wide web of (tampa bay) sports

With Buccaneer training camp set to begin tomorrow we are finally getting out of the doldrums of summer baseball season, which around Tampa Bay means watching the Rays again battle for the worst record in the league. Although, as Tommy touched on, maybe suckitude is a right of passage for local teams.

• (Ten Years of Suckitude) Rays Index presents us with their all time Devil Rays roster, which in true Devil Rays fashion highlights such luminaries as Greg Vaughn, Vinny Castilla, and Joe Kennedy. The Professor hits the nail on the head when describing this all time Rays team, “Think of it as similar to the New York Yankees monument park, only the exact opposite and with headstones instead of plaques.”

• (The Ultimate Bulls Preview) Sunday Morning Quarterback shares with us everything you could possibly want to know about USF’s football team this season. SMQ, who is never short of words, writes of the local college football collective, “Oh yeah, South Florida’s all grown up, filled out, hanging with hotter friends, looking pretty good in the right circumstances. You know you could pick USF if you wanted, dude. No one would judge you.“

• (It’s Just the Best Bucs Blog Ever) On the eve of training camp yours truly shares five position battles to watch over the next month, none of which include Jeff Garcia, Chris Simms or Jake Plummer. And maybe it’s just me but I start getting the shakes every time I type the words “Bucs” and “training camp” in the same sentence.

• (Congrats Erin) It’s rare for a blogger to actually get paid for what they do and even rarer (if not unheard of) for a blogger to get the chance to work for the team they write about. So a big congrats to Bolts blogger Erin for her new job with the Lightning, even if she is a bit hesitant to share what that new job will entail.

(Note: the cheesecake above is Natalie Pandorf, who’s picture SHOULD have been posted earlier in the week.)