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By KATHRYN WEXLER
© St. Petersburg Times, published January 14, 2000
TAMPA -- Though not usually associated with fun and games, the U.S. Postal Service was ready to loosen up Thursday. Officials had decided that Saturday's Tampa Bay Buccaneers' playoff game was special enough that postal employees could shed their blue uniforms in favor of Bucs jerseys.
About half the 93 workers at the Hilldale post office on Hillsborough Avenue took the offer. Some even flew Buccaneers flags from their mail Jeeps -- with authorization, of course.
But one worker had another idea.
Bill Rizi, a custodian, reported for work at 7 a.m. sporting the shirt of the Bucs' opponent, the Washington Redskins.
He was ordered to go home and change. And he did.
"We were not telling him he needs to be a Buccaneers fan," said Doug Fiedler, manager of customer service at Hilldale, "but when you're representing the U.S. Postal Service and supporting the community, we need to promote the community of Tampa."
For a few hours Thursday morning, that imposed boosterism set off a flurry of phone calls between postal officials and the postal union.
"We determined it was something he had worn in the past (to work) and since it's not a safety violation, that he should be able to continue to wear it," said Richard Phillips, vice president of the Tampa-area Local American Postal Workers Union.
Postal officials were good sports about the whole situation. Fiedler said Thursday afternoon they had acted "in error" when they told Rizi to change.
Rizi was told he could wear his Redskins shirt after all. So went home and changed again.
Gary Sawtelle, postal spokesman for the Suncoast district, said he hoped the issue didn't overshadow what he said was a positive promotion that is popular with most of the workers.
"I guess we're a little taken off-guard," he said. "We're trying to have fun with this thing. And for the most part, we are."
Sawtelle said that it was imperative one of his statements be included in this story:
"Go Bucs!"
Kathryn Wexler can be reached at (813) 226-3386 or wexler@sptimes.com