact, many Buc fans still have hostility toward the Buccaneer front office (namely Bruce Allen and Jon Gruden) for cutting Lynch after the 2003 season.

Lynch likely will be honored at a future Bucs game and is a good candidate to be added to the Buccaneers Ring of Honor that will be unveiled in 2009.

As a long-time fan of the Bucs, I'd like to say, "Welcome Home, #47!"

Melrose Place No More - Players Revolt Against Barry

By JC De La Torre


The Tampa Bay Lightning fired Head Coach Barry Melrose today and elevated assistant Rick Tocchet as Interim Head Coach for the remainder of the season. Melrose lasted only 16 games in his return to the league after a 13 yr hiatus, and rumors are rampant on the Tampa Bay airwaves that the players went to management to get Melrose dismissed.

When Tampa Bay owners Oren Koules and Len Barrie purchased the Lightning and promised big changes in the way the organization approached the game, many Lightning fans were excited. The new owners brought an aggressive, hand-on ownership style that had never been see here before. But when they chose Barry Melrose to succeed John Tortorella, more than a few eyebrows were raised. Several league insiders felt that Melrose had been out of the game too long and could not relate to players the way he did back in the mullet days.

It proved out to be true in more ways than one. Rumors on 620 WDAE-Tampa Bay and other media outlets are stating that the players did not respect Melrose, they didn't believe he had a strong grasp of today's game and he had an ego the size of Canada. Melrose demanded things from the players, but the actions were not recipocated, as players wishes were not met - contributing to an advesarial relationship in the locker room. Further, it wasn't just one player or a group of players that didn't get along with Melrose - but apparently the entire hockey club failed to respond to him.

You've seen me blog here several times about how the hockey team just seemed to not care on the ice, didn't try hard, and perhaps lost some of its heart. Can that be attributed to the disfunctional relationship with their Head Coach? It definitely seems that way.

Melrose was interviewed on ESPNews shortly after his dismissal, and stated that he "was brought in to change the culture of the team." To me, that was his issue. He wasn't being brought in the change the culture - this team won a Stanley Cup. The fans in Tampa Bay are all transplants from Canada, the Midwest, and the Northeast. The writers covering the sport and the personalities on the radio all have covered hockey for decades. No matter how much of a lack of understanding those in Canada have of our community in Tampa Bay, we know hockey here. The Tampa Bay organization didn't need a culture change - they needed a new voice, new leadership that would bring them back to the top of the NHL. Melrose didn't provide that, demanding respect from a group of players when he really needed to earn and prove that the game hadn't passed him by. Melrose told ESPNews, "I never understood that its difficult to get million dollar players to play 60 minutes every night." No Barry, its hard to get them to buy what your cooking when they know you have no idea what you're doing.

Rick Tocchet at least has been in the game for 25 yrs and has seen the evolution of hockey to the players of today.

From the Lightning release -
http://lightning.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=392428

"Shortly after retiring in 2002, Tocchet joined the Colorado Avalanche as an assistant coach. He spent a season and a half on the bench with the Avalanche before joining former teammate Wayne Gretzky as an assistant coach with the Phoenix Coyotes in 2005. He was named associate coach of the Lightning on July 9, 2008.

Tocchet is one of two players in the history of the NHL to record 400 goals or more and at least 2,500 penalty minutes. He recorded three 40-goal seasons, two 30-goal seasons and was an 11-time 20-goal scorer. In 1992-93 he set career highs for goals with 48, assists with 61 and points with 109 with the Penguins. Internationally, Tocchet represented Canada at the 1990 and 1991 World Championship as well as in the 1987 and 1991 Canada Cup tournaments. The Scarborough, Ontario native won the Stanley Cup with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1992 and appeared in the Stanley Cup Finals with Philadelphia in 1987.

He was selected to four NHL All-Star teams (1989, 1990, 1991, 1993). Originally drafted by Philadelphia in the sixth-round, 125th overall, at the 1983 NHL Entry Draft, Tocchet began his career with the Flyers in 1984-85 and retired midway through the 2001-02 season, also with Philadelphia."

I was one of those who said "Barry freaking Melrose?" when the Lightning announced the hiring. I feel tremendously better about Tocchet being able to reach this team more than Melrose ever could. While I question OK Hockey's decision to hire Melrose in the first place, I applaud their gutty decision to admit they blew it and hopefully salvage this season. The players got their wish, Melrose is gone - now its up to them to prove that the decision is the right one.

Melrose leaves Tampa Bay with a 5-7-4 record.

Red Wings Show Bolts How Far Away They Are

By JC De La Torre

Perhaps Head Coach Barry Melrose's message is finally getting through. Or maybe it was the fear of being embarrassed on their home ice by the defending Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings. It could have just been an off night for the Wings, coming off that hard fought and emotional battle with the Pittsburgh Penguins a few nights ago. For whatever reason, the Tampa Bay Lightning gave the defending cup champions all they could handle before their lack of discipline allowed the Wings to rally and pull out a 4-3 battle in the shocking Wing-biased sold out crowd at St. Pete Times Forum.

You know times are tough when the bandwagoning Detroit fans pull off the Lightning jerseys they have been wearing since Tampa Bay won the cup and start sporting Red Wing jerseys again. Its been quite awhile since that's happend in Tampa Bay. I guess its just another sign that the glory years are over for the Bolts.

But with that negative, there were other signs that this hockey team does care about their image. Tampa Bay came roaring out of the first period, outshooting the defending champs and jumping to a 2-0 lead after one period on goals from Mark Recchi and on the power play by red hot Jussi Jokinen - who really is coming into his own with his 6th goal of the season.

After the first though, the Red Wings began to show why they are again one of the top contenders for the Cup - completely dominating the Lightning in the 2nd period, outshooting Tampa Bay 18-3 and getting a goal by Pavel Datsyuk to pull within one. The problem for the Bolts in the 2nd was their lack of discipline, as they lost their minds and took 5 consecutive penalties, including 3 in the final minute of the period. Olie the Goalie stood on his head in the period, making 17 saves, some highlight reel quality.

"For about four minutes in the second period we were brain dead," Lightning coach Barry Melrose told the Associated Press, "Three terrible penalties. You can't give the best team in the world a two-minute, 5-on-3 and another two-minute, 5-on-4. Detroit doesn't do that. Detroit doesn't beat itself. Tonight we beat ourselves."

Unfortunately, the three penalties in the final minute of the second would indeed allow Detroit to start the third with 4 minutes on the power play, 2 with a two man advantage. The Lightning held strong, killing 1:38 of the 5-on-3, but Henrick Zetterberg tapped in a controversial goal to tie it at two. Olaf Kolzig appeared to have the puck saved and under control, but the Red Wing players kept whacking and whacking at his pads - normally, the whistle would be blown but the referee swallowed his whistle and the puck trickled loose, allowing Zetterberg to bang it home. While not blowing the whistle was disturbing, what was more disturbing was the fact that the Lightning defenders allowed Detroit players to attack their goaltender like that.

Less than fifty seconds later, Mikael Samuelsson scored on the power play to give Detroit their first lead of the game. As the Lightning struggled to get their offense going, Zetterberg found Johan Franzen between the circles and he blasted the puck by a screened Olaf Kolzig to give Detroit a 4-2 lead. The Lightning would draw back within 1 on a goal by Matt Pettinger, which in itself was controversial as it appeared that the puck stalled on the goal line, but was kicked in by Vaclav Prospal. The play was reviewed and the goal was upheld.

Tampa Bay would get a couple more opportunties but Chris Osgood would be up to the task and the defending champions would get out of Tampa with a hard fough 4-3 victory, sending their "fans" at the Forum into celebration.

