Bucs Humbled

We now know that for the first time since Raymond James Stadium opened in 1998, the Bucs are reporting slow ticket sales. They are scrambling to make concessions, such as offering monthly payment plans and advertising half-season packages. Call it the perfect franchise storm. A recession, ticket-price hikes, a non-playoff team and the departure of certain fan favorites.

 

But here’s an upshot. The Bucs have been humbled. For years a culture of arrogance has permeated the franchise. And it wasn’t unique to the Bucs. It’s an NFL thing. “We are the NFL – and the rules are different,” the public, in effect, has been reminded time and again. “We don’t have to make the case as to why you should patronize us. That’s what the Rays and Lightning have to do. But we’re the NFL. We make money even with an inferior product. We’re that special. We’re an indispensable part of America’s societal fabric. We defy the marketplace.”

 

No longer. To repeat: How humbling.

Gov. Crist And That Senate Seat

Come to think of it, perhaps Charlie Crist should have appointed himself to the senate seat being vacated by the eminently replaceable Mel Martinez.

 

Not for Gov. Charlie’s own sake, of course, because such a move would have been seen as presumptuous and, well, cheeky. But for the sake of Floridians who, having seen all that he hasn’t done for Florida, would at least have an opportunity to see Crist in a different context.

 

The Crist gubernatorial era, to be sure, is no crisis-management exemplar. More of a reminder that do-nothing, nice guys can finish first. But it shouldn’t be enough to merely wish that taxes and insurance rates would “drop like a rock.” It shouldn’t be enough to simply hope that Florida avoids a bad hurricane season. It shouldn’t be enough to opportunistically put your hand out and accept stimulus money to balance a budget imploding into a sinkhole. It shouldn’t be enough to pull a Pontius Pilate on growth management laws. It shouldn’t be enough to be on the side of the people vs. pythons.  

 

So, instead of having the voters ascribe George LeMieux’s proxy votes to Crist, why not have the declared 2010 candidate carve out his own track record in his own name and his own voice over these next 16 months? Arguably, this interim crucible is not the time to play Edgar Bergen or Paul Winchell.

 

Key votes on health care, climate change and maybe immigration reform are headed for Congressional climax. Wouldn’t it have been worth it to see how Charlie handled the moment – and the scrutiny? Wouldn’t it have been worth it if Crist were representing Florida – not LeMieux representing Crist?

 

And then Charlie could have hired LeMieux back as chief of staff/campaign manager again.

 

But instead it will be 40-year-old Sen. George LeMieux, R-Consultant, the youngest person in the U.S. Senate, and Charlie Crist’s Karl Rove. True to form, Charlie stuck with what was most self-serving. Even though the taxpayers paid the tab for his dog-and-pony interview charade. Even though LeMieux has no Washington experience.

 

But this surrogate-“maestro” hybrid does have a Crist connection unmatched by any of the other, better qualified candidates that were in the mix. In fact, his is the ultimate nexus.

  

“I know his soul,” explained Crist. How reassuring.

Recession-Proof Industry

First the good news.

 

It’s not just the movie biz, certain cut-rate retailers, Sarah Palin Inc. and shoe-repair and pawn shops that are staying solvent during these economically turbulent times.  Indeed, there’s an industry that is realizing the unprecedented profits it has been confidently shooting for these last 10 months.

 

Now the bad news.

 

That industry is the ammunition business. The impetus: NRA ads that have portrayed President Elect — and now President — Barack Obama as anti-gun, if not the anti-Christ. In fact, so anti-gun that his anti-American, stealth agenda just might include the restriction of gun sales and gun ownership. And it’s no quantum leap, of course, to gun confiscation after that.

 

For those keeping count, it means nearly 10 billion American-made bullets will be produced this year. Last year it was about 7.5 billion. Sleep well.

Kevin White Sleaze: Exactly Who Is Outraged?

Let’s set aside some of the career speed bumps and incongruities Hillsborough County Commissioner Kevin White has experienced along the way. Including those snazzy Italian suits, that drive-by military service, that questionable TPD conduct.

