Over your mild December morning breakfast of chilled Auburndale orange juice, Pasco County eggs fried straight up and spilled over a small heap of West Florida grits, buttered biscuits with Bartow guava jelly, and glass chilled Okeechobee milk, these additives:
‘’Glad to see you’re staying young by swimming with the kids at the Palma Ceia Country Club pool. I run and get passed by the kids in 5K races at Clermont Hills. Aging isn’t all bad, though ... The trophy competition keeps shrinking in the old-guy divisions.’’ - Ron Pride, Clermont
I know. I know. Come down soon and run in Gasparilla 5K and see how you get passed up. But, only the few at the front give a hoot. You don’t run to win, like I don’t swim to win - only, to live and be with those youngsters who have life before them.
‘’Been reading you since I grew up in Tampa in the 1970s and have viewed it on line occasionally since I moved to the northeast in 1967 for college. I have to say, your latest on the Bucs follies was right on target. Unfortunate as it is, the Bucs are not a very good team. Brings back memories of Richardson (I do that too ... name was Richard Williamson, coach), and the defense has aged. Offense still lacks a quarterback and offensive line. This will lead to a 3-13 record. You are correct, we are going to have another year with Gruden and see if he can turn it around. However, next year may make the pressure build. It may be the end of the line for the man who won the Super Bowl.’’
Coach Gruden reads the situation as we do, too. Asked me the other night, in front of others at a Bucko function, if I knew what his biggest mistake was and I offered, ‘’Sapp.’’ Nodded, as only he can not, ‘’You got it. Sapp was more important to this team than I thought.’’ Then, I took the opportunity to tell him how we in my business missed Sapp and his soliloquies ... and also missed the safety that got away - John Lynch. He hasn’t missed a beat since going to Denver. They would both be playing now, here, and well.
‘’As a Lakeland and Polk County native, I grew up reading your columns and enjoyed them. The best were fishing with Scott (Moore). I now fish with Justin (Scott’s big capable captain son) regularly. We are Dreadnaught boosters. How about them Dreadnaughts? We are also Gator fans and it is great to see Florida in the big game again with a new, young, but old-style coach. Are also charter Buc fans. I loved McKay (John, coach), even thought some of them were tough. Tom, the Trib guys are very negative about Gruden and Allen. Can Gruden overcome all of this? Do you think he is capable?’’ - A. Dean Boring
Great fishing captains, those Moores, eh? Gruden has fished with Scott (and Barney Barnett and me) in the past, with all three of his little boys. Would not hurt, if the coach would show some humility and looking ahead for his ticket-buying fans. I can tell you the owners don’t want to fire anybody. He’ll have to fire himself by losing the last two games embarrassingly and being a schnit about it. His biggest mistake, you and I now know, was believing the quarterback from Toledo had the right stuff. I think his biggest mistake was letting young Griese get away before the season began. He had the smarts, if not the arm, of his successor. Dreadnaughts had a whale of a year. Be proud. We are.
‘’It’s great to have you back. I grew up reading you in the 1970s and 1980s. Used to look forward so to the Hey, Tom! on Sunday and Breakfast Bonus. It is amazing to me that since the general futility around here, the Bucs have won a Super Bowl, FSU and UF have won national titles, USF is a major college power, and the Lightning won a Stanley Cup. Look forward to reading more.’’ - Joe Dayan, Tampa
And winning more big titles. Our place has truly grown in sports as a creator and sponsor of teams and events (three Super Bowls and another on the way, Paul Catoe reminds). I think about it all the time. When I became sports editor of the great old Tampa Times in 1958, the University of Tampa football, amateur golf and tennis tournaments, and the Florida State Fair Auto Races at Plant Field were it, plus spring training. We have only just begun, believe me, but this wonderful place in which we live has been great to those of us who have been here these recent 40 years. Ran into Clewis Howell at the Valencia Gardens the other day. He and his dad and George Strauss at the old Marine Bank gave the ‘’We Want A Stadium Committee’’ its first $1,000 to get going.
‘’Nonsense. The only reason the Bucs won the Super Bowl was they played a team Gruden had coached the year before. He knew what they would do. Most of the bonehead signings that ate up all of the cap room were the work of Gruden and Allen. Charlie [Garner] is the one signing that comes to mind that should never have been made. Gruden and Allen both need to go.’’ - Joe Smith, Gainesville
Legitimate point about the Buc win over Oakland. Having Gruden on the Buc side was a definite advantage. Of course, as you have seen these days, you are not the only person who thinks changes should be made.
