just give him the damn ball
John permalink | categories: buccaneers, entertainment, people, tampa, things to doby John @ 9:59 pm
Mike Alstott’s career is coming to a close… The fan favorite fullback has expressed a desire to retire after the 2006 season comes to a close a little more than 2 weeks from today…
So there a grassroots movement has formed among Buc fans named GiveMiketheBall.com. It might not be the most impressive web site that has ever been designed, but it has it’s visitors and it’s supporters: Since being founded on December 11th, a petition on the site has had 2015 signatures in support of Mike as of Saturday (December 16th) night.
Though there is not much the average fan can do to persuade Jon Gruden’s playcalling, it’d be nice to show Mike that the fans care before he rumbles off into the sunset. Sign the petition, or show your support at games before Mike calls it quits.
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December 18th, 2006 at 9:21 am
OMG. More Gruden nonsense. That man has a blind spot a mile wide when it comes to Mikey. Almost as though he’s jealous that the guy from the old team is still here and the fans still ove him. Heck, he got rid of a lot of other guys we loved.
I’m sick over this. What a misuse of a great talent. Shame, coach, shame!
p.s. YOU didn’t have anything to do with that brave stand our boys made against Chicago yesterday. It was the real men of the team.
December 18th, 2006 at 7:07 pm
Mike Alstott must be the most overrated football player in Tampa Bay Buccaneers history. Don’t get me wrong: At one time, he was about as effective as any downhill, power-type runner in the game. But c’mon, people. That was many years ago. Alstott now enjoys what could be considered a unique twist on the familiar Second String Quarterback Syndrome: The guy on the bench is always the most popular in town. He’s simply not that good anymore, and it’s a shame Bucs fans can’t just come to terms with that fact. Let’s be honest — Alstott owes his wildly overblown popularity to two simple things: (1) He’s white, and (2) for the past 5+ years he’s enjoyed the luxury of having a prominent sports radio hack give him weekly lube jobs on local airwaves. There are countless players with more enduring talent who should be so lucky.
December 19th, 2006 at 10:04 am
#1, he’s WHITE?! What a racist.
December 19th, 2006 at 6:15 pm
Oh, c’mon. You know it’s true.
BTW, some of my best friends are white. And so am I.
December 20th, 2006 at 1:13 pm
I never made any assumption about your color, Rommie. And just because you’re white doesn’t mean it’s okay to make racist statements.
December 20th, 2006 at 1:50 pm
Rommie you ARE racist, otherwise you wouldn’t have even brought “white” into the equation. Same deal with Eric Deggans, who sees everything in black and who also got cracked back by Russ Mitchell of CBS for insinuating race is the only reason he got promoted, as if it had nothing to do with talent.
December 20th, 2006 at 10:00 pm
Am I sexist because I say that Anna Kournikova got more attention than she deserved because she’s lovely? No. It’s simply an observation. Get over your hangups, people. We CAN talk about these things.
December 21st, 2006 at 11:01 am
We absolutely can talk about these things. Rommie’s position is that #40 is popular, partly because of the color of his skin.
Take a look around, folks. I have no doubt that the general population of Tampa Bay still takes skin color into consideration.
And Bucs Fans are no different. Consider the outpouring of support for wanting to keep John Lynch and compare it to when Warrick Dunn was shipped off. There’s Matt Bryant day, but no Ronde Barber day?
December 21st, 2006 at 2:40 pm
…Warrick Dunn chose to sign with another team. It wasn’t him being waived by the Buccaneers in order to make cap room for Charlie Garner and Tim Brown.
Warren Sapp is the closest comparison point to John Lynch — as the Bucs opted to re-sign Booger McFarland over Sapp. There wasn’t an oupouring of support for Warren compared to John Lynch — but then again, Sapp always played two roles — the roll of the guy on field and the role of the private, pompous person off it.
December 22nd, 2006 at 1:02 am
Word in the clubs is that Warren was quite the racist himself. But still, a great player (then).
I revert to my favorite commercial: Who’s our favorite player? Mr. Derrick Brooks. Is he MORE popular because of skin color? I really don’t agree that this particular instance has anything to do with race, just an underused player who reminds us old-timers of Larry Czonka.
December 25th, 2006 at 9:19 pm
Wish granted. Alstott got 22 carries on Sunday, and amassed a whopping 56 yards against the league’s 30th ranked rushing defense. Impressive.
