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Kicking back with the Gramaticas

The brothers' new Web site lets you in on their jobs and their charity work.

By GREG AUMAN

© St. Petersburg Times,
published September 7, 2001

The football appears, a set of crosshairs center on it and -- BOOM! -- a leg boots it off the screen. The uptempo music kicks in and you have arrived at www.gramaticabrothers.com.

It's an unusual topic for a Web site -- the Gogolaks or Bahrs of the NFL never had such luck. All three Gramaticas have local ties: there's Martin, a Pro Bowl standout with the Bucs; Bill, a former South Florida star now a rookie with the Arizona Cardinals; and Santiago, a freshman at USF looking to follow in his brothers' footsteps.

Their site's intro page shows the three smiling together at Raymond James Stadium, each wearing a different No. 7 jersey. Roll the cursor over one's head and a football appears to crash through the screen, an appropriate way to introduce each kicker.

The site, produced by Raymond James Financial, is updated regularly with links to newspaper stories about the brothers and especially their charity work. It details a "Kicking for Kids" campaign the company sponsors, donating $500 to a local children's hospital for each field goal Martin Gramatica kicks. Last year, the program was good for $14,000 in donations.

"It lets the fans know what's going on," said Martin Gramatica, who said he plans to personally respond to e-mails sent to him through the site during the season as time allows.

For Raymond James, the site is a chance to show that the company is more involved than just as title sponsor on the Bucs' stadium. Another site built around quarterback Shaun King and his interests in local education will be unveiled later this year.

Visit raymondjames.com/stadium and you can take a virtual tour, check the Bucs' and South Florida's home schedules, and learn far more than you need to know about the stadium. (The foundation is 109,000 tons of steel, the light towers are 177 feet tall and a lap around the stadium is more than a half-mile.)

There are more impressive numbers at the Gramaticas' site -- Martin and Bill are first and second in the NCAA record books for longest field goals without a tee, having connected from 65 and 63 yards, respectively. As for which brother is most comfortable lining up in front of the computer, Martin said it's no contest.

"Santiago is the computer whiz," he said. "I can just e-mail."

SHAMLESS PLUG: The Times' site, sptimes.com, will debut a weekly Bucs e-news feature today. Fans can sign up to have an e-mail sent daily with links to each day's Bucs stories. Look for similar packages for the Lightning and Devil Rays in the next six months.

Our site also launched TimesChat on Thursday. Look for guests from our newspaper staff each Tuesday and Thursday, with columnist Gary Shelton chatting and answering questions for an hour at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday.

TID-BYTES: ESPN.com has posted the average draft position of all players taken in its fantasy leagues, even showing how their position has risen or fallen in the past week. The first Bucs player listed is Warrick Dunn (taken 32nd, on average), followed by Keyshawn Johnson (40th) and the Bucs defense (53rd). Gramatica (80th) has been going ahead of Brad Johnson (91st). ... If the NFL is too much for you, check out ssflonline.com, home to the Southern States Football League, a Florida-based semi-pro organization whose 2001 championship was won by the St. Pete Sharks. Don't confuse that with ssfl.com, a strange site for the "Southern Suburbs Football League" that appears to be a simulated league using old USFL players, in Italian no less.

-- If you have a question or comment about the Internet or a site to suggest, e-mail staff writer Greg Auman at auman@sptimes.com.

Here are 10 sites fans of all ages should keep bookmarked for the next five months. We'd say longer, but last year's top 10 included athletesdirect.com, which has folded, and xfl.com, which might as well.

nfl.com: League's official site, now run by Sportsline.com. Has links to the official pages for all 31 teams.

buccaneers.com: The Bucs' official site, with player bios, updates from practice, video highlights and even a page for cheerleaders.

Superbowl.com: Next year's game is in New Orleans, but for now, the site is still looking back on the Ravens' victory in Tampa.

nflpa.org: The NFL Players Association site has one cool feature: You can find out the base salary for any player, from recent years to 2008.

Profootballhof.com: The next-best thing to Canton, this site has pages for all Hall of Fame enshrinees and audio clips from induction speeches.

NFLhs.com: The league looks to high school for its future stars, with fitness tips, special techniques and chats with NFL players.

nfluth.com: NFL Under The Helmet is the league's program for teens, and the site's features include player profiles and video diaries.

Playfootball.com: This kids site has video games, an introduction to the sport and tips for parents whose kids want to play.

bigpros.com: Tampa company produces official sites for Warren Sapp (big99.com), Derrick Brooks (hit55.com) and Jacquez Green (81deep.com).

Sptimes.com/Bucs: Look for stories, pictures, message boards and more of what you read each day in this newspaper.

-- GREG AUMAN

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