Florida Tuskers Open Season With Win

by: Neil Tredray

ORLANDO, Fla. -- The Florida Tuskers began their first season in the United Football League with a strong start, a 35-13 victory over the New York Sentinels Saturday night at the Citrus Bowl.The game started badly for the Tuskers as the Sentinels started off scoring 10 unanswered points, and a 35-yard field goal attempt by Tuskers kicker Matt Bryant missed wide right.
In the second quarter, Tuskers quarterback Brooks Bollinger was intercepted by cornerback Paul Pratt, who returned the ball to the one yard line.
The Sentinels' offense took the field poised to make the score 17-0, but the Tuskers defense twice stuffed New York's LaBrandon Toefield. Former Super Bowl MVP Dexter Jackson was in on both tackles for the Tuskers.
Then, on third down, Tuskers linebacker Tim McGarigle jarred the ball loose from Toefield's hands and Darius Vinnett recovered the fumble for the Tuskers in the end zone.
"We were going to go up 17 points and then disaster happened," said Sentinels head coach Ted Cottrell.
"After a shaky start, we settled down after we got that turnover and we kind of flipped things on them," said Tuskers head coach Jim Haslett.
That play was indeed the turning point for the Tuskers.
After starting on their own 20 yard line, Bollinger led the Tuskers on an 80 yard drive which featured receptions by five different Tuskers receivers, including a 9-yard touchdown pass to receiver Frank Murphy.
Two plays later, the Tuskers' defense forced another turnover as Fakhir Brown intercepted an errant Quinn Gray pass.
Bollinger needed just one play and one receiver for the next score, as he found Taye Biddle wide open in the middle of the field for a 35-yard touchdown pass.
The Sentinels scored their last points of the game on their next possession, a second field goal from kicker Piotr Czech that brought the Sentinels within one point.
After the half, the Tuskers took the field leading 14-13, and Bollinger led a third consecutive scoring drive.
Helped by a rush of 27 yards from Michael Pittman and one of 12 by Tatum Bell, Florida moved to New York's 16 yard line, where Bollinger found Chas Gessner wide open in the end zone for six.
On the Sentinel's next play from scrimmage, Toefield again had the ball jarred loose, this time by defensive tackle Claude Wroten. McGarigle fell on the ball, and after a coach's challenge confirmed the ruling of a fumble, Florida took over on New York's 31.
This time, the Tuskers allowed their running back duo of Bell and Pittman to do most of the work, but Bollinger had his final touchdown pass of the night on the drive, a one yard toss to Ryan Neufeld.
Bolinger completed 20 of 26 passes for 225 yards, four touchdowns and an interception. Bell also scored on a running play in the fourth quarter.
Defensively, the Tuskers held the Sentinels to 63 offensive yards in the second half.
The Tuskers' next game is Thursday in Las Vegas against the undefeated Locomotives.

UCF Picks up C-USA Win Against Memphis

By: Neil Tredray

ORLANDO, Fla. – The University of Central Florida picked up a much-needed win against Conference USA opponent Memphis Saturday night at Bright House Networks Stadium.

The Knights (3-2, 1-2 C-USA) scored two touchdowns and a field goal in the fourth quarter to top the Tigers (1-4, 0-2 C-USA) 32-14 in front of an announced crowd of 40,408.

"It was a much better effort from last week to this week," said UCF head coach George O'Leary. "Overall, we kind of got off to a slow start, but our guys adjusted well at half time. And it showed pretty well when we came out in the second half."Sophomore Brynn Harvey had a career afternoon, rushing 42 times for 228 yards and a 25-yard touchdown on fourth and five in the final quarter of play to put the game out of reach for the Tigers.

"I think he probably played a little too much, but I feel he has to be able to do that for us. Being able to carry the ball 40 times is something we do not see coming, but we expect him to be able to do that," O'Leary said.

Junior running back Ricky Kay caught four passes in the game, his first of the season, for 52 yards, including a touchdown in the third quarter.
"It was nice to get an opportunity, to get a chance, and I just went with it. It felt great," Kay said.

Redshirt junior defensive end Bruce Miller had 2.5 sacks on the afternoon.

UCF's 4th quarter bonanza got started on their second possession. Fifth-year senior Brett Hodges threw a pass to redshirt freshman Billy Giovanetti, who fumbled the ball near the sideline when tackled.

The play was initially ruled a turnover, however after a lengthy review it was ruled that the ball had gone out of bounds at UCF's 19 yard line.

"They can take as long as they want as long as they get the call right," O'Leary said.

