Tampa Bay Buccaneers Head Coach Lovie Smith Assembles Staff Based on Didactic Approach

Lovie Smith has nearly completed his search for assistant coaches, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers new head coach has the tall order of reviving a once respectable franchise from the current gutters of derision into a unified team willing to battle for victories.

The former Chicago Bears head coach was fired at the end of the 2012 season after starting 7-1, then finishing 10-6 while narrowly missing the playoffs. Smith finished 84-66 in nine seasons with the Bears, claiming the NFC North three times, and earning a Super Bowl berth once, in 2006, losing to Tony Dungy's Indianapolis Colts.

Smith, a pupil under former Bucs coach Dungy, has assembled a group of teachers rather than drill sergeants to aid in rejuvenating a club that finished 11-21 the past two seasons. Will this strategy benefit a group of players who have been entrenched in the losing culture for the past two seasons?

Jeff Tedford, the former Cal head coach, has been brought on as offensive coordinator. The interesting yet controversial hire has Bucs' fans scratching their heads, and it begs to ask the question, "What does Lovie know that no one else in the NFL knows?"

While Tedford has successfully placed many college quarterbacks in the first round, none of them, except Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, has panned out. Can Tedford work his magic and turn Mike Glennon into first-round type talent? Probably not, and the train of thought is the Bucs may look quarterback in the upcoming draft.

Can Tedford's innovative, offensive mind be successful in the NFL? He doesn't have pro experience, which ought to be alarming to fans.

Former Minnesota Vikings head coach Leslie Frazier has been hired as the Bucs defensive coordinator. Frazier, another one of Dungy's students, has had success in the NFL as a coordinator. In Frazier's first year with the Vikings, he finished with the 20th ranked defense - first in rushing, and last in passing. In 2008, Frazier's second year, the numbers drastically change, going from 6th overall, first in rushing, and 18th passing.

Except for his first season, Frazier's defenses didn't fall out of the top 10 while as coordinator.

Guys like Hardy Nickerson, who is responsible for making the Tampa-2 defense a power in the late 1990's and early 2000's, as the new linebackers coach, is an energy guy that has 15 years worth of experience to teach.

Tim Spencer, Tampa's new running back's coach, helped propel Thomas Jones into new heights as a premier running back. Jones was nearly a first-round bust before exploding onto the scene in Chicago.

Smith has done this before. He has been a success at every level. He knows what he's doing. Bucs fans need to trust in Smith's staff because the mistakes he made in Chicago are almost guaranteed not to be repeated.

History May Repeat Itself: Florida State's Jameis Winston Guilty Before Proven Innocent

It's the media's job to convince the reader and/or viewer of undeniable guilt before a sentence is given to a person of high profile.

In the case of Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston and the ongoing alleged sexual assault investigation; guilty before being charged is the acceptable thought.

History has the opportunity to rear it's ugly head yet again.

Former Dallas Cowboy wide receiver Michael Irvin and then teammate Erik Williams were charged with allegedly gang-raping Nina Shahravan back in 1996. Shahravan filed a report stating the men held a gun to her while videotaping the whole ordeal.

Shahravan was later arrested for fabricating the story and filing a false police report.

Popular media outlets annihilated Irvin and Williams for the accusations, and the two were proven guilty in the court of public opinion.

Few apologies were delivered.

In 2006, the Duke Lacrosse Rape Case made enormous headlines across the US when Crystal Mangum accused three of the players for raping her in the bathroom. Mangum was later found to be lying.

She's currently serving a 14-year prison sentence for murdering her boyfriend.

The boys were found guilty of everything before ever being put in front of a jury of their peers. The world had already decided their guilt and their sentence.

Apologies barely appeared.

Brian Banks, a highly sought after California football player, was exonerated of rape charges when his accuser admitted to lying. Banks spent five years in prison before he was acquitted.

The young man was incriminated, his life ruined by a blatant lie, and then made into a sympathetic figure.

Defeating the ugly public perception was the apology.

State Attorney William Meggs has completed his ongoing investigation and will announce whether Winston will be charged at 2PM EST on December 5th.

