Hi Frank,
Enjoyed your column this morning. It reminded me of something. Have you heard anything about the (possible) world record bass that was caught (snagged?) a couple of months ago in California? Seems to be a lot of controversy surrounding that and I haven’t read anything lately about it. Thanks.—Barry Lilien, Carrollwood
A: I spoke to the IGFA about this last week. The angler never submitted the application on the fish, probably because of the controversy regarding it being snagged. So, the old record continues to stand. Best, FS.
ST. PETERSBURG - It was almost as if Stuart Sternberg was prepared for the backlash.
The Rays principal owner emerged from the Rays clubhouse to announce that he was trading Julio Lugo—arguably the heart and soul of this Devil Rays team—to the Dodgers.
You don’t see many owners announcing trades. You definitely don’t see too many out-of-town owners announcing trades. That speaks to how important Sternberg thinks this move was.
Tampa Bay might have tried its best to keep Lugo in town. But it wasn’t good enough. The Rays were willing to offer Lugo a four-year deal for at nearly $8 million annually—which should have many Rays’ fans making a double take. But Lugo wanted about $11 million a year. Who can blame Lugo. With the free-agent shortstop crop that’s pretty diluted. He could make $12 million considering the other FA shortstops available are the likes of Alex Gonzalez, Royce Clayton and Chris Gomez.
“I’m genuinely disappointed that he won’t be here for the remainder of this year,” Sternberg said. “Having said that, he’s going to a contender. He’s got a good chance to show his stuff. He’s everything we in what we would hope the Devil Rays would be here. I would not make a commitment of that term or that amount of money unless he was a real quality person.”
Meanwhile, we have to give the Rays credit for trying—and realizing that they had to get something for him now—as opposed to waiting to take a couple of compensatory picks that could never pan out.
Obviously, on the surface, the trade of Lugo looks like a cash dump. But it might be the Rays making the best out of a difficult situation.
Tampa Bay obtained a power bat in third baseman Joel Guzman. And it doesn’t seem like he’s far away. One high-level Rays executive said he could be at the Trop when the rosters expand in September.
Guzman was hitting .297 with 11 homers and 55 RBIs at Triple-A Las Vegas. He hit 16 homers last season and 23 the year before. He started in the Futures Game, was tabbed as the third best prospect in the Dodgers’ organization by Baseball America and was ranked No. 24 in MLB.com’s preseason Top 50 prospects list.
All that hype, however, means little at this moment. Sternberg knows that. And that’s why he addressed the cynical Rays fan Monday.
“It’s headed in the right direction,” Sternberg said. “I personally, and this organization, have asked the fans, the entire region here and the future fans, and those who’ve had faith in us, to stick with us and have some faith in us. They have to this point and for that, I’m extremely grateful and I am asking for them to go forward with us on this step as we build this team and entire organization in the way we would like to.â€
Before we go camping, allow me to send along a thanks for the email that some of you have sent about the blog. THANKS!
And On The Third Day ~ Still no word from Patriots Coach Bill Belichick as to why Tom Brady missed his third day of practice. It’s good to see that it’s only training camp but Coach Belichick is already in mid-season form with his game face on his injury list. Let me guess, were it the regular season, Tom would be listed as probable. In the meantime, Matt Cassel is getting in some work with the first team. Now that 56 year old Doug Flutie retired, Matt’s one play away from being ‘the man’.
Bush’s Approval Ratings Soar ~ As in Reggie, who’s poll numbers rate a $26 million… and bring him to camp having missed only the first three practices. The Saints practice? Yea, I know, I was surprised too. But these are the new and improved Saints.
Who Can It Be? ~ Word out of East Rutherford is that Jets Coach Eric Mangini is waiting for his starting Quarterback to show himself. Asked when will a decision be made on a starter, Mangini replied, “As soon as someone distinguishes himself, that will be the date.” Dude, go with ‘Paper, Rock, Scissors’ or something! We’re talking Chad Pennington, Brooks Bollinger, Patrick Ramsey and Kellen Clemons here. Remember, the last coaching staff ran down octogenarian Vinnie Testaverde at a retirement home last season.
