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And now..the end is here.....

By JC De La Torre

Folks, this will be the last update of this blog, we're moving on to MVN for our blogging future.

I like to thank all of our subscribers and regular followers, I sincerely hope you guys will follow me over to our new location. Bare with me as they'll like be some growing pains as I figure out how to use everything.

We are now live on http://tbsportsblog.com


Hopefully, you guys will dig the new lay out

Thanks to Blogger for all of the tools and gadgets that helped make JC De La Torre's Tampa Bay Sports Blog a fun and interesting place to check out.

Movin' On Up....Movin' On Up...to the Deluxe Apartment in the Sky!

By JC De La Torre

Please excuse our dust and lack of activity the next few days on the blog as we are transitioning into a strategic partnership with MVN - the Most Valuable Network. We'll be moving to a new URL - tbsportsblog.com with fancy smancy new layout and we'll also be participating in many MVN activities.

If you're not familiar with MVN - here's what their media kit describes it as -
The Most Valuable Network was created by accident on December 31, 2003 when friends began blogging together about their favorite baseball teams. Years later, it is no accident what MVN has become: A large sports media entity that strives to bring the most informed opinion and analysis to a community of passionate fans.

While we'll definitely miss our little home here at blogger, we're definitely excited about the opportunity and exposure that MVN provides.

For the next couple of days you may see some weird things on the blog like the formatting all screwed up or no recent posts. Once we're live on tbsportsblog.com we'll post here again to let you know to update your weblinks. In fact, if you have us linked on your site, you may want to go ahead and make the change.

We likely won't have any new content on this site or the new site until the weekend - we sincerely apologize for that but we'll be sure to make it up.

If you'd be interested in joining JC De La Torre's Tampa Bay Sports Blog as a writer, feel free to drop me a line - you can reach me via the contact me feature on my website at jcdelatorre.com

There is no pay (sorry, we're not getting paid for this either) but if you want to blog about Tampa Bay sports and have your stuff read on a site that gets up to 800,000 page views it may be worth it. We're looking obviously for bloggers with a good writing style, humorous, with a love for Tampa Bay and Florida College sports.

Let us know if you're interested in teaming up.

Former Rams Coach Linehan to Interview for Bucs OC

By JC De La Torre

Bucs Head Coach Raheem Morris is off to the Senior Bowl. While looking at prospective draft picks perform, Morris will also be busy filling out his coaching staff. Among candiates for the vacant offensive coordinator position is former Rams Head Coach Scott Linehan.

Morris fired six assistants on Monday, including offensive coordinator/offensive line coach Bill Muir, ssistant offensive line coach George Yarno, offensive assistant Jay Gruden (brother of Jon), defensive quality control coaches Johnny Cox and Ejiro Evero and strength and conditioning coach Mike Morris.

The St. Pete Times is reporting that Chiefs offensive coordinator Chan Gailey, former Browns offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski and Bucs quarterbacks coach Greg Olson, the Rams' offensive coordinator in 2006-07 are also in the running for the gig.

Morris hopes to have the majority of the staff hired before leaving the Senior Bowl but will not rush the decisions.

Rays Avoid Arbitration with Some, but Not All

by JC De La Torre

The Rays were able to settle with Jason Bartlett and Grant Balfour to avoid arbitration but failed to secure deals for Willie Aybar and All-Star catcher Dioner Navarro. Both will head to arbitration.

Balfour signed a 1-yr deal worth $1.4-million, while Bartlett also signed a 1-yr deal but he went for $1.98 million.

Arbitration for Aybar and Navarro will take place some time next month.

Bolts Rally, Spoil Richards Return

By JC De La Torre

Vincent Lecavalier wasn't about to allow his bud Brad Richards get the last laugh. Lecavalier scored twice (including the eventual game winner) and added an assist to rally the Lightning past the Dallas Stars 4-2. It was also the first time Tampa Bay has beaten Dallas in Tampa Bay since 1996.

The game marked Brad Richards return to the place he started his NHL career and won the Stanley Cup. Lecavalier opened the scoring just 1:33 into the game with a short handed goal. 20 seconds later, Richards answered on the power play to tie the game at 1. It would stay 1-1 until the 4:19 when Richards assisted on a goal by Loui Eriksson to give the Stars the lead.

Tampa Bay tied the game midway through the third by converting a Dallas turnover in their own zone into Steven Stamkos' blast from the low slot. At 14:54 of the third, Lecavalier rocketed a blast past Stars goalie Marty Turco that seemed to sizzle the net, put the Lightning in the lead and left his teammates and coach talking.

"That was a goal in any league," Lightning and former Stars Goaltender Mike Smith told the St. Petersburg Times.

"Not many guys in the league can score goals like that," coach Rick Tocchet added, "That was a special goal."

Lecavalier would assist on Vaclav Prospal's empty net goal to provide the final margin.

Tampa Bay improved to 15-21-10 and now are only 10 points out of a playoff spot. Tampa Bay lost the services of Evgeny Artyukhin, who was suspended for two games by the NHL for a knee-to-knee hit on Florida's Ville Peltonen.

Tomlin, Steelers join Cards in Tampa for Super Bowl XLIII

By JC De La Torre

The Pittsburgh Steelers used their top flight defense to smother the Baltimore Ravens and earn their second AFC Championship in four years, defeating the Ravens 23-14. Meanwhile, Arizona blew a big halftime lead but rallied to beat the Philadelphia Eagles 32-25 for the NFC Title. They well meet Feb. 1 in Tampa for Super Bowl XLIII.

It will be a homecoming of sorts for Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, who was a defensive backs coach with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for four seasons, winning the Super Bowl with the club in 2002. Tomlin is the youngest coach ever to lead his team to the Super Bowl and obviously has the opportunity to be the youngest to win it. Quarterback Ben Rothlisberger earns his second trip to the Super Bowl, while the #1 defense in the NFL prepares for the high flying Cardinals.

While the Cardinals defense has definitely upped the anty during their suprising playoff run, its the passing game of the Cards that strikes fear in opponents. Kurt Warner has put together an MVP-caliber season, cementing his eventual ascension to the Pro Football Hall of Fame when his career is done. The phenomenal Larry Fitgerald is the focus of the passing attack, while Aquan Boldin is a heck of a force as well.

Should be an interesting matchup at Raymond James Stadium in a couple weeks.

Players Like Raheem for Bucs Gig

By JC De La Torre

The players of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers expressed excitement over the elevation of Raheem Morris to Head Coach of the team.

Quotes were provided to the Tampa Bay press from the Buccaneers Public Relations staff and compiled by our friends the Pewter Report -

"He's one of the more young and dynamic coaches in the league. He's a guy that everyone in the locker room has looked up to for a long time for the way he knows this game and for the way he approaches this game," Bucs Running Back Earnest Graham said, "I'm definitely excited and ecstatic about the opportunity to play for Raheem and give his head coaching career a heck of a start. I'm definitely ecstatic."

"I'm extremely proud for Raheem's opportunity today. He is a great example for all of us about how to really tap into your talents and run with them! He's energetic, diligent at his job and I know, well respected by everyone that works with him. He's a star in the making and we've known that for a long time," CB Ronde Barber said, "But this chance to be in what I think is an ideal situation for him, coaching where he mostly grew into his own, is very rewarding for a lot of us! I know I speak for my current and future teammates when I express how exciting it will be to work with him. I truly believe he'll build on the great traditions of Buccaneer football and lead his team to great things."

"I couldn't be more happy for Raheem," said former Buc Fan favorite Mike Alstott, "He is a great guy with a lot of passion for this game. I think he is a great fit for this team and was a great decision by the Glazer family. I think he will do a great job and the fans of Tampa Bay will be extremely pleased."

"He's a guy who's going to let the players just play and take control of the game," Running back Warrick Dunn said, "You have to respect that and I think he's going to bring - when you have a new coach he's going to bring a little bit of new fire, a little tenacity and I think for some of the young guys, and definitely for some of us older guys, it's good to have that spice a little bit. He's a guy that's going to bring a lot of energy to work and we know he's going to have a certain type of tenacity that guys are going to enjoy and love to play for. I just think he's going to do a great job and bring great leadership."

"Basically, I'm ecstatic over the decision. Obviously I'm a good friend of Raheem's, I'm a huge fan of his as a coach and I think he was on that fast track to being a head coach and he's one of the young, rising superstars in the profession." Middle linebacker Barrett Ruud said, "So I'm thrilled he's going to be coaching me while I'm there and I think he brings not only great X's and O's strategy and fundamental football, but he really knows situational football too. You combine that with knowing how to motivate people and knowing how to push people, I think he's going to be a great coach."

"I'm looking forward to going in and leading the football team under his leadership and his vision of where we need to go to win another championship," Future Hall of Fame Bucs Linebacker Derrick Brooks added, "At the same time, in anything with change, you have questions, but I think the one thing that Coach Morris will bring to the table is energy, everybody being on the same page at the same time, from top to bottom. I think that's going to be key, because we have to deal with change. The more comfortable people are in their roles and knowing their roles, the better we can deal with this change and make the best of it."

"Coach Raheem is a great energy guy and a great guy mentally. I know he knows the game. The things that he does out there on the field, especially with the defensive backs, I think it will work out great for us. He has the tools. He's been around great coaches, like Monte Kiffin, that have been around football," Prospective Free Agent Wide Receiver Antonio Bryant said, "Coach Raheem also showed his energy and his passion for the game. He's a fun person. He's a fun person to work with and winning is definitely his number one characteristic trait. I'm definitely looking forward to working with Raheem Morris as the Buccaneers head coach."

"He's, I think, very, very qualified for the position and definitely was one of the hot prospects around the NFL as a guy that's going to bring fresh life into the team and the organization," Center Jeff Faine said, "That will be a big change. I think that Coach is going to step in and do a great job."

"I remember vividly in 2002 Herm Edwards calling me and saying we have a guy coming down here who worked with us. Herm said you are going to really like this guy, I think he's really got a bright future ahead of him and just look out for him. Sure enough when Raheem arrived you could see," Former Bucs Safety John Lynch said, "We struck gold in those couple of years with some great assistants in Mike Tomlin and Raheem. I think Raheem is a young guy full of passion for the game and has been trained by the best in my mind in Monte Kiffin. I think he's got all the makings of being a tremendous head coach. I'm excited for him to have this opportunity and I think he'll thrive with it."

