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Super Bowl XXXVIIA Times Editorial
© St. Petersburg Times, published January 29, 2003
The Tampa Bay Bucs showed the rest of the world how to win, and Buc fans showed the rest of the world how to celebrate victory.
Unfortunately, our society has gotten to the point that it makes news when fans of victorious teams don't smash store windows, don't torch cars, don't assault opposing fans and don't use the results of a ballgame as an excuse to act like all-around jerks. Some Oakland fans did all of that and more after Sunday's Super Bowl, and they didn't act up just because they lost. In the past, they've celebrated victory in much the same way.
Such mini-riots have become the rule, not the exception. Storming fields, tearing down goalposts and pouring into the streets used to be fans' spontaneous reactions to rare upsets. Now, police in cities and college towns around the country have learned to expect the worst after every big game.
While a handful of jerks disguised as Buc fans tried to ruin things, the overwhelming sentiment throughout Tampa Bay has been one of good-natured celebration. Monday night, more than 60,000 people converged for a hastily arranged welcome-home rally at Raymond James Stadium. Most of them waited patiently for hours for the gates to open and the team to arrive. In another community, such an unorganized event could have been a recipe for trouble. In Tampa Bay, the Monday night pep rally and Tuesday's parade turned into love-ins.
Like the Bucs' players, Tampa Bay fans couldn't be sure how they would react to the world stage until the occasion actually arose. Now that we've all proved ourselves, we'll have even more to look forward to the next time the Bucs (or -- who knows? -- maybe even the Lightning or Devil Rays) give us a reason to celebrate.