One Step Forward, Two Steps Back ~ News out of Atlanta this past weekend was that WR Brian Finneran was lost for the season to a knee injury. Although he didn’t start, Finneran was Michael Vick’s favorite target among his wideouts, catching 60 balls last year. Make no mistake about it, this is not what the league’s 27th rated passing offense needed to improve their output.
Hail To The (Next) Chief ~ The NFL announced the five finalists for NFL Commissioner: ROGER S. GOODELL, 47, New York, N.Y. Executive Vice President and COO, NFL ; GREGG H. LEVY, 53, Washington, D.C. Partner, Covington & Burling law firm; FREDERICK R. NANCE, 52, Cleveland, Ohio. Partner, Squire Sanders & Dempsey law firm; ROBERT L. REYNOLDS, 54, Concord, Mass. Vice Chairman and COO, Fidelity Investments ; MAYO A. SHATTUCK III, 51, Baltimore, Md. Chairman of the Board, President and CEO of Constellation Energy… Imagine that, not a preacher on the list!
Every prediction I read for the 2006 Bucs season all say they liked what the team did in the offseason, thought they made some good draft picks, and said the Bucs would do pretty well this season… if their schedule wasn’t so tough. “Both Super Bowl teams!” “Early bye week!” “Three games in 11 days!” Look, if I wanted to hear about certain failure, I’d be paying more attention to Martin Gramatica‘s training camp.
First, their opponents. In 2006, the Bucs play seven games against playoff teams. In 2005 they played six, and the Bills just barely missed. No real difference there. Turns out the teams that were supposed to be scary and give the Bucs trouble last year: Minnesota, Green Bay, Buffalo, NY Jets, Atlanta… none of them did so well. Besides the absolute pasting against the Patriots (which we will never, ever discuss again) and the shoulda-been against the Jets, the Bucs won their games against playoff teams. A team’s success in the prior season is not a good measure for how good they’ll be now, so saying the Bucs have it tough because they play some of last year’s playoff teams isn’t meaningful. Just ask any of the remaining Super Bowl XXXVII vets about the 2003 season.
Next, the bye week. The Bucs have week four off; pretty early in the season, but not ridiculous. And after training camp and seven games including the preseason, believe me, you won’t find a single Buc complaining that their week off came too soon. You know who else had a week four bye? Pittsburgh did last year. New England’s bye in 2004 was in week three. It turned out pretty good for those guys.
Finally, the three games in 11 days. Please put this in perspective before you get all irate. Under normal circumstances, teams play three games in 15 days. The Bucs essentially lose four days over two and a half weeks, and that’s not counting the extra days they get before and after that stretch. Everyone complained that the Bucs didn’t have any national games last season. Well, here they are. The price you pay for games like these is a weird schedule. This is the Bucs’ first Thursday game in six years and only their third ever… I think they can handle it. The Lions have been playing Thanksgiving games for years and it’s doesn’t seem to be a prob-- ok, bad example. But the Cowboys have been doing it too and they managed to have some success despite the annual Thursday game.
Anyone in any job will, at times, be asked to put in extra hours and work against difficult deadlines. Professionals suck it up and deal with it because complaining doesn’t help. Trust me, I’ve tried. If bitching about it was successful in the least, I’d be crying like T.O. one year into a $50M contract that I wasn’t being treated fairly everytime an assignment crossed my desk. Don’t use the Bucs’ schedule as an excuse for them before the season even starts. Being the pros they are, they definitely won’t.
Frank, as always I read every one of your columns and the daily column from the different guides. We now have 3 years of inside fishing experience and the articles and fishing once a month with Justin have helped. But I have a long way to go.