‘’Please stop all the Gruden rhetoric. I guarantee if he gets fired he will be hired immediately. He is a great coach. He gave us our only Super Bowl. The Bucs have been cap-strapped. That’s not his fault. How can you criticize him and his drafting when he has had two offensive rookies of the year?’’ - Andrew Weinstein, Washington, D.C.
Sir, points all. Last year’s rookie of the year, Cadillac Williams, certainly won’t be the sophomore of the year. Horribly disappointing so far.
Thanks, all. Babaloo.
Before we dive into a mid-winter analysis of the Devil Rays’ projected 2007 starting rotation, a little numerical perspective:
*The 30 major-league teams averaged slightly more than 10 starters used in 2006. The Rays used 12 starters.
*Of the 302 pitchers who started games in 2006, 45 pitched more than 200 innings. None of those 45 pitched for the Devil Rays.
*Of those 45, eight (Cleveland’s Cliff Lee, Pittsburgh’s Zach Duke, the Angels’ Ervin Santana, Milwaukee’s Dave Bush and Chris Capuano, Oakland’s Dan Haren, Detroit’s Nate Robertson and the Yankees’ Chien-Ming Wang) made less than $1 million.
*The above-mentioned pitchers made $3.492 million combined in 2006.
What are we getting at here? A couple of things.
Since all any Bucs fan cares about right now is the quarterback position, let me get all the other stuff about Sunday’s game out of the way quickly. If I start sounding like Peter King, please accept my most humble apologies.
- Three sacks from the defensive line is a good day. Greg Spires is playing better now than he has at any other time this season. But the Bucs should still seek an upgrade in the offseason.
- Derrick Brooks took another step backwards Sunday. He was beaten several times by Desmond Clark. Even Chicago fullback James McKie caught five passes for 34 yards. Most of those are Brooks’s responsibility. I understand he had some kind of leg injury, but if he’s going to be on the field, he’s got to perform at 100%. Monte Kiffin should have seen that he was struggling and let him rest in favor of Jamie Winborn. Either way, though, Brooks is getting slower.
- Jermaine Phillips, again, consistently got beaten in coverage but was tough against the run. Except, of course, when Cedric Benson treated Phillips like he was something foul stuck to the bottom of his shoe while bulldozing his way to the goalline.
- Maurice Stovall: Stop whatever it is you are doing and apologize to your team for your taunting penalty. That is a stupid penalty by anyone, but especially by a rookie who has caught exactly four passes in his career and has done nothing to deserve to taunt anyone else over. You too, Trueblood. You need to send Robbie Gould a fruit basket for missing that field goal after your unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.
More than anything, though, this game showed that the Bucs are still capable of giving 100%, even in a season as hopeless as this one. At 24-3, I really expected to see half an effort from everyone until the clock burned away. And while the performance wasn’t always great, you could actually see the effort this time. Unlike the movies, though, all the effort and heart in the world can’t make up for a 12 minute time-of-possession gap.
Ok, so I guess that crack I made last week about Tim Rattay not being able to provide a spark was wrong. Bruce Gradkowski‘s evaluation time officially ended on Sunday, Jon Gruden having seen enough to know that he needs more time with a clipboard and probably a strength coach. And it looks like Rattay will start for the last two games of the season. But then what?
What a predicament Rattay put Gruden in by performing well. Gruden could have brought in his cagey veteran and had him and Chris Simms compete for the starting job while Luke McCown and Gradkowski took turns spiking each other’s Gatorade with the hope of cementing the opportunity to be employed as an emergency quarterback by a 3-13 team (and, of course, the Bucs aren’t cutting Gradkowski next season, so all that would serve to do is cruelly tease McCown as the rest of the league staffs their rosters.) But if Rattay maintains his current pace, he’ll wipe the floor with Simms and Gradkowski statistically this season, and that’s hard to ignore. Looking back on Rattay’s career, he’s not bad. 82.9 passer rating, 60.% completion rate, 27 TDs to 19 INTs. All those are better than the careers of the other three quarterbacks the Bucs employ. But a nasty stigma followed Rattay from San Francisco, where the decline of the 49ers coincides perfectly with his succession to the starting QB position. Combine that with Rattay’s poor preseason performance and Gradkowski’s excellent one, and you can see how one might just come to the conclusion that Rattay, you know… sucks. I guess not so much.