"The thing I believe is that Raheem was brought up in this profession correctly. He understands the backbone of this defense, and is a rising star in this business." Former Bucs assistant and Lions Head Coach Rod Marinelli said, "It all starts with his work ethic, the fundamentals and the fact that he is an excellent teacher. He has done every job there is in this business and has earned the right to be a head coach. Raheem has earned the respect of his players because he understands them. He will make a great head coach."

"Raheem is an exceptional coach and more importantly, he is a better person," Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin said, "Leadership is something he does not have to work at, it oozes out of him. He is a great example for all of us about how to really tap into your talents and run with them. He's energetic, diligent at his job and I know well respected by everyone that works with him. He's a star in the making and we've known that for a long time. The Tampa Bay organization and its fans are in great hands. "

"I see the way our DBs respond to him and they really rally around him," Bucs Offensive lineman Jeremy Trueblood said, "He looks like the type of guy who commands respect and gives respect at the same time. I think I'm going to really enjoy playing for him. I could see that attitude spreading through the whole team."

Gators Pull Away From Razorbacks

By JC De La Torre

The Florida Gators remained undefeated in Southeastern Conference play, rallying from an early 1st half deficit and pulling away in the 2nd half for an 80-65 win over the Arkansas Razorbacks.
Florida phenom Nick Calathes led all scorers with 28 points.

Midway through the first half, Florida trailed by 7 points, 20-13 to a tough and determined Razorbacks squad before Calathes led a 9-3 Gator run to shave the lead to 1 and Kenny Kadji's jumper gave Florida the lead. The Gators would hold a 3 point advantage at halftime, 37-34.

After shooting a miserable 3 of 17 from three point range in the first half, Florida heated up from downtown in the second, drilling 8 of 13 in the second half that essentially buried the Razorbacks. The Gators opened up the second half with a 9-0 run and Arkansas fell behind by as many as 17, never getting closer than 9 the rest of the way.

"Our 3-point shooting is definitely our main offense," Calathes told the St. Petersburg Times, "We can hit 14 threes in a game, we can hit two 3s in a game. When they fall, it's tough to beat us."

Florida improved to 3-0 in SEC play and 16-2 overall.

Bulls Fall Short in Upset Bid of West Virginia

By JC De La Torre

It was a hard fought battle, but South Florida just did not have enough to stay with the West Virginia Mountaineers in Men's Big East Basketball play, falling 62-59. USF's Dominque Jones scored 35 points to lead all scorers.

After trailing by 14 at halftime, South Florida put together a furious comeback rallying from down 10 with 9:27 left in the game thanks to a 12-3 run that cut the West Virgina lead to 1 point with 4:40 left. The Mountaineers lead would fluctuate from 1-4 points down the stretch but USF could not get the tying or leading basket and West Virginia was good at the line.

"I seriously thought about going home at halftime and taking my team, because we were pretty bad," coach Stan Heath told the St. Pete Times, "It didn't look like we had the energy level, and we weren't competing the way we needed to. But I thought we were a better team in the second half."

"I don't know what it is," Guard Jesus Verdejo said, "We just don't play hard for 40 minutes. We had guys who just didn't play hard for the first 15 or 20 minutes."

The Bulls fell to 6-11 overall, 1-4 in Big East play.

Bolts Blow Two Goal Lead to Panthers, Fall 4-3

By JC De La Torre

The Tampa Bay Lightning dominated the first period of their cross-state rivals, the Florida Panthers, outshooting Florida 11-4 and outscoring them 3-1 going into the first intermission. Unfortunately for Tampa Bay, twenty minutes isn't an entire game and the Panthers came roaring back with three unanswered goals in the second period to pull off a 4-3 victory.

Tampa Bay's Steven Stamkos was a healthy scratch for the second time in five games as the Lightning continue on their strength and conditioning program for the 2008 #1 overall pick.

Vincent Lecavalier opened up the scoring at the 4:37 mark of the 1st and Vaclav Prospal added a power play goal at 13:36 to give the Lightning a 2-0 advantage. Florida got on the board late in the first with Greg Campbell's 9th of the season. A minute later, the Lightning answered with Ryan Malone's 13th goal of the season. That would be the extent of the Tampa Bay scoring.

The second period was all Panthers, as they received goals from Cory Stillman and Richard Zednik, outshooting Tampa Bay 13-9. With only one second left in the period and the game tied at 3, Jay Bouwmeester fired the puck toward the net on the power play and it got across the goal line before time expired, giving the Panthers a 4-3 lead they wouldn't relenquish.

In the third, the Lightning peppered Florida goalie Tomas Vokoun, who relieved Craig Anderson after Tampa Bay's third goal, outshooting the Panthers 13-4 but Vokoun make all thirteen saves and Florida held on for the victory.

"We had started the game great," Prospal told the St. Pete Times, "We didn't give them anything in the first period. In the second period, we gave them all the momentum."

Anatomy of Jon Gruden's Dismissal

By JC De La Torre

Many pundits and fans around the league were shocked when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers terminated Head Coach Jon Gruden and General Manager Bruce Allen in favor of a 32 year old coach who has never been a head coach at any level and a 37 year old General Manager who has never held that position before. While news of Gruden's dismissal sent shockwaves throughout the community, it wasn't an "Oh my God, how could they do this?" type reaction. It was more of a "Why the heck did they take so long to do it?"

True enough, the seeds of this outcome were planted long ago and it had to be done if the Buccaneers were going to sniff another Super Bowl. Only time will tell if Morris and Dominik were the right choices to succeed but both are highly regarded in NFL circles and among players on the team. The latter may have doomed Gruden and as with guilt by association, Bruce Allen.

To understand the firing of Jon Gruden, you have to go back to the very beginning. It was January 2002 and the Buccaneers had just fired Tony Dungy after the team posted their second consecutive 9-7 season and for the second straight year getting blasted out of the playoffs by the Philadelphia Eagles. Dungy was let go because the Glazers had a deal with Bill Parcells, who was already putting together a staff. Bill Muir was hired as his offensive line coach, while Mike Tannanbaum (current Jets GM) was scheduled to take over as General Manager. Somewhere along the line, Tannanbaum and Parcells got a look at the Buccaneers salary cap situation and quickly came to the realization that Tampa Bay's window of opportunity for a championship was rapidly closing. Parcells reneged on the deal, sending Joel and Bryan Glazer on a wild odyssey that spanned the country. At first, they trusted sitting General Manager Rich McKay to lead the coaching search but when McKay brought the name Marvin Lewis as his choice for the job, the Glazers all but neutered McKay - eliminating him from the coaching search process. It was nothing against Lewis, but the Glazers wanted an offensive minded head coach and viewed Lewis as a Dungy clone. They inquired about Spurrier at Florida, but Spurrier had already secured a lucrative deal in place with Washington Redskins. They talked to Maryland Head Coach Ralph Friedgen and new USC coach Pete Carroll. They inquired with the Raiders about Gruden but were told he wasn't available. On Feb. 18, 2002, while on a trip to speak with 49ers coach Steve Mariucci, Joel Glazer received a late night call from Raiders owner Al Davis. Davis told him that they could have Gruden, but the price would be steep - two first round picks, two second round picks, and eight million dollars. Joel swallowed hard, accepted the terms and Jon Gruden was introduced as head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers the next day. During the press conference, Gruden irked some fans by mispronouncing fan favorite Mike Alstott's name, calling him "Mark Alstott".

Gruden's fiery demeanor and offensive prowess were a stark contrast to Tony Dungy's style. It was a cultural shock to the defense that had pretty much been the whole show in Tampa Bay. Monte Kiffin was retained and Raheem Morris joined the team as Defensive Quality Control Coach. Morris learned under the wing of defensive backs coach Mike Tomlin and the mad genius himself, Kiffin. Gruden meanwhile brought something that had never been seen in Tampa Bay under Dungy, accountability for the offense. Gruden added some pieces to the puzzle, like wide receivers Keenan McCardell and Joe Jurevicius, running back Michael Pittman, tight end Ken Dilger - in all several new offensive starters joined the club. Holdover Quarterback Brad Johnson wasn't Gruden's style of quarterback but he adjusted his massive playbook to accommodate Johnson's limitations. Loudmouth Wide Receiver Keyshawn Johnson was given a prime role in the offense. Gruden's 2002 Bucs rolled to the NFC South title in the division's inaugural season, boasting a franchise best 12-4 record and earning a first round bye. The Buccaneers blasted San Francisco in the divisional round and went back to Philadelphia to face their old foes, the Eagles, in the final game ever to be played in Veterans Stadium. A tremendous defensive effort in addition to just enough offense from the Johnsons, Jurevicius and fullback Mike Alstott got the Bucs over the hump and they claimed their first NFC Championship. Amazingly, Gruden's former team, the Raiders, won the AFC. The team had promoted from within, giving the reigns to Bill Callahan who essentially kept Gruden's playbook intact. Gruden was a master at preparing the Bucs defense to face the powerful Oakland offense and when the Bucs thrashed the Raiders in Super Bowl 37, he was on top of the world.

The bloom would fall off the rose quickly. During the March 2003 owners meetings, a drunken Gruden trashed General Manager Rich McKay with reporters in earshot, complaining about his draft choices and work ethic. Gruden never acknowledged the incident but there was underlying friction that began to develop. The Bucs opened up 2003 in similar fashion to the way the ended 2002, blasting the Eagles on Monday Night football during the opening of Philly's new stadium Lincoln Financial Field. The Bucs had slayed the Eagle dragon, ruining both their closing and opening of their stadiums and taking a Super Bowl Championship that many believed would belong to Philadelphia but things would not stay hunky dory for the Bucs. In their home opener Week 2, Martin Gramatica missed the game winning extra point against the Carolina Panthers, forcing the game to go to overtime where the Bucs eventually lost. During the game, Tampa Bay lost both Jurevicius (knee) and Alstott (neck) for the season. Tampa Bay would bounce back the next week, crushing Atlanta on the road and came home to face their former coach, Tony Dungy and his Colts on Monday Night football. The Bucs built a 35-14 lead late into the fourth quarter when the Bucs defense suddenly collapsed. Peyton Manning led one of the greatest comebacks in NFL history as the Colts scored 28 points in the final 5 minutes of the game to tie the Bucs at 35 and eventually won the game in overtime. Instead of a strong 3-1, the Bucs had crashing to 2-2. The Bucs would lose four of the next six games, during the slump Gruden had a falling out with Wide Receiver Keyshawn Johnson that ended in his suspension from the team. After Johnson was exorcised, the Bucs rallied with two straight wins to get to 7-7. On December 15, 2003, General Manager Rich McKay resigned due to irreconcilable differences with Gruden and promptly became the Atlanta Falcons President and General Manager. McKay was in the opposing Owner's box at Raymond James Stadium as the Falcons ended the Bucs slim playoff hopes with a 30-28 upset, causing many Buc fans to give him the moniker "Benedict McKay". The Bucs would finish 2003 at 7-9.

