Gator fans are now coming to the sobering realization that not even Urban Meyer transcends an immutable law of college football. Overlaying a new system on inherited personnel, however talented, usually doesn’t result in immediate success – or instant renewal.
Quarterback Chris Leak, whose name actually circulated in Heisman Trophy Watch circles, probably suspected as much.
Much has been made of the splashy debut of the bedeviled Rays’ new ownership team. For openers, Stuart Sternberg, 47, and his gee-Whiz Kids — 29-year-old team president Matt Silverman and 28-year-old director of baseball development Andrew Friedman — dominated a news cycle that included the return of the Lightning and an undefeated jumpstart by the Bucs.
They cleaned out the Stygian Stables of Chuck LaMar & Co. and announced free parking at Tropicana Field for all Rays’ games. They promised to spruce up the Trop, update computers and — in a conceptual breakthrough — generally do things in a “major league” way. Obviously image and good will matter. Talk about a “Hit Show.”
They even issued new business cards – embossed with an “Under Construction” logo – but sans any old-paradigm titles.
And with “chairman emeritus” Vince Naimoli bought off and booted upstairs beyond the catwalks, it was all PR coup, all the time.
And speaking of the bumbling, grumbling, gaffe-prone Naimoli, the vincible one got off easy. He pocketed an eight-figure check and picked up a handful of hosannas for having brought major league baseball to the Tampa Bay market. He earned neither.
Sometimes you add by subtracting. He’ll now be paid not to meddle, insult or embarrass – not unlike paying Greg Vaughn not to play and LaMar not to general manage.
But as for being the patron saint of baseball’s expansion to this market, let’s not get carried away. Baseball was coming here anyway; the timing was imminent. The demographics, media heft, favorable geography and baseball tradition were not to be denied in perpetuity. Also unalterably changing: the Tampa Bay area’s perennial status as leverage for other franchises to legally extort new stadiums from their home cities – such as Chicago, Seattle and San Francisco.
And don’t forget Naimoli wasn’t the only prospective owner in the local hunt. Just the one with the biggest personal down side. Had there been no Naimoli group, the franchise arguably would have been awarded to the one headed by Tampa businessman Frank Morsani. That Major League Baseball didn’t choose Morsani in the first place is a reminder that implausibly short-sighted decisions didn’t begin with see-no-evil steroid policies.
That would have meant a real baseball stadium in the real epicenter of the Tampa Bay market – Tampa. And by sheer default, it would have to have been a better-run operation.
Unless you are a traditional metro market up North, where attending baseball games is part of the culture, winning is pretty much the only way to draw significant interest and sizable crowds. That axiom is particularly applicable here — given the uninviting dome depot, the skewed St. Petersburg location, out-of-town baseball allegiances and the myriad of outdoor pursuits available to Floridians.
If ever there was a time for “best practices”-enamored, smart young people – in the mold of Oakland GM Billy Beane, Boston GM Theo Epstein and Cleveland GM Mark Shapiro — to take their shot, it is right now, right here. Generation Wrecks has already had its chance.
Next season is still six months away, but the Rays will come into it on a winning streak. And on a “construction” schedule that is both short and long term.
Look for Sternberg to hire a savvy general manager, add payroll intelligently and create an organizational culture that treats fans as paying customers with other discretionary-dollar options.
Then comes the really heavy lifting.
This market is a unique challenge, but it not an exception to the ultimate bottom-line rule. Build a winner — and they will come. And then they will come back. Whether the home team is called the Rays, the Devil Rays, the Sting Rays, the Gamma Rays, the Aldo Rays, the Johnny Rays or the Bob and Rays.
What’s important is that the old regime is now the Ex-Rays.
As I watched a hard-hatted President Bush hammer a nail into some plywood at a Habitat for Humanity construction site in Pass Christian, Miss, I had a flashback.
I’ve been on a few HFH sites that were heaven-sent for politicians looking for the perfect photo-op. Newt Gingrich’s drive-by near Atlanta comes readily to mind. What’s not to like about being associated with HFH? It’s doing for others while requiring those others to also do for themselves. It’s an affiliation that transcends party labels.
Perhaps the president did more than a cameo appearance in Pass Christian. Given his plummeting popularity ratings, he can ill afford for the media to portray him as cynically using HFH for some cheap, populist, public relations boost.
But I hearken back to construction sites that featured HFH’s long-running VIP, former President Jimmy Carter. Say what you will – and most of us have – about Carter’s preachy, micro-managing ways, he was – and is – no photo-op carpenter. He is the real deal – a master woodworker and craftsman who knows what he’s doing and doesn’t want the media in the way. He does the requisite interviews because it helps the HFH cause — and then he’s all business.
I can still see him being deferentially cajoled into coming down from a roof in Houston because it was so humid and he was so, well, old and in jeopardy of dehydration.
And then there was the time – on the same HFH “Jimmy Carter Work Project” in Houston – when he lapsed back into Oval Office ethic. The project, involving about 30 homes, was essentially done. All that remained were landscaping touches and dedication ceremonies.