Despite their best effort in a week, Tampa Bay loses its third straight and falls to 5-7-3 on the season, still stuck on 14 pts and they are now fourth in the Southeast division, 6 points behind division leading Washington.

Battle of Florida All Panthers

By JC De La Torre

The Tampa Bay Lightning may have finally hit rock bottom. In the battle of Florida, the Florida Panthers took out a paddle, pulled the Bolts pants down and spanked them 4-0. The Lightning finish the abysmal road trip 1-4 and their chemistry in shambles. The day before the game, Head Coach Barry Melrose once again blasted the team's lack of heart, then walked out on them. Don't be surprised if Melrose puts in for a week's vacation after this one.

Mike Smith made 27 saves for the Bolts but wasn't very sharp, giving up some soft goals tonight. Meanwhile, the black hole known as the Lightning defense continued to allow the competition to enjoy puck possession and loads of chances to the hated Panthers. Florida came in with the league's worst power play, but the Lightning didn't care, allowing the Panthers to score on 2 of their 4 power play opportunities. McCabe and Horton scored goals for Florida, while Gregory Campbell announced himself to the season with his first two goals of the year.

The one bright spot for the Lightning was Ryan Craig in the closing moments of the hockey game, showing Tampa Bay does have some semblance of a pulse by dropping gloves with Nick Boyton. Tampa Bay slumps to 5-6-4 14 pts on the season, 6 points behind in the Southeast division trailing the Washington Capitals. They are currently 12th in the Eastern Conference.

JC De La Torre is an author of Science Fiction/Fantasy and other realms of Speculative Fiction - check out his latest works at JC Delatorre.com

Maddon AL Manager of the Year

By JC De La Torre


Tampa Bay Rays Manager Joe Maddon has won the American League Manager of the Year award given by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Maddon earned 27 of 28 1st place votes (the other vote went to Twins manager Ron Gardenhire). Maddon, of course, led Tampa Bay to their first American League pennant, winning the rugged American League East in the process and proving to the community, the players, and the rest of baseball that the Rays can compete in the American League East with the likes of the Yankees, Red Sox, and Blue Jays.


Maddon is on his honeymoon in Rome, but took a moment to comment on the award, "It's truly an honor," he said on a conference call with the national media, "To me it means that we did a pretty good job obviously, that things are definitely moving in the right direction. Getting to the playoffs, getting to the World Series - my goodness, nobody thought we'd get to the World Series. To accomplish what we did, for me, personally - the award caps it all off."


The Tampa Bay Sports Blog extends our congrats to Joe Maddon.

JC De La Torre is an author of Science Fiction/Fantasy and other realms of Speculative Fiction - check out his latest works at JC Delatorre.com

Southern Comfort - A look at the NFC South Stretch Run

By JC De La Torre


Coming into 2008, the talk of the NFL was the powerful NFC East, the rugged AFC West, the talented AFC South, and tough AFC North. Meanwhile, the Bucs' NFC South division was considered one of the worst in the league. Amazing how ten weeks of football can change opinions.

As it turns out, the NFC South is the 2nd toughest division in football, second only to the NFC East.

As it stands through Week 10 of the NFL season - here's the combined records of the divisions-

W-L Division
24-12 NFC East
23-13 NFC South
22-14 AFC East
21-15 AFC South
16-20 AFC North
14-22 NFC North
12-24 NFC West
12-24 AFC West

The Buccaneers, who have been largely ignored by the mainstream media, have amassed a 6-3 record in this tough division, including a 2-1 record within the division.

Let's take a look at the remaining schedules for each of the division opponents and futurecast their final record.

Carolina leads the NFC South with a 7-2 record. The Panthers are home against Detroit (0-9), at Atlanta (6-3), at Green Bay (4-5), home against Tampa Bay (6-3), home against Denver (5-4), at the Super Bowl Champion New York Giants (8-1). and at New Orleans (4-5). The Panthers clearly have the toughest schedule out of the three top contenders for the NFC South crown. Lets give the Panthers victories over the losing teams Detroit and New Orleans, and home victories against winning teams Tampa Bay and Denver. Then will give losses to the Panthers against teams with winning records that they face on the road - Atlanta and the Giants, we'll have them drop one to Green Bay, because the Panthers, like most teams, don't fare very well at Lambeau Field (1-3 lifetime). That will drop Carolina to 11-5 (4-2 in division play).

Tampa Bay is 2nd in the division at 6-3. The Buccaneers are home against Minnesota (5-4), at Detroit (0-9), home against New Orleans (4-5), at Carolina (7-2), at Atlanta (6-3), home against San Diego (4-5), and finish home against Oakland (2-7). Lets give the Bucs victories at home against Minnesota, New Orleans, San Diego, and Oakland. We'll also give them the win on the road against Detroit. The crux of the Bucs season will be the back-to-back road games against Carolina and Atlanta. If the Bucs take one out of two, they finish 12-4 and (4-2) in division play. If they lose both, they'll fall to 11-5 (3-3 in the division). If they win both, they should (if the theory holds through) roll to 13-3 (5-1 in the division). Earlier this week, I predicited the Bucs would lose those two games and finish 11-5 - I'll stick with that for right now. So the Tampa Bay finish 11-5 (3-3 in divisional play).

Atlanta is 3rd in the NFC South at 6-3. The Falcons are home against Denver (5-4), home against Carolina (7-2), at San Diego (4-5), at New Orleans (4-5), home against Tampa Bay (6-3), at Minnesota (4-5), home against St. Louis (2-7). Let's give the Falcons home wins against Denver, Carolina, and Tampa Bay. I know that for the other two opponents, I applied victories against teams with losing records, but the Falcons suffer one disadvantage compared to the other two teams, a rookie QB. I know Matt Ryan has had a solid season for a rookie, but let's face it - on the road in November and December is not for the faint of heart. The Falcons have a cross-country trip to San Diego, who are battling for their playoff lives. That will be a tough one for Atlanta to win. They head down to New Orleans, never an easy place to play (their four wins have come at the Superdome) and go to Minnesota, who's 4-1 at home this year, while going to St. Louis to finish out the year. Let's give them a win in St. Louis, another in New Orleans, but lossess at San Diego and Minnesota. That'll put Atlanta at 11-5 (4-2 in the division).

I guess out of respect, we should do the Saints. New Orleans is 4th in the NFC South at 4-5. New Orleans goes to Kansas City (1-8), Green Bay (4-5) at home, they go to Tampa Bay (6-3), they come home to play Atlanta (6-3), they go to Chicago (5-4) and Detroit (0-9) before finishing up at home against Carolina (7-2). As a losing team, we can't give the Saints the same considerations as the winning teams in the division. So lets give New Orleans home victories over Kansas City and Green Bay. We'll give them a rare road win at Detroit, but we'll hand them losses to Atlanta, Chicago, Tampa Bay, and Carolina. This will leave New Orleans 7-9 (1-5 in division) and out of contention.

This scenario is bad news for the Bucs...By virtue of a better conference record, Atlanta would win the NFC South, the Panthers, by virtue of a better division record would finish 2nd, the Buccaneers would be 3rd.

Conceivably, 11-5 should be enough to get you into the playoffs as a wild card, but with Washington, Dallas, and Philadelphia breathing down the Bucs' neck, Tampa Bay really doesn't want to see this thing come down to tie-breakers.

Bottom line for the Bucs - win your home games, beat the teams your supposed to beat and take one out of two from the two big divisional battles and the NFC South will be yours. Fail and you'll be driving me crazy because I'll have to bring out the protractors and slide rulers to try and figure out how the heck the Bucs will make the playoffs.

Of course, as you know, nothing ever goes as it should in the NFL. That's why they play the games.