The 2004 off-season brought in Bruce Allen, who quickly signed Charlie Garner from the Raiders to a lucrative deal. Garner would play three plays for the Bucs before blowing out his knee and retiring. Wide Receiver Keenan McCardell held out in a contract dispute and was eventually traded to the Chargers. As the Bucs descended into cap hell, Warren Sapp and John Lynch were let go from the defense, much to the dismay of the fanbase. McCardell joined Keyshawn Johnson in claims that "Gruden would tell you one thing but do the opposite, he's fake." Keyshawn was traded to Dallas for oft-injured wide receiver Joey Galloway. Fans grew angry with Gruden for not playing Mike Alstott. Alstott had only 67 carries for 267 yds and 2 touchdowns in 14 games. The Bucs started the season poorly, 0-4, before the benching of Super Bowl winning quarterback Brad Johnson. Johnson would eventually be released. Chris Simms would take over but be injured in his first game, forcing the Bucs to go with Brian Griese at quarterback. Griese went 4-6 as a starter and the Bucs fell to 5-11, their worst record since 1993. Gruden continuously lamented about injuries during the season and it became a broken record throughout the remainder of his tenure. Gruden constantly used injuries as an excuse when his teams lost.

The 2005 season was a renaissance of sorts for Tampa Bay. The Bucs 1st round draft pick, Carnell "Cadillac" Williams burst onto the scene, rushing for more yards in his first three games than any rookie running back in NFL history. Joey Galloway was a force in the offense, terrorizing secondaries with his speed and big play ability. Tampa Bay ripped off four straight wins to begin the year and started off the season 5-1 before starter Brian Griese went down with an injury. Chris Simms stepped in, went 6-5 as the starter, leading the Bucs to the NFC South Division championship. The Bucs lost at home to the Washington Redskins in the first round of the playoffs. Alstott was relegated to 3rd down back status but continued to earn the fans love, converting a game winning two point conversion earlier in the year against Washington. Fans continued to complain that Gruden was ruining Alstott's career.

In 2006, Raheem Morris left the Buccaneers to become Defensive Coordinator at Kansas State. Days later, defensive backs coach Mike Tomlin left to join the Vikings as defensive coordinator and defensive line coach Rod Marinelli took over as head coach of the Detroit Lions. Chris Simms began the season as the starter but started poorly, throwing 7 interceptions and only 1 touchdown in his first three games. In the third game, Simms severely damaged his spleen in a loss to Carolina and had to have an emergency spleenectomy. The Bucs fell apart under rookie 6th round draft pick Bruce Gradkowski who was abysmal, going 3-8 as a starter before finally being relieved by third string QB Tim Rattay and the Bucs fell to 4-12, the franchise's worst record since going 3-13 in 1991. More inner turmoil developed as defensive end Simeon Rice called out Gruden to the press and wide receiver Michael Clayton complained about being told one thing by the coach and something else happens. With the defections of Morris, Marinelli and Tomlin, the Bucs defense fell out of the top 10 for the first time in ten years, finishing 17th in total defense and 21st in points allowed.

During the 2007 off-season, Rice would be dumped just before training camp and the team signed Jeff Garcia as a free agent, and then traded for Denver's Jake Plummer, despite Plummer's assertions that he was going to retire. Gruden and Allen failed to talk Plummer out of retirement. Raheem Morris returned to Tampa Bay as defensive backs coach. Mike Alstott reinjured his neck in the pre-season and was lost for the year. Garcia took over and was 8-5 as a starter. Cadillac Williams suffered a catastrophic knee injury and was lost for the year. Thanks to its #1 ranked defense, Tampa Bay had the division wrapped up on December 2nd, giving Gruden the opportunity to rest his players down the stretch. The Bucs lost three of their last four games and headed into the playoffs with no momentum. The Bucs would be beaten soundly at home in the first round of the playoffs by eventual Super Bowl Champions, the New York Giants.

In the 2008 off-season, Jeff Garcia claimed he was lied to by Gruden and Bruce Allen and was expecting a new lucrative contract. The team flirted with bringing in Brett Favre, further ticking off their quarterback. Mike Alstott retired from football, many fans still blaming Gruden for ruining his career. After failing to secure Favre, Gruden brought back Garcia, who nursed injuries during training camp. Joey Galloway also missed most of camp, creating a huge hole for the Bucs to fill. Galloway had posted three consecutive 1,000 yd receiving years under Gruden, who nicknamed Galloway "The White Tiger" because he was rarely seen during training camp, like the white tigers at Tampa's Busch Gardens. Garcia was benched in favor of Brian Griese after week 1 but Griese's shoulder injury brought the starting job back to Garcia. Tampa Bay rolled to a 9-3 record with a division title and first round bye in sight. Galloway would rarely see the field as tormented reclamation

project Antonio Bryant burst onto the scene and essentially took Galloway's job. Fans complained at Gruden's inability to get Galloway and Bryant on the field at the same time as Gruden said they both play the same position in his offense and he wasn't going to take Bryant off the field. Defensive Coordinator Monte Kiffin, the heart and soul of the Bucs defense, announced that he would be leaving the Buccaneers after 13 seasons to join his son Lane at the University of Tennessee. As soon as the announcement was made, the defense collapsed and the Buccaneers lost their last four games, including two at home to sub .500 west coast teams and missed the playoffs.

The scuttlebutt is that by 2008, the players - at least on the defensive side of the ball - were not playing for Gruden, but Monte. Once Monte made his intentions known, it was over as far as the Buccaneers defense was concerned. Gruden tried to save the season by naming Raheem Morris as the eventual successor to Kiffin, but it wasn't enough.

The Glazers were disgusted with the way the season ended. After an unsatisfactory exit meeting with Gruden and Allen they decided that rather than make an emotionally rash decision, they would take some time away and let the emotions of the situation subside. During the past three weeks, they talked to players about Gruden and the feedback was not positive. They didn't trust Gruden and didn't believe in him. He was billed as a two-faced ego maniac who held grudges. They again met with Gruden and Bruce Allen - a meeting that led Gruden to believe he'd have one more year to turn things around, but still left unsatisfied with the direction the franchise was headed. Meanwhile, two internal figures they liked very much, Raheem Morris and Mark Dominik, were getting consideration around the league for promotions.

Ultimately, they weren't satisfied with the direction of the franchise. Gruden and Bruce Allen weren't builders - they were patchers. They would find some mid-tier veteran to patch holes to allow the team to remain competitive - but that wasn't going to get you another Super Bowl title. Allen told a reporter that, "December did us in." There are strong indications that the decision was just to fire Jon Gruden but Bruce Allen was so entrenched with Gruden that it made for a very uncomfortable situation and spurred on his dismissal as well.

Time will tell if the Glazer family made the right decision. At the very least, the Glazers reportedly will be paying $25 million dollars over the next 3 years for two front office people not to run their front office. Morris and Dominik will at least have that long to begin the process of building a dominant championship caliber team in Tampa Bay.

Meanwhile, you have to wonder about Gruden's thought process today. He was a Super Bowl Champion coach and that may have inflated his ego a bit. His player relations ultimately brought about his termination and his philosophy of patching instead of building hurt his ability to get the team at championship level. Their inability to draft impact players also hurt the franchise as it continued to tread the water of mediocrity. Will Gruden self-evaluate? Understand what went wrong and learn from it or will he continue to blame others and circumstances?

It will be interesting to see.

Rumors say Raheem Morris Next Bucs Coach, Dominik GM

By JC De La Torre

There are strong rumors in the bay area that former defensive backs coach and new Defensive Coordinator Raheem Morris is going to be named the Head Coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Meanwhile, Director of Pro Personnel Mark Dominik will take over as General Manager.

ESPN's John Clayton is reporting that the Bucs have hired former Saints Defensive Coordinator Gary Gibbs, but the position Gibbs will be given within the organization is currently unknown.

Morris was a finalist for the Broncos head coaching job, meanwhile Dominik was a finalist for the Kansas City General Manager job that went to Scott Pioli.

ESPN and 620 WDAE are both reporting on air that Dominik and Morris are taking over in Tampa Bay.

Bucs Players Dissed Gruden

By JC De La Torre

Adam Schefter of the NFL Network just stated on NFL Total Access that over the past couple weeks the Glazers have interviewed several players on their opinions of Jon Gruden and apparently the opinion was NOT favorable.

Word is, both Gruden and Allen were blindsided by this news.

As the Bucs turn continues...

GRUDEN AND ALLEN GONE!

By JC De La Torre

Shocking development late on Friday...The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have fired General Manager Bruce Allen and Head Coach Jon Gruden. From the Buccaneers.com website, an official statement from Bucs co-chairman Joel Glazer, “We will be forever grateful to Jon for bringing us the Super Bowl title, and we thank Bruce for his contributions to our franchise, however after careful consideration, we feel that this decision is in the best interest of our organization moving forward.”

Adam Schefter of the NFL Network said former General Manager Bruce Allen stated, "December did us in," referring to the four game collapse where the Buccaneers fell from 9-3 and the 2nd seed to 9-7 and out of the playoffs.

The story will continue to develop, some speculate that the Bucs may have someone (Mike Shanahan anyone?) in waiting.

JC De La Torre's Tampa Bay Sports Blog would like to take this opportunity to thank Jon Gruden for the Super Bowl championship and three division titles. We'd also like to thank Bruce Allen for tackling the tough task of getting Tampa Bay out of cap hell and setting up the Buccaneers for this season and the future with an impressive $45 million dollar cap surplus.

Folks, I'm stunned. While I made no bones about my feeling that Jon should be dismissed for the late season collapse and overall body of work since 2003 I am suprised because Gruden and Allen got through Black Monday in the NFL unscathed.

As a Buccaneer fan, we can only hope that the Buccaneers coaching search ends better than the last time they fired a coach. Buccaneer co-chairman Joel and Bryan Glazer scoured the country for a coach and ended up surrendering two first round picks, a second, a third and $8 million bucks to the Raiders for Gruden. Of course, Jon's hiring paid off as the Buccaneers won Super Bowl 37. After the Super Bowl, the team began its inevitable decline as the team descended into salary cap hell, Rich McKay left the sinking ship and Bruce Allen came in. Allen was forced to dismantle the championship team, ushering the exit of John Lynch, Warren Sapp, Joe Jurivecius, Keyshawn Johnson, Keenan McCardell, and others. Gruden drew criticsm for his treatment of players (fan favorite Mike Alstott in particular) and earned the reputation of being "two-faced".