But some, right? After all, that game was perfectly winnable without overtime. Rattay had the ball at midfield, 1:51 on the clock and a kicker who pounded a 62-yarder earlier in the season. Three and out. Then in overtime: fumble (not his fault), three and out, three and out, Gould kicks and wins. Thanks for leading the comeback, Tim, but the team really needed to close it out with a victory to have something to hang their helmets on.
The upcoming Browns game should further boost Rattay’s resume and then in January, Gruden has some tough decisions to make at quarterback. I’m not jumping on any Tim Rattay bandwagon here. I just want a quarterback that can back up their potential with some actual production in the clutch.
(Funny thought: Tim Rattay’s own personal hell actually has a chance of coming true next season if the Bucs rip Jeff Garcia away from the Eagles and he wins the starting QB job over Rattay, who gets relegated to watching the back of Garcia’s bald head from his backup spot on the depth chart… the exact same way he spent 2000-2003 with the 49ers. Rattay would actually need IVs at each halftime to replenish the fluids he would cry out on the sidelines.)
BY NICK WILLIAMS and RAY REYES
of The Tampa Tribune
PLANT CITY - School officials from Brandon and Plant City hope to find a videotape from Friday night’s prep basketball game between the eastern Hillsborough County rivals.
But they won’t be breaking down offenses or correcting official statistics. They hope to identify fans who stormed the court to join a fight between players.
Witnesses say as many as 50 people ran onto the Plant City High School court to join the fight, which resulted in the cancellation of the game and penalties for many of the players.
Until an investigation by the Florida High School Athletic Association is complete, the entire Brandon boys basketball team and five starters from Plant City have been suspended. Officials called the game with Brandon leading 2-0 and a Plant City player at the free-throw line.
“Altercations are going to happen in basketball,” Brandon coach Mark Hermann said. “You sit [the players] down, give them a technical or eject them, and the game goes on. The biggest problem was that 40 to 50 Plant City fans were running onto the floor.”
Plant City athletic director Dina Langston also bemoaned the fans’ involvement. “What’s unfortunate is the crowd entered the court,” Langston said.
An FHSAA official said he has received a report from the game official and one from each school, but no one has presented a videotape. The Brandon and Plant City athletic departments are working together to find one.
“At this time, we are trying to find out for ourselves,” Langston said.
“We’re just trying to see who should be punished and who shouldn’t be,” Brandon athletic director Johnny Bush said. “We’re hoping a parent comes forth.”
Langston said the school’s “filmers were not at the game yet” when the brawl began.
Hillsborough County Sheriff’ Office spokeswoman Debbie Carter said there were two deputies in the gym, and their first concern was to disperse the crowd and protect the players.
A crowd followed the first fans to walk onto the floor. “It happened too quickly” to identify suspects and make arrests, Carter said, adding that deputies also would be interested in a videotape of the game.
‘Absolutely Scary’
Seffner resident and longtime youth basketball coach Joseph Williams went to Friday night’s game because he thought it would be a thrilling matchup. Brandon was 7-2 in regular-season play; Plant City was 5-1.
Instead, he witnessed a melee.
“It was scary, absolutely scary,” Williams said.
Williams said Plant City fans taunted Brandon player Mike Brown before the game. The incident appeared to be triggered when Brown and a Plant City player were jawing at each other on the court, Williams said. When the players started pushing and shoving, a small group of fans from the home side ran onto the court. Dozens followed, swarming around the Brandon players, he said.
“This is the first time I’ve seen something like this and hopefully it’s the last,” Williams said.
He sent his written account to Bush, the Brandon athletic director. In that account, he said the fans were physically attacking Brandon players. “Even as the Brandon players turned to walk away to avoid confrontation, the attackers were hitting them in their backs and heads,” he wrote.
The entire altercation lasted about three minutes, Williams said.
No Serious Injuries
No serious injuries were reported. Carter said a 19-year-old person, not a player, was treated at a hospital and released.
Both schools were scheduled to play in holiday tournaments this week and next. Langston said Plant City still will participate in its scheduled tournaments, while Brandon will have to await the FHSAA’s decision before its next game during the Hooters Shootout in St. Petersburg on Dec. 27.
