Category: Sports

* Like a lot of local sports fans, I checked out last week’s Bucs-Rams game on “Thursday Night Football.” And not unlike many observers, I was taken aback right away by the, well, colorful uniforms.

Now we know how the NFL and the networks promote the show-biz aspects of their sport. Why not? It works. But the all-bright-yellow Rams and the all-bright-red Bucs uniforms were beyond lounge-act attire. Think NASCAR and trapeze acts meet pajama party and figure skaters.

I also think that’s the last time I look in on “Thursday Night Football.” My bad.

* Veteran MLB manager Dusty Baker, recently hired to take over the underachieving Washington Nationals, came under media criticism with his recent comments on baseball’s need for more speed. He deserved better.

For the record, Baker said that, since it was recognized that the game could use more minority participation, why not combine that with opportunities to speed up the game. “You’ve got a better chance of getting some speed with Latin and African-American,” said Baker, who is black. “I’m not being racist. That’s just how it is.”

Of course that’s how it is. He was politically incorrect. Perhaps he should have added: “But you can’t steal first base.” Wonder what that would have prompted.

* Timing is everything. In September, Willie Taggart’s USF Bulls were 1-3–following seasons of 2-10 and 4-8. Attendance was heading south. Taggart’s tenure was tenuous at best.

Eight games–and seven wins–later, Taggart, 39, has led USF to its first bowl game in five years and earned a new contract extension. Obviously his interview for the South Carolina job hardly hurt his leverage.

Taggart’s overall record as a head coach is 30-42, including 14-22 at USF. But not unlike politics, big time college coaching is a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately business. Just ask Mark Richt–or Willie Taggart.

* New low: Imagine two of this year’s 40 bowls will feature games where neither team has a winning record. The AutoNation CureBowl in Orlando will match San Jose State (5-7) against Georgia State (6-6) and the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, La. will pair Virginia Tech (6-6) and Tulsa (6-6). Thanks again, ESPN.

* In his rookie season, Hall of Fame Pittsburgh Steeler quarterback Terry Bradshaw had 18 more interceptions (24) than TDs. To date, Bucs rookie qb Jameis Winston has six more TDs (17) than interceptions.

* All Star pitcher David Price, the former Tampa Bay Ray, just signed a big, vault-opening contract. A special pitcher and a really good guy. But three words for his uber deal: Anybody but Boston.

Just ask Carl Crawford.

* Once again we’re hearing talk of USF needing its own, on-campus football stadium. Even UCF has one.

It would be nice. It would be cool. But it would also be a skewed priority when one of the finest facilities in the country is barely 11 miles away. Unless Frank Morsani and Jeff Vinik want to write checks to cover it all, USF is best served by aggressive, in-state recruiting and a winning program. If the Bulls do that–and build on this year’s nationally-noted turnaround–RayJay can be a rollicking place again. Starting with next year’s September home game with Florida State.

Go, Bulls.

* USF routed UCF, 44-3, on Thanksgiving night. It ended a nightmarish 0-12 season for the Knights. Two UCF fans, alone in an otherwise unoccupied upper deck of Bright House Stadium had homemade banners that said it all: “Beat Somebody” and “I’m Thankful For … The End Of This Season.” Ouch.

* The NCAA football oversight committee has a plan for matching sub-500 teams with bowls if there are not enough bowl-eligible squads to fill all 80 spots. “Bowl-eligible” means at least 6 wins. Perhaps a better perspective would be for the NCAA to look at all those bowl games and start to whittle them down for the sake of credibility. Bowls used to represent a “reward” for a successful season. That’s no longer the case when non-winning, 6-6 records–or worse–will send teams bowling.

* You know what still seems weird?  Tony Dungy will deservedly be back on the Pro Football Hall of Fame ballot this year–and he was fired by the Bucs.

* When it comes to St. Petersburg and the Rays, maybe the best approach is that of City Council Chairman Charlie Gerdes. He says the sooner the city lets the Rays look elsewhere, the sooner the Rays will see for themselves that St. Pete is the best location.

No, I don’t agree with his reasoning, but if that rationale can carry the day, the better off everybody will be. And that includes would-be developers eying the Tropicana Field acreage for scenarios that don’t include baseball.

* Because I live here, I hope the teams based here do well–from USF and UT to the Rays, Bolts and Bucs. But the Bucs are a challenge to watch. That’s because it’s the National Football League. That’s because network cameras and preening players find each other after every play.

Regardless of context, there’s always something to self-congratulate, someone to denigrate. Football as lounge act.

* Ronda Rousey lost the other night and it warranted a (sports) page-one, above-the-fold piece in the Tampa Bay Times. Twitter had gone crazy with the news that the icon of mixed martial arts had been defeated. Not unlike Serena Williams, she was bigger than her sport, it was noted. A mixed media marvel. Lady Gaga and Donald Trump even chimed in. It was THAT huge.

My reaction: Who? What? I was reminded yet again that I can still be a pop-culture alien.

I mean how slow a news day was it that this was page-one stuff? Moreover, isn’t mixed martial arts, which features punching and kicking, what used to be called a street fight or an ugly brawl? Often of the drunken variety. Now it’s a sport with millions of fans and a billion Google results.