Again, we'll keep on this through the night and let you know as soon as we hear anything on this story.

WOW!

Joe Barry Back with Bucs

By JC De La Torre

Our friends at the Pewter Report are confirming an early report on ESPN that Joe Barry has returned to his roll as Linebackers coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Barry was linebacker coach for Tampa Bay from 2001 to 2006 before leaving to join his father-in-law Rod Marinelli as Defensive Coordinator of the Detroit Lions. The Lions struggled under Barry's tutelage, ranking dead last in points in each of Barry's two seasons, ending with this season's horrid 0-16 year. Barry had left with some bad blood after the Bucs blocked opportunities for Barry and his father-in-law from opportunities to take defensive coordinator positions with other teams because they were under contract with the Bucs.

Barry replaces Gus Bradley, who became defensive coordinator of the Seattle Seahawks.

Lightning Dominate Philly, Lawton Says Team Not Shopping Vinny

By JC De La Torre

Amid the dark clouds descending from the north, Vincent Lecavalier and the Tampa Bay Lightning put together one of their better efforts of the season, dominating the Philadelphia Flyers 4-1 during their return to the St. Pete Times Forum.

"He is not being traded today. He's not being traded tomorrow. He's not being traded any time soon. This should put everything to rest," Lawton told the Tampa Bay media in a hastily called presser, "Normally our club policy is to not address rumors. Obviously with Vinny Lecavalier's situation, there has been a lot of speculation floating around - completely unfounded, I might add, Vinny Lecavalier is not being shopped by the Tampa Bay Lightning. It would be erroneous of me to say that people haven't called me on Vinny Lecavalier because they certainly have, and that has started literally from the day that I took this position. Why would something like that happen? Because he's a great player." One would hope that Lawton's forked-tongue is not giving us lip service this time around.

The shame is the fiasco has taken away from a pretty solid run by the Lightning, who now have gone 7-4-1 in their last 12.

After a scoreless first, Philadelphia's Joffrey Lupul opened the scoring on the power play at the 5:21 mark of the second. Tampa Bay tied it at the 14:48 mark on a beautiful blast from Martin St. Louis. The goal would start a rare Lightning eruption of offense with three goals in two minutes and three seconds, Andrej Meszaros on the Power Play and Ryan Craig a minute later.

The victory was cemented by Lecavalier who had his stick snapped during a breakaway, setting up a penalty shot at the 12:34 mark of the third. Lecavalier slowed on his approach, deked, and put the puck between Martin Biron's legs for the goal, giving the Bolts an insurmountable 4-1 advantage. Tampa Bay outshot the Flyers 44-34.

"They're a pretty good hockey team with a lot of pride," Philadelphia coach John Stevens said to the St. Pete Times, "They're getting better all the time. They had a lot of desperation in their game tonight."

Still the focus was on the circus surrounding Lecavalier.

"The last four or five days, especially the first two or three days ... I want to say I wasn't distracted, but I was, I think anybody would because these were rumors that had a lot of legs," Lecavalier told the Tampa Tribune, "But it was nice to go out there and play, when you're on the ice, you don't think about what goes on outside the rink."

Even the Lightning's players find the talk of Lecavalier being traded hard to stomach.

"We're all teammates here," Ryan Craig told the St. Petersburg Times, "We don't want to see anyone from our group go, especially our leader and captain."

"To even think about trading a guy like that, I don't know," added Goalie Mike Smith, ""You don't like to hear rumors that go on, and obviously it's going to happen. The good teams don't worry about what's going on in the media, and try just to play hockey."

"Vinny is a professional," Martin St. Louis told the AP, "I thought he was great out there. It's just the nature of the business. We've just got to be strong mentally."

Tampa Bay is 14-20-10, good for 4th in the Southeast Division and twelfth in the Eastern Conference. Believe it or not, Tampa Bay is now only 9 points out of a playoff spot.

Harvin Leaves, Spikes Stays

By JC De La Torre

Surprising no one, Florida Wide Receiver/Running Back/Phenom Percy Harvin has taken his fleet feet to the National Football League, while the middle of the great Gator defense that shutdown one of the most prolific offenses in college football history, middle linebacker Brandon Spikes, is coming back for his Senior season.

"I will have a lot of great memories from my time at Florida, but the championships we won in 2006 and 2008 will be at the top of my list," Harvin said in a prepared statement, ''When it is all said and done, I wanted to win. I wanted to be a part of championship teams. We did that at Florida and I had a great group of coaches, teammates and medical and strength staff that helped make that happen. I will always be a Gator and look forward to watching them play next year on Saturdays."

Brandon Spikes elected to return to Florida which means the Gators will return all 11 starters from the 08 Championship squad.

"It was a tough decision for me and my family," Spikes said in a statement. "I just felt like it was the right choice to come back."

Harvin leaves the Gators with 133 receptions for 1,929 yards and 13 touchdowns, while rushing the ball 194 times for 1,852 yards with 19 touchdowns. His 32 touchdowns is tops all-time for Gator wide receivers.

We'll miss Percy's slash and dash style of running and big plays during big games ability. While Florida will definitely miss him, Urban Meyer's recruiting ability should bring us the next Florida Phenom to fill his very fast shoes. As for Percy, we wish him the best of luck in the NFL (Buccaneers...are you listening?)

Memo to Lightning Brass - Trade Vinny and They'll Be Hell to Pay...

By JC De La Torre

Trade winds are blowing in Tampa Bay and I don't like it one bit. The Canadian press is buzzing about the possibility of Vincent Lecavalier being pried out of Tampa Bay and into the sweater of the most revered franchise in hockey, the Montreal Canadiens. Lecavalier to the Habs is nothing new. Every year there are rumors about Lecavalier and Montreal simply because the fans and media of the Canadiens have a long distance love affair with the French Canadian. Montreal hasn't had a French Canadian superstar in quite some time and has lusting over Lecavalier since former Lightning Owner Art Williams called him "The Michael Jordan of Hockey". Most of the rumors were unsubstantiated B.S....but for some reason, this time feels a bit different.

TSN's Darren Dreger stated in his January 13th column, "The discussions have taken place (between Lightning Ownership and the Canadiens); however what Tampa owners are wrestling with is the short term financial impact of such a bold move versus the long-term hockey benefits expected in the return."

Considering this is the same group that signed Dan Boyle to a mega-deal during the 2007 season only to trade him the next off-season and who traded Brad Richards even after they said they wouldn't, its difficult not to believe the chatter. Rumors are also rampant that the ownership group, OK Hockey, is struggling to meet the financial demands of owning a sports franchise and this may be some money making venture.

"These questions and rumors, I've been getting them my whole career," Lecavalier told the St. Pete Times, "I've been getting a lot of phone calls from friends back home, people wondering what's going on. I tell them they're rumors. That's about it."

Oren and Len...don't do it or they'll be hell to pay. Its not about Lecavalier, players come and go - its about trust. Its about loyalty. Its about having your fans believe in what you are doing because bottom line - if there's no fans, none of you make money. If there are no fans, you won't get TV or radio deals. If there's no fans, there's no franchise. The Tampa Bay fans came into your ownership with an open mind. We were tested when you traded Brad Richards, but allowed it to pass because it meant we'd keep Dan Boyle and received a decent goalie in Mike Smith. We were tested again when Stanley Cup winning head coach John Tortorella was fired for-of all people-Barry Melrose. We were tested once more when Boyle was dealt away for -of all people- Matt Carle. We were tested yet another time when management went crazy, signing every forward with a pulse. We were tested for the final time when Melrose was canned and Rick Tocchet was elevated. There are so many tests one fanbase can take.

The St. Pete Times' Columnist Gary Shelton said it best, "If the team trades away Vinny Lecavalier, it is also trading away one of the last reasons to believe in it. " Vincent Lecavalier is one of the last remaining shreds of dignity this franchise has. He is still one of the elite players in the league and at 28 is entering his prime. The fans know Vinny, they identify with Vinny, he is without question the face of the franchise - its greatest player in its history. When you think of the Lightning, you think of Lecavalier. If he is gone, what is left to believe in? I could take Richards. I didn't like it but I understood the god awful salary cap situation the hockey team was in. I could even take Boyle - I thought it was a horrible deal for Tampa Bay, San Jose fleeced them, but it was pure and simply a salary dump to make up for the spending frenzy during free agency. I hated the firing over Tortorella - it was an awful decision made worse by the hiring of the scumbag Barry Melrose. I totally agreed with the firing of Melrose and understood that Tocchet was the only one of the staff qualified to take over for the interim. But not Vinny.

I could take the team trading away Malone, Smith, Martin St. Louis, Prospal (again), pretty much anyone on the roster - but not Vinny. Trade our 1st round pick...our next five first round picks - but not Vinny.

I pledge to you one thing - if Vincent Lecavalier is traded from the Lightning - I WILL NOT PURCHASE ANOTHER TICKET FOR A LIGHTNING GAME AS LONG AS OK HOCKEY REMAINS IN OWNERSHIP. If Lecavalier is dealt, I won't watch the team on TV, I won't buy their merchandise, and I damn sure won't blog about them until OK Hockey sells. The Lightning will be dead to me. Its not about "being a fan of the jersey, not the players". Its the principle of the thing. The jersey is not treating me, the fan, right and I'd rather devote my hard earned income to a franchise that is - be it the Rays or the Buccaneers (but that's another gripe for another post). If the franchise only cares about making money, has no interest on the on-ice product or its image around the league or its integrity among the fanbase, why should I waste my time on them? At this rate, the franchise will be in Quebec City or Hollywood or Vegas or somewhere other than here. Maybe that's the end game for these guys, maybe they want to ruin this hockey club, destroy the fan base and relocate it somewhere closer to the next SAW movie.