“Hopefully we’ll get a favorable outcome,” Bush said.
“We know who some of the kids involved are and it’s under investigation,” Hillsborough County schools spokesman Steve Hegarty said. “No disciplinary action will take place until we get back from break,” on Jan. 3.
Reporter Nick Williams can be reached at (813) 865-4848 or nwilliams@tampatrib.com. Reporter Ray Reyes can be reached at rreyes@tampatrib.com or (813) 865-4433.
Dear Frank,
I’ll be visiting St. Pete Beach for a few days later this week and am wondering if you can share some wisdom with someone who will probably
not read your column very often. I am from Michigan and thus have no concept of species, technique, location or lure for saltwater. I would prefer to wade in the salt or fish from a conoe in a river. Any suggestions?—Dave Sons
Dave:
I’d suggest going to the northeast side of the Sunshine Skyway and wading what is known as the Clam Bar there. It stretches for over a mile off to the southeast. Use a soft plastic jerkbait on a single hook, or a DOA Shrimp, or a Mirrolure Mirrodine, and cast to holes and channel edges. If you have a canoe or rent one, you might go to Double Branch Park off Hillsboough Avenue and fish the holes in that creek--usually very good at this time of year. Live shrimp will be the best bet there. Tight lines, FS
Can’t wait until Saturday to find out who will win the Papajohns.com Bowl? Well, according to AccuScore.com, a sports simulation website, the Bulls would defeat East Carolina 62 percent of the time based on more than 10,000 game simulations. AccuScore.com did more than 10,000 simulations for each bowl game for ESPN.com, calculating how each team’s performance changes in response to game conditions and opponent’s abilities. Each game is simulated one play at a time and the game is replayed a minimum of 10,000 times to generate forecasted winning percentages and player statistics. Of course, in one game anything can happen.
Based on the 10,000 simulations, AccuScore.com calculated an average final score of USF 24.2, ECU 19.9. It also provided the following simulated average player stats (sounds like they believe there won’t be much offense):
USF Passing: Matt Grothe (199 yards passing, 64.5 completion percentage, 1 TD, 1 INT); Pat Julmiste (4 yards, 62.6%). ECU: James Pinkney (170 yards, 60.8%, 1 TD, 1 INT), Rob Kass (2 yards, 38.2%).
USF Rushing: Grothe (13 carries, 46 yards, 1 TD), Ben Williams (8-29). ECU: Brandon Fractious (12-47), Chris Johnson (7-25).
USF Receiving: Ean Randolph (3 for 32 yards), Taurus Johnson (2-32). ECU: Aundrea Allison (6-55), Phillip Henry (3-32).
And, for what it’s worth, 79 percent of the more than 13,000 individuals who voted on ESPN’s Sports Nation predicts the Bulls to win. That’s probably not that significant. However, the Bulls are gaining more fans in Vegas. USF has moved from a 3½ to a 4½-point favorite, meaning there is a great deal of money in Vegas being placed on USF.
University of South Florida senior SS Jeremy Burnett, who started all 12 games this season, has been ruled academically ineligible and will not play in Saturday’s Papajohns.com Bowl against East Carolina, USF announced Tuesday.
Burnett, of Jefferson High, was USF’s fifth-leading tackler (71). He also was tied for second on the team with two interceptions and his six pass breakups were third-highest for USF. Without Burnett, sophomore Carlton Williams, who started the last nine games at free safety, will move to strong safety and sophomore Danny Verpaele will start at free safety. Verpaele started the first three games at free safety before being replaced by Williams.
APOPKA — My mom took me to my first college football game. We sat in the end zone bleachers at Williams-Brice Stadium on Sept. 7, 1985 and watched South Carolina beat Appalachian State, 20-13. To the best of my knowledge, neither of us complained about the fact that playing a Division I-AA opponent would hurt the Gamecocks in the computer rankings.
I sat in the press box while she sat in the stands at her last college football game. My mom — Ann Black, the beautiful lady sitting next to the smart-aleck kid in the picture up there — watched her alma mater, Alabama, thrash Florida, 31-3, at Bryant-Denny Stadium on Oct. 1, 2005. For months before the game, I prayed cancer wouldn’t keep her from coming to Tuscaloosa. I underestimated how hard she would fight. She went to the game with my dad, her older brother and the younger brother and sister who years earlier had followed her path to the university after she proved — despite what everyone told her — that a mechanic’s daughter from Selma, Ala., could go to college.
