Time for awards - but with no red carpet

This week's electronic conversation between Sports columnists Gary Shelton and John Romano:

By GARY SHELTON and JOHN ROMANO, Times Columnists
Published December 30, 2007

GS: It's been a long season, hasn't it? But looking back, I think we would agree on two things. One: The Bucs have been better than either of us (or anyone else) would have suspected. Two: The reason for that is Jeff Garcia. He hasn't been quite as sharp lately, but he's still the MVP of this team. Agree?

JR: The Most Valuable Buc? Yeah, I'd say that's Garcia. He might also be the Most Vibrant, the Most Valiant and, based on his wife's sonograms, the Most Virile. How about Tampa Bay's Defensive Player of the Year? I can think of several candidates, but I'm going with Jermaine Phillips. Can we join hands on that?

GS: Phillips was impressive this year. I'll give you that. Comparing him to the other safeties in the league, I think he deserves to go to the Pro Bowl as much as anyone in a Bucs uniform. But I'm going to disagree. I'm going to give the award to Greg White. White has knocked so many balls out of the hands of quarterbacks this year that the field looks like a putting green.

JR: I would not heckle from the other voting booth if you pulled the lever for White. There was a point in the middle of the season when it appeared he was the only guy on the defensive line who understood quarterbacks were the enemy. I just thought Phillips helped revive some of the nastiness of this defense with the way he flew around the field, knocking ballcarriers back to Saturday.

GS: Yep, John Lynch would be proud. So here's a compromise. I'm going to give the Defensive Player of the Year award to White, and I'm going to give the Most Improved trophy to Phillips. What do you think?

JR: At the risk of sounding like I enjoy waffles with Mitt, I think that's a perfect compromise. What about other awards? Do we have a Most Likely to Concede? Rookie of the Year? A Best Supporting Sacker? Most Pleasant Surprise? How about Mr. Congeniality?

GS: Sure. It's like the Golden Globes. There is a category for everyone. Most Likely to Concede is Jake Plummer. Best rookie is Tanard Jackson. Best Supporting Sacker is Gaines Adams. Most Pleasant Surprise is Earnest Graham. And Mr. Congeniality is Josh Bidwell, who ought to win something. And the coveted Ferris Bueller's Day Off Award goes to Jon Gruden.

JR: Are you making a crack about last week's jayvee team? I know you were not thrilled with Gruden's decision to give a player or 26 the afternoon off in San Francisco. I didn't think it was that big of a deal last week, but I would be concerned to see it again today. Losing consecutive games, and three out of four, is not the best way for an overachieving team to stumble into the playoffs.

GS: What it does, essentially, is place everything on the playoff game. If the Bucs beat the Giants, no one is going to care much. But if the Bucs lose and finish 9-8, it's going to drain away much of the goodwill this team earned for itself. I still say there are a lot of areas where the Bucs need to improve before the postseason gets here.

JR: In a lot of ways, this season has been a shocker in Tampa Bay. There are a half-dozen guys who have come out of nowhere to play huge roles. Every week you waited for the wheels to fall off, and it never happened. So why loosen the lug nuts now?

GS: Here's a deal. If the starters only play a half, how about the fans getting half of their ticket price back? Call it a holiday rebate.

JR: Nice work. Joel Glazer just spit up his mocha latte all over our mug shots.

GS: I'm afraid he isn't breaking new ground, either.

JR: Yeah, but this was an accident. Usually, he's aiming.

[Last modified December 29, 2007, 18:01:12]