A couple of volunteers were planting a tree in a front yard. They were re-gauging the depth and sizing up the location of the hole when a disembodied voice rang out. “Now you’re gonna want to move over about four feet and dig a little deeper,” intoned the voice through an open window.
The unstartled response was knee-jerk and immediate: “Yes, sir, Mr. President; appreciate the help.”
Some micro-managing is better than others.
The early odds still favor Kathy Castor to succeed Jim Davis in Congress. There’s no reason to think anything is about to change the political dynamics in the District 11 race.
And if she is elected U.S. Representative next year, she will arrive in the nation’s seat of power uniquely prepared and equipped with an ironic perspective of Washington. And she would owe much of it to her experience as a commissioner on the dysfunctional abyss that is the Hillsborough County Commission.
How many Capitol Hill rookies can envision Congressional corridors, committees and back rooms as major upgrades in ethics, civility and bi-partisanship? Castor may want to consider some thank you cards on the way out of the Commission crucible.
A couple of months back channel-surfing landed me at “The Mayor’s Hour” on CTTV-Channel 15. Sorry, Mayor Pam, but this is how I find you and Jack Harris. I usually stay with it until Harris soon ceases being a cordial facilitator and morphs into a verbose co-host, often restating the obvious. Where’s Tony Danza when we need him?
Anyhow, the focus of that particular show was the Mayor’s Youth Corps, now heading into its third year. For those unfamiliar with the concept, the MYC is comprised of high school students who want to be involved in their community and are drawn to the pursuit of public service. Several were on hand to chat about the experience. None seemed liked budding Brian Blairs or Ronda Storms.
Actually, one would have thought the mayor had ordered out to central casting. These teenagers were uniformly well-scrubbed and well-spoken. No jocks; no cheer-providers; no nerds; no attitudes. Just kids you wouldn’t mind calling your own.
“These are students who are not already involved in 27 other activities,” explains Rebecca Heimstead, the Youth Corps and Volunteer Coordinator. “They are the kind of students who are curious and appreciate the opportunity to know city government on a first-hand basis.
“They have leadership skills, but they understand the need to follow,” adds Heimstead. “They also have a work ethic and can manage their time.”
The latter quality is critical for the spectrum of activities that range from team-building projects, regular meetings and community service to open discussion forums with Mayor Iorio and even the production of a monthly television show, “From the Corps.”
Another common denominator, says Heimstead, is that these students tend to have lofty ambitions, which are typically manifested during interviews.
“They’ll tell you they want to be the first African-American or female president or they want to be governor or an international diplomat,” says Heimstead.
One Class of ’04 alumnus, Nathaniel Betz of Temple Heights Christian School, interned at the U.S. Senate this past summer. Betz, now a student at Colby College in Maine, worked for Alaska Senator Ted Stevens.
And some Corps members get to travel.
Earlier this year Heimstead took several students to San Antonio for a national meeting presentation under the auspices of the National League of Cities. In addition, Heimstead also accompanied students to Washington, D.C. for a National Youth Summit.
“This isn’t the high school equivalent of resume padding,” underscores Heimstead. “They fill an important role. Their input matters. Instead of guessing, we’re actually asking youth what they think or what they want. And, frankly, it’s no less important to have adults see that youth can be responsible and creative.
“These students get to see how things work and be a part of it,” reiterates Heimstead. “These are our emerging leaders.”
I cite this now because the MYC is again looking for a few good teens. Forty Tampa students – freshmen, sophomores and juniors – are selected annually for a one-year term. Applications for the upcoming Class of 2006 are still available at city schools’ guidance offices – and are due by this Friday, Oct. 14.
So, if you’re the parent of a teen who fits the aforementioned criteria but needs a nudge, consider applying it. Tomorrow’s leaders have to come from somewhere. And they might as well be attracted for the right reasons.
The big news out of Ybor City right now is that Seventh Avenue is open again to weekend auto traffic for the first time in a decade. It will take a while to assess the impact of what is touted as another step by Tampa police to decrease crime in the historic/ entertainment district.
Suffice it to say, not all the bouncers are happy. But hopefully the net result will be that the lion’s share of the partying on La Setima will now be channeled into the clubs – although the beer-by-the-can crowd might not be overly receptive.
Meanwhile, a couple of other happenings of note in Ybor:
*Joe Redner’s strip club, Inferno , has closed after less than a year in operation. But not because it was ordinanced out of business. It was losing money, and Redner is, to be sure, an astute businessman.
The reason it lost money was that the concept of a “first-class gentleman’s club” was incompatible with all the nightclubs catering to the 20-something set.
It was the marketplace that shut down “Inferno” – not city hall. It closed for the right reason.
* Arts Ybor , the second-Wednesday-of-the-month gallery hop, had a successful debut last month. More than 30 galleries and gift shops are taking part in the 6-9 p.m. event plus the Ybor City State Museum, the Colombia Restaurant’s Centennial Museum and participating restaurants, boutiques and retail outlets. Also included: live performances, musicians and free streetcar rides.
Observed Ybor City Chamber of Commerce President Tom Keating: “It was good to see people with shopping bags after dark.”
*Ybor has seen a jump in film production interest in the wake of Hurricane Katrina’s impact on New Orleans.