JC De La Torre is an author of Science Fiction/Fantasy and other realms of Speculative Fiction - check out his latest works at JC Delatorre.com

The 'Lac is Back

By JC De La Torre

Carnell "Cadillac" Williams was activated to the active 53 man roster for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. To make room for Williams, the Buccaneers released running back Michael Bennett. In addition, the Bucs promoted Wide Receiver Brian Clark from the practice squad and placed Wide Receiver Maurice Stovall on injured reserve.

I think getting Carnell back is a fantastic thing for the Buccaneers, who, if he can return to form, will add big play capability back to the Tampa Bay running attack. Expect Caddy to be eased back into the rotation with Earnest Graham and Warrick Dunn and as he shows he can handle the workload, his carries should increase.

The news of Stovall was unfortunate, as it is the second season in a row the young wide out has ended the year on IR. RB Michael Bennett had begun to crow about his lack of playing time as he had apparently reached the far end of Jon Gruden's doghouse. Even rookie free agent kick returner/running back Clifton Smith got more carries than Bennett did in the Bucs last game at Kansas City. Among Bennett's gripes was a lack of communication from the coaching staff.

“I’m not going to go to them and say “What did I do?” or say this or that because that’s not me,” Bennett told the Tampa Tribune, “If it’s something, you be a man and tell me. Right now, I don’t see it being nothing. It’s not my ability. It’s not like I’m not able to do this or not able to do that.”

Some analysts believed that Bennett's inability to pick up the blitz limited his appearances in the Buccaneers offense.

JC De La Torre is an author of Science Fiction/Fantasy and other realms of Speculative Fiction - check out his latest works at JC Delatorre.com

Caddy Coming Out of the Garage?

By JC De La Torre

As the Tampa Bay running game has cascaded on to the rocks, with injuries, turnovers, and just poor play in general, it may get a high powered boost on Thursday. Carnell "Cadillac" Williams will either be placed on IR for the season or activated, causing the Buccaneers to release a player (likely little used Michael Bennett).

"It's a green light, but it doesn't mean it's a green light that he's a featured back," Bucs Head coach Jon Gruden told the Tampa Tribune of Williams, "It's almost like Christmas is here. Christmas is Wednesday, I hope. We'll see how he feels, but if my eyes don't deceive me, I think he's got a chance to be a player for us this year."

There were significant doubts that Williams would ever play again following the horrific Theisman-esque injury suffered early in 2007 when Williams went one way but his knee went another, ripping his patella tendon - and injury that essentially ended the career of Kijana Carter. His road back has been a tough one, filled will hours and hours of excruciating rehab. Throughout the off-season, Williams held a goal to be ready when the season started and worked like a maniac to achieve it. Unfortunately, his dream was dashed when Tampa Bay placed him on the Physically Unable to Perform List coming out of training camp. Still, Williams continued to work, getting closer and closer.

If he is activated today or tomorrow, Williams brings the big play potential back to the Buccaneer running attack. Williams popped off runs of 70 or more yds several times in amassing 2,184 yds and 10 touchdowns in two and a quarter seasons of football.

JC De La Torre is an author of Science Fiction/Fantasy and other realms of Speculative Fiction - check out his latest works at JC Delatorre.com

Gutless Lightning Fail Kolzig

By JC De La Torre


Typically, in this space I give you a description of the latest Lightning game, who scored, how it all went down, ect. ect. I'm not doing that for this one. Olaf Kolzig was wronged by the Tampa Bay Lightning players. In a disgraceful performance by his teammates, Olie the Goalie watched his team put on a clinic on how NOT to play hockey, falling 4-2 to the Washington Capitals.

The Bolts fell behind 3-0 with another "We don't give a shat" 1st period where they were outshot 11-6 while giving up goals to Tom Poti, Mike Green, and Eric Fehr. Kolzig actually played pretty well considering his defense left him out to dry time and time again.

Melrose must of have come after their butts again after the first as Tampa Bay came alive in the 2nd period, outshooting the Caps 18-6 and scoring a power play goal by Gary Roberts, who would score again in the 3rd to pull the Lightning within 4-2.

The damage was already done, though, as Tampa Bay continues to search for something that can't be traded for or improved upon- heart. Melrose isn't to blame for this, he's tried everything he can to get his hockey team to care about what's happening on the ice. Perhaps its too much change and not enough time to bond with their new teammates. Perhaps its the revolving door of trades and fantasy hockey style front office. Whatever the case, the Bolts make the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz look like Don Juan.

"If I'm those guys I can't look Olie in the face," Lightning coach Barry Melrose told the Tampa Tribune, "This was probably the biggest game this guy has played in a couple of years and they show up and do that for him. I think all those guys should be hiding their eyes when they walk by Olie Kolzig tonight."

There's been too many of these nights so far in 2008. I don't understand it. When you have world class players who have won the Stanley Cup on your squad - how does 90-yr-old Mark Recchi be your fastest player on the ice? How do you not care enough about your teammates, the crest on your chest, or your community to put that kind of effort out on the ice?

Unreal. Just unreal and until this team finds some testicular fortitude, some heart, something that shows they care - they aren't going anywhere this season.

I think John Tortorella, the unbearable brute that he was may havc been the right guy to be able to squeeze some type of effort from this group.

JC De La Torre is an author of Science Fiction/Fantasy and other realms of Speculative Fiction - check out his latest works at JC Delatorre.com

Unanimous - Longoria AL's Top Rookie

By JC De La Torre


Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Evan Longoria won the American League Rookie of the Year award, awarded by the Baseball Writers Association of America by a unanimous vote.

The award is just another feat in a season of firsts for Tampa Bay. Longoria was only the 7th rookie to get a unanimous vote for the award. The good news for the Rays is this youngster is locked up until 2016 with a $44 million contract.

"It's so special. It's tough to put into words," Longoria said on a nationwide conference call after the announcement. "Obviously I appreciate every vote - every player who recognized me and every writer who thought I was No. 1."

The Tampa Bay Sports Blog would like to issue our congrats to Evan Longoria.

Stay tuned, as Joe Maddon is next as he is up for Manager of the Year.

JC De La Torre is an author of Science Fiction/Fantasy and other realms of Speculative Fiction - check out his latest works at JC Delatorre.com

Bolts Making Moves for Cap Space

By JC De La Torre

Over the weekend, the Tampa Bay Lightning's revolving door of players continued to turn as Tampa Bay cleared nearly $3 million in cap space by trading defenseman Matt Carle and a 3rd round pick to the Philadelphia Flyers for defenseman Steve Eminger and minor league prospect Steve Downie (who was assigned to AHL Norfolk). Then they demoted forward Jason Ward to Norfolk. Not sure how I missed this over the weekend, sorry about that. In any event, its pretty interesting to see Carle, the lynchpin of the Danny Boyle deal, dealt after only 12 games. Carle hasn't lived up to expectations of being an offensive performer and point on the power play, managing only 2 points and only a +1 on defense. In Eminger, the Bolts get veteran, gritty stay-at-home defenseman who had 2 points. Both Eminger and Downie are former 1st round picks and are 25 yrs of age.

It is a diametric change from current regime to see the Bolts revolving door moves. Former GM Jay Feaster believed in stability and resisted making changes to the hockey club while Brian Lawton has made more deals in the few short months he's been here than Feaster did his entire tenure.

Even Head Coach Barry Melrose seemed to yearn for stability, ""It's not ideal," coach Barry Melrose told the St. Pete Times, "Hopefully, that will end pretty quick and we get a lineup we really like."

Lawton claims there's no bigger deal on the horizon, but the active attempt to trade Radim Vrbata and the sudden priority to clear cap room seems to indicate that something may be in the works.

