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On the ESPN television series Playmakers, you will see professional football players involved in everything from crack cocaine to performance-enhancing drugs to murder.
Naturally, it hasn't gone over too well with true-life NFL players, especially when you consider a conversation at One Buc Place last week that centered on something far tamer.
The players were lamenting how they couldn't get tickets to one of the year's hottest shows. Aerosmith and KISS? Brooks and Dunn? Comedy Soul Festival?
No, it was the Wiggles commanding the attention of some of the hard-core jocks. Yes, the Wiggles: four Aussies who wear different color turtlenecks and sing children's songs about fruit salad and hot potatoes.
Thanks to the Bucs' win over Dallas, the players were given a break from practice and meetings Monday, and some, including quarterback Brad Johnson, were able to go to the show.
"Unbelievable, my kids are so excited to go," Johnson told Times staff writer Roger Mills. "I know every word to every song because we watched the videos so much."
The Bucs weren't alone in their fervor for the Wiggles. The day before, on Sunday, the owner's box at the St. Pete Times Forum was filled with Lightning players and their young children.
I thought Monday would be, for me, the beginning of a new era in Tampa Bay radio.
I thought it would be the first time since I moved here in 1988 that we would have a smooth R&B station on the FM dial. You know, a station that would play songs by India.Arie, Luther Vandross, Jaheim and the Stylistics without a lot of music from other genres.
You know, a station like they have in Orlando. And Miami. And Jacksonville. And Tallahassee. And Atlanta.
But no, it didn't happen. When Clear Channel opted to shake things up at WSSR-95.7 FM, it could have given Tampa Bay a format that would be welcomed to the market. Around 10 a.m. Monday, station managers pulled the plug on Star 95's alternative hits programming.
The smooth R&B station in Orlando is Star 94.5, so I made a wild leap in logic. Instead, I got another Wild, as in Wild 98.7, the bumping hip-hop station fresh to urban kids and suburban teens who wear their jeans below the waist. You also have Hot 96.1, which offers slightly tamer hip-hop when you can get the signal.
I'm not opposed to 50 Cent and Bubba Sparxx, but I ask you this: Do you know what it's like to live in a city with this many radio stations and feel like there still isn't enough variety to cater to your tastes?
You know, there's a reason I own 400 CDs.
Speaking of hip-hop, ever since Ice Cube mentioned having a Fatburger at 2 in the morning on It's A Good Day in 1993, I've wondered what was so special about a Fatburger. After today, I won't wonder anymore.
Fatburger opens in the International Plaza food court, and that should be big news to any Ice Cube fan or anyone from Los Angeles or Las Vegas. It's the first of 10 restaurants the chain has set to open in Florida. Another will open next year at the Clearwater Mall.
The gourmet burger was recently named best burger in Los Angeles, Orange County, Calif., and Las Vegas. The menu is basic: three sizes of burgers, a turkeyburger and a grilled chicken sandwich.
Most intriguing is a bacon and egg sandwich. Maybe I won't find out what a Fatburger tastes like . . . today.
It's the end of envy for University of Tampa graduates. No longer will they have to turn green when they see cars belonging to University of Florida and Florida State fans. UT specialty plates are now on sale at Hillsborough County Tax Collector offices. Cost is your normal registration fee plus $25. The Spartans join 31 other colleges and universities with their own tags.
But I betcha none of those other tags have a minaret on them.
That's all I'm saying.
- Ernest Hooper can be reached at 226-3406 or Hooper@sptimes.com