 

In fact, for the sake of (specious) argument, let’s not even concede that the federal jury got it right when it found White, 44, guilty of sexually harassing a former aide, then 22. And forget for now that part of the tab for this legal ignominy will be borne by taxpayers.

 

And never mind that a public steward doesn’t even require an actual resume when hiring an assistant with a certain look.

 

But how bad is it when you’re reduced to using the pimp defense?

 

And how good does White have it when the resultant outrage comes much more from media editorials than constituents and district activists?  

 

Two comments, both made to the St. Petersburg Times, are indicative.

 

Michelle Patty, a high-profile activist who runs a lawyer-referral service, had a racial take on White’s sexual harassment conviction. “I’m out in the community quite a bit,” noted Patty. “What I’m hearing is people are more outraged by the makeup (seven whites, one Hispanic) of the jury.”

 

Curtis Stokes, head of the Hillsborough County branch of the NAACP, saw the White travesty through a generational lens. “Kevin could use role models and mentors, but they (read: Les Miller) want to run against him,” pointed out Stokes.

 

With excuse-mongers, enablers and wagon-circlers like this, who needs to be overly concerned about what outrages the media?

Quarterback Meritocracy

It used to be that the ultimate, racial-stereotype position in sports was quarterback. The “field general,” the grace-under-pressure leader. The coach on the field. QB’s were croquet and equestrian white. Well, the Buccaneers have four quarterbacks and three of them are not white. And if the Bucs trade their back-up, and it’s rumored they just might, they will have three. And all three will be black. As is the head coach. No, it’s not your father’s NFL anymore. The league has its serious societal issues and its police-blotter embarrassments, but meritocracy has never been more apparent.

Kazmir Era Ended Before Trade

The Scott Kazmir era with the Rays is officially over. It was unofficially over about a year and a half ago when the putative ace became predictably unreliable with his pitch counts and mechanics. The Rays’ all-time leader in wins and strikeouts was traded to the Angels for three players who may never make it onto a Rays’ roster, but the trade had to be made. The bottom line: Kazmir returned too little for too much money. The Rays are not Boston or New York; they can’t afford to overpay and write it off. But had Kazmir lived up to his end of a deal that would have paid him a minimum of $22.5 million over the next two years, the Rays would have found a way to keep him.

Football Polls And Conflict Of Interest

It was recently revealed how unheralded USF made it into the top 40 in the recent USA Today/coaches preseason football poll. It was because one of the polled coaches, USF’s Jim Leavitt, had the Bulls 18th on his ballot. No other voting coach had the Bulls anywhere near that. Leavitt’s vote was largely responsible for USF’s rating. Polls, regardless of subplots and controversies, are great for generating publicity and fan interest. But it’s awkward for coaches who have a vested interest in how they rank their own team as well as those on their schedule, especially the ones in their conference. The obvious compromise: No coach should be permitted to vote for his own team. That’s an obvious conflict of interest and has to change. That said, go Bulls.

From Online To D-Line

Last week USF was anxiously awaiting the status of four freshmen as determined by the NCAA Clearinghouse. One player, blue chip recruit Ryne Giddens from Armwood High School had been cleared by USF’s academic committee contingent upon Clearinghouse approval. The defensive end eventually received it. It had to do with the seven online courses Giddins took as grade replacements to graduate from Armwood. Seven online courses in high school? Who knew?

Plant A Long Shot To Win It All Again

Plant High School has soared to uncharted heights by winning the 4-A State Championship in football two of the last three years. Even though Plant should be very good again this year, the chances of another state championship are much more problematic. The Panthers have moved up to 5-A, the domain of two-time defending champion St. Thomas Aquinas of Fort Lauderdale. STA was also the consensus top rated prep team in the COUNTRY last year. And STA is back on top of the national prep ratings again in 2009. And they solidified that ranking by traveling to Ohio last Saturday to bludgeon highly regarded Upper Arlington HS of Columbus, 52-7, on their own turf for their 25th consecutive win. The previous night Plant, with several injured starters not playing, opened at home with a 49-33 loss to Manatee HS.  No, never count out Coach Robert Weiner’s Panthers, but a state championship this year would trump everything that has ever happened with PHS football.