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Letter to the editor

Bucs

Memory lane offers dangerous stroll

By GARY SHELTON
Published December 12, 2004

[Times files] The Bucs are back today at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, where they won Super Bowl XXXVII over the Oakland Raiders in 2003.

TODAY Bucs at Chargers, 4:15 p.m. TV, radio: Fox-13, WTBT-FM (103.5), WDAE-AM (620) Fifth down Gameday Red zone A long road back Weak NFC lets Bucs control playoff fate Ex-Buc is not bitter over trade COMMENTARY Gary Shelton: Memory lane offers dangerous stroll

Walk into the Coliseum, and it is hard not to think about the gladiators. Listen to the old music, and it is not difficult to remember the dance steps.It is human nature. We look back. We reflect. We remember the Alamo. We remember the Titans. We remember the Maine, though most of us have forgotten why.

Give us a campfire, and we will tell each other a story. Give us a return ticket, and we will attempt to retrace our steps. Give us a chance, and darned if we won't try to bring yesterday back to life.

Hey, the Bucs are going back to San Diego.

Gee, didn't the two of them used to be something special?

It is nostalgia week in Tampa Bay. The Bucs are returning to the Scene of the Crown, and just like that, all the warm and fuzzy feelings have returned. Break out the old T-shirt, and once again, the Bucs feel like a force of nature. Plug in the old DVD, and once more, you can debate what brought about the success and what drove it away.

Ah, yes. Wonderful stuff, memories. From what I hear, they are water-colored.

As far as today goes, they are also useless.

For the Bucs, the biggest threat to today's game against the Chargers is the rear-view mirror. Well, that and LaDainian Tomlinson. The more time the Bucs spend walking around the stadium thinking of history, well, the greater their chances of being history.

This is not a reunion. It seems a bit obvious to say, but given the wandering focus of the Bucs, it seems worth bringing up. After all, this is a team that had great defensive performances against the 49ers and the Falcons, and in between, fell on its collective keister against the Panthers.

In other words, the Bucs' focus will be tested. Tampa Bay isn't going to San Diego to remember what it did to Rich Gannon, Charlie Garner and Jerry Porter; it's going to test what it can do against Drew Brees, Tomlinson and Keenan McCardell. This is not the time to think about their last playoff game; it is time to think about their next one.

Win this game, and as hard as it is to say out loud, you have to like the Bucs' chances of reaching the postseason. On the other side of San Diego are home games (where the Bucs have been dominant of late) against New Orleans and Carolina and the finale at Arizona. Win this, and the Bucs have the look of a fairly dangerous team.

Lose it, and you can feel safe in bringing out the photo album.

There are better matchups for the Bucs. Tampa Bay's defense has climbed to third in the yardage rankings, but it remains only 22nd against the run. San Diego, on the other hand, has the NFL's fifth-best running game. Given Marty Schottenheimer's love of up-the-middle, it is safe to say that if the Bucs can't stop the run today, Tomlinson might run all the way to New Mexico.

Ah, and then there is the familiar face at end. Oh, I get it. Now McCardell decides to take the high road.

Does this annoy anyone else? For months, McCardell was the NFL's wouldn't-shut-up. Then he succeeds in talking his way out of town, and the guy becomes Harpo Marx. Did you get a load of McCardell's statement? That he had nothing to say because he didn't want to be a "disservice" to either team?

Huh? When the Bucs were struggling out of the gate, when they were losing their first four games, when Brad Johnson was losing his job while throwing to Tim Brown and Bill Schroeder, McCardell yapped like the neighbor's puppy. He certainly didn't mind being a distraction in those days. His was the noisiest, silliest holdout of the year, and as usual, no one won. It cost McCardell a lot of money; maybe it cost the Bucs a game or two.

Today's goal? The Bucs need to keep the guy quiet. No one cares if he runs silent, just so he doesn't run deep.

Of course, McCardell's holdout is a memory, too. So are all the great games Brian Griese had against the Chargers while with the Broncos, and yes, the Dolphins. So is the Super Bowl game that Doug Williams, now in the Bucs' front office, had in San Diego. So are the seven victories, more than against anyone else, that Jon Gruden has over the Chargers.

Most of all, however, the temptation is to remember the Super Bowl. For the Bucs, Qualcomm Stadium will always be sacred ground. It is their Normandy, their Everest, their Shangri-la. There is where Simeon Rice sacked Gannon. Over there is where Derrick Brooks intercepted his pass. There is where Michael Pittman had one of his big runs. And on and on.

Every game the Bucs have played since, good and bad, has been in the shadow of that victory. Even now, you can hear people debate who deserved the most credit for winning that game, and who deserves the most blame for every disappointment since. (Some towns applaud success; around here, we autopsy it.)

Look, Rick and Ilsa had Paris. Tampa Bay had San Diego. There are worse places.

On the other hand, you only get to turn your watch back three hours when you go to California, not three seasons.

For the Bucs, the relevant football is to be played today. The Chargers have turned into the feel-good story of the year, a resurrected franchise rallying behind a quarterback who was merely keeping the seat warm for a coach who seemed over the hill. Today, they have momentumand swelling confidence. Also, Tomlinson.

As for the Bucs, they have yesterday.

Later on, we may find out if they also have a piece of tomorrow.

[Last modified December 12, 2004, 00:32:19]