Sticks of Fire: a Tampa blog

Few states take their college football as seriously as Florida, and almost everyone has a team they root for. So with that in mind we present rankings of all the Division 1-A teams in the sunshine state. It should be mentioned these rankings are strongly based on schedule played so far, and attempt to ignore how well the teams may do in the future.

1. South Florida (5-0)
In past weeks it would probably be considered pure hyperbole to call the Bulls the best team in Florida. Not only are the Bulls the best team in the state, but they are also the best team in the Big East. The Bulls former road struggles may be behind after they thumped NC State in Raleigh to the tune of 41-10.

2. Florida (3-1)
The Gators are behind the Bulls in both the AP Ranking (Bulls #10, Gators 12) and the Coaches (Bulls #10, Gators #13) Poll yet no one has been talking about the Bulls as national championship contenders.

3. Miami (2-2)
I’m on the fence regarding which team, Miami or FSU, should be ranked third in the state. Fortunately, the two play this weekend to help make my decision next week easier.

4. Florida State (3-1)
Beating Colorado on the road was the Noles most impressive victory of the season and the only victory against a Division 1-A team.

5. Central Florida (1-3)
After playing a close game against South Florida earlier in the season the Golden Knights appear to have fallen apart. Central Florida lost 58-13 to UTEP over the weekend.

6. Florida Atlantic (1-3)
As no one in their right mind outside of the few Florida Atlantic grads care where the Owls are ranked, here is the oddity pertaining to the Florida Atlantic team: they have a player named Yourhighness Morgan. He must have some awfully confident parents.

7. Florida International (1-3)
Congratulations to the Golden Panthers on their first victory of the season.

Gary A. Poole contacted us, told us he had written about Tampa’s first professional football game, and asked us to pimp his new book, The Galloping Ghost:  Red Grange, an American Football Legend.  I asked him to write something up about Grange’s time in Tampa, and so he did (I added the images, which are from the Ghosts of the Gridiron - Virtual Scrapbook Library, Vol. 8: Thorpe’s Cardinals):

The Bucs just beat the Bears in Chicago last weekend.  While it seems like a relatively recent rivalry, the two cities have been competing on the gridiron for more than eighty years, and both cities helped play a significant role in the popularization of the NFL.

After playing his college season in 1925, Red Grange - the most important figure in American football history - went on a barnstorming tour.

(more…)

The Rays appear to be a bind going into their first ever playoff series next week: they do not have anyone lined up to throw out the first pitch (Note:  the emphasis is mine).

“We don’t have anyone to throw out the ball for our first playoff game,” Tampa Bay President Matt Silverman said.

“MLB asked us who it’d be. We realized nobody in the history of the franchise had done anything to be worthy of the honor.”

To quote Rays Index, “the truth hurts.”

There are a number of options if the Rays want to look outside the franchise though.

Maybe it’s just my personal bias but a number of the better candidates come from the Bucs.

Considering the football team is still the most popular franchise in the area, it would not be a bad idea to have a Tampa Bay Buccaneer throw out the first pitch.

Are there any good candidates that I missed?

Who would you like to see throw out the first pitch at the Rays first ever playoff game?

ABC Action News anchor Wendy Ryan got an exclusive interview from Rays outfielder Rocco Baldelli, who confirmed a diagnosis of Mitochondrial Myopathy. 

Mitochondrial Myopathy is a muscular disease, and the form that Rocco is dealing with makes physical exertion very exhausting.  His muscles need a longer time to recover than most of us. There is no known remedy for the disease, but the Muscular Dystrophy Association is looking for a cure.

Brendan McLaughlin is surprised that neither of the daily papers picked up the story. Perhaps the news is hidden behind that big Magic Number.

That’s right.  Forget winning the division.  I mean, the Magic Number is ONE.  One, uno, (1).  If Tampa Bay cannot win 1 of four from the lowly Tigers, then they will fail miserably in the playoffs anyway.

But for a real challenge, they should go for the best record in the American League.  That Magic Number for the Rays to beat out the LA Angels is SIX.  Any combination of Rays wins and Angels losses that equal six will get the Rays home field advantage throughout the playoffs (remember, the AL team has home field advantage in the World Series thanks to the All-Star game win back in July).

This means that the Angels must lose at least 2 games, since there are only four remaining.

On second thought, it’s a bit uncouth to root for other teams to lose.

On third thought, Jimmy cracked corn and all that.

Anyway, The Rays can clinch the AL East with a win today in Detroit.  You should know around 430pm, when there may be a street party in St. Pete.