Oren or Len...I don't know if you're reading this or if you even care but I implore you to show this fanbase that you care. Do not trade Lecavalier. If you need to cut costs, find other avenues other than trading our best player. I'm not the only one who feels this way. Listen to the sports radio shows or read the newspapers comments sections online or other bloggers like myself. You've had a series of bad mistakes, we know - it happens. You guys are new at this and you're bound to foul up a few times in the early going. But this goes well beyond a mistake. This would be the death knell for the franchise, something it may take a decade to recover from. Sure, the automatic cop-out was "Gretzky got traded, anyone can be..." but this is different than Gretzky. As much as he meant to the Oilers franchise, it was still going to be supported after he was gone. The league wanted it to happen because they wanted the NHL to succeed in the second largest market in America. He wanted to leave to be closer to his new wife, Janet Jones. The Oilers still had Messier, Fuhr, and the dynasty of four Stanley Cups. The Oilers lived on past Gretzky.

Lecavalier is the franchise in Tampa Bay, without him - we have nothing. There's nothing left to make us believe in YOU the ownership or who you've hired to run the team or the collection of players you've assembled.

We have reached a crossroads. For you as owners, we as fans, for the Lightning as a viable franchise. Not Vinny, Len and Oren. Not Vinny.

Bolts Get Butts Handed To Them in San Jose

By JC De La Torre

As bad games go, this one was hell...I don't think the diehards stayed up to watch the debacle that the Lightning displayed on the ice last night. The San Jose Sharks emphatically showed why they are among the league's elite and the Lightning are with the dregs. 7-1 was the final, but it felt so much worse. With rumors swirling regarding the Bolts only true Superstar Vincent Lecavalier being on the trading block and playing backup goalie Kari Ramo against best team in hockey, it was a recipe for disaster.

The Sharks jumped on Tampa Bay quickly, scoring just 2:17 into the game. Joe Thorton made it 2-0 in the closing minutes of the first. Tampa Bay tried to rally, young Steven Stamkos scored for the first time since Phil Esposito was playing for the B's to cut the Sharks advantage to 2-1. That would be as close as Tampa Bay would get as Thorton would light the lamp again to make it 3-1, followed by Milan Michalek and Ryane Clowe to build a 5-1 lead going into second intermission.

San Jose added to the embarrasment of the Bolts with two more goals in the first two minutes of the third period, giving them the 7-1 margin. Tampa Bay is dealing with several injuries on the blue line and it showed with the likes of Kevin Quick playing for the Lightning. Ramo was blistered for 42 shots, saving 35.

"The guys tried back there, but it's tough," Tocchet told the Associated Press, "It's asking a lot of these guys to come up and play against Thornton and those guys. That's a tall order. When you give this team any momentum with their power play, you're done. We got it to 2-1, and for a five-minute stretch there I thought we could squeak something out there, but then we took a rash of penalties."

Bolts Win For Third Time on Road Trip

By JC De La Torre

The Tampa Bay Lightning won for the third time in four tries, clinching a winning record for the current five game road trip, by defeating the Los Angeles Kings 3-1. Tampa Bay took control of the game late in the first period, getting goals within forty-one seconds of each other by Evgeny Artyukhin at 18:16 and Mark Recchi at 18:57 to give them a 2-0 lead going into the first intermission.

Vincent Lecavalier added a goal 5:48 into the second to give the Lightning a 3-0 cushion. Late in the second period, Peter Harrold got the Kings on the board. They would get no closer, as goalie Mike Smith made 29 saves to shut down the Kings attack.

Tampa Bay is now 3-1 on their road trip and 6-3-1 in their last 10 games. The Lightning should get a great measuring stick tonight as they face one of the league's best, the San Jose Sharks.

Reflections on Tony Dungy

By JC De La Torre

As a fan of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, I have great memories of Tony Dungy's tenure with Tampa Bay. When it was announced by the Glazer family that Dungy was going to replace Sam Wyche, I may have been one of the few in the area who didn't say "Who the hell is Tony Dungy?" I admired Dungy during his time as defensive coordinator in Minnesota and as he was passed over from one job to another I had always felt that his time would come. When it came with my beloved Buccaneers, I was ecstatic. Things didn't start out so well for Tony. In 1996, the bay area was embroiled in a "should we or shouldn't we" stadium situation that would ultimately decide whether or not the Bucs stayed in the area. Dungy and his family didn't buy a house until after the referendum decided the issue. Two days before the election, Dungy had his NFL debut as head coach. Many felt the Bucs needed to play well to prove to the fans they were worth saving. Tampa Bay lost to division rival Green Bay 34-3. Under the cloud of this terrible defeat, the Community Investment Tax that brought the Buccaneers Raymond James Stadium narrowly passed. Dungy's Bucs lost their first six games, but finished strong winning five of their last seven to rally to a 6-10 finish. It would be the last of 14 consecutive losing seasons for the Buccaneers, thirteen of which were double-digit losing years.

In the off-season of 97, Tampa Bay changed their colors and had their final season at the place we lovingly called "The Ole Sobrero". The Bucs built off of their strong finish in 96, announcing Pewter Power to the NFL with a shocking upset of the mighty San Francisco 49ers, taking out (albeit not intentionally) Steve Young and Jerry Rice in the process. The Bucs roared to a 5-0 start and made the playoffs for the first time since 1982 by beating the Bears 31-15 to finish the year 10-6. Tampa Bay was the wildcard, hosting Detroit and Barry Sanders. Many pundits thought the Bucs would lose, as the Lions pounded Tampa in their last meeting with Barry running for 259 yds. The Bucs used the power of Alstott and the skill of Dunn to power past the Lions 20-10 in the final game of old Tampa Stadium's history. They would lose the next week but set the foundation of what would eventually become champions.

Dungy would never have a losing season with Tampa Bay after 1996, culminating with a trip to the 1999 NFC Championship game and a division title where the Bucs battled the greatest show on turf, the St. Louis Rams. Under the direction a rookie QB and with one of the best defenses in the NFL, Tampa Bay held the powerful Rams to 11 points, their lowest output of the season. Unfortunately, the Bucs fell short, losing 11-6. Expectations were risen when top flight quarterback Brad Johnson joined the Buccaneers, but Tampa Bay fell to 10-6 and 9-7 the following seasons, barely making the playoffs and eventually losing on the road in Philadelphia in both games.

Dungy was dismissed after the 2001 wildcard loss at Philadelphia and went on to a fabulous career with the Colts, eventually winning the Super Bowl in 2006. I was never on board with the dismissal of Dungy. Many fans in Tampa were frustrated with the production of the offense and felt that the team would never win the Super Bowl under Tony. We'll never know. Jon Gruden came in, made a few changes on offense and took Tampa Bay to the title in 2002. Tony, meanwhile, left a dramatic impact on this community. He's still a beloved figure here and he, as well as General Manager Rich McKay and even the previous coach Sam Wyche, were instrumental in turning the worst franchise in sports into champions - a franchise people respected.

We wish Tony Dungy the very best in his retirement and we look forward to seeing Tony's continued impact in the Tampa Bay community. A great coach, a great man, the NFL is losing a great one.

Weekend Round up - Tebow, The Lightning, Bruce Allen, and More!

By JC De La Torre

Hey folks, apologies for the late posts, the old warhorse that was my computer finally past away. So with excuses out of the way - let's touch on some topics that effected Tampa Bay sports over the weekend.

Tim Tebow Returning to Florida
Florida Phenom Quarterback Tim Tebow announced he will be returning for his senior season at Florida, to the glee of all Gator fans. During the Gators celebration of their latest national championship at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, the crowd chanted "One More Year" and after thanking his teammates, God, and his family, "Superman" added, "Oh, by the way, one more thing, let's do it again. I'm coming back." At that moment, there was a collective, "Aww...crap..." everywhere in the southeast outside of Florida (and a few in Tallahassee, too). Tebow will have the unique opportunity to cement his legacy as one of the greatest Gators in school history while enhancing his resume for the Pros. We think it's the best move for Tebow and even if he doesn't succeed in the Pros, Tebow will be a legend that all Gator quarterbacks are measured against for many, many years.

Gators Basketball team opens SEC schedule with victory over Ole Miss
Billy Donovan's Florida basketball team held on for a 78-68 victory over Ole Miss to open up their SEC schedule. Donovan, however, was none too pleased with his team's performance. Florida was outrebounded 46-22.

"What really got exposed is the thing that I've always been worried about with our team, is, will be physically compete up front and create a level of confrontation in the paint," Donovan told the St. Petersburg Times, "I don't know the last time, since I've been here, we've been outrebounded by 24 rebounds."

Ole Miss rallied from a 21 point decifit to pull within 2:07 left in the game. Florida would hit their free throws down the stretch to provide the difference.

USF Upends DePaul for 1st Big East Victory
The USF Basketball team got 22 points from Dominique Jones and 18 from Jesus Verdejo to get their first Big East victory of the season, an 80-58 destruction of DePaul. The Bulls opened up the game with a 15-6 run and never looked back.


Bruce Allen Speaks to the Media
Buccaneers General Manager Bruce Allen spoke to the media on Friday on a myriad of issues facing the team. The gist of the conference was yes, the Glazers are as ticked off as the fans are at the end of the season and no, they aren't holding the wallet because of their Manchester United debt. Allen has the go ahead to sign any free agent he deems will improve the team. Allen is never one to get into specifics but it seems the team is tired of using retread quarterbacks for Jon Gruden's system and may seek out a young stud to go along with 2008 5th round draft pick Josh Johnson that the team can build around for the forseeable future. The team also believes Carnell "Cadillac" Williams will return to the Bucs, but aren't counting on him for at least the first half of 2009.

Bolts Blow Another Lead, But Pull Out Win in Anaheim
The Tampa Bay Lighning blew another 2 goal lead Saturday night but Ryan Malone's second of the game gave the Lightning a 4-3 win over the Anaheim Ducks. Vaclav Prospal and Martin St. Louis also scored, while Kari Ramo made 29 saves in his first start of the season. Steven Stamkos did not play in this one. The Lighting put Stamkos on a conditioning program to build up his strength after a 16-game stretch with only one goal and two assists.

Bolts Owners Amend Financial Deal with Palace Sports
The principals of OK hockey, Palace Sports, and the NHL met in New York to amend the $70 million dollar financial agreement between the OK hockey and Palace Sports. While details of the changes were not released, all sides seemed pleased with the changes.

"The only thing I can say is they're in fine shape," Palace Sports CEO Tom Wilson told the St. Petersburg Times.

"It gives us a lot of room to maneuver and do what we want to do with the team," Lightning Principal Owner Oren Koules said.


NFL Final Four Set
Two of the four teams will make it to Tampa for the Super Bowl and no one had them pegged as likely candidates. The Baltimore Ravens, Pittsburgh Steelers, Arizona Cardinals, and Philadelphia Eagles each advanced to their respective conference championship games and play for the right to go to the Super Bowl. The Cardinals shocked the Carolina Panthers 33-13 in a game no one saw coming. The Panthers' Jake Delhomme threw five interceptions in the loss. Baltimore stunned top seeded Tennessee in a defensive battle 13-10.