Harvey and Hodges marched the offense down the field to the Memphis 22. Hodges then fired a pass to receiver Jamar Newsome for 22 yards and six points. The extra point made the score 22-14 with 7:18 left to play.

Memphis' next drive ended in just 17 seconds. Quarterback Will Hudgens tested the Knights' deep coverage and paid the price. Junior cornerback Josh Robinson intercepted Hudgens' pass at the UCF 9 and returned it 33 yards.

Harvey then rushed for a total of 49 yards on the next possession and Cattoi kicked a 26-yard field goal which bounced off the uprights to increase UCF's lead to 11.

Cattoi scored three other field goals from 24, 46, and 42 yards and was the only Knight to score until Kay's 7 yard touchdown reception with three seconds left in the third quarter.

Hodges completed 16 of 28 attempts for 214 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception.

UCF's offense totaled 475 yards on 78 plays.

The Knights have a week off to prepare for their next game, a home contest against the Miami Hurricanes, who are ranked 11th nationally.

UFC100: Breakdown by a guy who doesn't really follow UFC

The Ultimate Fighting Championship held its 100th event on July 11, 2009 at the Mandalay Bay Casino in Las Vegas.

I'll be honest: I don't follow the UFC too closely. I'll watch it on Spike, and I've got a group of friends I watch the Pay-Per-View events with, but I don't get into the conversations about the merits of various fighting styles or anything. I just like seeing guys beat the tar out of each other.

Since the theme of the event was "Making History," I figured I'd bring a notepad and take some notes and make my own history by writing about the UFC for the first time.

This isn't going to be in-depth analysis, but hopefully you'll get a chuckle.The first televised fight was Yoshihiro Akiyama against Alan Belcher.

When Belcher came out, his stat box mentioned he was "well-conditioned." That's a strength? You'd certainly hope a guy would be well-conditioned heading into a fight.

Akiyama came out to the dulcet sounds of Andrea Bocelli. My friends and I have discussed what songs we'd come out to. Favorites have included "I Will Always Love You," "Copacabana" and "Punch Him in the [Junk]," but somehow "Con te Partiro" never came to mind.

The only thing I could focus on during the fight was Belcher's tattoo on his left arm. What the hell was it? Fat Albert? Or was it a grossly distended Will Smith as Mohammed Ali?

More important to me was why. Why would Fat Albert be on a grown man's arm? Did he lose a bet?

And then the fight was over, with a questionable victory given to Akiyama. Perhaps Belcher was unfairly penalized for following Juicy Karkass' advice, or maybe the judges missed his totally sweet backflip to get back up after slipping on the mat. He was robbed.

Next on the card was Michael Bisping against Dan Henderson.

First, do we really need subtitles for Bisping? He's from Manchester, not Manchuria.

The first two strengths listed for Bisping in his stat box were "fast starter" and "punches in bunches." What the hell do those words mean? More on those pre-fight stats later.

I'm half-English, and seeing Bisping get knocked out in the second round wasn't a great outcome. For me, the the highlight of the fight came when the pug-faced Henderson had his trunks pulled open and water poured on his "Henderson Jr." Presumably Henderson had earlier rubbed some Miracle-Gro in the area.

Next up was the Welterweight Championship fight with Thiago Alves fighting Georges St. Pierre.

When St. Pierre came out, his stat box had three useful tidbits; things like his fighting style, his record, and the fact that he was a "complete fighter."

It bugs me when other fighters come out and I have to read things like "strong jaw." Give me something to work with, and not some cutesy "kicks are in the mix" nonsense, please. Find something substantive about a fighter, and use it.

St. Pierre is a hugely popular fighter, and is immensely talented as well. However, I just can't get behind a fighter who wears tight trunks. It's like trying to watch NBA footage from the 1970s—nothing is left to the imagination and it's distracting.

St. Pierre wins the award for Most Elaborate Pre-Fight Finery, though. Memo to George: You're Canadian. Lose the Japanese flag headband. Also, if you're going to wear a jacket, maybe get fitted for one with bigger sleeves that fit over your gloves so you don't look like an 8-year-old with ADD trying to take it off, okay?

St. Pierre dominated all five rounds of the fight, giving Joe Rogan the chance to inform us that Alves left his mother in Brazil when he was 19. I guess he came to live the American dream of getting the crap beat out of him by a French-Canadian.

Alves fought as well as he could, given the fact that his opponent is often called the "pound-for-pound best fighter" in the UFC.

All that's left for St. Pierre now is to move up to Middleweight and fight Anderson Silva.

The next fight was the second main event, the Heavyweight Championship fight between Frank Mir and Brock Lesnar.

