What we need now is a champion

Posted Sep 1, 2010 by Tom McEwen

Updated Sep 1, 2010 at 10:34 PM

It is time to suggest how the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will do in the season ahead.

They should be just fine. Anything good will be a plus and a surprise. Sports Illustrated’s Peter King, always sympathetic to the Bucs franchise, was here a couple of days ago and left with the conclusion that the Buccaneers will win a couple of games. Two. That seems to be pretty much the consensus in most look-aheads for the season. That is good - once again, nothing much is expected of these Buccaneers, so anything good is a positive.

All that coincides with the prediction here. The 2010 Buccaneer season projection is about as it was in the beginning, when Steve Spurrier was the quarterback, and continues today.

I mean, if the best-known player on your roster is a cornerback, as is Ronde Barber, then the expectations can’t be overwhelming. The Buccaneers made no great trades in the offseason, acquired no particular great players, and return the same newish head coach in Raheem Morris, then the summation of Buc talent man Mark Dominik at the end of last season continues to appear to be accurate.

“We are going to get better quickly. We have 10 draft picks for next season (this season) and they are going to help us. We are going to be very, very careful,” Dominik said. And yes, they have been careful. The Bucs are sticking with Coach Morris, with Josh Freeman at quarterback, and with their better players from recent years, plus a draft Dominik considers strong.

Dominik thinks his coaches can make running back Cadillac Williams into the star he and they want him to be and that the Bucs have a strong basis of sound players such as tackles Donald Penn and Jeremy Trueblood, tight end Kellen Winslow, fullback Earnest Graham and Williams, whom he hopes can live up to the name Cadillac.

Do not forget that the Bucs owners, the Malcolm Glazer family, have endorsed Morris by keeping him in the lead role. Perhaps one reason is Morris never stops talking — he has no periods in his vocabulary, so he is never giving anyone an opportunity to interrupt him. Morris truly has a machine gun commentary and a body load of confidence, so much so that he allows his leader to be a defensive back, such as Ronde Barber, a good one for that role.

This great city in which we live has gotten greater with the increased involvement of the Glazer family, with co-chairman Bryan Glazer, 45, apparently in the lead on behalf of his father, who has had considerable health problems. Bryan represented the Glazer Family Foundation to donate $5 million dollars to the Children’s Museum in downtown Tampa. Bryan also has moved to Tampa and bought a home on Harbor Island. All that the Glazers have done here is first class.

The family also is involved in the consolidation of its vast overseas operations that include the Manchester United soccer operation in the U.K.

The family seems committed to Tampa and its future, as was the late George Steinbrenner when he brought the New York Yankees to our place and committed his family’s future to that which included Tampa. This place is far better because of the commitment of the Glazers and Steinbrenner families.

Thanks for coming. Thanks for staying. Thanks for the future your sports operations assure.

Now, what we need is a champion.