On Sunday, the Philadelphia Eagles continued their improbable run, beating the defending Super Bowl Champion New York Giants in a dominating defensive performance, 23-11, while Pittsburgh outslugged San Diego 35-24 to become the only home team to win during the Divisional playoffs. It marks the first time since going to a 16 game schedule that two teams that did not win at least 10 games played each other in a conference championship.

The Philadelphia Eagles will head to Arizona for a 3pm (ET) kickoff of the NFC Championship game, while Pittsburgh will host division rival Baltimore at 6:30 pm (ET) in the AFC Championship game.

Baldelli defects for Red Sox

By JC De La Torre

Rocco Baldelli grew up near Boston as a Red Sox fan, he dreamed of being with the Red Sox his entire life. That, in addition to a few million other reasons, caused Baldelli to spurn the franchise that stood by him while he dealt with a mysterious illness that robbed him from being able to play a full season of baseball for their most hated rival.

"I'm definitely excited. I think this is a great move for my baseball career," Baldelli said at a Boston presser, "Boston pursued me pretty aggressively, and I appreciated that. In addition to the baseball side of it, they were equally interested in helping me out any way they could medically. I think there were a lot of reasons that this was a very good fit for me. Theo and the Sox, they pursued me not only as a player but also to understand me as a person and to help me out any way they could on the field and off the field."

Baldelli's one year contract is an incentive based with a floor of $500,000 but with escalators based on plate appearances that could go as high as $5.25 million. After signing Pat Burrell to take over the DH roll for big money, the Rays just didn't have the resources to compete with the Sox for Baldelli's services. Baldelli batted .263 with four home runs and 13 RBI in 28 games for the Rays in 2008 regular season while adding 2 home runs and 6 rbi during the playoffs. He's a lifetime .281 hitter with 52 dingers and 234 RBI.

While we're disappointed Tampa Bay couldn't keep Rocco in the fold and we were even more disappointed he went to the hated Red Sox, we wish Rocco the best with his health and success in Beantown.

Lightning Fall in Phoenix

by JC De La Torre

The Tampa Bay Lightning faced a team that had been shut out in two straight games and gave up three goals including the eventual game winner in the third period to fall to the Phoenix Coyotes 3-2. Andrej Meszaros scored his first goal as a member of the Lightning and Jeff Halpern had a goal and an assist for Tampa Bay. Phoenix's Olli Jokinen ended the Coyotes' scoreless streak at the 12:17 mark of the first period to tie the game at 1.

Peter Mueller scored on the power play forty-six seconds into the first period, giving the Coyotes a 2-1 lead. It would hold until the midway mark of the second, when Halpern put in a rebound off of a Vaclav Prospal shot to tie the game at 2.

At the 8:09 mark of the third, Kyle Turris defelected David Hale's shot past Lightning goalie Mike Smith to give the lead back to the Coyotes. Tampa Bay managed only six shots in the third and mounted few chances against the Phoenix defense.

"I'm really disappointed in the team right now," Lightning Interim Head Coach Rick Tocchet said to the St. Petersburg Times following the game, "That was unacceptable. We never showed up. It's probably the most disappointed I've been as coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning."

Unfortunately for Tocchet, there's been far too many of these type of nights.

Gators Outslug Oklahoma for National Championship

By JC De La Torre

It wasn't the game the world expected, but it still was one heck of a ballgame as the Florida Gators won a defensive battle against the #1 ranked Oklahoma Sooners 24-14 for Florida's second national championship in three years and their third in school history. The Gators' victory made it three consecutive national championships for the Southeastern Conference, something that hasn't been done since the 1940's. It was Florida's defense and the playmaking of 2007 Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Tim Tebow that were the difference in this game.

Oklahoma took the opening kickoff to the Florida 38 but a sack by Brandon Hicks on the 2008 Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford lost 14 yds and on third down the Sooners only managed 7 yds forcing the Sooners to punt. The Gators drived to midfield, but Tebow threw only is third interception of the season as defensive back Nic Harris stepped in front of a Gator wide receiver and returned it to the Oklahoma 46 yd line. Normally, this is an easy score for the highest scoring offense in college football but the Gators defense stiffened, forcing the drive to stall at the Florida 47. Two drives, no points for the vaunted Oklahoma offense and the first quarter ended scoreless.

Back came the Gators, driving 86 yds in 12 plays, capping the drive off with a 20 yd Tebow touchdown pass to Louis Murphy to give Florida a 7-0 lead. Oklahoma's offense rumbled to life on the ground. Chris Brown rushed for 16 yds, then 14 yds, and 15 yds to set up Sam Bradford's 6 yd score to tie the game at 7.

The Sooners would take momentum, intercepting Tebow for the second time this time big defensive tackle Gerald McCoy dropping into coverage and intercepting an under duress Tebow pass, setting Oklahoma up at the 28 yd line. The Sooners tried to pound the Gator defense, running Chris Brown on five straight carries. The Gators put together two goal line stands, stuffing Brown on 3rd and 4th and goal from the 1 yd line. Florida took over at their three yard line and Percy Harvin promptly ran 45 yds to get the Gators some breathing room. With 2:32 left in the 1st half, Oklahoma got the ball back and drove 74 yds on the arm of Bradford, driving all the way to the Florida 6 yd line with 10 seconds left. On first and goal, Bradford's pass to the goal line was tipped and picked off by Major Wright, keeping the game tied at 7 going into halftime.

The start of the third quarter continued the defensive team as the teams exchanged punts on their first possessions of the 2nd half. Florida began pounding the middle of the tougher than expected Oklahoma defense with their battering ram - their star quarterback Tebow. Tebow's runs drove Florida 75 yds in 13 plays, setting up Percy Harvin's 1 yd plunge to give the Gators a 14-7 lead with 4:21 left in the third quarter. Oklahoma tried to answer as Bradford drove the Sooners to the Florida 32 before the drive stalled. Oklahoma kicker Jimmy Stevens attempted a 49 yd field goal but it was blocked by Carlos Dunlap. Florida couldn't take advantage, having their drive stall at their own 38 yd line as the third quarter expired.

Bradford took advantage, driving his offense 77 yds and setting up an 11 yd touchdown pass to tight end Jermain Gresham to tie the game at 14 with 12:13 to play. The Gators came right back, as Percy Harvin rushed for 52 yds and 12 yds to set up Jonathan Phillips 27 yd field goal to give the Gators 17-14 advantage with 10:45 left. Bradford tried to rally the Sooners, driving Oklahoma to midfield. Bradford tried to hit his star receive Juaquin Iglesias deep over the middle but Gator defensive back Ahmad Black ripped the football away from him, intercepting the pass. Tebow and the Gators took advantage, driving 76 yds in 11 plays, mostly behind the running of Tebow and Harvin. On 2nd and goal from the Oklahoma 4 yd line, Tebow faked a run into the line and fired a pass David Nelson to give the Gators a 10 point lead with 3:07 left. Bradford's Sooners went four and out, his last pass being batted down by the Florida defense. The Gators took over and ran out the clock to clinch the BCS title.

Tim Tebow hasn't announced if he's coming back to Florida, but if he doesn't, he's ended his Gator career as one of the most decorated players in college football history. Two National Championships, one Heisman trophy, two Maxwell awards, a Davey O'Brien award, a BCS Championship Game Offensive Player of the Game and an AP National player of the year - plus the admiration of people across the world. He may be the greatest Florida football player ever to grace an Orange and Blue uniform. Selfishly, I hope he comes back, I don't want to have seen the last of Superman, as his teammates call him, in a Gator uniform. Urban Meyer became the first coach to win two BCS Championship games and is only the 5th coach in college football history to win two national championships in his first four years at his school.

JC De La Torre's Tampa Bay Sports Blog offers our congrats to Gator Nation and the University of Florida for their third National Championship in school history.

Florida-Oklahoma - Who Wants it More?

By JC De La Torre

The BCS National Championship game is Thursday, featuring the #1 Oklahoma Sooners vs. #2 Florida Gators. Both teams bring in high octane offenses and have been playing lights out since suffering early season losses. JC De La Torre's Tampa Bay Sports Blog takes a closer look at the 2009 BCS National Championship game and predicts a winner.

The Series
Remarkably, the Gators and Sooners have never faced each other, despite playing over hundred years of football.

Florida's Offense vs. Oklahoma's Defense
The worst thing that could have happened for Oklahoma is that Percy Harvin got healthy for the BCS Title game. The Gators come in with the #3 scoring offense in the country, 17th in total offense, 56th passing, 9th rushing against an Oklahoma defense that is 58th in scoring defense, 63rd in total defense, 107th against the pass, 15th against the rush. The Gators passing attack is ranked low, not because of poor play by Quarterback Tim Tebow, who was a finalist for his second Heisman Trophy and threw for 2,515 yds, 28 touchdowns, while only tossing 2 interceptions this season. Florida's running game, led by athlete Percy Harvin, running backs Jeff Demps and Chris Rainey, as well as Tebow has made the passing game a secondary weapon. That's not to say its not capable, as Harvin, WR Louis Murphy and tight end Aaron Hernandez all have made big time plays for the Gators offense.

Oklahoma would appear to be fairly stoudt against the run this season, but when you put the microscope on the Sooners - their solid run defense play seems to fade away. Only Oklahoma State rushed the ball better than Florida in the Big 12 and they rushed for 198yds and a touchdown against Oklahoma. In fact, the Sooners have given up some big rushing numbers to top level competition - Texas (161 yds, 3 touchdowns), Baylor (194 yds, 2 tds), and even Nebraska (204 yds, 3 touchdowns). That simply won't get it done against Florida. Oklahoma does rush the passer extremely well - they're ranked 3rd in the nation with 42 sacks. They also lead the nation in turnover margin (+23). Florida is 2nd in the nation (+22).