JC De La Torre is an author of Science Fiction/Fantasy and other realms of Speculative Fiction - check out his latest works at JC Delatorre.com

Bucs Fan Guide to Bye Week Football

By JC De La Torre

If you're a fan of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, you're jonesing a bit this week as your favorite football team is not taking the field this Sunday. The bye week is here for Tampa Bay and the loss of Buccaneer football is being felt all over the area. Just know, you can still get your football fix in.

There are several games that significantly impact the Bucs playoff chances.

#1 New Orleans at Atlanta

This is a big one in the NFC South. The surprising Falcons are trying to stay in the divisional race with the Bucs and the Carolina Panthers, while the Saints are just trying to keep their playoff hopes alive. The Falcons have been a solid home team, going 3-0 with wins over Detroit, Kansas City and Chicago. This is the first of three straight home games for the Falcons. If the Saints can get the upset, both teams fall to 5-4, a game behind Tampa Bay in the NFC South.

Bucs rooting interest: Slightly Saints - if the Saints lose, they're pretty much done and that's not necessarily a bad thing for the Bucs - but a Saints victory would cool off the Falcons at home.

#2 Carolina at Oakland

The 1st Place Carolina Panthers travel cross-country to face the laughingstock that is the Oakland Raiders. The Raiders are a mess, firing Head Coach Lane Kiffin in September and cutting one of their better players, DeAngelo Hall this week. The natives are restless, the team is doubting management publicly and its just an ugly, ugly scene. Meanwhile, the Panthers roll into this one with a 6-2 record and rested coming off a bye. With a victory, the Panthers would take their first of two winnable games the next two weeks (they have winless Detroit next week), giving them a buffer before they have to began the final stretch run where they face playoff contenders Atlanta, Green Bay, Tampa Bay, Denver, and the Super Bowl Champion New York Giants. Many good East Coast teams have made the trek to the Black hole, only to be stunned by a stinging upset defeat. Carolina should win this game going away but as Chris Berman says, "That's why they play the Games..."

Bucs Rooting Interest: A Raiders Win - For obvious reasons, a loss by the Carolina Panthers drops them into a two-way (possibly three-way depending on Atlanta's game) with the Buccaneers.

#3 New York Giants at Philadelphia

This game is of interest to Buc fans because the Eagles are one of the teams the Bucs are competing with in the NFC wildcard race. A victory by the Eagles, puts them at 6-3, tied with the Bucs and Redskins, beginning a myriad of tie-breaker scenarios that we don't want to begin to talk about just yet. The Giants can do Tampa Bay a favor by slapping around the Eagles and keeping them a game back in the wild card race.

Bucs Rooting Interest: Giants Win - As stated above, to keep the Eagles at bay.

#4 Green Bay at Minnesota

The Vikings are the Bucs next opponent. Nothing could be better for Tampa Bay than for Minnesota to engage in a knockdown drag out division war with one of their most hated rivals a week before they come to the Ray Jay. After starting the season 1-3, the Vikings have heated up, winning three of their last four to climb back into the NFC North race.

Bucs Rooting Interest: A Good Game - At this point, it doesn't really matter to the Bucs who wins between Green Bay and Minnesota, what Tampa Bay is hoping for is a slobberknocker of a contest that will go down to the wire, draining emotionally and physically the Vikings before they make the long trek down from Lake Minnetonka to Tampa Bay. A lopsided decision either way would not help the Bucs.

So there you have it, your Sunday guide to the bye week. Hang tough, Buc fans. It's just seven more days until we're back at Ray Jay rockin with our Pewter Pirates. Don't forget to vote in our poll on how the Bucs will finish 2008.

Melrose lays into the Bolts, Team responds with Win

By JC De La Torre

In a week's time, the Tampa Bay Lightning's GM and coach have challenged the players' manhood and grit. After a lackluster first period, Head Coach Barry Melrose laid into the hockey club and the Lightning responded with a hard fought 2-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers.

"It wasn't too bad," goalie Mike Smith told the St. Pete Times, "No players were hurt."

"I called them every name under the sun. I challenged their manhood," Melrose told the paper, "When we play hard, we're an excellent team. That's what I wanted to get through to them. When we play with passion and courage, we're a different group."

Tampa Bay was outshot 18-5 in the first period where Mike Smith did all he could to keep the team in the game. Daniel Briere would find the back of the net late in the period on a 5-on-3 power play goal with 3:40 left in the 1st. The Lightning came roaring back in the 2nd, outshooting the Flyers 12-5 and getting goals from Jussi Jokinen and Vaclav Prospal to take a 2-1 advantage going into the 3rd. Penalties would short circut the new found urgency in the final stanza, as Philadelphia went on three power plays, including another two man advantage, but Tampa Bay goalie Mike Smith was up to the task making 13 saves in the final 20 minutes to help the Bolts hold on.

It was apparently the first time Melrose and the coaches got in the face of the players (I stark contrast from the in-your-face style of their former head man, John Tortorella).

"It's amazing," former Flyer and current Tampa Bay left wing Mark Recchi told the St. Pete Times, "Sometimes the guys can do it by themselves, but sometimes you need the coaches to come in and make their point and wake the guys up. Tonight it worked."

Tampa Bay remained 4 points behind the 1st place Carolina Hurricanes in the SE division, improving to 5-4-4, 14 points and 1-1-1 on the current five game road trip.

Gators Have the Road Set for National Title Run

By JC De La Torre

The Florida Gators have sights set on Miami and now know the road to get there. With Saturday's upset of the Penn State Nitanny Lions by Iowa, Florida now doesn't have to worry about that fantastic Texas Tech squad slipping up somewhere along the line. The road is clear for the Gators and their case got even stronger with Florida State's victory over Clemson. Take care of their own business by finishing off with victories over South Carolina, the Citadel (on homecoming), and Florida State, they likely will face Alabama for the right to play for a berth in the National title game.

Florida will be ranked no worse than #4 when the BCS standings are released this evening, putting only Bama, Texas Tech, and Texas in their path to 1 of the 2 spots in the BCS. Florida emphatically stated their case to jump Texas by clobbering the nearly bowl eligible Vanderbilt Commodores 42-14, while Texas struggled early against god awful Baylor before finally getting their bearings and blowing out the Bears 45-21.

The biggest problem for the Longhorns is their remaining schedule, as they face two schools having down seasons in Kansas (6-4) and Texas A&M (4-6). They are in the same division as Texas Tech, so unless the Red Raiders fall to Oklahoma, they won't play in the Big 12 Championship game. Meanwhile, Florida plays South Carolina (7-3), the Citadel, and currently #22 Florida State (7-2, 1st place in the ACC Atlantic Division) before taking on #1 Alabama in the SEC title game. If both teams were to win out, there's little doubt that the Gators would jump Texas.

Of course, if the Red Raiders stumble in either the Oklahoma game or the Big 12 championship game, that opens up a big time mess in the BCS standings that could have Florida playing Texas or USC or Oklahoma or maybe even Penn State gets back into the mix. Basically, the BCS folks are praying to the football gods that the Red Raiders or Alabama can win out and keep this from being a nasty clusterfudge that President-elect Obama may inject himself into to force a college football playoff.

For the Gators, its simple - take care of your own business, avoid any minefield losses like Ole Miss, and you'll get a shot at the Crystal.

Blogger Kicked Out by the Edmonton Oilers

By JC De La Torre


One of my fellow bloggers in the blogosphere suffered a great injustice last month as he was tossed out by the Edmonton Oilers because he was blogging live during a game in the press box. Basically, no one explained to him that he wasn't allowed to blog from the press box, he was confronted by Oilers staff who threaten him with expulsion from the game and told him he would never be invited to the press box again for "inappropriate use of his press pass".