I have a question for you. I am using Power Pro 10# line for snook, redfish and trout fishing. Doug Olander wrote an article “At The Breaking Point†in the August Sport Fishing magazine evaluating braided lines and knots. After a lot of testing he is recommending the Yucatan knot for line to leader using braided line. I’ve tried the Double Uni knot for this but still have problems with it so I use the Surgeon’s knot mostly. What knot do you recommend for 10# Power Pro to 30 leader?—Dean
Dean: I’ve found the simple solution to avoiding cut-throughs with braid is just to double the braid, and then tie whatever knot you like. I use a double-uni, and have not had a cut-through in years. It takes a little more time to tie this way and you have to be very careful in drawing it down to get all the loops out, but one tie will last until you use up all the leader, so it’s well worth doing. Tight lines, FS
In the past two years USF athletes with the initials “C.H.†haven’t had the best of luck. First point guard Chris Howard, who may end up being USF’s best all-time player never to play in a game, tore his ACL for the second time in nine months. He may be able to return in January - then again, he may be out for a second consecutive season. And now sophomore quarterback/receiver Carlton Hill, USF’s most highly touted football recruit, is leaving USF for junior college.
Hill said Sunday he doesn’t know which junior college he’ll attend, but there’s a “strong possibility†he could return to USF in 2007. If so, he would have two years eligibility remaining. Unfortunately since Hill is the Bulls’ biggest recruit in their nine-year history, Hill also could end up being the Bulls’ biggest bust. Fair or not, Hill was touted by every recruiting service as one of the nation’s top prep quarterbacks and he chose USF over Miami – also known by some as Quarterback U.
“I’m not frustrated,” Hill said Sunday. “I knew it would take time to be a great quarterback like I was hyped up to be [by the recruiting services out of Monticello Jefferson High School]. My main focus is school, to get my grades and get my degree—even if football is not in my future.”
USF coach Jim Leavitt said Hill has to “make some better decisions.” Academic problems sidelined Hill during most of spring drills and then his arrest last month on misdemeanor charges for possession of marijuana didn’t help. Especially since it was made known to Hill to avoid the wrong crowd (i.e. former USF linebacker Devon Davis, who has been arrested three times in the past two years).
I first met Hill in January 2005 and, for what it’s worth, I sincerely think he’s a good person. He has just made some really bad choices. “He’s not a malicious person,” Leavitt said. Hopefully he gets his off-the-field problems resolved and returns to USF in 2007.
While at this weekend’s Florida Sports Writers Association’s media days, Leavitt touched on several topics: the quarterback situation, the UCF series, the Miami series, the impact on the program from last year’s bowl game and USF’s incoming freshmen failing to qualify.
Here’s a link to Leavitt’s transcript. Since pitcher Casey Hudspeth avoided the “C.H.” jinx, let’s hope nothing happens to sophomore tight end Cedric Hill.
OK, I’ll admit it: I’m now squarely on the fence. Call me a wimp, a wuss or something worse. I deserve it. But I’m now starting to see the Knight. When USF moved to the Big East last year, I thought the Bulls should end their series with UCF as soon as possible.
Now, I’m not so sure. Maybe it was hearing UCF coach George O’Leary’s reasoning for why USF-UCF – or is it UCF-USF? – should become an annual series. Or maybe at Saturday’s Florida Sports Writers Association’s media days I was bopped upside the head, drugged and brainwashed like Detective Nordberg. I must kill ... the Queen!
Whatever happened, I actually believe it wouldn’t be such a bad idea if the two schools continue their series for at least for another 2-3 years. If at that point, USF is 5-0 against UCF then let the Golden Knights start up an instate rivalry with FAU, FIU, JU or whatever other non-BCS alphabet schools there are in the state. I’ve heard all of USF’s reasons for not playing UCF: USF is a BCS school now, UCF isn’t; USF has nothing to gain playing a “lesser†school; USF should only play home-and-home series with BCS schools, yada yada yada.
O’Leary mentioned what a great rivalry it could become. And he has the numbers to back it up. “An empty seat never bought a hot dog or a Coke,” O’Leary said. Last year’s USF-UCF game in Tampa sold plenty of hot dogs. It drew the third-largest home crowd in USF history and nearly 12,000 more fans to Ray Jay than USF’s inaugural Big East game against No. 9 Louisville, played exactly one week later. Like it or not, USF fans, but you need those big visiting crowds that FAMU, UCF and Army bring with them.