Oklahoma's offense vs. Florida Defense
We all know about Oklahoma's offense - the Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford, 58 or more points in their last six games. Oklahoma boats the #1 scoring offense in the nation, #3 in total offense, #16 rushing, and #3 passing. Bradford threw for 4,464 yds, 48 touchdowns and completed 68 percent of his passes this season. Juanquin Iglesias led all receivers with 69 receptions, 1,092 yds and 10 touchdowns. DeMarco Murray and Chris Brown split carries at running back, combining for 34 touchdowns and 2112 yds but Murray is injured and won't play. Florida meanwhile comes in with the #4 scoring defense in the nation, 7th in total defense, 14th in rushing defense, 22nd in pass defense. As mentioned previously, Florida is 2nd in the nation in turnover margin (+22) and are 2nd in the country in interceptions (24). Only three times this season has Gator opponents scored more than 20 points (Ole Miss, LSU, Alabama) and the most points the Gators gave up this season was 31 in their 1 point loss to Ole Miss in September. Since that loss to the Rebels, no team has scored more than 21 against Florida. The Gators defense has not allowed a 300 yd passer this season.

Florida's Special Teams vs. Oklahoma's Special Teams
The Gators are ranked 48th in kick return average and 7th in punt return yardage. They've returned two punts for touchdowns with the dangerous Brandon James returning. Oklahoma is 106th in kick return coverage and 17th in punt return coverage. Oklahoma has allowed 4 kick off returns for touchdowns this season. Oklahoma is 5th in kick return average led by DeMarco Murray's 27.6 yds a return - as stated previously, Murray will not play. Oklahoma is 70th in punt return average and they returned one punt for a touchdown this year. Florida is 89th in kick return coverage, 9th in punt return coverage and have not allowed a return for touchdown. Florida is 17th in punt average and 2nd in field goal percentage. Oklahoma is one of the nation's worst in punting average, ranked 116th and they're 67th in field goal percentage.

Coaching
Florida's Urban Meyer is 82-17 (43-9 in 4 yrs at Florida), he's won four conference championships (including two SEC titles), and a national championship. This is the second time in three years that Meyer has guided the Gators in position for a National Championship. Bob Stoops is completing his 10th season at Oklahoma with a 109-23 record. Stoops' Sooners have won 6 Big 12 championships and 1 National Championship (2000). Oklahoma has lost their last two trips to the BCS Championship Game (2003 to LSU 21-14, 2004 to USC 55-19). This is the fourth time in 8 years Stoops has the Sooners playing for the National title.

The Spread
We always mention the spread because Urban Meyer has always been well aware of the betting line due to many boosters that partake in the short term investment market.

Florida by 3 1/2

Final Score Prediction
What a match up we have for the National Championship game - two of the top offenses in the nation face off in a winner take all match up. The big difference in this one is defense and special teams. We all know the old adage - Defense wins championships. The next time Oklahoma plays good defense will be the first time - they're terrible and even worse, one of their players talked trash about Florida Hesiman Trophy winning and 2-time finalist quarterback Tim Tebow. Cornerback Dominique Franks told reporters that Tebow would be the 4th best quarterback in the Big 12 behind Heisman Trophy Winner Sam Bradford, Texas' Colt McCoy, and Texas Tech QB Graham Harrell.

As Florida linebacker Brandon Spikes said to the Associated Press, "How could you say something like that when he won the Heisman as a sophomore? We really didn’t think too much of it. When you talk about Tim, he’s going try to come out and make you pay. It’s kind of like deja vu all over again. Last time a guy talked about him, he came out and put 50 on him.”

Ricky Jean-Francois was the defender in question for LSU. Jean-Francois said he was going to knock Tebow out of the game - only to see the Gators roll up 51 points and Tebow score 3 touchdowns. In 2007, Florida State linebacker Geno Hayes was foolish enough to say Tebow was "going down" in their annual matchup only to see Tebow account for 5 touchdowns in route to a 45-12 destruction of the Seminoles. Its not wise to trash Tim...and the rub? LSU and FSU were much better defenses.

On the other side, Florida's is by far the best defense the high flying Sooners have faced this season.

"You keep hearing they've done this and scored all these points in the last five games," Spikes said, "But I really feel like they haven't faced a defense like ours, and Big 12 defenses are a joke. It's always like a bunch of basketball scores when I watch SportsCenter. So we'll see."

I agree with him. Oklahoma has run roughshod over the Big 12 because they had the better atheletes. In the SEC, the better atheletes play on defense (as evidenced by the number of defensive players drafted in top rounds of the NFL out of the SEC). Like Ohio State before them, Oklahoma hasn't seen the speed that Florida's defense will bring to the table. While it will definitely be a challenge for the Gators as well, since this is the best offense they've faced all season, you can't outscheme or coach speed. You either have it or you don't. Oklahoma does have some great skill players that will make some plays in this game, but they won't destroy Florida's defense the way they have every one else.

Then you factor in special teams, where Oklahoma is just flat out terrible and that's two of the three phases of that favor Florida. The game will be competitive early but Florida will eventually pull away in this one.

My Prediction: Florida 51, Oklahoma 34

Rays get Powerful Burrell for DH

By JC De La Torre

Perhaps its the slowing economy or since their success last season, players will take pay cuts to be here - but the Tampa Bay Rays made a huge signing today - getting left fielder Pat Burrell from the World Champion Philadelphia Phillies to take the Rays vacant DH spot. Burrell, 32, signed a 2 year, $16 million dollar contract, a regular bargin for today's power hitter standards. The Phillies Standout banged .250, 33 home runs, 86 rbi, and 102 walks in 157 games for the Phillies. Rays fans remember Burrell for getting a crucial lead off single in bottom of the 7th in Game 5 of the World Series that eventually turned into Philadelphia's winning run that ended the Rays hopes for their first World Championship.

The Rays could be done shopping for this season, as Executive Vice President Andrew Friedman told the St. Petersburg Times, "This signing is a major commitment of our resources and it will dramatically hinder our flexibility going forward." Translation: We're done spending for this year.

"This is a team I had a lot of interest in going to,'' Burrell told the Times, "I think this team is going to be competitive for a long time. ... I'm here to help. Anything and everything I can do to help this team win, I'll do.' '

Tampa Bay still has questions at closer, where oft injured Troy Percival turns 40 and still has back problems, while Dan Wheeler and JP Howell scare no one. It will be interesting to see if the Rays try to help Grant Balfour develop an off speed pitch that may enable him to become a closer.

The Rays is also looking for an answer at right field, although the hope is Tampa native and former Tiger Matt Joyce can fill that hole and also provide some additional punch in the lineup.

Bolts Win the Battle of the Worst in SE Division

By JC De La Torre

It's been two years since the Tampa Bay Lightning won a game in Atlanta. That changed Sunday when the Lightning got two goals from Martin St. Louis and Goalie Mike Smith came within 21 seconds of a shutout in route to a 4-1 thrashing of Atlanta. The victory allowed Tampa Bay to hop the Thrashers and get out of the cellar in the Southeast division.

The Lightning jumped on Atlanta quickly, getting a power play goal from Steve Eminger at the 2:41 mark of the first period to open the scoring. Tampa Bay dominated play in the 1st, out shooting the Thrashers 13-7 during the opening stanza. St. Louis made it 2-0 midway through the second when Vincent Lecavalier fooled Atlanta goalie Kari Lehtonen with a fake shot, passed to St. Louis who deposited it in the opening net. St. Louis made it 3-0 on the power play a minute into the 3rd period and Ryan Malone would add another goal late in the game to make it 4-0. Atlanta's Erik Christensen spoiled Mike Smith's bid for a shutout with 21 seconds left, scoring on a rebound during a scrum in front of the net.

The Lightning notch their 11th victory of the season and will enjoy a four day rest before heading out to the west coast for a four game swing.

The What If Game

By JC De La Torre

St. Petersburg Times columnist Gary Shelton put together an interesting column, speculating on what may have happened if the Glazer family hadn't fired Tony Dungy at the end of the 2001 season. Its a confounding question - where would the Bucs be today? Further, what other what if questions can we add to the pot? I believe its definitely an interesting topic of conversation.

First, lets speculate on Dungy.
Scenario 1 - What if the Glazers didn't fire Dungy in January 2002?
Shelton speculates that Bucs would not have won the Super Bowl the following season and would have never won it under Tony Dungy. Dungy's record in Indy seems to disagree with that assumption, but let's face it - Tampa Bay has no Peyton Manning, Marvin Harrison, or Reggie Wayne on their offense - the catalyst of Dungy's success with the Colts. Jon Gruden likely would have remained in Oakland and considering the Raiders team he built went without him, he would have likely gotten the Raiders to the Super Bowl. Would the Raiders have continued their poor play throughout the decade? Its hard to say but with the braintrust that built the Raiders into a power still intact, one would have to imagine that Oakland would still be competitive today.

The Buccaneers would still have had their draft picks, with the ability to draft players like Ed Reed, Charles Grant, Lito Sheppard, Andre Gurode, or Clinton Portis - all players who were available where the Bucs would have picked in the first and second rounds of the 2002 draft. In '03 you could have seen the Bucs select Nnambi Asomugha, Drayton Florence, Kawika Mitchell or Aquan Boldin. How would any of those guys look in a Buccaneer uniform?

Mike Alstott would have definitely been better utilized by Dungy and may have completed a Hall-of-Fame career, rather than become a blocker and short yardage back as he did in Jon Gruden's offense.

Dungy and Rich McKay would have had to make the same tough decisions that Jon Gruden and Bruce Allen had to endure as the salary cap would have been a factor for them as well - but with the extra draft picks, the Buccaneers could have weathered cap hell a little better. Dungy was extremely loyal to his staff and likely wouldn't have fired offensive coordinator Clyde Christensen. It was the elevation of the inexperienced Christensen that evetually cost Dungy his job in Tampa Bay. That means either Christensen would have grown into the role and become a better play caller or the offense would continue to stagnate, worse than it has under Jon Gruden.

Would the Bucs have won the Super Bowl under Dungy? In 2002, not likely, but in 2003 - the last shot the Bucs had a being a truly competitive force during the Sapp/Brooks era, I think he could have gotten it done. Keyshawn would have continued to be a pain in the butt but he wouldn't have been kicked off the team. Benedict McKay wouldn't have bolted to Atlanta mid-season, and Alstott would likely not have injured his neck (there would have been no Joe Jurivicious to collide into on the team). The team would have likely resembled the 99 squad - with the one last hurrah. There was no power in the NFC that year, with the 11-5 Carolina Panthers going to the Super Bowl to face the Patriots. The Bucs would likely have had to beat the Eagles in the playoffs and you'd have to wonder if they could have under Dungy.

If Dungy survived the salary cap years of '04 and '05, he likely could have had the Bucs back in contention in 06 - but what would have been the ceiling? With no offense, the best Tampa Bay could hope for was 11-5 and in most seasons it would have been right around .500, in other words, right where the Bucs are today with Gruden.