You can read the entire story here - Covered in Oil: It Ends

Frankly, it's just a demonstration on how some franchises in professional sports just don't get it when it comes to the internet. I mean, we bloggers are offering FREE PUBLICITY to the franchises. We are like mini-PR guys who talk up the team and create interest. The Oilers behavior is tantamount to kicking out their own fans because they're screaming "Let's Go Oilers" too loudly or booing when the power play fails to score.

Its ridiculous. The blogger in question is so hurt by the experience that he doesn't want to blog about the Oilers any more - and his site has become one of the most popular Oiler blogs in the "Oilogosphere".

Hopefully, the Lightning, Bucs, Rays, and the other teams I cover in this blog can see that while it can at times be critical, blogging in essence is GOOD for your organization.

Good luck to Dave the Blogger, I hope he can find some peace in knowing that other bloggers stand behind him.

Lawton Tells Bolts to Grow a Pair...They Still Get Punked by NY

By JC De La Torre

Tampa Bay Lightning GM Brian Lawton dressed down his hockey team before Thursday night's game against the New York Rangers, telling the team they have been trying to live on skill alone and not enough "want-to". Tampa Bay returned with its fiestiest game of the season, racking up a ridiculous 38 penalty minutes that included two fights, one involving goaltender Mike Smith. While the message was sent and the Bolts put together a performance with a little more testicular fortitude, the team still got whipped by the Rangers 5-2, the Bolts first regulation loss in five games.

Lawton told the St. Pete Times, "At that stage, the process is really simple for me, you ask people if they want to be here, if they want to be a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning."

Ryan Malone showed his desire to be with the Bolts, dropping the gloves with Rangers agitator Aaron Voros midway through the first period. The game was scoreless until Evgeny Artyukhin went off on a 2 minute minor for hooking at the 14:47 mark of the 1st, with 0:38 left on the power play, Ryan Callahan scored on a beautiful feed from Nikolai Zherdev. The score would hold up until 14:23 of the 2nd period, when shorthanded New York's Chris Drury intercepted a Paul Ranger pass and deposited it behind Tampa Bay goalie Mike Smith to give New York a 2-0 lead. Martin St. Louis, who appears to finally be heating up for the Bolts, scored his 2nd goal in as many nights to cut the Rangers advange to 2-1 before 2nd intermission.

0:35 into the third, Chris Drury would get number two on the night on the power play, getting a nice feed from Scott Gomez, staking New York to a 3-1 edge. Ryan Malone's power play laser shot at 7:58 of the third sliced the advantage back to 1, but thirty seconds later, Marc Staal would get his first goal of the season (and only his 3rd in 96 games at the NHL level), on a slapper while the Bolts goalie Mike Smith was screened, returning the two goal lead and a 4-2 advantage.

Things deteriorated from there, as the Lightning had a parade of players to the sin bin, with 4:25 left in the game, Marek Malik was called for tripping Nigel Dawes and Mark Recchi earned two more for unsportsmanlike conduct, giving the Rangers a full 2 minute 5-on-3 advantage. As the Lightning killed the first 5-3, the Bolts were nailed again, as Goalie Mike Smith slashed Aaron Voros, then dropped his goalie gloves and went after Voros, the two exchanged a few blows before being separated by linesmen. Gary Roberts joined the penalty parade with 2 minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct and a 10 minute misconduct penalty. Voros got 2 for unsportsmanlike and 5 for fighting. Smith got 2 for slashing, 2 for unsportsmanlike conduct, and 5 for fighting. Basically, it all spelled out to yet another 5-on-3 advantage for the Rangers. So the Rangers basically spent the last 4:25 of the game with a two man advantage. Eventually, they would cash in as Drury completed his hat trick with an open net rebound off of a Dmitri Kalinin shot.

So the Lighting answered the call for more grit by GM Brian Lawton, but it contributed to an ugly finish against the superior New York Rangers club. While Tampa Bay showed more passion, the Bolts still seemed to lack that extra something when battling for loose pucks in the corners. You have to wonder if the grit that Lawton was speaking of was on display against the Rangers, who seemed to just muscle Tampa Bay defensemen off the puck for scoring chances.

"It wasn't a downer," Lawton told the St. Pete Times after the game, "I feel better about the game than I did Wednesday (the shootout loss to New Jersey)."

Tampa Bay fell to 4-4-4 12 points on the season, they remain in 3rd place in the Southeast Division, 4 points behind division leader Carolina.

Pena wins Rays 1st Gold Glove Award

By JC De La Torre

First Baseman Carlos Pena became the first member of the Tampa Bay Rays to win the American League's highest defensive honor, a gold glove award. Pena led all American League first basemen with a .998 fielding percentage to go along with 991 put outs and two errors.

While Pena celebrated his gold glove, the rest of the Rays stellar defense was left without. Boston's Dustin Pedroia beat out Aki Iwamura at 2nd for the gold glove. Pedroia had a .992 fielding percentage with 6 errors, which was slightly better than Aki's .990 and 7 errors. Adrian Beltre of the Seattle Mariners beat out Evan Longoria at 3rd base. Beltre finished with .964 fielding percentage and committed 14 errors. Longoria had a .963 fielding percentage but only committed 12 errors. Beltre did play 21 more games than Longoria. The Texas Rangers' Michael Young won the gold glove for Short Stop, finishing the season with a .984 fielding percetange and only 12 errors. Jason Bartlett, who was key to shaping up the infield for the Rays defensively, finished with a .970 fielding percentage and committed 16 errors.

You can't really make any arguments that any of the Rays players deserved to win the gold glove over those players who won it this season. Longoria may have had an argument, but Beltre did play more games. I'd say it was a pretty darn good job by MLB on this one.

Here is the complete Gold Glove winners for the American League -
P, Mike Mussina, NYY
C, Joe Mauer, MIN
1B, Carlos Pena, TB
2B, Dustin Pedroia, BOS
3B, Adrian Beltre, SEA
SS, Michael Young, TEX
OF, Torii Hunter, LAA
OF, Grady Sizemore, CLE
OF, Ichiro Suzuki, SEA

Lightning Bedeviled By Another Shootout Defeat

By JC De La Torre
The Tampa Bay Lightning know one thing for sure - if the game heads to a shootout, more than likely, its going to end badly for the Bolts. For the fourth time in five tries, the Lightning fell in the shoot out, this time to the New Jersey Devils 4-3.

Playing without Martin Brodeur, who will be out for a couple months due to an injury, New Jersey got a solid performance from former Tampa Bay netminder Kevin Weekes and found offense for the first time in awhile, ending a lengthy scoring drought with a three goal outburst against Tampa Bay's Mike Smith. Smith finished the game with 27 saves on 30 shots.

Tampa Bay jumped out first with the suddenly hot Jussi Jokinen's 3rd goal of the season at the 16:28 mark of the first period. The Devils got two in the second, from David Clarkson and Patrick Elias on the power play to stake New Jersey to a 2-1 advantage.

At the 10:52 mark of the third, Jussi Jokinen scored again as he buried a gorgeous feed from defenseman Andrej Meszaros to tie the game at 2. Jay Pandalfo would score to put Jersey back on top with 4:50 left in the game, but a minute later Martin St. Louis scored for the second time this season, this time on a rebound of a Vinny Lecavalier blast.

Overtime would go scoreless and the Lightning would go scoreless in the shootout while Elias and Jamie Langenbrunner would find the back of the net to give New Jersey the shoot out win.

Tampa Bay falls to 4-3-4 12 pts on the season, tied for 2nd in the Southeast division, 4 points behind the division leading Carolina Hurricanes. The Lightning are currently 10th in the Eastern Conference.

