How Sweet the Stands Sound for Rick Nafe

Posted Jul 8, 2008 by Tom McEwen

Updated Jul 8, 2008 at 07:49 PM

There is another major change going on at St. Pete’s Tropicana Field these fine days and nights other than the fact that this Rays team so long a loser is a big time winner on the way to a championship. You noticed it Monday in their first loss in a while, to Kansas City. The Rays fans outnumbered those of the opponent.

Should have. The Rays are winners, at last. They not only lead their American East Division, they clearly have a Jim Dandy team so excited about all this, including the bead on the playoffs in the division of the Yankees and the Red Sox, two opponents that overrun Tropicana with their own fans when New York and Boston teams play there.

“That was important to us,’’ said a man who knows about being on the wrong side of the noise meter. “May have been the first, not sure,’’ hedged Rick Nafe. Nafe is the Tropicana boss who is particularly experienced at being a minority in the crowd. Nafe was the Tampa Sports Authority executive director back in the days when the mighty Tampa Bay Buccaneers could not outdraw Green Bay or Chicago fans at Raymond James Stadium.

It was embarrassing.

In time, it ended, as will this Tropicana Park imbalance of the moment.

The Kansas City Royals are not going to outdraw, their fans are not going to outhoot Ray’s fans much longer, if at all.

“I know, I know,’’ said Nafe,  an ultra heavyweight of a man with an old soft heart. He’s a former Florida State player and a leader of that cheerleading pact. He knows winning and he knows losing from his Seminole days, too.

“I think,’’ said Nafe, “when the Yankees and the Red Sox are in our place we could be tilted by as much as 70-30, maybe 60-40 in their favor. Doesn’t matter, their money is good in our banks. You see the same mix of people at the Bucs games and at the Lightning games, particularly against Philadelphia or the Canadian teams like Toronto and Montreal. In truth, the draw from away teams has always figured in the money planning of people wanting to buy teams in Tampa Bay.”

“This great streak of the Rays has done worlds of good for us. What if it were reversed?’’

Nafe, not nearly the expert on fan prediction that he is on Porter House, says this young team is feeding on itself.

“They are buddies. They are friends. They like each other. They appreciate their manager. He is a calm man, a cerebral man. When we talk, him and me, we don’t talk baseball. We talk, oh, about business, the world, about the Beatles.’’ Nafe offered.

Out of FSU, Nafe came to Tampa in television, then transit, and then moved to sports administration, clearly a niche. He’s popular, has a wonderful sense of humor, a neat smile, no mean streak, and has learned to cope with losing, and to work with sports administrations of varied backgrounds and purposes—Hugh Culverhouse, The Glazer Family, the NFL, the NCAA, the public administrations of FSU, Florida, Miami, county commissions and city councils, sports authorities and Vince Namoli.

Nafe, a sought-after master of ceremonies, responded to a third call from Namoli. He needed Nafe, Nafe could use the bigtime job. He was married and had kids and a big house payment in Cheval in North Tampa, a fancy place. Namoli had his team in his chosen arena in St. Pete. It had begun.

Rick has been there these 12 years.  Now, just lately, have been the best of times. The Rays this year have done what they have done—won, far beyond expectations. Now, look. The Rays are the darlings of the big leagues. Don’t know how they draw in Kansas City, but, they are flat drawing just fine at The Trop, and at this rate, at this winning speed, are on the way to one record after another.

Bet a nickel that if the Rays are playing for the title at The Trop by season’s end, the Rays won’t be outdrawn…or outscored.

Remember, the Bucs of years ago, the Super Bowl times, were surprises, too, and, so was Rick Nafe.