Sticks of Fire: a Tampa blog

I’ve been acclimating fairly well to Tampa Bay so far. The Democratic House candidate winning a landslide, the County Commission and state government being filled with Republicans, palm trees, rain in the summer, sunshine in the winter. I get it, and I like it. It’s topsy-turvy world on perma-vacation, only I can’t just sit around under the palms and booze it with the wife, I have to wait until the weekends. One thing I won’t do, is adjust to the local sports gods.

I am not a Florida fan (my wife is actually an anti-Florida fan), I do not care for the Devil Rays, I am completely indifferent to the Storm and I have actual animosity towards the Capitals division rival the Lightning. Although I’m a giant humbug when it comes to Tampa teams, I do root heartily for the USF Bulls. They’re playing Louisville tonight and I’ll definitely be all about the home team. But my blood boils at the mere mention of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

They weren’t even a blip on my radar until my junior year of college. That’s when Dan Turk (former Buc, R.I.P.) botched the snap to Brad Johnson (who won a Super Bowl for the Bucs) in the waning seconds of the Redskins second round game against the Bucs in the ‘99 playoffs. When I saw Johnson pick up the ball and try to run with it on his awkward stork legs, my fists clenched and I let out an unearthly, guttural howl. Our first non-utterly-crap season since St. Joe left the team had been stolen out of our grasps by 1 point, bad luck and pirates.

Then, in 2003, war broke out between LaVar Arrington and Warren Sapp over Sapp’s practice of running through opposing teams warm ups. Luckily, you could almost shoot a “Where Are They Now” episode about those two clowns.

The final straws came last year. For your entertainment I am including an old-timey Sports Illustrated story that details the 36-35 Bucs win over the ‘Skins, which concluded with Mike Alstott not crossing the goal line. Incredibly, the refs called it in his favor, even though everyone at home could see that he was wearing the wrong color uniform… and did not in fact cross the line. Also for your viewing pleasure, I am including a humorous video montage of the “Redskins Thrashing The Bucs In The Playoffs When It Matters” in the style of Tecmo Bowl.

Even though I’m actually paying to see two of the worst teams in the entire NFL battle it out for bottom of the barrel, this has become a rivalry over the years, and a Redskins victory in Tampa, in the year 1JC (Jason Campbell), is one that I would savor almost as much as watching Tony Romo get face planted by Philip Daniels.

So bring it on Tampa Bay.

Cross posted @ The Delightful Yank

Possibly related posts (auto-generated)

• wide web of (tampa bay) sports (7)
• wide web of (tampa bay) sports (2)
• wide web of (tampa bay) sports (0)
• ruling the local football roost in 2007 (8)
• plant panthers are state champs (2)