The Abandoned Ship in Tampa Bay

By jawarrener  |   Wednesday, October 07, 2009  |  Comments( 0 )

Tampa Bay Buccaneers
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It wasn’t more than five years ago, the Buccaneers franchise was peaking. Ticket and merchandising sales were through the roof. I myself, jumped on the more than twenty-thousand person waiting list. I remember saying to my Redskins fan friend, “As long as they keep that core intact, you’ll never beat us.” By the “core” I meant Warren Sapp, Derrick Brooks, and John Lynch, and of course Tony Dungy. Now, the Bucs would have never been the Bucs without some key offensive players. I love Warrick Dunn, the immovable A-train, you have to mention Brad Johnson. However, it was the defense that you could hang your hat on. From 1997-2003 you knew if your defense went out there with a lead, the other team had one last possession, you had the game. This recipe produced for coach Tony Dungy. Excepting his first, he never had a losing season with Tampa Bay. This says something. Jon Gruden who everyone knows won the Super Bowl with Tampa, after the Super Bowl season went on to have four of six losing seasons. What happened? The Glazers got their eyes on that pot ‘o gold and it consumed them.

They ran Dungy out of town after two consecutive playoff appearances. They brought in over-rated players that only served to erode morale. They cut ties with the core of their championship caliber team and now what have they got? Arguably the worst team in the league. Even the Detroit Lions, who didn’t win a single game last year, have at least one win in their first four. I scan the craigslist now and then to see if there are any sane season ticket holders looking to dump their tickets. Of course there aren’t. All the ads boast about what a great season this will be, “the most exciting ever”, and these snake oil salesmen then proceed to gouge the ticket prices and claim they are sold at “face value” which is a joke because any sop can find out what season tickets go for on the website. It’s a sham and so has been the ownership and management of this team for the last several years. After Dungy was chased out, the Glazers’ brilliant plan was to get Bill Parcells. Parcells balked when the time came and then they were forced to sell their souls to save face. They got Gruden, who indeed captured that elusive trophy but they dug out the foundation of the team that would collapse in just the second year. It is my opinion that Jon Gruden rode Tony Dungy’s team through Super Bowl 37. Debates can be made either way. However, this was the beginning of the end. The next year they went 7-9. They cut ties with John Lynch, Warren Sapp took flight in free agency, Warrick Dunn landed in Atlanta. They salvaged a couple of winning seasons through, I admit, Gruden’s offensive creativity. Warrick Dunn came back for a year. Then the bottom fell out. You’re waiting for me to say they cut Derrick Brooks? No. They bought Manchester United. The Glazers got their pot of gold but it turned out the leprechaun was a tax collector. The Glazers realized they couldn’t afford a good team anymore so they just slashed everything. In one offseason: Gruden gone, Dunn gone, Cato June, and the heart and soul of not just the defense but the whole team Derrick Brooks. It was like they gave up and just to save face they threw a ton of money at a tight end who has never proven a thing in the NFL (other than that he doesn’t know how to ride a motorcycle).

It makes me feel like they stopped caring. Worse yet, my naivety prevents me from maybe acknowledging that they probably never did care; even when they came out in person to hand out doughnuts to fans camped out at the old Sombrero for the 1998 playoff tickets (I was in that line BTW). Now the Bucs are back to the doormat days of old. How appropriate that they will be wearing the old creamsickle orange jerseys this year. The season ticket waiting list has long since evaporated. I was contacted by the Bucs when my season ticket waiting list number was up and I must say that I passed on it. How many seats go unfilled this year? Or worse yet, how many have Giants fans in them? Pretty soon it will be like the old days when Green Bay would come into town and practically buy out the stadium. And the Glazers will fight back how? They will blackout games on TV? Now, that is a brilliant strategy. Alienate your fans even more by making them do something else on Sunday. I’ve got news for you Glazers’ it won’t work. This is Florida not Wisconsin. There are so many things to do here, indoors and out, we might all get new hobbies and then you won’t have anyone to buy your pricey tickets and outrageously overpriced beer. And if you think your schemes are not transparent, you are wrong. We’ve endured Hugh Culverhouse as an owner. We know the worst of the worst. That’s why were standing by with our fishing poles and water skis to see what you will do next.
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