Florida State Quarterback Jameis Winston Urinated in Public Pool, Involved in Gum-Chewing Incident

The institution of higher learning received a major setback with the current news stating Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston was involved in a BB gun shooting incident followed by stealing fountain soda at a Tallahassee, Florida Burger King.

The crisis has sent shockwaves throughout FSU's campus.

Gone are the days of good, clean fun depicted in classic college films such as Animal House and Old School where alcohol and drug abuse were commonplace – seldom did shenanigans occur. 

Universities have tried to escape the stigma college is a site to meet new people and experiment with illicit substances. What Winston committed goes beyond heinous.

According to an FSU student, who wishes to remain anonymous, "I'm pretty sure Jameis peed in the pool at West 10 (apartment complex) once." The student continued with a mournful expression and glassy eyes, "He chewed gum in class, too. When will the football team realize they're hurting all of us."

Considering college students rarely make mindless mistakes, the news of Winston's follies, combined with the ongoing alleged sexual assault investigation, has made the number one Heisman contender quite the easy target.

Those who live in glass houses...

The number two Seminoles take on the Florida Gators on Saturday at noon.

Jameis Winston Saga Cluttered with Sensationalism, Little Facts

Florida State quarterback and Heisman front-runner Jameis Winston has been in the spotlight before the 2013-2014 college football season started. 

The explosion of the heralded redshirt freshman comes to no surprise by FSU fans – aptly nicknaming Winston "Famous Jameis" when the Hueytown, Alabama native signed on the dotted line to play for Head Coach Jimbo Fisher and the Seminoles.

The storybook season was moving along smoothly with blowout victories over ACC Atlantic Division rival Clemson as well as in-state rival Miami. The 'Noles are currently the number two team in the nation with a tremendous chance at playing in Pasadena, California for the national championship.

A serious legal matter has since gravely overshadowed Winston and the Seminoles' dream season. 

In December of 2012, Winston was identified and accused of sexually assaulting a woman. 

Matt Baker of the Tampa Bay Times originally broke the story, while TMZ nearly got the credit, according to Dead Spin. Since then, allegations and rumors concerning both Winston and the accuser have dominated Internet message boards as well as Twitter.

State Attorney William Meggs has been investigating these allegations for weeks now with a decision reportedly not being reached for another two weeks, leaving the timetable roughly after the ACC Championship Game in Charlotte, North Carolina. 

The holdup has FSU fans rightfully worried, but why the delay? It appears Meggs and company have the facts needed to either charge Winston or close this case. 

This isn't the first time Meggs has attempted to put a Florida State player away nor will it be the last. Former FSU defensive tackle Travis Johnson was in a similar situation Winston is currently facing. According to USA Herald, Johnson was accused of rape, but was found innocent of any wrongdoing. Meggs had some interesting words after the Johnson verdict.

"Although the jury found that there was not enough evidence to convict him, [that] does not mean that Mr. Johnson did not commit the crime, and that is an important distinction."

The reader can come up with his or her own conclusion.

Here's what we know: Winston allowed himself to be tested for a DNA analysis, which did match the DNA on the accuser's underwear. This is not an omission of guilt.

Tim Janson, Winston's attorney, says the sex between the two was consensual. Patricia Carroll, the accuser's attorney, says it was rape.

So now we're stuck with a battle of "he said, she said." 

No matter what is printed, and the majority of it paints Winston as being guilty, the only thing truly factual in this case is some form of sex took place. Whether it was the heinous and disgusting act of rape, or the accused allegedly and potentially lying for personal gain, the whole story reads of sensationalism and sports "man-drama."

Allow the process to conclude then reach judgement.

Honeymoon

Congrats to the Boston Bruins for taking the series against the hometown Tampa Bay Lightning.

Sorry I haven't posted in some time, but I've been preoccupied getting married, and now I'm off to my honeymoon. I'll hit up this blog hard once I return.

Go Rays!

Bruins take shot at Tampa fans

There may not be a stupider attempt at knocking a fan base than the morons in Boston and their sophomoric and unoriginal sign, swiping Tampa Bay Lightning fans.

