Go for it. Don't worry about your budget. You'll come up with the money somehow. Just worry about tonight's programming.
You say you want a new BMW in your driveway?
Why wait? Pick out a color and turn the key. Don't bother to look at the sticker price. Heck, you've got plenty of blank checks, don't you?
Now that you think about it, you say you want a whole new driveway. And a nice new house beside it, too.
Then sign right here. Belly up to the desk and sign your name. You can always put off the payments until tomorrow or, better yet, the day after.
Don't hesitate. Do it. Live it. Taste it. Spend it. Most of all, finance it.
After all, you're a Bucs fan, aren't you?
From the looks of it, the Bucs are no longer in the business of worrying about when the rent comes due. If you are wondering what to think of Bruce Allen, poobah-in-waiting, that seems like a logical place to begin.
If you believe what you read - and if you don't, what are you doing here? - the Bucs appear on the verge of hiring Allen to replace Rich McKay as the man-at-the-helm for the franchise. Perhaps Allen will be called a general manager, perhaps he'll have a title with more frills. But titles don't matter. Power matters. Philosophy matters.
And, from what we know about Allen's resume, it is safe to assume this much:
Live for today.
And don't fear the reaper.
If that sounds like what coach Jon Gruden's philosophy has been all along, then voila, you've figured out what Allen is doing here. Gruden and Allen worked together with the Raiders, where the calendar always says today and the watch always says right now.
Allen's specialty with the Raiders has been digging tunnels around the salary cap. Oh, other executives on other teams will take an occasional detour around the cap. The Raiders, on the other hand, treat the cap as if they were filming The Great Escape: A dozen plans, a dozen schemes and one guy on a motorcycle, all busting out at the same time.
Couple that with Gruden's incessant demands for this player, that player, the other player, and it's clear the course the Bucs have chosen. Over the next three months, look for a major facelift by the Bucs. Look for the team to exceed the cap by more than it ever has. Look for Gruden to stand on the pirate ship and yell, "Darn 2007, full speed ahead."
As football philosophies go, this one can be a thin limb and a long fall. Other teams, such as the 49ers and the Cowboys, have tried to outrun the cap, but it eventually caught up with them. That's how life works. No matter what kind of financing you do, eventually, the bill collectors find you.
Question: Can trading tomorrow for today work for the Bucs?
Answer: It depends on how good today is.
If the Bucs can reach two more conference titles and win one more Super Bowl, then it's worth struggling through the '07 and '08 seasons to pay for it. Besides, at least Allen can co-exist with Gruden, where McKay could not, so the neighborhood is going to be quieter.
Along the way, however, Allen has some questions to answer.
One: Who is going to evaluate talent? Allen is thought of more as a cap guru than a personnel evaluator. He's going to need someone to play the role Mike Lombardi played for him in Oakland, someone to run the draft and evaluate free agents.
Two: Is Allen a yes man for Gruden? We'll see. Gruden supposedly has respect for Allen's opinion. On the other hand, it's fair to say Allen's career with the Raiders didn't take off because he said "no" very often to Al Davis. Allen isn't here to argue. He's here to make it happen.
Three: How much work do Gruden and Allen believe needs to be done? Does this team need cosmetic surgery or an octuple bypass? Does it need to enter the sweepstakes for Terrell Owens, Charles Woodson and a cast of dozens?
By hiring from outside, Gruden appears to be hinting he believes major reconstruction is needed. After all, if he only needed to tinker, why not promote Tim Ruskell and preserve continuity? By bringing on a guy who knows how to run up the credit card bills, and how to dig his way out, it makes you wonder which names Gruden might pursue in free agency.
The more big names he lands, the more people are going to pull for Allen.
Like McKay, Allen is the son of a football coach who grew up on the smell of practice fields and the taste of Gatorade. In Allen's case, it was George Allen, the old Rams and Redskins coach who also had a preference for players who had been around the block.
Allen learned to chew tobacco from former Bears Doug Atkins and Bill George (and became sick from the lesson). He once was taped to the goal posts by his father's players with the Redskins. He was an agent, a small-college coach, an executive with the USFL.
Also, he worked for Davis. Word is, he learned a little there, too.
Gruden always has been real big on today. He coaches with the near desperation of a coach who doesn't know how long he has in this league. He has to know that with one great season and one lousy season behind him, the world is waiting to see what comes next.