Somewhere in heaven last Thursday afternoon, they fitted my mom for wings. She loved angels. Now she is one.
While my dad also helped foster my love of sports, it was my mom who pointed out Bo Jackson on the television and told me that, even though Jackson played for Auburn, I should pay attention to him. In those days, I had a 9 p.m. bedtime — except when the Dolphins played on Monday Night Football.
Despite her love of the game, she worried about her only son actually playing football. Still, she stayed calm when she arrived at the Lake Mary High football practice field one day and found her 15-year-old on a stretcher.
She called every Saturday during the 1996 football season to inform me — perhaps a little too gleefully — that Duke had lost yet again. Duke’s coaches briefly considered offering me a scholarship the previous recruiting season. After they didn’t, the woman who didn’t have a vindictive bone in her body relished Duke’s defeats. After I walked on at Florida, she wore my jersey to the Sugar Bowl.
In recent years, she kept the college football TV schedule next to the bed. Sure, she loved the “Gilmore Girls” and various other sappy fare, but she never turned down a good college football game. She even adopted the Toledo Rockets so she’d have a team to root for on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
She also went online almost every day to read what I’d written, even if it was just a silly practice notebook.
My mom knew I’d write for a newspaper even before I did. I was 5 or 6 when we went to watch one of the early missions of the Space Shuttle Challenger launch from Kennedy Space Center. During the drive, I read the story about the impending launch from the local paper, now known as Florida Today. When she heard me read the story, she had an inkling that my future lay in writing. Years later, the editors of that same newspaper kickstarted my career by offering me an internship following my sophomore year of college.
Of course, she was the sole reason I could read from that newspaper. She was, at various times in her 35-year education career, a high school media specialist and an English teacher. She spent hours reading to her chubby baby. She spent even more hours letting me read the “Berenstain Bears” series to her. She also taught me to write my name on the inside covers of the books. Despite her best efforts, my penmanship still stinks.
But — sorry mom, but sometimes it’s OK to start a sentence with the b-word — she did teach me character, honesty, integrity and the power of unconditional love. During the past two years, she taught me never to underestimate how ferociously a devoted wife, mother and grandmother will fight to spend a few more hours with the ones she loves.
I hope I inherited half her courage. I also hope I can make her as proud of me as I am of her.
TAMPA - A Robinson high school baseball standout, drafted in the first round this year by the Atlanta Braves, was arrested on felony criminal mischief charges Monday.
Tampa police said Steven Michael Evarts, 19, was in an ongoing feud with a 17-year-old high school player. The dispute involved who is playing what position on a high school team.
Evarts and two unidentified friends showed up at the teenager’s house about 3:45 a.m. on Dec. 9, police said. Using baseball bats, they smashed four windows and the windshield of a Chevrolet Blazer. The truck also had significant body damage, police said. The damage is estimated at $3,706.
In June, Evarts signed a contract with the Braves and accepted an $800,000 signing bonus. The left-handed pitcher was designated to play for the Gulf Coast League Braves. Last season, he went 2-2 with a 2.93 ERA.
Reporter Adam Adkins contributed to this report. Reporter Thomas W. Krause can be reached at (813)259-7698 or tkrause@tampatrib.com.
Evaluating – that’s what the remainder of this season will be about for the Bucs. Which players will be back? Which ones should the team work on resigning to longer and more lucrative contracts? Which ones should be allowed to ‘test the market’? Which ones should be sent packing?
Part of the evaluating will also be done in considering where the biggest and most urgent needs are, and strategizing to meet those needs in either the draft or through free-agency. The evaluating, then, includes not only the scope of the Bucs organization, but also the state of things with regard to players coming out of college and players that will be swimming around in the free-agency pool.
The evaluation process includes not only the things you can see on film concerning a player, but also a consideration of the intangibles – those things that aren’t evident on tape, but figure into player personnel decisions. Dollars and cents will play a part. A player’s health may play a role. All sorts of dots need to be connected. If it is done well, however, a turn around from the doldrums of this season could be pretty swift (as is evidenced in last year’s surprising 11-5 division crown).