Bolts COO Resigns, Niskala Clears Waivers

By JC De La Torre

The St. Pete Times is reporting that the Chief Operating Officer of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Sean Henry, has resigned from the hockey team, effective December 12th. Henry was latest change in the restructuring initiated by the new Lightning owners OK Hockey. In an email to the Times, Henry said OK Hockey asked him to stay on but said, "I thought it was best for me to move on to the next opportunity."

In other Lightning news, disgruntled defenseman Janne Niskala cleared waivers and has been allowed to return to Europe to be with his pregnant wife and per conditions in his contract, allowed to play there. Niskala was upset that his minutes have been reduced by Head Coach Barry Melrose in recent days.

Bucs at the Bye

By JC De La Torre

With the Bucs moving into the bye week, I wanted to take the opportunity to take a look at the team's performance throughout the first half (and 1 game) of the 2008 season and try to peer into my crystal ball for a futurecast.

First let's go over the different segments of the team -

Overall Grade: C

I gave the overall grade of the team a C because there were definitely some games they left on the table. They had opportunities to win in the closing moments of each of their three losses this season (New Orleans, Denver, Dallas) and none of the teams they lost to have turned out to be world beaters. This football team should be 8-1 or 7-2 at worst right now. They are a completely different football team on the road than they are at home, as evidence by the point differential on the road vs. home. The Bucs can move between the 20's with the best of them, but can't score when they get to the red zone. This is something they desperately need to find a solution to if they have any hope of going deep in the post-season. The Bucs are 8th in total offense (10th passing, 9th rushing, 10th in scoring) and are 6th in Total defense (6th against the pass, 13th against the run, 7th scoring).

Quarterbacks: C

The grade for the quarterbacks is primarily due to the performance of Brian Griese, who threw gobs of interceptions while he was in there. At the same time, Jeff Garcia, while a steady game manager, is hesistant to take chances and I think that's contributed to their red zone woes.

Running Backs: C

Earnest Graham and Warrick Dunn have had some solid performances this season as a tandem, but there have been games where the running game just simply disappeared. There are a lot of factors that contribute to that - play calling, subpar offensive line play and bad decisions in the hole. The Bucs need to dedicate themselves to continuing to attack with the running game, the line has to block better, and Graham, Dunn, and perhaps Cadillac Williams will need to see the holes better.

Wide Receivers\Tight Ends: B-

The Wide Receivers and Tight End performances have been pretty solid this season. Antonio Bryant has fulfilled my belief that he would be an impact free agent for the Bucs. He has been. Michael Clayton is playing better, John Gilmore has been a pleasant surprise, Ike Hillard and Alex Smith have been their dependable selves. The reason for the lower grade is because Jeramy Stevens has dropped too many balls and Joey Galloway can't get healthy enough to get on the field consistently. If Galloway can earn back the trust of Jon Gruden and make an impact in the second half of the season, it could mean big things for the Buccaneers offense.

Offensive Line: C

The line was getting a lot of love coming up to the start of this season, but they haven't lived up to the billing. Part of it is due to the injury bug, as Davin Joseph and Aaron Sears have both missed time, forcing Jeremy Zuttah, a rookie, into the line up at multiple positions. The line has protected the Quarterback pretty well this season. Going into the Kansas City game, the Bucs o-line had yielded only 10 sacks, good for 5th least in the NFL. Its really been the o-line's inability to open holes for the running game that has been a bit of a disappointment this season.

Defensive Line: C

The Bucs defensive line is doing a better job this season at applying pressure, but they still aren't getting to the quarterback with regularity. The Bucs ranked 19th in the league in sacks with 15. They are playing the run better, Kansas City was an exception, as they are giving up 99 yds per game on the ground and Kansas City's Jamaal Charles became the first running back to rush for 100 yds agains the Bucs defense this season. Kansas City's Kolby Smith also became the only running back to score a rushing touchdown on the Bucs this season.

Linebackers: A

Its been a resurgent year for future Hall of Fame linebacker Derrick Brooks. Brooks is having one of his best seasons since 02 and has successfully been able to silence some critics who believed he didn't "have it" anymore. Cato June has been solid at the SAM spot, while Barrett Ruud is playing at a Pro Bowl level at Middle Linebacker.

Defensive Backs - B-

While the DBs have definitely been opportunistic this season (tied for 3rd in the NFL with 12 interceptions), there's no question that they've missed many assignments as a group. Ronde Barber needs to find the same Fountain of Youth that Derrick Brooks went to in the offseason, as right now teams are picking on him and he has not been up to the challenge. The Bucs lost Jermaine Phillips at strong safety with a broken arm, so 1st year starter Sabby Piscitelli has had to step in and he's done a decent job. Tanard Jackson, Phillip Bucannon, and 1st round pick Aquib Talib all have quietly put together solid seasons thus far.

Special Teams: B

If I did this two weeks ago, this would have been a C- or D. The move from 2nd round pick Dexter Jackson to free agent Clifton Smith has done wonders for the Tampa Bay return game. Smith has been averaging 32.7 yds a kickoff return (compared to D-Jax's 23.4) and 15.6 yds a punt return (compared to Jackson's abysmal 4.9) and of course, he had a huge 97 yd kickoff return for a touchdown in Kansas City. Matt Bryant, working his way through a terrible personal tragedy, has been very solid this season, while Josh Bidwell may be punting at a Pro Bowl level.

Coaching: C-

Gruden has had to coach through some injuries this season, but several times this year - Denver and Dallas come to mind, Gruden has said that the opponent did something they didn't prepare for. In other words, he admitted to being outcoached. It was on display again in Kansas City, where the poorous KC defense held the Bucs in check until the fourth quarter. In addition, Gruden has abandoned the running game several times this season for a death by papercuts short yardage passing game. Defensively, the Bucs are getting a good performance out of Monte Kiffin (with the exception of the KC game), the assistants have all been doing fine jobs this season. Gruden really needs to get his game together for the second half of the season.

Futurecast Predicitions-

I see the Bucs getting victories over Minnesota, Detroit, New Orleans, San Diego, and Oakland with losses on the road to Carolina and Atlanta.

This will get the Bucs to 11-5, which should be more than enough to secure one of the two Wild card spots in the NFC. Will it be enough to defend the NFC South? Not sure on that one.

Presidential Endorsement by JC's Tampa Bay Sports Blog

By JC De La Torre

Typically, I stay out of the political discussions and I definitely don't like using my blog space for these types of commentary (and I won't do it often in the future), I am an independent voter, I have no party affliation. To make this somewhat sports related, Barack Obama supports a college football playoff, while John McCain supports more strenuous steroid testing.

With that said I just wanted to announce the following:

JC's Tampa Bay Sports Blog endorses Senator Barack Obama for President of the United States.
Why Obama?

I feel that Obama views on the World are similiar to my own. I agree with his belief that diplomacy is not a dirty word and that we need to have the inner strength and fortitude to be able to talk to our enemies and try to resolve our differences. In the past 8 yrs, the United States became a country of fear and dominance. It became the Evil Empire that many began to hate and want to destroy. I'm not just talking Islamic Extremists, I'm talking about countries that used to be our allies that believe our war doctirines are not Freedom movtivated, but World Domination motivated. The next President has a lot of work to do to repair our foreign relations. I think Obama identifies with those across the world. For the first time in maybe a decade, other countries have hope that America can again become the place of dreams. Just look at the guy in Barcelona, Spain who made a 2 acre Obama portrait.

I agree with Obama's views on the economy. I do believe that trickle down economics and deregulation has led us to the greatest economic downturn since the Great Depression. I know many are nervous about the "spread the wealth" comment. I believe its being misrepresented by the Republicans (as you would expect) as socialism. Socialism refers to a broad set of economic theories of social organization advocating state or collective ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods, and the creation of an egalitarian society. Funny, but to me that kinda decribes the Bush years.

