First Public Response from Chucky

Jon Gruden finally commented in public since his dismissal from the Bucs Head Coaching job. I'm glad he did after taking some time off with his family. He's considering some opportunities which are sure to come along. Like he mentioned, he's a coach and he loves it. He has that passion and love for the game of football that I admire. The fact a few panty-wastes (read: Simone Rice, Michael Clayton, and Jeff Garcia) came out in the press lately slamming him and his way of doing things just shows you can't make everybody happy. Besides, those guys aren't exactly model football citizen's themselves and are already known for creating waves elsewhere in their past and/or for talking out of their asses anyway. The fact Jon leaves the Bucs as the winningest coach in the franchises' history with over 100 wins proves he must have been doing something right.

Paps and Javy re-upped

Jonathan Papelbon and the Red Sox agreed to a 1yr/$6.25 million contract today to make Paps the highest paid arbitration-eligible closer in history. In addition, the Soxs re-signed Javy Lopez for a 1yr./$1.35 million contract. Here's the news, and hopefully they'll be able to work out a longer term next time.

No word on the Captain yet after John Henry visited him in Atlanta last week.

Gruden is Gone

I fought off the pressure to post early Saturday morning when I saw the news that my Buccaneers had fired Jon Gruden. I didn't have the same feeling about Bruce Allen, but it all was too serial for me to deal with rationally. I can't say I was all that shocked, but I was surprised. Even so, the main feeling was numb.

When I swore my allegiance from the Cowboys to the Bucs in the mid nineties, Tony Dungy had taken over and was beginning to build the Bucs up from the crap-pile that Hugh Culverhouse had left them in. After drafting Dilfer and almost making the Super Bowl with Shaun King, Dungy was replaced by the high strung Jon Gruden. Lo and behold, the Bucs won the Super Bowl title the following year. The honeymoon last 7 years, with a losing record after that first year, and the Glazer ownership had enough.

Now we have Raheem Morris taking the reins. I was worried how I would accept this change in the guard. I was excited about the Dungy to Gruden change because I was already a Gruden fan before he came aboard. With Morris, I basically know nothing. I knew he was interviewed for some other jobs, but most coaches don't just rise up from the shadows and take the top job just like that. I guess its more previlent than it used to be, but still.

So, after sifting through my thoughts over the weekend to make sure I would be able to maintain my loyalty to the Bucs, I'm now looking forward to seeing what we got. I'm ok, Gruden will be ok, and all will continue forward. Now, lets get a good offensive coordinator to get our offense moving, and strive to continue to win.

Man vs. Food (Hey, its Youk!)

I came across this on Surviving Grady today with a clip of a recent episode of Man vs. Food from the Travel Channel. They snipped it down to mainly the part where Kevin happens to be munching nearby. Good to see him..."The Greek God of Walks". The MLB Network reported Youk and Paps are up for arbitration. I guess we'll see how that works during the next few weeks.



Afternoon Update: The Red Sox and Youkilis agree to a long term deal (4yr./$41mil w/$13 mil option after) this afternoon which will keep Youk around a while. Yea!

Something New

New Year. New Red Sox. New inside presence for the Blue Devils. Two new losses for the Tar Heels. And....a new Mayne Street:



And a new Red Sox Hall of Famer:



The Dukies have been playing well. Henderson has been asserting himself (FINALLY) and Zoubek has been playing strong in the middle. Here's some top plays courtesy of Blue Planet from the win over Florida State this past weekend. (Note the slam by G and the hustle defense that always keys the Duke runs):

Bucs done, but Pokes roasted

I wasn't going to post today, but its been awhile now, sooooo here it goes:

The Bucs lost their last 4 games to wipe out any post season play. It all culminated with yesterday's disasterous loss to the lowly (read: sucky) Raiders, 31-24. The pain from coughing up yet another 4th quarter lead pales to the potential serious injury Carnell "Cadillac" Williams suffered yesterday to his left (read: other) knee. The Bucs had the lead, were driving, and Cadillac was finishing off a great run when it happened. After that, the air seemed to go right out of the Bucs as the drive stalled, the defense gaped open for Micheal Bush of the Raiders to score on a long run, and Garcia tossed an INT the next time the Bucs got the ball. Horrific all around.

The head coach takes the hit when things like this happen, and rightly so since he's the guy in charge and its his staff. All of this did seem to go sour when it became known that Monte Kiffen was leaving to coach with his son at Tennessee. Couldn't all of that waited until the end of the season? I guess not. Anyway, they sucked, and it all sucks.

The Bucs loss early in the afternoon left me to watch the Cowboys meltdown against the Eagles. At least the Bucs showed some remorse for their sad showing. The Cowboys just seemed glad that it was over, and basically just quit.

Blue Devils get better

After having to wait around for a week and a half following their loss to Michigan, the Blue Devils finally took the floor again last night. Coach K started the second team and kept them out on the floor until the first TV time out. The talking heads seemed to think this was some master stroke and made a big deal out of it, but Coach K usually does this a time or two every year. It serves a double purpose. First it gives the second team guys acknowledgement for their hard work and hustling in practice, letting them know they are important and not just pine riders. They are needed and this reminds them.

Secondly, it usually wakes up the starters. Last night was Singlers first time to not start in something like 55 games. Coach expects hard nosed play and hustle every play, every game, every time you go out there. The second team plays hard because they don't get to do it as often and they want to prove themselves. The starters begin to feel like they are "the man" and start slacking off, feeling they've already achieved their starting position. Thats not so at Duke. Play hard, play with heart, or sit on the bench. Its that simple. The Dukies did that last night to the tune of a 99-56 win over UNC-Asheville. On Saturday, the team makes the trip up to the Meadowlands to play Xavier in what should be a good road test.

Probably by now you've seen the 2009 NFL Pro Bowl rosters. Barrett Ruud is noticably absent, but its nice that Derrick Brooks and Clifton Smith made it. TBO has a good feature on Clifton making the Pro Bowl. He's really been a weapon for the Bucs on Special Teams this season.

I saw this story on Deadspin about a guy suing a couple of Bucs for apparently beating him up at an IHOP in October. Michael Bennett is no long with the team and Anthony Davis....well....haven't seen hide or hair of him this season with the offensive line improvement. I'll try not to judge before all the facts come out, but at least its not a big distraction with someone who actually plays significantly every week.

And finally, its good to see someone who got screwed over inappropriately make it good, even better, despite the setback. Robert Flores was a sports reporter for the new station KEYE in Austin years ago. He got railroaded out of town for saying the "F word" in a priliminary taped segment for a morning sports update when someone made a very loud noise on set. After being reduced to a local radio gig for a couple of months, he got hired on with ESPN and is doing pretty well now.