Category: Sports

Tea-leaf readers among us are always looking for signs of what may happen in St. Petersburg with the Rays and their ongoing stadium saga. For example, could a city council that equates workshops with decision-making be changing its MO? After all, it recently–finally–approved a new Pier design. Could a stadium-lease epiphany be next?

OK, that’s a reach. But nothing says the status quo can’t endure much longer better than abysmal Rays’ attendance.

Time was when at least the Red Sox and the Yankees were big draws, even if half the house were loyalist louts rooting loudly for Boston and New York. Even that dynamic has largely disappeared. In early season visits, both teams have played to more than half-empty houses. In fact, the Yankees barely hit five figures last week when their series opener with the Rays drew all of 10,619. The next night was less.

It’s one thing for Rays fans to stay away in droves; it’s what they do. But now even Red Sox and Yankee fans are no-shows.

Good to see Farrukh Quraishi back in an official capacity with the latest iteration of the Tampa Bay Rowdies, even if it is a second-tier North American Soccer League franchise playing in St. Pete’s 7,500-capacity Al Lang Field. The 63-year-old Quraishi, one of the good guys of local sports, is the Rowdies’ president and general manager, as well as consummate community-relations asset.

He’s also forever embedded into the sports culture of Tampa Bay. His early tenure–1975-80–overlapped the elevation of this area as a sports market. He was a charter member of the original Rowdies.

The Iranian-born Quraishi was the number-one overall collegiate draft choice of the first-year Rowdies in 1975. Back then the nascent NASL was the big leagues of U.S. soccer. Quraishi, who was raised in England, had been collegiate player of the year at Oneonta State in New York. He was an NASL all-star his rookie year. He was that good.

Forty years ago, the Rowdies were the only big-time professional sports franchise in the Tampa Bay market. They went on to win their only championship in the original NASL. The NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers–and their number-one overall draft pick Lee Roy Selmon–didn’t debut until 1976. They didn’t win a game until 1977.

For a while, the Rowdies owned this market, playing in front of Tampa Stadium crowds that approached 50,000 when the New York (Pele-featuring) Cosmos came to town.

And nobody marketed better than the Rowdies.

They were an international bunch, who identified with the community. They were a diverse, likeable, societal hit, with players of various hues and foreign dialects showing up at Hillsborough County schools for clinics and at Hyde Park Village’s Boneshakers for pints with their fans, aka “fannies.” But no matter the PR effort, you can’t fake “nice.”

They also had one of the best-ever bumper stickers: “The Rowdies Are a Kick in the Grass.” And the NASL even helped out with rule changes, considered sacrilegious by FIFA, that included “shootouts” to settle ties.

It was a coming-of-age period for this market. It was also the forum for a classic primer in how to market a foreign, perceptively boring, sport to Americans enamored of baseball, basketball and football.

Farrukh Quraishi was a major part of it. He belongs here.

And lest I forget, the Tehran native had a wry, apolitical sense of humor. I still recall his answer to the question of how he handled Americans’ inquiries about where he was from–in the context of the Iranian (Nov. 1979-Jan. 1981) hostage-taking crisis.

“I just tell people I’m from Persia,” he said. “And they just nod.”

At some point, the Bucs hope Jameis Winston removes that asterisk that has labeled him damaged goods and a serious business risk. A sexual-assault suit and defamation countersuit hang heavy. You can bet that the Bucs wish his bad decisions had to do with deflating footballs.

Hockey is a fast-paced, adrenaline-rushing, collision sport with an interesting irony. Perhaps you’ve noticed.

Violence is embedded into its fabric. Such that teams typically have enforcers, because fights and intimidation tactics are an accepted part of the game. Media highlights revel in them.

But after the game?

How often do you hear about hockey players making a police blotter? A nightclub brawl? A weapons charge? Drugs on board. A domestic battery arrest? Virtually never. That’s for other sports with less actual, extracurricular violence during the game.