I do believe the only way USF should automatically ditch a UCF series is if a proposed annual series between USF and Miami develops. But until then, a UCF series probably wouldn’t be that bad of an idea. I guess what I’m saying is I’m still undecided. So please excuse me, I’ve got to go: I must kill ... the Queen!
Each of the NFL’s 32 teams starts training camp with great optimism. Nobody sets out to suffer through a miserable season.
Like a great story, however, we really won’t know what will happen until we can read the next page. The 2006 season needs to unfold. There will be surprises along the way.
Some of those surprises will be wonderful – like a little known back named Willie Parker erupting onto the scene. Some of the surprises will be awful – like watching a team’s hopes buckle along with Carson Palmer’s knee. Some of the surprises will bring a strange mixture of the two – perhaps a Brian Griese injury that affords Chris Simms an opportunity to shine. To a great extent, the outcome of an NFL season will be dependent upon chance. We won’t know the outcome until the season’s story has unfolded.
Life is like this to some extent. We really don’t know what will happen in our lives until we live the next page. We can be sure that there will be surprises – some good, some bad. And we know that life’s surprises can bring about tremendous changes in our plans. There is a difference, however. The stories of our lives are not left to chance.
“I know the plans I have for youâ€, declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.†These were the words God spoke to His followers in exile years ago. These are the words He speaks to His followers today.
God is the great Author who composed this story we find ourselves in. He’s the one who gave you and me roles to play, and who entered us into His epic in just this specific scene.
He is the God who promises, “You will call upon Me and I will listen to youâ€. Further, He says, “You will find Me when you seek me with all your heartâ€.
Here’s hoping (no, praying) that this season will be one in which each of us will seek after the Author and Finisher of this great epic with all our hearts. For He assures, “I will be found by you.â€
Today’s Text: Jeremiah 29:10-14
BIRMINGHAM, Ala., AIRPORT (AT THE GATE WITH THE BROKEN AIR CONDITIONER) – Since I’ve got nothing better to do here than sit and sweat while I wait for my plane to arrive, I thought I’d post a couple of the better zingers from Florida-turned-South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier’s interview session at SEC media days.
Hold The Line ~ As the Kansas City Chiefs go camping it is without two bookends, tackles John Welbourne and Willie Roaf are both hanging up their cleats. Look for one of the leagues most solid O-Lines to be a little porous as replacements grow into those size 18 shoes.
Titan(ic) Dollars ~ They just signed the state of Tennessee over to QB Vince Young. With a contract that can rise to nearly $60 million dollars, look for Vince to rise from bench to playing field over vet Billy Volek (who?) because of dollars and cents, long before he gives the Titans the best chance to win.
Purring Like A Kitten? ~ In the Motor City, the keys to the Lions’ 2006 jalopy were handed to journeyman Jon Kitna. With Mike Martz tutoring Jon, and Jon’s competitive grit, look for the Lions to have a tremendous QB upgrade over last year and Joey Harrington. Joey? He’s in Miami now arranging evening cruises on Biscayne Bay for Daunte Culpepper and friends.
Medical Center ~ The Cleveland Browns suffered a tremendous blow as C LeCharles Bentley was lost to a knee injury, literally on the first play of his homecoming to Ohio after four years in New Orleans. What is it about draft picks and free agents and serious injuries in Cleveland? Reminders: Courtney Brown; Kellen Winslow Jr.; Braylon Edwards; and who could forget Tim Couch?