I don't believe Obama feels thats the way to go. There are some equality issues in this country. Comedian Bill Maher held up a chart in is show Real Time with Bill Maher on HBO that showed that 60% of the nation's weath went to the upper 1% of the country. SIXTY PERCENT. How much does you, me, Joe the Plumber, and the rest of the "middleclass" get? 10% of the wealth. Folks, I understand that the rich, the business owners, the stock brokers should have a greater share of the wealth since they take more of the risk while the worker bees get a lesser stake - but 60%? No, there does need to be some distribution of wealth. This should appeal to 99% of the American population.

So how do you achieve this? Repealing the Bush tax cuts and other special tax breaks for the Upper 1 as I call them. Raise their tax burden so that you can lower the tax burden on the other 90% of the country. Stop allowing them to ship our jobs overseas with bad trade deals. Increase goverment regulation so the proposterous bullspit of Bearsterns, AIG, and the other lenders we bailed out will never happen again. These are some of the tent poles of the Obama economic platform. I know the Fear doctrine of the Republicans have said that Obama is a "Tax and Spend" Liberal. Obama has said that 95% of Americans will have their taxes LOWERED, not raised. Further, he proposes to pay for his iniatives with things that should be common sense. Cutting things we don't need. Remember that line in the 1996 Sci-Fi movie Independence Day when they were at Area 51 the President said, "Where do we get funding to support a place like this?" and Julius Levinson, the father of one of the heroes of the movie, said, "What? You really think it costs $10,000 for a hammer, $20,000 for a toilet seat?". Sadly, there's truth in that line. There is a lot of waste in our government - and it needs to be cleaned up. Further, we spend $10 billion dollars a month for a war where we are supporting a country that has a budget SURPLUS. A place where Al Quaida is not headquartered, while taking resources and forces away from our troops in Afghanistan and the border of Pakistan - where Al Quaida is alive and well and is likely where Osama Bin Laden is planning his next strike.

And that's another thing that attracts me to Obama. Senator John McCain says we won't leave Iraq until we have won. Sorry, I thought winning a war was completed once the government of the country your fighting against is toppled, its over. You've won. Saddam Hussein is dead. His republican guard is shattered. We've spent years there trying to help the Iraqis establish their government. Its time. We have too many threats against the United States to continue to prop up a puppet government. The Iraqis need to govern themselves - its THEIR country, not ours.

Finally, I strongly believe that the United States needs to free itself from the dependence on Foreign Oil. While offshore drilling would definitely help with that, I believe if we are to survive as a nation, we MUST invest our time, resources, our energies in alternative fuel resources. Obama is for that, Senator McCain's motto is "Drill, Baby Drill." This is not a problem we can drill our way out of.

There are other things like health care, education, and the foreclosure situation that I also agree on with Obama, but let me last leave you with this. This country is at a crossroads. We need a leader that can inspire and unite our country, repair our relations with our neighbors, have the calm, steady hand in times of crisis, and have the judgement to make the right choices.

Einstien defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. McCain is the same as Bush. He may have once been a maverick, but that maverick sold his soul to the Neo-Conservative wing of the Republican party to win its nomination. The last 8 years have deeply damaged the United States and there is a large reclaimation project in order.

I think Barrack Obama is the best choice to lead us into that recovery.

Which ever candidate you choose, I hope you do take the time to make your voice heard today. Yes, the lines are long and it make take awhile for you to get there - but this is a crucial election and you need to be part of it. Now is not the time to sit on the sidelines.

Thanks, and we now return you to our Sports related thoughts.

BallHype - A Great place to find Sports blogs

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Claiming my blog for BallHype. Ball Hype is an excellent resource to find great sports related blogs.

Bucs Rise from the Dead, Survive KC in OT

By JC De La Torre

Be it the upcoming bye week or poor preparation or just coming in flat, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers came into today's game against the Kansas City Chiefs not ready to play football. The spunky Chiefs, led by their little known QB Tyler Thigpen, used trickeration, opportunistic defense and a suprisingly effective running attack (despite missing star running back Larry Johnson) to pace themselves to a commanding 24-3 lead midway through the 2nd quarter. It would take the greatest comeback in Buccaneer history for Tampa Bay to escape with a wild 30-27 overtime win.

The Bucs defense turned in one of their worst performances of the season, yeilding 384 yds, 183 of it on the ground. The running game was the initial driving force for Kansas City's first touchdown, as the Chiefs drove the field on their opening possession, going 69 yds on 12 plays, bleeding 6:41 off the clock and capping the drive with a Thigpen to Dwayne Bowe 7 yd score. On the Bucs first play from scrimmage, running back Earnest Graham fumbled, KC recovered, setting up a 1 yd Kolby Smith touchdown run. The "death by a thousand paper cuts" Buccaneer offense found themselves have run 1 play and down 14-0.

The Bucs would get on the board after a 21 yd catch by WR Antonio Bryant would set up a 25 yd field goal by Matt Bryant, capping a 13 play 68 yd drive and cutting the Kansas City advantage to 14-3 with 13:08 left in the 1st half. Kansas City would then pull out a trick play from their playbook. Lined up in the "Wild Cat formation" that seems to be all the rage in the NFL, RB Jamal Charles took the snap and handed the ball off to Wide Receiver Mark Bradley on a reverse. Bucs corner Ronde Barber broke for Bradley, but forgot QB Tyler Thigpen was making his way down the field behind him...Bradley fired a pass 37 yd downfield to a quarrantined Thigpen who waltzed into the end zone to give Kansas City a shocking 21-3 lead.

The Bucs offense would try to move the ball down the field, but QB Jeff Garcia was intercepted by Kansas City CB Brandon Carr. The teams would exchange punts, then Kansas City began to "matriculate" the ball down the field. First, Thigpen would hit Bradley for a 56 yd bomb, setting up KC on the Bucs 12 yd line. An offensive holding call in the red zone would spoil the drive though, and the Chiefs would settle for three points, a Connor Barth 37 yder. Kansas City's lead was 24-3 with only 2:17 left in the first half.

Then, the game turned. Bucs kick returner Clifton Smith, called up from the practice squad two weeks ago, took the ensuing kickoff 97 yds for a touchdown (the 2nd in Buccaneers history), cutting the lead to 24-10. The Bucs defense stiffened, pitching a 4-and-out (the first play was marred by a Barrett Ruud personal foul), giving the Bucs offense the football with 1:08 left in the half. Tampa Bay would drive 55 yds in 7 plays, getting Matt Bryant to drill a 43 yd field goal as time expired in the first half, the Bucs had cut the Kansas City lead to 11 and trailed 24-13 at halftime.

Both defenses would come out firing in the 3rd quarter, as the teams exchanged punts throughout the third stanza. Into the 4th, the Bucs were driving to the Kansas City 16 yd line. QB Jeff Garcia dropped it off to Clifton Smith, who was playing for the banged up Earnest Graham, Smith made the catch, but was drilled and fumbled the football - Kansas City recovered at the 10 yd line - a crushing red zone turnover.

But the Bucs defense would finally deliver, KC running back Jamal Charles would take a pitch outside but as he was hit at the 3 yd line by Bucs safety Tanard Jackson, he lost control of the football, which Jackson fell on and the Bucs had it first and goal from the three yard line.

Bucs head coach Jon Gruden went into his own back of tricks, as QB Jeff Garcia handed off to Earnest Graham, who performed a rocker step and then tossed a 1 yd touchdown to TE Alex Smith. The Bucs would go for two to cut the lead to 3, but Garcia's pass to WR Ike Hillard fell incomplete. Kansas City 24, Tampa Bay 19.

