Sticks of Fire: a Tampa blog

Dusting off a gimmick from last year, I am sharing with you the high (and low)-lights from Super Bowl week. You can find more Covering Super Bowl Coverage at (shameless self plug) the Best Bucs Blog. Enjoy.

Without a doubt, the biggest story this Super Bowl involves Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith, the first two African-American coaches in the Super Bowl, good friends, yada, yada, yada. Every journalist worth their salt, and more than a few who are not, has covered the many different aspects of this story.

From stories about Dungy’s quiet demeanor, to the lack of black announcers on TV, to a Univision story on Lovie’s, uhmmm….confia en su equipo. Which I believe losely translates to something about the Sex Cannon landing in Miami. But what do I know, I majored in Sanskrit in college.

But if I can get back on track, both coaches share a common tie with, and because of, Tampa Bay. In 1996 the Bucs took a chance on unproven Steelers defensive coordinator Tony Dungy. Dungy, in turn, hired Lovie Smith that same year to be the linebackers coach. Before being hired Lovie had been the secondary coach at Ohio State. Now, a decade later the two former Buc coaches are making history.

Never before have I had a more difficult time deciding which Super Bowl team to root for. In lieu of a Buccaneer appearance I have typically rooted for the underdog or, alternatively, the team I hate the least. If I am still undecided after that, I root for the team with the hottest cheerleaders. Which is why I pulled for Dallas over Pittsburgh in 1996.

This Sunday I will root for da Bears, partly because of the high number of Gators on Chicago’s roster but mainly because I am a sucker for Chicago cheesecake. Who ya got in el Bowl del Super?

It’s a fact of life on any major college campus to deal daily with confrontational evangelists. When I was in school, it was Brother Jed who stood on an Athens streetcorner, cursing all those who walked by and did not “repent.”

If you’ve never had a run-in with a campus evangelist, here’s a sample of what to expect: a litany of cursings to Hell of women (”whores” in the parlance of the evangelist), fornicators, drinkers, gamblers, and Catholics; and lots of screaming matches. (Watch this crappy cellphone video of a flareup at USF last year for an example.)

Things went far beyond screaming two weeks ago outside Cooper Hall, however, when USF junior Steve Jorgenson choked preacher Micah Armstrong twice after Armstrong called Jorgenson’s girlfriend a “whore” and a “slut.”

Jorgenson, a 225-pound club rugby player, only stopped after his girlfriend persuaded him to let go of the preacher’s neck. Armstrong, barely missing a beat, returned to his evangelism — later reportedly calling Saudi student Abdullah Ramadham a “terrorist” and cursing gays and lesbians.

USF police looked into the choking incident, witnessed by close to 100 students, and elected not to charge Jorgenson with a crime. Armstrong said afterward, “We’re going to do the Christian thing and forgive him.”

Meanwhile, the Oracle’s editorial page came down harshly on Jorgenson. When I brought the issue up to my students (as we held class in Cooper, only a few yards away from where the incident took place) they were sympathetic to Jorgenson, many arguing he did “the right thing” and that Armstrong’s First Amendment rights ended when he made the personal attack on the rugger’s sweetheart.

What do you think? Are there circumstances when assault is justified as a result of verbal discourse? Where do we draw our own personal line across the First Amendment?

Tim tells me that we don’t get enough news about usf in the sticks or in any local media, and offered to keep us informed about the goings-on at the institution. I agreed to both, and just like that, we’ll have it.

But first, Tim will tell us about Tim, preferably in the third person:

Tim’s a third-year USF doctoral student studying American culture. A communication department denizen, he spends most of his time teaching, doing research for his dissertation on poker, or writing at his Jack Tripper blog.

In his mid-twenties and a Florida resident since 2004, Tim’s a Buckeye by birth. After earning a degree in journalism from Ohio (go Bobcats! boo Buckeyes!) and a Master’s from Eastern Michigan, he spent four years teaching at a small college in Ohio’s Appalachian foothills (while teaching nights at a state prison for extra cash). Yet Florida beckoned, and Tim left friends and family behind to start a new life in Tampa.

His main interest here at Sticks is covering the goings-on at USF. South Florida is one of the largest universities in the country, yet the majority of events that happen on-campus are ignored by the mainstream Tampa Bay press. He hopes to bring some of those events to light here on Sticks. (Keep in mind that he is in no way a representative of USF here or elsewhere.)

When he’s not teaching or traveling he works on his music/comedy career — and he has the personal music site and requisite music Myspace to prove it. (He wanted us to mention that he’s looking for gigs, but with song topics like lesbian bartenders, V.D., and that chick who eats all the hot dogs, who would want him? Maybe you.)

Tim’s parents recently retired from academia and moved within driving distance. He’s dealing with it well — bourbon helps, he tells us.

You may have seen Tim’s work before. As he mentioned above, he runs the great Jack Tripper blog, and you have seen his comments here now and again.

Please join me in welcoming the latest member of the Sticks of Fire writing team, Tim Burke!

Remember the days of mix tapes?