Where Are They Now? ~ Ricky Williams, Miami Dolphins RB and pot smoking aficionado, recovering from a broken arm suffered just a few games into his CFL season. At least they won’t ask him to tinkle in a cup north of the border! Eric Crouch, Heisman Trophy winner and NFL washout, surfaced in Toronto as a 3rd string signal caller. Consider this: the last Heisman winning QB who was told by NFL genius that he would never make it as a pro QB… spent time in Toronto, became a CFL Hall of Famer and eventually made his way back to the NFL. Hmmm. Flutie Flakes! Could it be? Then there is Maurice Clarett. Remember him? Such a great RB that he sued to get into the NFL before puberty? Remember? Well, seems Maurice fired both his attorneys this week, just 2 weeks before his trial on aggravated robbery charges. Look for Maurice to be chilling for a couple of years… then maybe to surface in a Bengals uniform.
Carolina Panthers: September 24 (home) and November 13 (away)
Head Coach: John Fox
Projected QB: Jake Delhomme
Team Motto: “Come for the game, but stay for our alcoholic, lesbian cheerleaders!”
Historical Record: 5-6 (from Bucstats.com)
There’s a guy at my work named Joey. I bumped into him a few weeks ago and it took him no time at all to start bragging to me about his new 50 inch LCD HDTV that he got for a steal. “It’s got EVERYTING!” (his speech impediment makes him pronounce “th” as “t” or “d”.) He insisted that I come over to his house to witness what television should be like. “Dis weekend,” he said. “It’ll blow your freakin’ mind.”
So, that weekend I went by his house to see this monstrosity. Oh, it was big. The colors were brighter and the picture sharper than anything I’d seen in real life. And the thing was LOUD!! He had the volume on eight and I had to ask him to repeat himself several times (through no fault of his impediment.) For your reference, the volume has a maximum setting of fifty. So, we grabbed some snacks and plopped down on his couch to spend the next three hours flipping through channel after channel of bright, crisp, loud… crap. Just when I thought we had hit the nadir of terrible TV by watching Jerry Rice in a dance competition, we flipped the channel on his ten-pound remote to see contestants snorting earthworms for the chance to win a date with the fake prince of a ficticious island. From Judge Judy to anything on Fox News, it was hour after hour, channel after channel of pointless, uninspired tripe.
The Carolina Panthers are that television. Ever since Keyshawn Johnson signed with the Panthers this spring, they’re all anyone in the NFL is talking about. “How can anyone stop Steve Smith AND Keyshawn Johnson?” they ask. “Smith deep and Keyshawn across the middle… how can you cover them both?” You’d think that by signing Keyshawn, the Panthers enacted some obscure NFL rule that allows them to have 13 offensive men on the field at once. Like Joey’s TV, the Panthers are now bigger, more colorful and definitely LOUDER than they were before. But better? No. They look great on paper, and even in the showroom. But once you’ve actually seen them in action, they are thoroughly disappointing. Turns out, all that glitz does not make for a better product.
Jake Delhomme (the poor man’s Bubby Brister) has the same stable of receivers he had last year with the exception of Johnson. Steve Smith counted for 103 catches and 1,563 yards, doing wonders for the egos of the other receivers Richard Williamson now has to coax out of buckets of Ben & Jerry’s (left behind by Todd Sauerbrun.) Delhomme trusted those other guys so much that he made running back DeShaun Foster his #2 receiver. Ronde Barber and Brian Kelly have plenty of experience handling Smith and Johnson, so while they’ll get their catches, don’t look for any big plays against the Tampa secondary.
Defensively, the Panthers are crippled with the losses of linebackers Will Witherspoon and Brandon Short. Kris Jenkins, who has now earned the title “injury prone” after missing 27 games in the last two years, will be too rusty to be effective at the DT position in the first game, and will miss the second game after breaking a hip or something. Those two factors will make for big running days for Cadillac Williams against Carolina, especially up the middle. I would also look for Michael Pittman to be especially effective in the passing game through play-actions and screens.
The Panthers had a nice run against the Bucs from 2003-2004, winning all four games. Coincidently, this is the same period of time when Dr. James Shortt was injecting many Panthers players with horse DNA. For the games after Shortt got busted, the Panthers are 1-1 against the Bucs. And the Bucs won the most recent one… in Carolina. I’m sure there’s absolutely no correlation (does this thing have a sarcasm filter?), but it’s not a bad sign of things to come in 2006.