* He may not be the second coming of Wade Boggs, but another Plant High alum has made it to the Major Leagues. He’s outfielder Preston Tucker, also of University of Florida fame, who joined the Houston Astros late last week.

* If there were a “Manager of the Year” award for the first fifth of the MLB season, it would have to go to the Rays’ Kevin Cash. The team has been more than competitive despite being a limited-payroll franchise built on pitching that has been absolutely devastated by injuries. As in Alex Cobb, Drew Smyly, Matt Moore and Jake Magee. Then add in the likes of Desmond Jennings and Nick Franklin on the DL and several regulars not hitting their weight, it’s amazing this team isn’t mistaken for the Durham Bulls.

* Floyd Mayweather said on Showtime that he’s not interested in a rematch with Manny Pacquiao. The reason: “Because he’s a sore loser and he’s a coward.”

Just guessing, but that’s the sort of thing you say when you do want to induce interest in a rematch.

* So, St. Petersburg City Council finally approved a new Pier design. So, yes, it can actually agree on something important and symbolic to the area–and not just relegate it to a workshop. And you can bet Stu Sternberg is wondering if any other high-profile priority makes its consensus agenda.

* Call it the new normal at One Buccaneer Place. It’s been more than a week now and for the most part there’s been nothing to report on Jameis Winston other than that he appeared to be learning the playbook and getting comfortable at those rookie workouts. The lone exception: that defamatory countersuit he filed against the woman who had filed a civil suit accusing him of sexual battery.

The diversion of football season can’t come soon enough for the Bucs.

Plenty has already been said about the Bucs’ drafting of FSU quarterback Jameis Winston. It’s a calculated business risk.

We all know what’s at stake for a losing franchise that has been quarterback-challenged too long. But this is not Tom Brady or Joe Montana to the rescue. Nor is it Josh McCown or Mike Glennon to the breech. Winston, last year’s Heisman Trophy winner, will be a major upgrade on the field, a problematic presence off of it.

However, his first off-field experience as a Buc–last Friday’s One Buccaneer Place press conference–went well. He knew his lines. To wit: “My money is going to be for my family.” And “I’m rich on happiness.” Whatever.

Here’s the good news. The Bucs head coach is Lovie Smith, a consummate, Tony Dungyesque role model. If this were still the era of Raheem Morris, who cared more about camaraderie than discipline, this would be a bad Buccaneer–and societal–fit from the get-go.

Here’s the bad news: Derrick Brooks can only do so much babysitting.

* According to Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred, it’s not likely that MLB players will participate in the Summer Olympics even if the IOC reinstates the sport for the Tokyo Olympics in 2020. Basically, MLB doesn’t like interrupting its schedule–in the middle of summer.

Maybe another point is this: Baseball, not unlike basketball, soccer or tennis, doesn’t belong in the Olympics. The Olympics should represent the ultimate in a sport, which it does for, say, gymnastics, wrestling, swimming and track and field. But the Olympics are not remotely close in stature to the World Series, the NBA Championship, the Davis Cup and the World Cup.

* “What is going on in here? It kind of caught me off guard, but it was super fun.” Those were the words of Kris Bryant, the Chicago Cubs’ highly touted rookie, when he realized the Cubs’ clubhouse had been turned into a post-game, disco-themed victory celebration. No, Joe Maddon hasn’t changed.

* Tropicana Field has been called a lot of things, almost none of them complimentary, but now add “House of Horrors.” But, no, it’s not your basic pejorative. It actually refers to how frequently the Toronto Blue Jays lose to the Rays at the Trop. That HOH reference was part of a Toronto Globe and Mail headline on Monday.

* In last week’s three-game series with the Boston Red Sox, the Rays drew a total of 40,874 fans. That’s less than 14,000 per game against what used to be a rare, good draw here. Apparently even the local Red Sox fans are staying away in droves.

* The latest University of Florida basketball player to leave early for the NBA is sophomore forward Chris Walker. Used to be that those declaring early were college stars. This season Walker averaged 4.7 points and 3.5 rebounds per game.