Hell, I had a problem rooting for the rags-to-riches Hillary Swank in “Million Dollar Baby.” Something about, “You go, girl, kick her ass” that seemed more off-putting exercise than inspirational, Horatio Alger tale.

* ESPN analyst and Pro Football Hall of Famer Cris Carter made news with some candid comments about white NFL receivers. He implied they were victims of racial stereotyping and that they don’t get enough credit “for their athleticism.”

Among those not needing Carter’s commentary: the New England Patriots.

* A bonus from U.S.-Cuba rapprochement would be a Major League Baseball team going to the island for an exhibition game–probably playing the Cuban national team–this spring. And the Tampa Bay Rays were chosen by MLB to be that team if details can be worked out. How appropriate. Maybe it will remind Cuban officials that this area, notably this city–with its impressive historical Havana roots–should also be chosen for a consulate. Had to work that in.

* USF is bowl eligible. The St. Petersburg Bowl never looked so good.

* There were a number of Dallas Cowboys fans at the Bucs game last Sunday. Hard to believe that many made the trip from Texas to see the 2-6 Cowboys play the 3-5 Bucs. But if so, thanks for visiting. If not, how do you live here and still root for this outfit against the home team?

* Berkeley High senior Declan Farmer is a finalist for the U.S. male paralympic athlete of the year award. Farmer was the leading scorer for the U.S. sled hockey team that won the gold medal at the International Paralympic World Championship. The winner will be announced Dec. 10.

* Former Wharton High quarterback Chase Litton, a Marshall University freshman, threw for nearly 500 yards and two touchdowns in Marshall’s 34-10 win over Charlotte.

* It’s a down year for UCF football, as the Knights remain winless into mid-November. But here’s a major consolation for the athletic department: According to NCAA data, UCF is No. 1 among Division 1A public universities for graduation success rate (93 percent). UCF is No. 6 overall, trailing only Duke, Notre Dame, Stanford, Northwestern and Boston College, all private schools.

* Speaking of graduation rates, check out those of the University of Connecticut basketball teams–men’s and women’s. The NCAA reports that the men’s team has a graduation rate of 20 percent. That’s actually an improvement; two years ago it was 8 percent.

As for the UCONN women, defending national champions, its graduation rate was 100 percent.

* We’ve seen this one before. A high school football coach in Washington who prayed at games despite orders from the school district to stop, has been put on paid administrative leave. The impetus came from a group of self-styled Satanists who had protested the practice. The coach is being supported by, among others, the Texas-based Liberty Institute.

Seemingly lost in the controversy, as is typically the case, is the inherent, ironic upshot. Not unlike “Tebowing,” such practices, in effect, trivialize religion. Shouldn’t The Deity have, well, higher priorities than acknowledging, say, entreaties over fourth and goal?

“Hunting.” Call it what you will, including the obscenely euphemistic “harvesting,” but call it what it is: an atavism. These aren’t hunter-gatherer times any more than this is the pioneer period. This is killing as “sport” precipitated by human sprawl into bear habitats and careless waste-management practices.

And speaking of “sport,” what part of spraying prey-attracting bear scent and sitting in a tree stand in camo garb with a gun or bow-and-arrow is the “sporty” part? Call it what it is: hunting for rationales.

Plus, anything that brings Ted Nugent to our state is inherently not good.

* Not surprising that the Rays didn’t formally respond to the proposal by St. Petersburg City Council to up the ante on what the Rays would have to pay to be able to look for a new stadium site in Hillsborough County. Not heeding the aphorism that a bad deal is worse than no deal, the problematic council provided further reason why all bets are off until the Nov. 3 elections. That’s when there’s the prospect of a new member breaking the deadlock by siding with pragmatic Mayor Rick Kriseman.

* This Saturday, the resurgent USF Bulls take on favored Navy. Now on a three-game winning streak, the first such in the Willie Taggart era, the Bulls hope for a program-turning parlay: An unprecedented fourth consecutive win and no post-game arrests.

* What are the odds that WFLA, Channel 8 will renew its deal with the Bucs to host “Bucs Bonus Monday” and “The Lovie Lowdown?” It’s got to be the most awkward four minutes on local TV as Lovie Smith tries to explain to Dan Lucas how the Bucs lost yet another game.

* “For The Gators.” Look who’s representing PED-suspended UF quarterback Will Grier: Morgan & Morgan.

* Call it the bat flip seen around the baseball world. Toronto’s Jose Batista hit a dramatic home run last week to beat Texas and then stared back at the pitcher before flipping his bat in preening celebration. Some fans were appalled, others liked it and many remained inured to such contemporary gestures. But one opinion that should matter is the pitcher’s. He’s the one who was just shown up by bat flippancy. Interestingly enough, that pitcher, the Texas Rangers’ Sam Dyson, has local ties. He’s from Jesuit High.

* Nice shout-out for the Lightning: The Bolts finished third in ESPN’s annual “Ultimate Standings” of fan-favorite franchises. That’s third among the 122 pro teams in hockey, football, baseball and basketball. BTW, the Rays finished 45th and the Bucs 91st.