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Numbers tell the story: Bucs now command respect

MIZELL E-mail: Click here Archive

By HUBERT MIZELL

© St. Petersburg Times,
published August 5, 2001

Above all, it's because we deeply care about what others think. Peer pride. Most of us are competitors. That's why it's so craved to rank No. 1, as in college football, like the Hurricanes, Seminoles and Gators have repeatedly done.

Now, across the global landscape, no matter where David Duval goes, people are impressed when the Jacksonville fellow is introduced as a champion, a title that came from the British Open. Status so rich. A feeling now embraced by professional teams called Ravens, Yanks, Lakers and Avs. It's a joyous jolt Tampa Bay craves, more than ever with the Bucs legitimate Super Bowl contenders. We glance afar, wondering how people in Des Moines and Hartford rate Warren Sapp or if John Lynch is broadly respected in Albuquerque and Louisville. We look for indicators.

Football Digest gives a preseason hint on the far-flung impact of individual Buccaneers with the publication's ranking of the NFL's top 100 players. Quick, who is pro football's best talent?

The magazine declares Rams running back Marshall Faulk is No. 1 while Colts quarterback Peyton Manning is No. 9. Me? I'd take the QB first. But this is subjective, argumentative fodder.

Jump in, to agree or not.

Baltimore linebacker Ray Lewis sits at No. 2 among the league's 1,500 players, followed by Minnesota receiver Randy Moss and Bucs defensive tackle Sapp. Tampa Bay was granted a wealth of status for a non-winner of the Super Bowl, with Lynch ranked No. 13, highest among NFL safeties. Mike Alstott was the top fullback despite sitting No. 58 overall.

As with the Faulk-Manning comparison, it strikes me odd that tight end Tony Gonzalez of Kansas City ranked No. 7 among the top 100, just ahead of St. Louis quarterback Kurt Warner. Which do you think would be the loss of greater importance to his team? Warner, I shout.

Maybe I'm QB-warped.

Following Sapp were Tennessee runner Eddie George, Indy runner Edgerrin James, Gonzalez, Warner and Titans defensive end Jevon Kearse.

Two other Bucs made the list, linebacker Derrick Brooks (17th overall) and cornerback Donnie Abraham (55). Five years ago, there would have been none from Tampa Bay.

Makes you feel good, right?

UPPERCUTS: TV commentator Joe Theismann, bright enough to be a Notre Dame, NFL and CFL quarterback, once declared, "Nobody in football should be called a genius. A genius is a guy like Norman Einstein." ... We've seen too many bad movies about Muhammad Ali's extraordinary life, but I'm counting on the acting talents of Will Smith to bring off something memorable in the budding production of Ali. ... Phil McConkey, the former Giants and Broncos wide receiver, may run for governor of New York. With the ballot-box successes of Jack Kemp, J.C. Watts, Tom Osborne, Jim Bunning and Steve Largent, you wonder what ex-athlete might be next. John Elway for U.S. Senate from Colorado? Chris Evert for the House from Florida? Lee Roy Selmon for mayor of Tampa? ... Chris Weinke, a pro football rookie at 29, Heisman winner from FSU, has a valid chance to rise to No. 1 for Carolina, which has zero QBs who have started an NFL game. Oh, how Panthers coach George Seifert must fight to keep from reminiscing about having both Joe Montana and Steve Young with the 49ers.

READER'S SHOUT: E-mail from James Fish, retired St. Petersburg firefighter living in Citrus County: "I have never written to a newspaper or sports writer but just had to express my frustration with baseball rules.

"Why do they have coaches boxes, batters boxes, catcher's box, home-plate dimensions and don't enforce them? Feller, Koufax, Ryan and Carlton never depended on strikes being called 6 to 8 inches off the plate."

HUBERT'S REPLY: Debates constantly evolve on how to enforce rules. Umps are coming closer to calling the real, textbook strike zone but approval among pitchers and managers is far from universal. I'm with you, James. Rewrite the strike zone if they wish, but call it! Expand the boxes if they want, but enforce them. Take a lesson from golf on the importance of rules consistencies.

JABS: America is learning what Tampa Bay has long known: D-backs power hitter Luis Gonzalez is the nicest person in baseball. ... Boxing promoter Dan Duva said of incurable bonehead Mike Tyson, "Why would anybody expect him to come out smarter? He went to prison for three years, not to Princeton." ... Surely neither Freud nor Gammons can explain why Vinny Castilla went from a pathetic, anemic, hooted failure with the Rays to a homer/RBI machine with the Astros. I mean, V.C. did give his best effort for Tampa Bay, didn't he? ... And why does this make me think of the Rays: In 1992, Pat Williams of the Orlando Magic confessed, "We can't win at home. We can't win on the road. As general manager, I can't figure out where else to play."

Whatever happened to Giorgio Chinaglia?

-- To reach Hubert Mizell, e-mail mmizell02@earthlink.net or mail to P.O. Box 726, Nellysford, VA 22958.

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