So, you can keep extra color and deafening noise. I want substance. And when it comes to that, the Bucs have it all over the Panthers this season.
Frank,
After being born and raised in Tampa, I’ve taken the next step in life and relocated to the rural life of Southeast Georgia about four years ago. I never did much freshwater fishing in the Tampa area except when I was a kid fishing with my father (I’m now 54 years young). Saltwater was my passion and is still missed greatly. But I have a small pond on our property, @ 1.5 acres, that has some nice bluegill and specks. It also harbors some respectable bass. Just this evening I walked to the pond with a small Zara Spook and landed three bass in the 1 -1.5 pound class within 15 minutes. The next strike was a nice bass, in my book, of around 3-4 pounds; unfortunately after two jumps and some good pulling, my line broke. My question is how long does it take for the hooks to rust out in fresh water and do you believe that that bass will survive? I hate to lose a breeder of that caliber in such a small body of water. Maybe I should start using a leader but I like tying directly to my ultra-light with 6-pound test. If it wasn’t for TBO.com I never would know what’s happening, I read every day. Thanks, and keep fishing!!!—Earl Brown, Nicholls, Georgia
Earl:
I wouldn’t be too concerned about that fish—odds are it will survive just fine, unless the lure happens to be deep in the throat, which topwaters rarely are. I’ve caught a number of bass with plastic worms, hook and all, in their gullet, and they all seemed to be fat, healthy and hungry. If the plug is on the outer lip, odds are good the fish will eventually throw the plug as the wound opens up a bit. In future, though, you may want to flatten the barbs on your hooks a bit—this makes it easier to unhook fish for release, in any case. I’d avoid the leader with 6 pound—causes more trouble than it’s worth in fresh water; just keep that drag very light and cut off the lure and the first yard of line frequently to keep a fresh front section. Tight lines. FS
USF men’s basketball is looking for several things (wins, a renovated Sun Dome, a new practice facility, the Big East Tournament expanding to 16 teams, etc.), but according to a release on the school’s official website, the most pressing concern is players. The Bulls need bodies - somebody, anybody - to practice for their mid-August trip to Italy. The only requirements appear to be that they are a current USF student and have a pulse (not in that order).
The Marines want a few good men; the Bulls just want a few walk-ons. Just curious, though, why the men’s team doesn’t do what it’s done in the past when it needs players - recruit practice players off USF’s women’s team?
Anyway, the Bulls actually have more than enough players (14) on their roster this season. But after subtracting incoming freshmen, transfers and injured players, the roster is quickly downsized to six players - seniors Melvin Buckley, McHugh Mattis, Chris Capko, Melvyn Richardson and Eddie Lovett and sophomore Aris Williams - that can make the trip to Italy. Redshirt freshman Zaronn Cann also is eligible to make the trip, but hasn’t been cleared to practice yet after undergoing knee surgery last year.
Transfers Jesus Verdejo and Kentrell Gransberry can practice, but aren’t eligible to make the trip. The first game Verdejo and Gransberry will be eligible for is Dec. 17 in USF’s opener at the Duel in the Desert Tournament against Norfolk State in Las Vegas. Both are expected to be immediate starters. The Bulls are also hoping PG Chris Howard, who tore his ACL for a second time two weeks ago, may not miss the entire season. The best case scenario is that Howard could return by mid-January (figured I’d save some good news until the end to make sure you’re still reading).
HOOVER, Ala. – Our preseason All-SEC and season prediction ballots were due today at noon. They’ll be announced tomorrow, but here’s the ballot I submitted.
As you read, bear in mind that I picked Tennessee to win the east last year. Also, feel free to click the comment link and tell me how stupid my picks are.
HOOVER, Ala. – Our preseason All-SEC and season prediction ballots were due today at noon. They’ll be announced tomorrow, but here’s the ballot I submitted.
As you read, bear in mind that I picked Tennessee to win the east last year. Also, feel free to click the comment link and tell me how stupid my picks are.
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