Tampa Bay Football Goes From Bad to Worse
Adam J Locascio
Sunday April 1, 2007
This isn’t a news column. It’s a therapy column.
What in the name of John McKay is going on with football in Tampa Bay? This is getting ridiculous. I mean, how can a town’s football identity fall so far, so fast?
Tampa Bay has gone from winning a Super Bowl and an Arena Bowl in a single season to…well…here.
On a personal note, I love football. I love watching it and playing it. I love when I’m watching a tight game where I’m standing in front of my coffee table yelling at the television and I can feel the tops of my ears getting hot. My best friend, Jon, tells me I take the games too seriously and I need to relax. My response to him is if you aren’t emotionally involved in the game, how can you enjoy it?
So last Arena season, when the Storm pretty much mailed it in during the last half of the season, I was a wreck. “How could this happen?” “What’s happening with this team?” Yadda, yadda, yadda. When the Storm lost “pride games” to Columbus and to Nashville (you know what “pride” games are. Those are the games where the players say, “We’re out of it, but we’re still trying to win,”) I pretty much said, “F&%$ this, bring on the NFL.”
Now Tampa Bay had some expectations for the Buccaneers this past season. They were 11-5, defending NFC South champions and came within a garbage call of advancing to the Divisional Round of the playoffs. Chris Simms was the starting quarterback; Cadillac Williams was their Rookie of the Year running back, the defense, which was a top ten unit for nine years, returned. It’s time to pick up where they left off.
Well, they didn’t.
The Bucs got shut out at home in the opener. They didn’t score a touchdown until the third week of the season. Chris Simms lost his spleen. The defense went from 30-years-old to 130-years-old in about 15 minutes. And they’re 0-4 to start the season, en route to a dismal 4-12 season.
So after the Bucs are embarrassed on Thanksgiving by fumble-fingers Tony Romo and the Dallas Cowboys, I pretty much said, “F&%$ this, bring on the AFL.”
Right? Time to get back to the playoffs with the Storm! They missed the playoffs once in their history; they can’t make it two in a row, right?
They’re well on their way.
The Storm have yet to score 60 points this season. They haven’t been able to hold onto the ball. The Storm actually found some success running the ball with their new-found gem Rodney Filer, but lost him to a gruesome injury last week versus the New York Dragons. They’ve participated in more transactions that the New York Stock Exchange in an effort to find a mix of players that works, but all that seems to change is the names on the backs of the jerseys. The Storm are now 0-5 and showing no real sign of improvement or hope.
As a fan, the only real thrill I am getting out of this season is that fact that Orlando is 2-3 after similarly high expectations of this season, and that gives me a nice case of the warm-fuzzies that makes the air seem a little bit cleaner and the birds chirp a little bit louder.
It seems like football in Tampa Bay ends before it even starts. One second your screaming at the top of you lungs trying to will your team to victory, and the next you’re looking forward to the draft. I’m sure I’m not alone in my agony. The first quarter of the season has doomed both of Tampa Bay’s teams this season (a combined 0-8). How many teams who start of 0-5 get to the playoffs? Not a lot.
You want more depression? April 27, 2007 will mark the one year anniversary of the last time the Storm won a game. Ugh.
F&%$ this, bring on baseball.