This is the third Sunday in Advent. Traditionally, the third Sunday in preparing to celebrate Christ’s birth focuses on the ‘Joy’ associated with the Savior. His birth was heralded as ‘good news of great joy’ to a group of shepherds. Those shepherds heard testimony that this one to be born was to be (1) of the line of King David, (2) the Messiah – or anointed one of God, and (3) the Lord, a title that God-fearers of the shepherd’s day reserved for God Himself. They were further told that a sign was given: the baby would be found wrapped in strips of cloth and laying in a feeding trough. The shepherds looked at one another and said, “Let’s go see this for ourselves!”
Here’s hoping, as a Bucs fan, that the coaches and player personnel department does a great job at considering all the information; that they take all the testimony under advisement; and that they search out and attempt to see for themselves the potential in each decision to be made.
Here’s hoping that this Christmas season, each one of us looks to connect the dots; then go to see for ourselves the joy associated with the one born King!
Today’s text: Luke 2:8-20
What’s a bowl game without a bowl contest? It would be like watching the NCAA basketball tournament without having your own bracket. It would be like Papajohns without the .com. You get the idea. To make your viewing of USF and East Carolina in the Papajohns.com Bowl even more intriguing, here’s one final USF picks contest for 2006. Unfortunately, I’ve got nothing to offer the winner – except your name in lights or at least I’ll bold it in a future blog. I’ll do my best to scrounge up some Papajohns.com Bowl memorabilia, programs, etc. and send to the winner.
Anyway, if you’re interested, answer the questions before Saturday at 1 p.m. (or by Friday at 7 p.m. if you’re answering question No. 10) and include your name and E-mail. One point for each correct answer, except for the five point bonus. I’ll post my predictions by Friday. Good luck.
1-Will USF defeat East Carolina by more than 3½ points?
2-Will USF score more than 24½ points?
3-Will East Carolina score more than 15½ points?
4-Will USF QB Matt Grothe have more than 299½ yards total offense?
5-Will USF score a touchdown in the first quarter?
6-Who will score USF’s first bowl points? Delbert Alvarado, Marcus Edwards, S.J. Green, Matt Grothe, Amarri Jackson, Taurus Johnson, Amp Hill, Ricky Ponton, Ean Randolph, Ben Williams or the field (any player not mentioned).
7-Will USF convert a successful fake punt (they must get a first down to be successful)?
8-Will USF make a field goal longer than 34½ yards?
9-Will the “announced” game attendance be more or less than 51,412 (By comparison, last year’s Meineke Car Care Bowl was 57K)?
10-What number will be greater: points scored by USF’s men’s basketball team Friday night against Missouri State OR total combined points scored by USF and ECU in the Papajohns.com Bowl (Must be answered before Friday 7 p.m.)
Bonus (5 points): Pick exact score of Papajohns.com Bowl.
Tiebreaker: USF’s total yards vs. East Carolina
The bet here is the Tampa Bay Lightning are close to being the contender that Coach John Tortorella, the players, you and I expected them to be.
They are not going to lapse into the awful circumstance of the football Buccaneers or the baseball Devil Rays for too long.
They are where they are - not near the top of their National Hockey League division because of generally unsteady goaltending, Vinny Prospal’s bum beginning, and the fact that All-Star Brad Richards, a slow starter, is a tad slower than usual. He’ll be fine, and further up in the team point total lineup with regular heroes, Martin St. Louis and Vinny Lecavalier.
Prospal (pictured) is off to a creeping start, with only one goal in 22 games. This man had 25 goals last year, 18, 22 and 19 the years prior. Tribune hockey man Erik Erlendsson, who knows about such things, believes Prospal will be just fine and quotes the player as saying “Everything I had last year went in,” but not this season.
In fact, this Lightning team is a delight to watch. It is loaded with offensive capability. The Tampa Bay guys outshoot the opponents almost every game, as in the loss to Montreal this weekend last. Prospal and Richards are not the only two not quite tuned yet. Ruslan Fedotenko and Bryan Craig need to adjust their sights, too.
But, clearly the difference in the Lightning play and the playoff play so obvious is the goaltending. In truth, the Lightning have never been able to replace the netman of the quality of Nikolai Khababulin, of the Stanley Cup champion team. A couple of tries were all-league flops. They are now having Marc Denis and Johan Holmqvist duke it out for No. 1. At the present it is a Denis lead, despite some recent losses he wants to forget.
“He’ll be fine,” said a Lightning official. “He’s been around the league. He’s no kid. He’s 31. We are counting on him.”
