Get Ready for The Buc Coaches Bowl And so it came to pass that this years Super Bowl extravaganza acquired the pseudonym of “Former Buc Coaches Bowl” as Lovie Smith’s Bears, and perhaps more prominently Tony Dungy’s Colts made the big dance in Miami. With Mike Tomlin’s addition to the ranks this past week, the ex-Buc coaches in the NFL Head man role fraternity grew to five, all disciples of the heralded Dungy staff he harvested in Tampa back in the mid-90’s. Both Tony and the Bucs themselves can be rightly proud of this, and it’s hard not to root for our ex-head coach bearing in mind the character of the man, what he did for our franchise and what he’s suffered through this past year. As Paul rightly pointed out, Gary Shelton’s article in yesterday’s St Pete Times was two-faced journalism at its best, an unfortunate feature of so many Times writers these days, but I think it does indicate the positive light in which many of the Buc fraternity will look on this years game, aside from our Editor in Chief who’ll be watching American Idiot or some other tosh instead. A few things I think 1) Where on earth does the Christian name “Lovie” come from? Im sure we will find out thanks to the blanket coverage on its way in the next 10 days but were Mr Smith’s parents fans of Sir John Gielgud or the Royal Shakespeare Theatre perhaps? No, I didn’t think so either. I remain on tenterhooks waiting out the explanation in the coming days. 2) Great mysteries of the world number 22. Why on earth would you require a secret compartment in your water bottle to conceal items – to conceal illegal substances perhaps? Answers please to Mr M Vick, Georgia Dome, Atlanta. 3) Another week, another Bengal arrest with the scorecard now at 9. Good to see Marvin Lewis really clamping down on things in view of 2006 isn’t it. 4) Anyone else glad to see Tom Brady not pull it out last week? And for a refreshing change he threw the interception to effectively become the goat though he probably has immunity from criticism due to past efforts. A Patriots vs Bears Super Bowl would have bored the world to death, so thank god we don’t have to suffer such tedium. 5) I was gutted that it just didn’t work out for genial old Bill Parcells and Jerry Jones in Dallas, just gutted for them. Still hey ho, life goes on eh. I’m sure Ill be able to get through the next few days with only a few chuckles. 6) I see the Raiders decided to join the ex-Buc coaches trend as well, though typically they went for the half-baked option and appointed the son of a Buc coach, rather than the Real McCoy. I’d wager a 31 year old rookie head coach will get as much input into personnel decisions as I do in whacky Al Davis world. 7) I did find it quite funny to read that Booger McFarland has been speaking to the Colts players on how to handle the Super Bowl build-up and game, from his experience with us. Must have been tough for Booger to prepare that week in January 2003, before watching the game in civvies on the sideline in a Baseball cap. Maybe he can pass on tips on fetching the Gatorade or distributing tickets to the family, or perhaps planning the venue for that all-important post game piss-up if you win. As for playing in the game itself, he’s as much use as a Jade Goody Fan Club badge. 8) I think Rex Grossman must be the worst QB to make the Super Bowl I’ve ever seen, and that includes (sorry Paul) Trent Dilfer. Some quarterbacks are said to have “happy feet” in a polite description of their uneasy movements when under pressure – Rex looks like he has got “whacked out of his mind on acid feet” when he’s in the pocket. When Tony Dungy departed the Bucs, most of the media on the local beat felt the time had come, with the main knocks being on our pathetic offensive showings despite what seemed to be decent personnel within the unit. His Colts team couldn’t be more different, and though you can make a case for it being hard not to make the Super Bowl with Peyton Manning as your QB, the achievement itself still requires its plaudits and I for one will be rooting for Tony come February 4th. That’s enough Super Bowl bigging up for now as the next 10 days will feature more media crap than a reality tv show, and I’d much rather focus on the Bucs/Browns draft pick coin toss to be honest. When exactly is this by the way? Can somebody enlighten me on the exact date so I can wonder what preparations we have in place in determining wind direction and whether a head or tail is most likely if we are granted the privilege of calling either way – oh the excitement is better than most of our regular season. It sounds such a small thing but drafting 1 spot ahead would give us even more flexibility and an enhanced bargaining chip for trading with. What was distressing this past week was learning directly of some of the crap both Paul and Phil have to put up with, in running this fabulous club of ours which involves them devoting large portions of their precious time to its enhancement when they both have a multitude of both family and work commitments as well. Though little surprises me these days I find the attitude of a certain, and thankfully ex, member to sadly typify the “what’s in it for me” attitude of far too many people these days. I admire Phil for the constraint he showed in the situation and not sure I would have been able to demonstrate such ability, given the circumstances. This is a great club and Paul and Phil go way over and above normal limits for benefit of our members, and its perhaps worth remembering they do this for the love of the game and the Bucs rather than any personal benefits. Thanks again guys, the whole thing just wouldn’t be what it is without you. Nod of Acknowledgement to - Peyton Manning - Great drive for the winning score just when both you and your team needed it most. Big players do it in those moments. Get in the Real World Award -The Patriots - Feels like the shits when you lose a close one doesn’t it. Bout time you lot experienced it. Sports News Story I No Longer Give a Toss About – Super Bowl Hype - Four days in and still over a week to go – aggghhhhhh.