Well, there is this cool group called the International Mixtape project. Here is some info:

WHAT IS IMP?
The International Mixtape Project was founded in November 2003. It’s a developing community of music-oriented souls around the globe that exchange monthly compilation tapes and CD-Rs. The IMP is now more than two years old and includes over 500 participants from more than 30 countries.

HOW DOES IMP WORK?
Each member is required to send one compilation CD-R or cassette to another member every month for the duration of the project. Your assignment is generated automatically around the first day of every month from a database of active members and delivered via e-mail. With each assignment, participants have until the end of the month to send a mix to their assigned recipient. In exchange, each participant receives a mix from somewhere around the world.

If you are interested check out their myspace site and join…..Trust me, it’s worth it.

So, which local restaurant serves the best grouper?

It’s no contest.

Seventeen of 24 Tampa Bay area restaurants tested last year by the Florida Attorney General’s Office advertised grouper on menus but served some other fish.

You just don’t know if it’s grouper any more - or maybe we never did. Thing is, we can’t really get mad at the restaurants. The fish suppliers are selling fake grouper to the restaurants. Or the importers are selling fake grouper to the suppliers.

A good sandwich with fresh grouper from the Gulf of Mexico is gonna cost you at least $10.00, and likely close to $15. If you pay less than that, you are probably eating something else.

You may just want to stick with the Cuban Sandwich.

You think of Tarpon Springs and you think of the sponges, great greek cuisine, Epiphany and the boonies of the Tampa Bay area. Yeah, it’s out of it’s way — it’s literally the sticks of Tampa Bay — in North Pinellas, but it has its merits and rewards to it.

Take The Zone Art Lounge in downtown Tarpon Springs for instance, a chic little club in a pair of vintage 19th century downtown Tarpon Springs storefronts. It’s got unique flavor, an upscale edge and that sweet air of a building that’s been around longer than you have… and your parents for that matter… and their parents too.

And this Friday night, the Zone hosts the JGLB for a concert, giving you greater reason to leave the safety of the suburbs and venture out to… some different suburbs! Not only will Johnny and the whole gang be there but so will this mysterious stranger known as John F - your resident administrator, propagator, nay-sayer, Greater Internet F-ckwad Theory subscriber and local online personality of Boltsmag, Stonegauge and Sticks of Fire fame — will be in attendance to make sure things go smoothly.

Imagine that. John and Tommy! In the same building! Worlds collide! Anarchy ensues! Oh, yeah, and some rock’n'roll tearing down the house by way of Johnny G. Lyon and crew! It’s One Shrimp Shy of a blowout but we’ll certainly have one hell of a party!

Come join us out there! This Friday Night at the Grand Re-Opening of the Zone Lounge.

So I slid out to Ybor Saturday night after the majority of Gasparilla party people had faded back to wherever they come from .

Had to stop in at Blue Shark to pick up some scratch this dude owed me so I ditched the Accord at the Hacienda and skipped through the puddles.

I walked out of Centro, where E and J and Ron had gone to see Smokin’ Aces, and hit the strip with them heading west. This joint was across the street from the still abandoned Masquerade I’d heard.

Walked in as the set started and a certain man named Duncan and the Johnny G Lyon Band started their set. By the way, I have seen Tommy Duncan in a pirate hat and dreadlocks and you haven’t.

Cool, I thought, I’ll just wait until the break. Little did I know these cats don’t take breaks like mortals.

Lucky me they do have a couple of long instrumentals so the singer jumped off stage to hit me up and I could buy that soda I wanted so bad.

Then I had to stop in at a couple of places to talk to a couple of people about work and women and why sugar free Red Bull is far better than the other stuff, although we are pretty sure it gives you cancer.

I also bummed a cigarette from a pretty girl with tattoos all over her arms and chest but as long as I don’t buy it I am not a smoker I figure. I am pretty sure that will give me cancer too.

I know you can go out one night without an agenda other than meeting new people. Don’t let life pass you by and don’t get caught up in being too negative.

I’m old enough to remember when spam meant some sort of meat product encased in a rectangular can and not those annoying unsolicited emails clogging up your in-box.  Although I’m not old enough to have watched Monty Python’s Flying Circus when it originally aired on TV, I am old enough to stay up late on a “school night” to see the musical Spamalot at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, which I did last week.

Spamalot is a wonderful mix of classic Monty Python (mostly The Holy Grail, with some Life of Brian thrown in for good measure) and new songs and bits.  It’s like the weather in California:  if you don’t like it, wait five minutes and it will be totally different.  Groovy 60s tunes, a RuPaul wannabee, jaunty swing dancing, peppy cheerleading routines, funky disco beats, love songs, Las Vegas showgirl routines, traditional Broadway show tunes…it’s all there.  Plus killer rabbits, gay knights, a diva Lady of the Lake, nuns, rude Frenchmen, slap-happy fish, village idiots, plague victims and the Knights of Ni.  The traditional Python outrageousness and some great audience interaction add to a hilarious musical that you’ll enjoy whether or not you’re familiar with the Python universe.

Spamalot runs through February 4th, so act fast.  Visit www.tbpac.org for more info or to purchase tickets.

During intermission, take a look through the program at the Jobsite Theater play pages to see who’s included on the Jobsite sponsor list.  I’ll give you a hint:  the initials are SoF…