There were a slew of great moments from the world of sports radio and TV, and I have compiled the 10 most memorable for those in the Tampa Bay area. Some deserving moments - Funny Cide giving NBC a must-see Belmont Stakes, the phenomenon of Pardon the Interruption, the Bucs' 5 a.m. preseason opener in Japan - barely missed the cut.
Here are those that didn't:
10. Infamous Bucs fight song loop
WQYK-AM 1010 played the same three Bucs fight songs over and over while it retooled its lineup one weekend in July, then came back with something called the Sports Asylum, which was the same old lineup with a different name. Many called for the Bucs loop to be brought back.
9. Lisa Guerrero
Is she now the most talked about sideline reporter in NFL history?
Yes.
Guerrero was savaged by critics after an awful debut and appears to be in over her head. Almost on a weekly basis she produces a head-scratching interview. She has, however, shown some improvement, though it will be no surprise if she's fired in the offseason.
But it hasn't been all bad - at least no former NFL quarterback with the initials J.N. has tried to kiss her.
8. Martha, Martha, Martha
Martha Burk organized an embarrassingly laughable protest at the Masters golf tournament, but CBS ignored her - and went commercial free to save their advertising partners any trouble - and missed a golden opportunity to show how ineffective her efforts were.
7. No hockey for you!
Sunshine and Time Warner had a bitter dispute that caused local viewers to miss 22 Lightning games, including some huge contests in January.
The dispute centered on money, of course, and in the end the sides came to an agreement just in time for the Lightning's exciting playoff run.
6. World Series that wasn't
It's hard to imagine that a Red Sox-Cubs World Series would not have been the most watched in history. But Fox kept a brave face and swore it was pleased with Florida-New York.
Well, that didn't quite work out in the ratings, did it?
5. "Playmakers'
At first it was hard to watch. It was so far out there in its portrayal of pro football players that it made you feel dirty.
But once you put aside the notion this was some sort of NFL documentary, Playmakers grew into an entertaining male soap opera worthy of your hour each Tuesday night.
The NFL never saw it that way, and according to reports, pressure was put on ESPN to drop the show after Season One, which appears will happen.
Now we'll never know what happened to Cougars Leon Taylor, Demetrius Harris and Eric Olczyk.
4. NFL's Midas kings
Tampa Bay went Buc crazy, even by its lofty standards.
The Bucs set all kinds of local viewership records, and their Super Bowl win turned out to be the highest-rated sports event of the year.
3. Kobe coverage
Kobe Bryant's July hearing on charges he sexually assaulted a hotel concierge lasted all of seven minutes, with the Lakers star saying two words: No sir.
But that didn't stop almost every network from overdoing its coverage of the event. Six cable networks, including ESPN, covered the court appearance live. ESPN devoted its hourlong 6 p.m edition of SportsCenter to the case.
2. AnnikaTV
When Annika Sorenstam played against the men at the PGA Tour's Colonial, she received unprecedented coverage for a golfer not named Tiger. USA provided live coverage during Sorenstam's two rounds and didn't miss one of her shots.
1. The war
The decision to go to war in Iraq had a profound effect on one of TV's marquee events, the NCAA Tournament.
CBS was committed to switching to news coverage once the bombs started dropping, meaning the basketball tournament might have to be switched to another network. With a host of contingency plans in place, CBS had no choice but to execute one just minutes into its first game, switching coverage to ESPN.
Studio analyst Clark Kellogg: "Kind of a strange way to start the tournament, isn't it?"
CBS - not the only network that had to switch a sporting event to cable because of news coverage - got its night games back that first day, and the second day, too, despite surrendering almost its entire daytime schedule.
After the first two days CBS had its full slate back full time.