Anyone still think he’s the answer?
December 26th, 2006 at 1:21 pm
Rommie, your last post was pure, unadulterated IGNORANCE on your part.
“Anyone think he’s still the answer?”
Read the damned blog entry over — NO ONE at NO TIME suggested Mike Alstott was “The Answer”. No one at no time said Mike was going to carry this team or do things that would improve the Bucs overall.
The point of this blog entry was the fact Mike Alstott may be retiring after this season and one web site wanted the fans to show support for Mike while imploring coaching to give Mike a last chance with the team — give him some touches, etc.
But then again — you’re the guy who brought this thread off topic by suggesting race is the only reason anyone cares about Alstott. You’re the genius who derailed the point of this post to begin with.
Congratulations.
December 26th, 2006 at 2:09 pm
Yeah, Rommie - “22 carries for 56 yards” AND a big ass win (first and only on the road this year). Has anyone mentioned that Mike took a big contract cut to finish his career here ? Or, any of the great community work he does ? GET REAL !!!
December 26th, 2006 at 5:00 pm
Oh, the guy who’s racked up just over 500 yards in the last four years was generous enough to play for a mere $1.5 million this year? What a hero.
Go back and watch the game again, Jack. The Bucs won despite Alstott, not because of him. And what exactly has he done in this community that wasn’t required of him by NFL Charities?
John, the petition cited in the original post goes on at length about how talented Alstott is and very clearly states that it’s a mystery why he doesn’t get the ball more often. You’re telling me that doesn’t qualify as someone thinking his contributions could improve the team’s performance?
Whatever. I think he’s wildly overrated. Obviously, you don’t. You’re more than welcome to disagree with me, but don’t try to present an emotional outburst as if it’s part of a reasoned debate. Name-calling and outrage are unnecessary. We’re just talking about a football player, after all.
December 26th, 2006 at 5:24 pm
Speaking of “Whatever” Rommie — you still haven’t admitted that no one ON THIS DAMNED BLOG POST Ever suggested that Mike Alstott is “The answer.” Hell, insinuating that the guy who owns the web site that supports Mike Alstott is assuming on your part.
“He likes Mike, he lauds Mike, therefore he must think Mike is a panacea”
While I’m at it, you lump those who are commenting on this post in with your assumption on the web site founder. “They support Alstott, therefore they must think he’s a panacea.”
December 31st, 2006 at 11:25 am
Mike is old. Mike should have retired after his neck injury. According to si.com, he was given the ball 22 times last week and gained only 56 yards. His average was 2.5 yards per carry. He said he was winded. If no one else can complain about injuries, etc., then Alstott cannot complain about not being in game shape. He is a professional and paid to play. That is his job. He plays only 16 times per year. If you could be in training for your job and have your quota measured only 16 times per year, would you be in shape? Also, don’t forget that he makes $1MM or more this year - guaranteed, whether he plays or not. Also, don’t forget the most important thing, this is a game. According to his stats on si.com, he has only 5,084 in nearly 11 years. Dungy did not use his much either. Also, as for your great coach Dungy, once again, his team is tanking. Don’t forget, he is a “defensive mastermind” and his team’s, the Colts’, defense stinks on ice. The Colts won’t let Dungy touch the offense because of his record in TB. They brought in a special offensive genius to run the offense. How hard could it be with Peyton Manning as your QB? Who knows, but we know they don’t trust Dungy with him. Also, McFarland has done nothing since Dungy traded for him. Talk about poor ability to select talent. Dungy traded away a good draft choice for a guy that has only 22 tackles, 9 assists and 1 sack since joining the team. Remember, no excuses for McFarland or for Dungy. I hope they fire Gruden so you bunch of “goobers” can have a great head coach like Coughlin or some other idiot who will lose, baby, lose. If any of your local talk show radio boys knew anything, they would be in New York, LA, Dallas, Atlanta, etc., but they have bull spit for brains and have you goobers who call in and drink their Kool Aid.
September 10th, 2007 at 3:26 pm
[...] Last year, a Joe Sixpack with a computer implored Buccaneer head coach Jon Gruden to Give Mike The Ball. This year? Some Joe Sixpack with a computer suggests the Buccaneers should Fire Gruden Now. [...]