If the Bucs continue their winning ways, you’ll be seeing more players out in the community – whether doing commercial endorsements or showing the flag at various fund-raising events. It’s all part of earning a high-profile living – and just living – in this community.
But special plaudits to a trio of Bucs who took time on their only day off (Tuesdays) recently to travel to decidedly unglamorous, PR-challenged Bartow to visit with about 200 incarcerated juveniles. Kudos to punter Josh Bidwell, safety Will Allen and backup quarterback Luke McCown for leveraging their relative fame for a low-profile cause that’s easy to ignore.
Their message, religious in nature, was that a productive life outside the Polk County Boot Camp, detention center and halfway house still awaited these young men. Bidwell chronicled the process of overcoming testicular cancer, while Allen and McCown talked of making good choices and jettisoning bad influences.
The Bucs’ bandwagon will remain subject to wins and losses. That’s the nature of the games athletes play and the fans who follow them. By all accounts, Bidwell, Allen and McCown have added a different kind of fan base. Not all bandwagons are the same.
When it comes to foreign policy, it’s understandable that the U.S. would have contingency plans for just about anything. You can bet, for example, that there are scenarios for a post-Chavez Venezuela, a post-Musharaff Pakistan, a post-Putin Russia and probably a post-Jeb Florida. The Bush Administration would be derelict if it didn’t.
And this, of course, includes Cuba.
But having said that, nowhere else does the U.S. have an appointed “transition coordinator.” Earlier this summer, amid considerable State Department ballyhoo, Caleb McCarry was named to this presumptuous post. His charge is to oversee and facilitate the transition.
Isn’t that Cuba’s responsibility?
Two weeks ago Donna Shalala, president of the University of Miami, came to town to sing the praises of campus diversity. She told members of the National Association for College Admission Counseling that the global economy demanded no less than students who have been exposed to those of different races, religions and backgrounds while they were in school. She cited UM’s student body, which is about 28 per cent Hispanic and 10 per cent black, as a good example of a university walking the walk of diversity.
And in order for universities such as UM to continue to attract a sufficiently diverse student body, they had to rethink the way they did business, explained Shalala. She pointed to UM’s Ramadan-sensitive meal plan for Muslim students as a prime example.
Other speakers at the Tampa Convention Center also spoke to the need to recruit minorities as well as first-generation students.
Well and good, of course. It would be remiss of any university to deign to prepare students for a global economy in a hermetically-sealed environment where everybody looked and worshipped the same.
What’s typically missing from such higher education gatherings, however, are those officials who also make the very public case for ideological diversity. It almost never happens because diversity at the university level is almost never defined outside the easily quantifiable, politically safe criteria of race, religion and ethnic background. And that’s because those who do the defining are all from the same lockstep liberal camp. And if you’re not, well, why aren’t you at Bob Jones University?
How illogical is it that where faculty and students are on the political spectrum — and the subsequent impact on their world views across a myriad of subjects — is rarely cited as a diversity priority? How counterintuitive is it that what university people actually think is a non-factor in strivings for inclusion and diversity? Shouldn’t preparation for the marketplace of ideas include a robust diversity of them as part of the educational experience?
How ironic that on the day Shalala spoke, the big news out of the University of Florida was the protest march, led by a UF dean, on the student newspaper, the “Independent Florida Alligator.” The newspaper had run a racial-parody cartoon featuring rapper Kanye “Bush doesn’t care about black people” West holding a “race card” and a less-than-pleased Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. The latter was reprimanding West in popular rapper parlance. As in “Nigga Please!”
UF officials didn’t see any First Amendment issues. They didn’t see rights – only wrongs. They didn’t see another way of looking at America’s racial double standards. They didn’t see satire – only insensitivity. They saw a politically incorrect time bomb that could make post-affirmative action, minority recruitment and retention even harder.
No chagrin-and-bear-it response when the subject has anything to do with (a protected) race. UF officials demanded an apology from the newspaper.
They certainly didn’t demand one from the activist dean. Nor did they demand that campus diversity include free and – this version of – unpopular speech.
But perhaps UF is making progress on its minority meal plans.
It’s now official. Army Pfc. Lynndie England has been sentenced to three years in jail for her sleazy role in the infamous, Iraqi prisoner-abuse scandal of 2003.
But she got off easy. For playing the pervert. For disgracing her country. For jeopardizing lives beyond Abu Ghraib.
Consider that England – out of fealty to a prison-guard boyfriend — further fueled the fury of the insurgency by helping to hand al-Qaeda and the rest of the Muslim world a PR coup that did American credibility untold harm. To this day, Abu Ghraib remains a rallying cry, an anti-American call to arms and an emotionally effective recruiting tool.
In response to prodding by her counsel, England eventually apologized to the detainees and their families, as well as to American soldiers who might have suffered in Iraq for her twisted antics.
But she couldn’t apologize to all the G.I.’s who were impacted by her sadistic actions. Some undoubtedly paid the ultimate price for her appalling behavior.
For that – and the ongoing ripple effects — she got three years. Sleazy off easy.
At the very least she should spend them in Abu Ghraib. Leashes, masks and cameras to be provided.