Scenario 2 - What if Bill Parcells would have came to Tampa Bay?
So, let's say Dungy was fired and Parcells came to the Bucs with Jets GM Mike Tannenbaum in toe. Would the Bucs have won the Super Bowl? I'd say yes, this team was primed and ready for a championship run. Parcells would have provided the same accountability commanded by Jon Gruden and would have found the pieces on the offense to put the Bucs over the top. The Bucs would have still had all of their draft picks and would have been in much better shape for their salary cap hell. 2003 the Bucs would have had a chance to repeat but Parcells likely would have quit before 2004 or 2005 downturn hit, leaving the Bucs searching for a coach again in 05. Where would they be today? That's tough to say.

Scenario 3 - What if Marvin Lewis would have come to Tampa Bay?
GM Rich McKay picked Marvin Lewis to replace Tony Dungy, but the Glazers vetoed it, wanting an offensive mind after the years of defensive minded Tony Dungy. They also wanted to keep Monte Kiffin and the defensive staff intact, unlikely under Lewis. Would they have won the Super Bowl? Unlikely, while Lewis' teams were definitely effective offensively, there was no Carson Palmer, Chad Johnson or TJ Houshmandzadeh on the Buccaneers. The Bucs would have had their extra picks and likely would have been set up better for cap hell, but the team would still be defensive minded. Its hard to say if Lewis could have gotten it done, his Bengals made the playoffs only once and lost in that game. Lewis likely wouldn't have survived the cap years.

Scenario 4 - What if Lane Kiffin was never been head coach of the Raiders?
Lane likely would have gotten a job in college elsewhere and wouldn't have needed the security blanket of his dad to get the gig. Monte Kiffin would still be defensive coordinator of the Buccaneers, Tampa Bay would have managed to win at least two of their last four games and made the playoffs as a wildcard. Would they have gotten far? Unlikely.

As Shelton said at the end of the article - Dungy would have still brought a consistent winning product to Tampa Bay, as he's done with Indianapolis. The Bucs record wise wouldn't have been much better, but they still would have been competitive and in better position to weather the cap hell years. Likely, except under Parcells scenario, the Buccaneers wouldn't have had a Lombardi trophy to call their own.

Would you trade those memories and the Lombardi trophy for better treatment of the players, more draft picks, and more consistency in winning?

Personally, I would not. That doesn't mean I support Gruden's continued employment with the Buccaneers, but I would never trade that trophy for anything. And who knows? John Fox and Jeff Fisher weathered mediocre seasons and were on the hot seat coming into this season and they're contending for the Super Bowl. Bill Cowher had subpar years in Pittsburgh before the Steelers won it and made him the hottest coaching commodity today. You never know, Buc fans.

Bolts Blow Yet Another Lead, Fall to Canes

By JC De La Torre

The Tampa Bay Lightning lost another game in which they had a two goal lead and returned to the cellar in the Southeast division. The Lightning jumped to a 2-0 lead in the first but didn't score again as Carolina mounted a come back and gave the Hurricanes a 3-2 victory.

Ryan Craig opened the scoring at the 5:05 mark of the first period, battling in front of the net, finding the loose puck, and tipping it past Carolina goalie Cam Ward for a 1-0 lead. A little over a minute later, the Lightning struck again as Vaclav Prospal put it past for a 2-0 lead. It would be an advantage that would last until the 15:57 mark of the first, when the Hurricanes scored twice in 1:11 on goals from Justin Williams on the power play and a seeing-eye shot that went off Chad LaRose's knee pad and into the net to tie it at 2.Carolina took the lead for good midway through the second period, on Joni Pitkanen's fourth goal of the season to give Carolina the 3-2 advantage that they would not relinquish.

Two franchises going in opposite directions. Carolina won their third straight game and seventh in their last ten. Tampa Bay lost their third straight and have lost seventeen of twenty-two one goal games. Since the firing of Barry Melrose, the Lightning have struggled with a 5-11-5 record.

Tampa Bay lost another defenseman during the game, as Andrej Meszaros was struck in the face by the puck midway through the second period. Meszaros didn't return and left the Lightning with a lack of experienced defensemen. Bolts defenseman Jamie Heward continues to recover from a concussion resulting from a hit by Washington's Alex Ovechkin. The news was good for Heward as he was released from the hospital on Friday but a return to the ice good be a little while off. With the call up of Ty Wishart and the injury to Meszaros, the Lightning defense included four players that were playing for the AHL just a week ago.

"It's tough, because defensemen are so important in this league," Lightning Interim Head Coach Rick Tocchet told the Tampa Tribue, "I thought the kids coming up for us did a great job. It's a tough situation for us. The third period was probably our best period. We just couldn't get the goal to get us back in it."

Gators win Conference Tuneup Over ACC Contender NC State

By JC De La Torre

The University of Florida Gator basketball team was in desperate need of a measuring stick. After feasting on a schedule of cupcakes and losing to the only two teams that would be considered candidates for the big dance (Florida State and Syracuse), the Gators needed a "quality win". They got it in dramatic fashion against a solid NC State sqaud, rallying from an 11 point deficit to win 68-66.

Florida's Super Sophomore Nick Calathes led the Florida charge with a career high 32 points, 24 of which came in the second half of the Gators thrilling come back. The two teams began by feeling each other out, neither team getting more than a two point lead until the Wolfpack's Julian Mays drilled a three pointer with 6:08 left in the first half to give NC State a 20-15 lead, triggering a 13-9 run at the end of the first half that gave the Wolfpack a 33-23 half time lead.

With 16:13 left in the game and trailing 39-30, Florida began to increase the heat defensively, causing multiple Wolfpack turnovers that sparked an 11-4 rally that cut the lead to 43-41 with 12:45 left. The teams would exchange blows, with the Wolfpack getting no larger than a five point lead until finally, with 3:59 left in the game, Calathes's arching three pointer put the Gators up for the first time since midway through the first half, 59-58. Calathes took the game over in the final four minutes, scoring the last eight Gator points as the teams exchanged the lead eight times in the closing minutes. Calathes put the Gators up to stay with eleven seconds left with an incredible jumper that clanked around the rim before dropping and giving Florida a 67-66 lead. NC State would fumble the ball away on their ensuing trip down the floor and Calathes would add a free throw for the final margin.

The Gators improved to 12-2 on the season and have one last cupcake, Longwood (trying...to...avoid...being...crude...), before embarking on the tough SEC schedule that should decide whether they will be part of the madness in March.

Bulls Open Big East Play and Give #11 Syracuse a Scare

By JC De La Torre

The USF Bulls (5-8) opened up their Big East schedule after an extremely disappointing non-conference performance this season, fell behind double digits in the second half against #11 Syracuse (14-1) but showed some grit, rallying to within three points late in the game before succumbing to the Orange 59-54.

With 11:02 left in the first half and only a 1 point lead, the Orange ended the first half on a 22-7 run to give them a little breathing room going into halftime where the Orange led 35-19. The Bulls spent the majority of the second half trying to whittle down that Syracuse lead, going on little 4 and 5 point runs before Syracuse would answer with their own score. Dominique Jones dunk with 3:19 left in the game pulled USF within 3 points of Syracuse, 55-52. After the teams exchanged scores, Jonny Flynn's miss gave USF the ball with 1:03 left in the game, down by 3 points. USF ran down the shot clock to 33 seconds before Dominique Jones fired up a three pointer that missed, Eric Devendorf rebounded for Syracuse and was fouled by Chris Howard. Devendoft made both ends of the 1-and-1 to give the Orange a 59-54 lead, the Bulls would miss two shots in the closing seconds and that was the ball game, Syracuse escapes the Sun Dome with a tougher than expected victory.

Jones led the Bulls with 17 points and 5 rebounds, while Mobolaji Ajayi had 15 points, 12 boards, and a blocked shot. Andy Rautins led the Orange with 14 points while going 4 of 8 from three point land.

Despite the loss, it was an encouraging effort from the Bulls against one of the Big East powers. After getting pummelled by the likes of Wright State, Niagara and Oral Roberts during a four game losing streak where they didn't face a ranked opponent, it looked like the Bulls were in no shape to be competitive in one of college basketball's best conferences.

New Year, Same Results for Tampa Bay, Caps Win 7-4

By JC De La Torre

It wasn't exactly how the Tampa Bay Lightning wanted to ring in 2009. Washington Capitals Superstar Alex Ovechkin scored a goal and assisted on two others to lead the Caps past the Tampa Bay Lightning 7-4 in a night that Bolts goalie Mike Smith would soon like to forget.

Smith was shelled for all seven goals, the most given up by a Lightning goalie this season. Tampa Bay perhaps partied a little too much in the Nation's capital, as Washington jumped on the Bolts 3-0 in the first with goals from Sean Collins, Dave Steckel, and Mike Green and were outshot 15-8.

As typical for the Lightning, they rallied in the second, getting two goals in the 1st 2:37 of the period from Vincent Lecavalier and Ryan Malone to pull within 3-2. Eleven seconds after Malone pulled Tampa Bay within one, Matt Bradley reestablished the two goal cushion on a poor clearing attempt by Mike Smith. Vincent Lecavalier would again show some late period heroics, as he scored with 0:16 second left in the 2nd period to make it 4-3 going into intermission.

At the 8:07 mark of the third, Boyd Gordon would victimize a lazy clearing attempt by Smith again, putting the Caps back up by 2 goals. Mark Recchi pulled the Lightning close at the 12:22 mark of the third with his ninth of the season, but twenty-five seconds later, Chris Clark would get his first goal of the season, giving the Caps a 6-4 advantage. Ovechkin would score late to give Washington their final margin of victory and Tampa Bay their second straight defeat.

There was a very scary moment in the hockey game in the third period, when Lightning defenseman Jamie Heward was checked hard into the board by Ovechkin. Heward's head appeared to hit the class and he crumpled to the ice, lying still for several minutes. A stretcher was brought on to the ice and he was rushed to Sibley Memorial Hospital. Heward had a concussion but movement in all of his extremities and is being held at the hospital for evaluation.

"It was an accident and I'm very sorry," Ovechkin said to the AP following the game, "I never want to hurt somebody, especially my old teammate. It's hard and I'm very sorry, but it's a game and it's a moment. He turns and I have speed. ... I hope he is OK."

The hit by Ovechkin was a clean one and Heward's injury was just a tragic reminder of the physicality of NHL Hockey.

We at the TBSB wish Jamie a speedy recovery.