But, tending is the weak point now.
The delight is the shooting - the amount of it. Rival tenders have a busy time when they play this Lighting team. And, of course, just as fans love passing in football, they love shooting by their guys.
Tampa has a fine offensive unit that rushes the net area. It is that flurry around the net with Tampa players causing confusion that is the best time at home games, and then when the puck goes in the net, the red light goes on, the fog horn blows, when arena announcer Paul Porter and radio analyst Phil Esposito (who brought us hockey) scream at different octaves “GOAL!!!!!!!” The place goes nuts. Lightning management does one whale of a job orchestrating the off the ice histrionics. It is a fun place when the Lightning score. . . and win.
So here they are at this early point in this long NHL season hanging just outside the leaders. Right now they are not close to the records of the leaders, but the bet here is they are good enough to close it up and make the playoffs. Got the players - including a tender, in time, got the proven coach, got deep-pocketed, non-interfering ownership, a loyal, loyal following that fills the place unless they louse up.
The marvelous duo of Lecavalier and St. Louis (the coach said they may be the best two in the NHL), Richardson on the verge of bursting loose again, and Prospal says he knows he’s off his game but he also knows he’ll get back on it, the tender Denis (said by his coach to have what it takes), and this area so happy to have a winner somewhere (other than Florida football and basketball and baseball, Lakeland and Plant football), the Lightning are obliged to win. Our people and assorted politicians and others worked so hard to get this franchise and this facility for those on the Tampa ice not yet playing as they have demonstrated they can, is a bummer. The Bucs did it too long, but that can’t go on, either. Area won’t allow it. This is not a losing place.
The people got the facilities for these sports and got the sports-the franchises, all hits in the hearts of Tampa Bay patrons.
Tortorella said of his team, to Erlendsson, “It’s frustrating we can’t get a little bit more support,” out of the other players. “To win in this league, you have to have little bit of support in getting something from other people.
“I think (Lecavalier and St. Louis) are the best two players in the league right now and we are not picking up points when we have them going the way they are (many of the others). That’s where your support people need to pick up some of the slack-the Vinny Prospal, Ruslan Fedotenko, Ryan Craig need to start stepping up. Although they are trying, trying is one thing and production is another.”
WRESTLING
By EDDIE DANIELS
The Tampa Tribune
NEW PORT RICHEY – Springstead dispelled the myth it is a team full of individuals this weekend at the Gulf High School Holiday Tournament sponsored by Covanta Energy.
The Eagles blew through its pool of competition then handed host Gulf a 54-15 finals loss Saturday at Beaver-Hicks Activities Center.
“The whole team was impressive,” Springstead coach
Eric Swensen said. “I don’t know what he final scores of all of them were, but I think we were dominant. This is a great team effort because a lot of teams in the state talk about our team as individuals. The always say, ‘Springstead, they have great individuals.’ But we beat 20 teams here.”
This is the second consecutive season Springstead won the tournament.
Another consecutive occurrence was the fact Gulf loss its opening match of the tournament. This year, it was River Ridge’s turn to play spoiler.
The Royal Knights notched a 42-38 victory in the first round of pool competition.
The setback didn’t knock the Bucs too far off course as the team recovered to win four consecutive dual matches to reach the finals.
Gulf beat Tampa Prep 48-24 in Round 2, demolished Wiregrass Ranch, 76-0 in Round 3 and beat Hernando 44-38 in Round 5 to take the Pool A championship.
The Bucs then beat Pool B champions Pasco, 40-33 to advance to the tournament championship.
“Getting to the medal round after a rough start shows character,” Gulf coach Travis DeWalt said.
For Springstead, the tournament was a chance to see if all the conversations they had early in the season paid off.
“All this week we talked about this being the end of Season 1 – we have two seasons – and after Christmas Season 2,” Swensen said. “This is the culmination and we wanted to win it two years in a row.”
FINALS
Springstead def. Gulf, 54-15
SEMIFINALS
Gulf def. Pasco, 40-33
Springstead def. Naples Golden Gate, 64-16
POOL CHAMPIONS
Pool A – Gulf
Pool B – Pasco
Pool C – Springstead
Pool D – Naples Golden Gate
Reporter Eddie Daniels can be reached at (813) 948-4214 or edaniels@tampatrib.com.