Fresh off a 5-2 thumping this past Saturday night at the hands of Vinny Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis, this sign has made its way around the Boston area, obviously a crack at Tampa’s “bandwagon” fan base that has been made popular by the four-letter network.

The party, or parties in charge should’ve done their research before erecting something so disgraceful.

The Tampa Bay Lightning was 18th in attendance this past regular season averaging 17 thousand-plus fans per game.

The Boston Bruins were 16th, averaging 17.5-plus per game. Huge. Difference.

The Bruins' fan base completely abandoned their organization a few short years ago when Boston was considered the laughing stock of the NHL and struggled to fill their arena.

Now that they have reestablished themselves as an elite playoff team, the attendance has grown. Isn’t there a word for that?

“Bandwagon.”

This shot at Tampa and their fan base is laughable and is a clear sign that the city of Boston and their fans are afraid of Tampa. And why shouldn’t they be?

In 2008, the lowly Tampa Bay Rays, with their economical payroll and no-name team, defeated the Boston Red Sox with their limitless funds and high-profile players, in game seven of the ALCS.

The sports world was embarrassed and dismayed at the mighty Red Sox and their fall from grace at the hands of the Rays.

So, of course the city of Boston is going to showcase a pitiful and classless sign. They’re terrified. They’ve seen this story before.

And they know exactly how the tale ends.

Bin Laden's death and the NFL

If you listened to my show yesterday you heard me talk about Osama bin Laden’s demise and its effect on the NFL.

I’d like to expound on the notion and put it into better detail then the five-minute rant I laid out yesterday afternoon.

As we all know, Navy SEALs infiltrated a fortress in Pakistan and gunned down terrorist leader Osama bin Laden and his cronies. Bin Laden is the villain behind the September 11th attacks that murdered 3,000 Americans back in 2001.

United States President Barack Obama made the announcement Sunday night that under his order’s the SEALs team took out bin Laden. The United States and the sports world were elated to hear the news.

Retribution.

Jubilation.

I can only hope and pray that the families of the 9/11 victims have a semblance of peace and satisfaction.

Here’s where sports play a role – and I’m a firm believer in not mixing sports with politics, but they somehow came together.

Philadelphia Phillie fan, who’s typically the most uncaring, unforgiving, and venomous fan of any sport, heard the announcement during a Phillies-Mets game through the PA system.

Patriotism shined rather than the vitriol one would see at a Phillies game. Mets and Phillies fans stood together as one and the chants of, “USA! USA! USA!” could be heard over the television announcer’s voice.

It was a spectacular moment contributed by one of the most significant events in America’s history.

This September marks the 10-year anniversary of the attacks in New York City, a day that every American vividly remembers, where we were and what we were doing.

There’s another significant event that takes place this September 11, 2011: it’s supposed to be the first day of the NFL season.

Not to rehash the whole “Millionaire v Billionaire” argument, but I felt that this needed to be brought to everyone’s attention.

Two sides are arguing over how they’re going to split nine billion dollars while Americans struggle with jobs, food, and gas prices.

Football on Sundays is the only consolation Americans get from a struggling economy, and it’s the only time they can get away for three hours and forget about their everyday hardships.

With bin Laden’s demise and the 10-year anniversary quickly approaching, the NFL owners and players need to come to an agreement. What better way to follow up the termination of one of the world’s most notorious criminals then to have the NFL back and running?

What better way to stick it to the enemies of United States by saying, “We’re still here! We still get to enjoy life and all of the glorious qualities it provides!”

But we don’t get to enjoy it. The lockout means we don’t get to watch our favorite teams. There is no cheering. There is no celebrating. There is no victory.

The NFL will be dishonoring the 9/11 victims if this lockout continues. Sunday, September 11th, 2011 will be here sooner than we think, and there won’t be football.

The TV will be full of the horrific images we still have burned in our minds. It’ll have heroic stories as well as tear-jerking tales. Experts will come aboard and explain how the evil plot was orchestrated.

It’ll be a depressing day. It’ll be a day for reflection and remembrance. For honor and thanks.

All it needs is for one organization to step up and give this land the speck of light that it truly deserves.

What’s more American than football?