Garcia Moving Up to #2?

By JC De La Torre

It appears that while publicly he still supports Brian Griese, Jon Gruden is like the rest of us. He's sick of seeing the bonehead interceptions that the Buccaneers were forced to overcome the last two weeks in victories over Chicago and Green Bay.

Because of that, it appears, according to some reports, that he's elevated frustrated former starter Jeff Garcia to the #2 spot. If Griese begins to falter against his old team Denver this week, its definitely possible we could see Jeff Garcia inserted back into the lineup.

Such thoughts were unfanthomable a couple weeks ago when Garcia's injuries and deteoriating relationship with Gruden forced his benching.

As the Quarterback Turns continues on Sunday at 4pm Tampa time.

11 Years of Frustration Ends Today

By JC De La Torre

It doesn't matter if the Tampa Bay Rays win or lose today (ok, it matters a lot), it matters that they are here. After 11 years of owner issues, horrible draft picks, horrible free agency moves (anyone remember The Hit Show?), horrible community relations, and horrible baseball - the Rays have finally arrived in Baseball's most valued location - THE PLAYOFFS.

How they got here is anyone's guess. A good run of draft picks certainly helps, but only three of the twenty five man playoff roster are top picks. Most of these players have either persevered through the previous regime, were traded for in previous salary dumping deals, or were smart (and affordable) free agent choices by the new Rays braintrust. While some of his in-game decisions remain puzzling, you have to hand it to manager Joe Maddon on how he's handled his club. Tampa Bay used to be where managers' careers go to die. Even Sweet Lou Pinella couldn't win here. Yet, after a rocky first season, Maddon's managerial style seemed to be just the right fit for this young baseball team.

Finally, the team gelled and displayed a heart that few baseball teams before them have.

It took awhile, but the Rays definitely deserve to be here after a magical season. Hopefully, it will keep going. Who wouldn't want to see Pinella come back to Tampa Bay in a Rays-Cubs improbable World Series?

Some quick notes about today's game and the series -
* Troy Percival is not on the playoff roster for this round.
* Carl Crawford is back for the Rays, but speedy Fernando Perez still made the playoff roster.
* David Price also made the playoff roster and will play long relief coming out of the bullpen.

Don't forget, we'll be bloggin' game one right here on Tampa Bay Sports Blog.

Monte and Gruden mentioned in Raiders Sideshow

By JC De La Torre

During the termination press conference of former Oakland Raiders Head Coach Lane Kiffin, two prominent Buccaneers coaches, Monte Kiffin (Lane's father) and former Raider Head Coach and Current Bucs Head Coach Jon Gruden's names came up.

Al Davis was in pure Darth Raider form when describing the odyssey of the Kiffin era, or error, as it were, as he called the young coach a 'professional liar'.

Davis reference Lane's father, Monte Kiffin several times during the press conference (source: Bay Area Sports Beat) -

"His father once applied for a job with us when we were in Los Angeles, that was Monte Kiffin"

“‘I know that you wanted to bring your father in to run the defense, and Monte -- that's Monte Kiffin told me that he wanted to come here, even though he is under contract to Tampa. I did not want to tamper with another team.

“We had our attorneys call Bruce Allen and tell him that Monte Kiffin, because otherwise it's a tampering charge, talked to me and all he talked to me was about Lane, how to handle Lane and things like that. What he really wanted to do was come here and coach.”

Toward the end of the press conference, a question was posed to the new interim head coach of the Oakland Raiders, Tom Cable, what was the difference between himself and the other five coaches that failed since Jon Gruden.

After Cable answered, Al Davis bristled, saying "What's that you said about Jon Gruden?".

The writer sounded a bit flustered, saying, "That all the coaches failed after Gruden...except for...you know...the Super Bowl year."

Davis smirked, "Yeah, that's right. I'd take that year every three years."

Davis then rambled on incoherantly about how they were on a short week and treated the Super Bowl like the Rose Bowl believing that he proved his point that the Raider were successful after Gruden. (Ignoring the fact that Bill Callahan had essentially the same team and ran the same offense as Gruden, so much so, Gruden used his knowledge to beat them like a drum in the Super Bowl).

You have to feel for Monte and Lane - I'm sure Lane will land on his feet. As for you Raider fans out there....wow, I hate to see what has happened to your once proud franchise. Commitment to Excellence has turned into Commitment to Excrement. Good Luck!

Vinny, Bolts, Complete Final Test

By JC De La Torre

The Lightning defeated a very inspired HC Slovan club in BRATISLAVA, Slovakia 3-2 in a shoot out to wrap up the pre-season at 5-1. Vinny Lecavalier scored a regulation goal and a shoot out goal to help the Bolts avoid the upset.

Tampa Bay continued to pair down their roster, trading Nick Tarnasky to Nashville for a conditional pick and waiving Michel Ouellet.

The Bolts open the season with back-to-back games against the New York Rangers Saturday and Sunday in Slovakia.

The great thing about this trip is I think it will give a team that has had a lot of transition in the off-season a chance to get to know each other and start to develop that team bond that every hockey club needs to be successful.

White Sox, Crawford coming to the Trop

By JC De La Torre

After weeks of wondering, the wait is over for the Rays. The Chicago White Sox won the war of attrition with the Minnesota Twins, beating them 1-0 in the one game playoff that decided the AL Central pennant. For the Rays, it means they face a team that they fared pretty well against during the season, when they posted a 6-4 record and were 4-1 in games decided by two runs or less. The Rays, on paper, have superior starting pitching, defense, and bullpen, but the White Sox definitely seem to have an edge in power. For the Rays to succeed, they will need a much better pitching performance from the starting 4 pitchers than they did in Sepetember, where they had a combined 4-7 record and a 4 plus ERA. The scheduled rotation for the Rays in the ALDS is Shields, Kaz, Garza, and if necessary, Sonny and Shields again.

The Rays also gave their fans some good news, as Carl Crawford will be on the ALDS roster and is expected to start in Game 1.

Tampa Bay Sports Blog will be Blogging during Game 1 so be sure to check back with us.