There was a time when numbers like that would keep a player on the college bench–not prompt him to jump to the next level.

* Bad move, Skipper’s Smokehouse. The North Tampa restaurant, which is co-owned by FSU alum Tom White, announced a crab-leg promotion if the Bucs draft, as expected, controversial FSU quarterback Jameis Winston. Recall that Winston, who was accused of rape, also made headlines when he walked out of a Tallahassee Publix last year with crab legs he hadn’t paid for. He recently said it was a misunderstanding and that he had been “hooked up” with crab legs for free.

Winston can spin this any way he wants because he is a talented, entitled pro football commodity. The Bucs have to weigh his character and quarterbacking. As for Skipper’s, does it need free publicity this badly?

* It happens all too often these days. An athlete of some promise or prominence makes the police blotter. The University of Florida football team has seen its share. Now add the name of J.C. Jackson, a redshirt freshman cornerback and projected starter for the Gators next season. He’s now out on bail after being accused of armed robbery.

But the response of Gators’ new head coach Jim McElwain was, well, odd. “…We don’t condone any of his actions,” said McElwain, “and it is not something that reflects on the expectations we have in our program.”

Yo, Coach, get some better spin staff to help you. There should be no need to underscore that ARMED ROBBERY is not something that the UF program would CONDONE. Nor that ARMED ROBBERY doesn’t reflect your program’s EXPECTATIONS. It sure in hell better not.

Upon further reflection, how about this: “First of all he stands accused. I want to know more–and I will know more really, really soon. But if this is true, then J.C. Jackson is gone guy. There are no second chances after ARMED ROBBERY. None. At least not in my program. And thanks again, Coach Muschamp, for the recruiting coup.”

* Not a good sign that the Rays, after a successful road trip to Miami and Toronto, returned home and drew less than 16,000 to a Friday night game with the Yankees.

* We hear how tough it was for Rays manager Kevin Cash to break the news to veteran pitcher Grant Balfour that he was being let go. And that Balfour, 37, handled the news professionally. Well, the overpaid, under-performing Balfour should have. He now walks away from the Rays with $12 million of their money. However professional his demeanor, Balfour’s not giving any of it back to a franchise that can ill afford this sort of payroll debacle.

And, BTW, this one’s also on Andrew Friedman, the former general manager who was hired in the off-season by the uber deep-pocketed Los Angeles Dodgers. He brought in Balfour before last season after the Baltimore Orioles, who had signed him previously, got out of the contract after Balfour had failed a physical. That was a sign to all but the Rays that he might be damaged goods by this time in his career. He was.

Some franchises, including the Dodgers (with a $270 million payroll), can write it off as the cost of doing business and then keep spending. The Rays can’t.

* College basketball’s “one-and-done” syndrome is hardly confined to John Calipari’s Kentucky 13th graders. Three underclass members of Duke’s national champions, for example, will forgo further eligibility and head to the NBA. Plus, numerous players from elsewhere around the country are leaving early.

The reasons are two-fold.

First, the NBA stipulates that player eligibility can kick in a year after high school. The better ones, often nominal “student athletes,” can punch their ticket early–frequently after less than two semesters.

Second, it’s obvious that teens with barely a year of college experience can compete right away. And that, frankly, says more about the NBA talent pool that it does about the skills of many “one-and-dones,” most of whom are not the second coming of Kobe Bryant and LeBron James.

* Tiger Woods. We thought we’d never see his likes again. Winning the Masters at age 21–and setting a record (270) as well. Now along comes Jordan Spieth. Winning the Masters at age 21–and tying the record. One big difference. Speith is likeable–Woods without the arrogance and network f-bombs.

* This year’s consensus Stanley Cup favorite: the New York Rangers, who finished with the most points (113) in the NHL. For what it’s worth, the Lightning played the Rangers three times this year–two at Madison Square Garden–and won all three. It’s worth something.