Back came the Chiefs, who would go 71 yds in 10 plays, bleeding six minutes off the clock and capping the drive with a 28 yd Connor Barth field goal. Kansas City was back up by 8, 27-19 with only 7:41 left. During the drive, the Bucs appeared to get another crucial turnover as Corner Phillip Buchanon intercepted QB Tyler Thigpen and returned it to the Chiefs 3 yd line. Unfortunately for the Bucs, 2nd year safety Sabby Piscitelli was called on a defensive holding call, negating the pick and continuing the drive for KC.

Here came the Bucs, QB Jeff Garcia running the no-huddle and racing Tampa Bay down the football field. He connected twice to WR Ike Hillard, the first a 23 yder and the second a 12 yd that put the Bucs at point blank range at the KC 19 with 3:34 left. The Bucs pitched the ball outside to Earnest Graham, who battled and fought his way down to the KC 3 yd line, unfortunately, the effort cost the Bucs as defensive end Tamba Hali hit Graham from behind and he coughed up the football into the endzone, where it was recovered by KC for a touchback. The Bucs challenged the fumble but it was upheld. It appeared the Bucs had coughed up their last chance.

The Tampa Bay defense wouldn't allow it, with 1 time out left, the Bucs were able to keep Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles in check and then on third down, Tight End Tony Gonzalez pushed off while attempting to catch a first down pass - the penalty backed the Chiefs up 10 yds. They would hand the ball off to Charles, who would fail to reach the yard to gain, and as we reached the 2 minute warning, the Bucs offense would get one last shot.

Clifton Smith returned the punt to midfield. Garcia would open the drive with a 7 yd dump to Earnest Graham, then tried to hit Joey Galloway deep but it fell incomplete. On 3rd and 3, the Bucs ran a draw to Clifton Smith, who ran 10 yds to the Kansas City 33. Garcia spiked it with 0:51 left. Garcia hit Antonio Bryant at the Kansas City 19 yd line and Garcia would spike it again with 0:35 left. A false start on WR Ike Hillard cost the Bucs 5 yds, but more importantly, the Bucs suffered a 10 second run off, leaving the Bucs with 0:25 left. Garcia went straight to the end zone and found Bucs wide out Antonio Bryant tight roping the back of the end zone for a 24 yd touchdown. The Bucs were down 27-25 and needed a two point conversion to put it into overtime. Garcia would take the snap, by himself some time and then found TE Alex Smith in the end zone for the 2 pointer. Smith went down hard on the play, injuring his knee but held on to the football. Tie game! The Bucs finally had caught the Chiefs.

The Bucs won the toss and got the first possession in overtime. Clifton Smith returned the kickoff to the 26 yd line. On the first play of overtime, Garcia found WR Michael Clayton, who broke a tackle and raced down the sideline 29 yds to the Kansas City 45 yd line. After an offside penalty on the KC defense, Clifton Smith went up the middle for 2 yds and Garcia hit WR Ike Hillard for 3 yds and the 1st down at the 35. Garcia would connect with Clayton again at the 25 for a first down. After a first down incompletion, Smith would rush for 5 yds. On came Matt Bryant. As Matt began to kick, Kansas City called for a time out, Bryant made the field goal, but it didn't count. We go again, but before the kick, Bucs offensive lineman Jeremy Trueblood flinched for a false start - the play is dead - but its a good thing for the Bucs, as Bryant had pushed the kick wide right. Its 3rd and 10, instead of kicking it five yds further back, head coach Jon Gruden put the Buccaneers offense back out onto the field. Garcia would dump the pass off to Jamel Cook, who scampered for 9 yds to the Kansas City 16. From there, Matt Bryant drilled a 34 yd field goal, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers overcame a 21 point deficit to win, the biggest comeback in Buccaneers history.

Tampa Bay escapes Kansas City with a 6-3 record, a half game behind the idle Carolina Panthers in the NFC South and limp into their bye week with a scary, but thrilling victory. For the Chiefs, its a crushing lesson in how to win, they drop to 1-7 despite completely outplaying Tampa Bay in nearly every facet of the game. The Bucs 4 turnover (2 in the red zone) performance should have ended in defeat, but they continued to fight, got some timely big plays from some unlikely sources and found a way to get the W. Sometimes, that's all you can ask for. The victory, btw, made Head Coach Jon Gruden to the #1 spot for victories in Buccaneers history.

After the Humiliation of Georgia, the Gators in Striking Distance

By JC De La Torre

The University of Florida destroyed one of their biggest rivals, the Georgia Bulldogs 49-10 (rubbing it in a little bit with a couple time outs at the end of the game - revenge for last year's team celebration by Georgia) and thanks to the impressive win against a top 10 team, the Gators find themselves a bit closer to a BCS title berth, as they jumped several 1 loss teams, jumping to #5 in the BCS Standings. Alabama is #1, with Texas Tech at #2, Penn State #3, and Texas dropping to #4.

While they definitely hoped to hop Texas, one thing is certain, the Gators National Championship hopes were boosted with their dominant performance and the loss by Texas to Texas Tech.

Texas Tech still has tough games against Oklahoma State and Oklahoma, plus the Big 12 Championship game to get threw. The Gators, if they win out, would get their shot at #1 Alabama. A Texas Tech stumble would put the Gators fate into their own hands. Penn State may have the clearest path to the title game with only one game remaining against a ranked opponent (Michigan State). Alabama still have a trip to Death Valley to face LSU and the annual war with Auburn left. Florida still has pesky Vanderbilt and South Carolina before their war with Florida State. Texas does have a tough game on the road against Kansas, but likely will need to win out and hope to see Texas Tech drop two to get to the Big 12 championship game. If Texas doesn't reach the Big 12 Championship, its definitely possible because of the Gators strength of schedule, Florida could jump them.

I think if the Gators run the table and win the SEC Championship, they will be in the title game, likely facing Penn State.

Bolts, Smith Steal 2 Points From Ottawa

By JC De La Torre

The Tampa Bay Lightning earned their third straight victory thanks to the phenomenal goaltending by Mike Smith, who made 29 saves on 31 shots and saved 6 of 8 shootout shots, including the deciding save on Dean McAmmond.

The ferocious forecheck of the Ottawa Senators got themselves several opportunities to take the lead, finally making good on one with a power play goal in the 2nd period by Antoine Vermette. Midway threw the 2nd, the Bolts tied the game at 1 on Vincent Lecavalier's 6th goal of the season. Seconds later, Dany Heatley got his 7th, to stake Ottawa back to a 2-1 lead going into the second intermission.

At the 13:48 mark of the third period, defenseman Matt Carle got his first goal as member of the Lightning with a gorgeous feed from Prospal, tying the score at 2. After an overtime period where both teams had shots to win (including a 2 on 1 that Smith made a spectacular save on), we go to the shootout, where the Bolts were 0-2 this season.

During the shootout, Lecavalier and Vermette failed to score, Jussi Jokinen did, and Daniel Alfredsson missed, setting up the final stanza where Prospal had the chance to clinch it, but unfortunately blasted it into the post. Spezza would extend the shootout with a goal. Steven Stamkos was denied, as was Ottawa's Heatley, Martin St. Louis scored on a nice deke, but Smith was also fooled and Jarrko Ruutu kept Ottawa alive with a goal. Recchi and Malone failed for the Bolts, while Fisher and Foglino failed for the Sens. Finally, Evgeny Artyukin found the back of the net on his shoot out attempt and Mike Smith watched as Dean McAmmond missed wide of the net to give the Bolts during the victory.

Don't look now folks, but your Tampa Bay Lightning are now only 1 point out of 1st place in the Southeast division.