Has anyone thought about Ronde Barber returning kickoffs? Has anyone thought about Ronde being used on offense?
In my opinion, he would excel on offense, just like his brother, Tiki.
Go Bucs!
-- Cal Sauers, St. Petersburg
Okay, you so-called Buccaneers fans. Where are you? Where are your flags? You know, the ones you bought and were flying when we were winning, when we went to the playoffs, when we won the Super Bowl? Mine is flying. Where is yours?
Yeah, and I'm sick and tired of hearing the name Dungy. He is gone! He is a great man, but was not a great coach. Where was our offense? Remember when we knew every single play, the same ones for first, second and third downs? The plays my daughter, who knows nothing about football, could call? The plays that made me shudder - the "back to basics" talks.
And did we win when this great coach was here? No! And did we go to the Super Bowl when he was here? No! And did we have great players when he was here? Yes! And, guess what, we still have great players, don't we?
Players get older, get slower and get replaced. It's that way with every team, so grow up and move along. Be a Bucs fan. Get out there and raise those flags - win or lose!
-- Rosemary Knorowski, St. Petersburg
If someone would have come up to me and said Chris Simms would get hurt and Brian Griese would play nearly perfect, I would have laughed. After the Buccaneers' first win of the season, I give Griese and the whole team even more respect. I thought the team played great.
Major props to Greg Spires, Ronde Barber, Brian Kelly, and the entire defense for coming up with big plays and major stops. It is about time people get off Gruden's back. I never lost faith in him.
If I remember correctly, when Dungy was losing big games everyone wanted him gone, and when Gruden came in we all loved him. Four Gruden losses and Dungy was the Buccaneers' best coach ever? I don't think so. Just to remind people, not only is this a win, it is a divisional win. This gives everyone something to look forward to!
-- Geoffrey Kneen, Dunedin
Bucs were robbed of a TD in New Orleans. Clayton has possession, one foot and his butt in the end zone and officials rule no score.
Week by week, I am losing my interest in football because of new rules and the current state of officiating.
-- Jerome Sandy, Pinellas Park
Are we the same team that won a Super Bowl? No! But are we the same team from our expansion years? No!
Come on people, we got so used to winning, we forgot how to be a loser. We better get used to it for the next couple of seasons because it's going to happen. Cap room, free agency and, I guess, old age are playing their part. The mansion is falling down so now it's time to find a new lot and start building.
If you don't want to wait to see how it looks when it's done, then don't stand behind the project. I just hope you're a season ticket holder, because this is someone who would like to see it from the inside.
Keep your heads up! Go Bucs!
-- Eric Kirkbride, North Canton, Ohio
If the rumor is true that the Raiders are willing to trade Jerry Rice, wouldn't a trade for Keenan be wonderful?
-- Ginger Tolliver, Madeira Beach
While I lived in Bradenton from 1989-99, I followed the Bucs while they were in their lean years. I moved back home to Ohio and continued to root for the "new" Bucs. But I believe it was the Dungy team that the Glazers won with; Gruden just happened to be in the driver's seat.
I can't stand what Gruden has done, running off McKay, Lynch, Sapp and all the rest. I have no faith or even wear my Bucs shirts for I have lost the desire for them to win. In fact, I hope they continue to falter so Gruden gets a little bit of his cockiness wiped from his face.
I blame the new Bucs/Raider philosophy attitude. I figure this is Gruden's mess and he will pay. Only thing is, who do you put in his place with the Raider ex-boss running the show?
Or is it time to say goodbye Bucs and let them move to Los Angeles?
-- Stephen Nelson, Springfield, Ohio
As a long-term Tampa Bay resident, and the identifier of Vinny Testaverde being colorblind as the reason why he threw so many interceptions in Tom McEwen's "Hey Tom" column in October 1988, , I feel compelled to share my observations on this year's hapless Tampa Bay Bucs.
As part of my thrice weekly fitness program, I walk (past One Buc place) with my personal trainer and have observed the following: The Buccaneer flag that flies outside of the Bucs headquarters, Malcom's Place, is tattered, torn and needs replacement. The team is in tatters, its fabric of what made it great is torn. Walter's Wisdom: They simply need a new flag. Then I can walk by One Buc Place and say, "Rally round the flag boys." If life were only that simple. Maybe, just maybe, a sports team carries its pride and its desire to be a champion and its willingness to make that extra effort. The material is there, yet what is the fabric of the team? At this point - tattered, like the flag flying outside of One Buc Place.
-- Walter M Woolf, Tampa
[Last modified October 17, 2004, 01:25:25]