Few states take their college football as seriously as Florida, and almost everyone has a team they root for. So with that in mind we present rankings of all the Division 1-A teams in the sunshine state. It should be mentioned these rankings are strongly based on schedule played so far, and attempt to ignore how well the teams may do in the future.

1. South Florida (4-0)
The Bulls keep the top spot for this week’s rankings based on their win over Kansas last week, even after an uninspired 17-9 win over FIU. Part of the explanation for that close victory may have been the injury to Bulls linebacker Brouce Mompremier, which briefly stopped the game when doctors feared for the possibility of a spinal injury. Mompremier is doing fine now, but Mompremier’s teammates were likely thinking of him instead of the game on hand.

Image from Dr. Saturday

2. Florida (3-0)
Even after a win over Tennessee, the Gators stay in second, mostly because the Vols do not appear to be very good this year. The Vols may very well bounce back as they did last year but I have less respect for the ‘08 Vols year after their loss to UCLA. While the Gators did not rack up an impressive score, they were efficient offensively - Gators did not punt or turn the ball over in the first half.

3. Miami (2-1)
Take note ACC: the Canes may have found their offense. Miami put up 41 points on Texas A&M, and their much heralded quarterback, Robert Marve, was 16 for 22 en route to throwing for 212 yards. The Canes have already proven they have a formidable defense (Exhibit A: the Gators game), and with a decent offense become the dark horse team to win the ACC.

4. Florida State (2-1)
Even with the addition of Jimbo Fisher as offensive coordinator, FSU appears to have regressed as an offense. The Noles quarterbacks threw five interceptions and did not score a touchdown for their third straight loss to the Demon Deacons.

5. Central Florida (1-2)
After an ugly 34-7 loss to Boston College, the Golden Knights are probably starting to miss runningback Kevin Smith, who now plays in the NFL.

6. Florida Atlantic (1-3)
Bad news for Owl fans, their team is 1-3. Good news, they begin their Sun Belt conference schedule this weekend.

7. Florida International (0-3)
The Golden Panthers had a depressing grand opening for their new stadium, not only did they lose to the Bulls but the previously mentioned Mompremier had to be carted off the field. To make matters worse, SI.com ranks FIU as the worst team in Division 1-A.

Tampa on TV:

Warren Sapp is on Dancing With The Stars starting tonight.  So much for the former QB Killa.

Matt Lauer and the Today Show is live from UT in the morning.

Your Weekly Rays Update

MAGIC NUMBER TO CLINCH AL EAST: 6

Overall: 92-62
Last Week: BOS (2-1), MIN (2-2)
This Week: @ BAL, @ DET

It’s been too long since the last Rays update on the Sticks but there is no better occasion to reintroduce this feature than the Rays clinching the playoffs.  During spring training, Manager Joe Maddon emphasized the team slogan, 9=8, i.e. if the 9 Rays starters played hard for 9 innings they would win one of the 8 playoffs spots.  Maddon’s slogan has turned into a prophesy as the Rays are now a lock for the first playoff series in franchise history.

Tampa Bay…92—62 __ .597
Boston………….91—64 __ .587
New York……..84—71 __ .542
Toronto……….83—73 __ .532
Baltimore…….67—86 __ .438

The Rays have a 1.5 game lead over the Red Sox, which is essentially a 2 game lead since the Rays own the tie-breaker over the Red Sox. With a week to go in the season, the Rays have a 72% chance of winning the division according to Baseball Prospectus. And considering that the O’s and Tigers both have losing records the Rays have an easy path from here to their first ever division title.

Whatever happens from here, the Rays are essentially playing with house money. Few expected them to compete for the playoffs, and no one that I saw had them winning the division. This is a team which was built to win next year, and for the next three or four years after that. I’ve spoken to a few people (mostly Yankees fans) who write off the Rays as a fluke, and believe they will lose their best players next year. Almost all the key players on this team are young and locked up to long term contracts. This team should only get better over the next few seasons.

PRICE IS UP
David Price will make his first major league start today against Baltimore. Price was originally scheduled to make his first start on Tuesday but Maddon likes the match up for Price today better.

PLAYOFF TIX
Playoff tickets go on sale to the general public Wednesday at 9 am. You can stop by the Rays website to pickup tickets but not only have the Rays given first priority to season ticket holders but fans were given the opportunity to pre-register for tickets.

PLAYOFF OPPONENTS
If the Rays win the AL East they will play the winner of the AL Central, which is likely to be the White Sox. That series would begin in St Pete. If the Rays lose the division then they have to travel to LA to play the Angels. No matter what the Rays will avoid playing the Red Sox in the first round.