BUCPOWER.COM Every player, every game and every detail in Buccaneer history OTHER SPORTS IN TAMPA For years and years, the Tampa sports area was just synonomous with bad sports teams. The Bucs, the Lightning, the Devil Rays. Not any more (not so fast baseball fans). The Bucs have won the SuperBowl and the Lightning have won the Stanley Cup. The USF Bulls are one of the up-and-coming teams of college football and Florida is also home to some of the best golf courses in the world. Hence by supporting the Bucs, you've entered into a pretty big sporting universe to explore whilst you are on your way to Raymond James Stadium to see your heroes in action. HOCKEY - TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING Nick Halling will often tell you of the games he has seen at the Ice Palace before the Lightning became successful. Phil Jones and I can too. We saw the season opener of the 2002-03 season against the Carolina Hurricanes and it was an experience to easily rival the Bucs' game the following day against Cleveland. We had shelled out (OK, I shelled out) $100 each for rink side seats and didn't regret it for a minute. There is nothing quite like seeing an NHL game from that close, even if Ruslan Fedetenko did think it would be funny to fire a puck at the glass in a successful attempt to make me spill my pre-game beer. The NHL schedule runs from early October although pre-season games often take place in September. If you are lucky enough to have timed your trip to co-incide with a Lightning home stand, you simply have to go. Tickets may be harder to come by now the Lightning have won the Stanley Cup, but Ticketmaster can usually sort something out if you book early enough. BASEBALL - TAMPA BAY DEVIL RAYS The Devil Rays play at Tropicana Field which is just off I-275 in St.Petersburg. They play in the same division as the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox, but that is where the similarity ends. Because of the lack of revenue sharing in Major League Baseball, the Rays have no realistic chance of ever competing for the World Series. Hence tickets are always plentiful and fairly cheap, although if you take one of the tours shown, there's a pretty good chance you could wind up in the bullpen for that night's game. The regular season runs from April to September although many other teams spent March in Florida as part of Spring training. If you don't fancy the Rays, the New York Yankees Class A franchise (that's three below the majors) play across the road from the Bucs at Legends Field. Their schedule runs from late April through the end of August. COLLEGE FOOTBALL - SOUTH FLORIDA BULLS Thanks to the considerable efforts of their Associate Athletic Director, a certain Mr L Selmon, the USF Bulls have become one of the new names in college football. Playing in 2004 as an Independent, they will move into conference play in 2005 and can start taking their shots at the bigger boys of the NCAA. Their home games are at Raymond James Stadium and tend to be Saturday evening games. The atmosphere is very different to watching the Bucs and crowds tend to be around the 30,000 limit hence the upper decks are not used. But if you like football, then a trip to see the Bulls if your schedule allows, is well worth doing. HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL One of my favourite joys on trips to Tampa, is watching high school football. Games are across the state on Friday evenings and I have seen a range of teams including Shaun King's alma mater and my first love Clearwater Tornadoes. Their stadium is on Gulf-to-Bay between Tampa and Clearwater and is where many NFL Europe scrimmages have taken place in the spring. Tickets are cheap and the atmosphere is much more family orientated. GOLF OK, so I would rather play in Scotland than in Florida as I prefer links golf to the target form that American courses tend to indicate. But golf in Florida is a lot of fun albeit pretty hot making buggies a necessity. You pretty much get what you pay for in terms of course quality, and although the likes of the TPC Sawgrass will set you back around $200, the likes of the TPC Tampa Bay or the USF course, "The Claw" are real tests for any golfer at a reasonable price. The three courses I played in 1998 were Clearwater Country Club, Cove Cay (which overlooks Phil's condo) and Airco. None are anything special but a lot of fun all the same. OTHER SPORTS I am definitely going to visit Daytona next time I am there, even if it is a three hour drive from Tampa. There is also a racing driver school based at the facility as well as the Richard Petty Experience, run by the legendary NASCAR driver and multiple champion. Everyone knows of the Florida Gators and Florida State Seminoles but forget getting a ticket to see any of their games. It's even harder than getting a ticket for the Buccaneers if you are not a member of the Bucs UK. Watching college football from a sports bar on a Saturday afternoon before heading over to RJS to see the USF Bulls is your best bet. Nick Halling once covered beach volleyball down at Clearwater Beach. Yes, I can really imagine that was a serious test of professional journalism! SPORTS SHOPPING If you don't come back from Tampa with a ton of Bucs memorabilia, you haven't done yourself justice. Buc Heaven is the main stop for every kind of Buccaneer merchandise, run by long-time friend of the Bucs UK, Jeffrey Neil Fox. But every other sports store in Tampa will stock a ton of Bucs items with Sports Fan Attic being one of the best we have found in the local malls. They will also stock a ton of merchandise for the likes of the Lightning and the Rays (although the latter have their own small store in the Tampa mall). The sort of souvenirs that really stand the test of time are mugs and glasses (used everyday), calendars and mounted pictures and images. Don't forget that the American video and DVD systems are different to our own, and hence media you buy in Tampa may not work on your own systems back in the UK. Click here for a link to Buccaneer Heaven We are always looking to update this part of BUCPOWER.COM with suggestions and information If you would like to contribute, please contact us at the e-mail address shown on the front screen