Tampa mayor hopes to put a ring around his last days on the job

TAMPA -- When Mayor Dick Greco walked into his news conference Tuesday, reporters couldn't help but notice the ring on his right hand.

Some gawked at it.

It was hard not to.

The ring is deep gold, with a sparkly top the size of a half-dollar. From two feet away, you could easily see individual diamonds. It dwarfed Greco's right hand.

"Is that a Super Bowl ring?" one TV reporter asked, breathlessly.

It was.

"This is one of the 49ers Super Bowl rings," said Greco, as he slipped the ring off and slid it across the conference room table top.

"Pass it around!" he said grinning. Several TV cameramen tried it on. One got it stuck on his finger for a few minutes.

Greco said he got the ring from Eddie DeBartolo Jr. after Super Bowl XXIX. When DeBartolo owned the 49ers, Greco was vice president for DeBartolo's mall development corporation. Greco said he participated in some business deals involving the team, and went to the games. So when the 49ers won their fifth championship, Greco got The Ring.

The five marquis-cut diamonds represent the five championship games. It's unclear what the five smaller diamonds signify, but they certainly sparkle. Greco's name is on one side, in big gold letters. On the other side was the game's score 49-26.

Greco is, of course, hoping for another Super Bowl ring, this time from his home team. He is in his final months in office, and if the Buccaneers win, well, it will be the icing on a great career as a politician, he said.

Greco plans on going to San Diego this weekend. He bought the tickets and is leaving later this week. But first, he has to take care of some outstanding business, including receiving the gift of scrapple from the Philadelphia mayor whose team lost to the Bucs last Sunday.

"Scrapple is facial parts of a hog," he said, while wrinkling his nose. "It sounds gross."