The University of South Florida’s Student Bulls Club is holding a send off for USF’s football team about 4 p.m. Tuesday as the Bulls depart for Birmingham, Ala. The send off will be held on the west side of the school’s athletic facility at the student-athlete entrance. Anthony Mozzicato, of the USF Student Bulls Club, said USF cheerleaders, Rocky the Bull and possibly some band members will be in attendance. What? You need more incentive? OK, Mozzicato said there will be free pizza provided for Bulls fans - from Papa Johns, of course.
BOYS BASKETBALL
RIDGEWOOD 55, WESLEY CHAPEL 48
By EDDIE DANIELS
The Tampa Tribune
NEW PORT RICHEY—Standing outside of the Ridgewood locker room Friday night, Rams basketball coach Gary Anders’ face was drenched in sweat.
As he answered questions, he wicked away the perspiration—kind of the way his team wiped at Wesley Chapel.
The Rams fought off a hard-charging Wesley Chapel team to continue its unbeaten streak with a 55-48 victory at home.
“No. 1, [Wesley Chapel coach] Doug [Greseth] does a great job of preparing his kids. Land O’ Lakes pinned their ears back for them on Tuesday night,” Anders said, referencing Land O’ Lakes’ 76-60 victory. “And I know Doug has a lot of pride in what he does and he instills that pride in his kids. They came out and shot the ball extremely well and ran our tails up and down the floor in the first half.”
Wesley Chapel (5-4) surged ahead 24-17 on a Jamal Hall basket and free throw he tacked on after being fouled on the shot.
Moments later, another Ridgewood (8-0) foul sent Keon Critchlow to the line, where he hit one of two free throws, stretching the Wildcats lead, 25-17.
Anders then called a timeout, expressing his anger during the break telling his players – “It’s the hustle plays that are killing us.”
The tongue lashing proved effective.
Jeremy Killinger knocked down a 3-pointer less than 30 seconds after the break, which was followed up by a Derrick Zio two, cutting the deficit to 25-22.
Killinger then connected on his second 3-pointer, tying the game at 25 with 2:37 left in the second period. Moments later, Zio scored a go-ahead dunk and Killinger made the lead stick with another 3-pointer.
“Coach tells me to come out and shoot,” Killinger said. “He says I’m the shooter on the team, so I have to keep on shooting.”
The long range shooting kept Ridgewood in the game as its big man, Lukas Poderis, was held to six points in the first half.
Poderis ended with 16 points, while guard Mike Lawrence led the Rams with 17 points. Killinger finished with nine.
“I think that was a part of it,” Wesley Chapel coach Doug Greseth said, describing Killinger’s 3-pointers as part of a momentum shift. “They’re tough inside and I thought our players did a fairly good job with that. Like I said, they’re young, inexperienced guys. I’m not disappointed with our effort, I’m not disappointed in the way they played, we just have a ways to go.”
Greg Jenkins led Wesley Chapel in scoring, collecting 15 points, including two 3-pointers and 5 of 6 shooting from the free throw line.
Ridgewood pushed its Class 5A-District 7 record to 4-0 with victories over district rivals Brooksville central, River Ridge, Land O’ Lakes and Wesley Chapel.
This is the second district loss for Wesley Chapel.
WESLEY CHAPEL (48)—Jenkins 4 5-6 15, Manora 5 0-0 11, Hall 3 2-3 8, Stoner 2 2-3 6, Jackson 2 0-0 4, Alvin 1 0-0 2, Fuchs 0 2-3 2. Totals—17 11-15Asprilla 13 3-3 29, Cuedas 2 0-2 4, Sosa 5 2-2 15, Perez 5 0-0 10, Waters 5 4-5 16. Totals—30 9-11 74
RIDGEWOOD (55)—Lawrence 4 8-10 17, Poderis 8 0-1 16, Killinger 3 0-0 9, Salazar 2 0-0 4, Zio 2 0-2 4, Satram 0 4-4 4. Totals—19 13-19 55
Wesley Chapel 17 10 6 15 — 48
Ridgewood 15 15 10 15 — 55
3-point goals—Jenkins 2, Manora (WC); Killinger 3, Lawrence (R). Total fouls—WC 14, R 12. Fouled Out—Manora (WC). Records—WC 5-4, R 8-0.
Reporter Eddie Daniels can be reached at (813) 948-4214 or edaniels@tampatrib.com.
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