Was I the only person who noticed the principal from "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" walking behind Lesnar?

Lesnar "fought" in the WWE before making the switch to the UFC, and can't seem to leave the WWE's theatrics behind, making him a polarizing figure in the UFC.

I don't mind that Lesnar won the fight. He easily dominated Mir, despite Mir's first-round thumbs-up to his corner. I just mind the way Lesnar did it.

Lesnar didn't touch Mir's gloves at the start of the fight, and, after Lesner won and the crowd booed him, Lesnar showed true class by shooting the double bird. In his post—fight interview with Rogan, Lesnar dumped on UFC sponsor Bud Light, saying "They don't pay me."

Someone needs to sit Lesnar down and explain to him that if he wants to avoid boo birds and get a paycheck from Anheuser-Busch, he needs to be less of a jagoff.

I'd love to like Lesnar. He's a big guy and he pounded on Mir's face for just over eight minutes which is what I tune in to see. But he's a terrible person and I can't get behind that.

The last fight of the night was Paul Thiago against Jon Fitch.

I'm not at all sure why this match was scheduled after two main events. Really, I'm not. If someone can give me the reason for a fight being scheduled after the main event, please comment.

Given that it was two guys I'd never heard of and after the main event, I found it hard to care too much about the fight.

Fitch took control towards the end of the first round and never let up, always in control of the grappling going on.

Fitch won the fight unanimously.

In all, a fairly solid UFC Pay-Per-View event. I'm already looking forward to August, when Forrest Griffin fights Anderson Silva.

K9 Officers Inform, Entertain

Orlando Police Department K9 Officers Shandley and Russell, along with Russell's partner Raptor, gave a presentation at the Washington Park branch of the Orange County Library Monday, June 22.

Approximately 50 people, mostly children, were there to hear the presentation and learn more about the perils and pleasures of K9 duties.

Shandley explained the dangerous nature when he apologized for his partner Roscoe's absence. Shandley said the night before, Roscoe was chasing a "bad guy" through a forest when a branch scraped Roscoe's eyeball.

Shandley later expounded on the hazardous duties of the dogs. "Half of our dogs find drugs, the other half finds bombs. They all chase bad guys," he said after the formal question-and-answer.

Russell demonstrated that some fun could be had when she produced a toy for Raptor, which he eagerly chomped down on. Russell then swung the 80-pound dog around in a circle, resulting in squeals of delight from the children and a big dog grin from Raptor.

"You could give him a tennis ball, a soccer ball, a basketball, whatever," said Russell. "He's happy."

During the question-and-answer period after the officer's presentation, Russell showed another "trick" Raptor could do: "I can tell him to speak without talking," she said. Russell then cupped a hand to her ear and Raptor dutifully barked.

These dogs are specially trained, and not every dog has the right stuff, Shandley said after the formal session.

"They're major-leaguers," he said. "Private security needs dogs, too, and they pay better than the police, so it's getting harder and harder to find good dogs."

Still, the perks of living a dog's life are there. "Our dogs get taken care of better than any other employees," Shandley said.

Playoff Potential: A preview of the 2009 Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have posted consecutive 9-7 seasons. One (2007) was the result of resting starters after locking up a playoff bid. The other (2008), was the result of an embarrassing string of four straight losses and a fall from first in the division to third and no playoff berth.

For fans of most teams, the burning question "Will my team make the Super Bowl?" starts hitting call-in radio shows sometime around the third week in February. For Lions fans, the burning question is "Is there room on, say, the Rams' bandwagon?" I've gazed deep into my crystal football, examined tea leaves, and slipped and fell in the shower, hitting the soap dish with my head on the way down and emerged from a two week coma to bring the Bucs' faithful my preseason prognostications.

Drum roll, please.

The Buccaneers will not make the Super Bowl in 2009, but they will make the playoffs. Let's see why.

1. An Improved Running Game

Football experts from Vince Lombardi to the local high school coach will tell you football games are won and lost in the trenches. It's a cliché, but it's true.

The Bucs' offensive line retains big maulers in Davin Joseph, Jeremy Trueblood, Arron Sears, Donald Penn, and Jeff Faine, plus key backups. They are joined by new draftee Xavier Fulton.

Take their intensity for the game and their willingness to deliver a big hit on an incoming defender and combine it with new offensive coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski's zone blocking scheme, and you're already looking at a recipe for success.

Toss in former Giants running back Derrick Ward (182 carries, 1,025 yards, 5.6 average in 2008) to the already-powerful mix of Earnest Graham and a healthy Cadillac Williams and it should be full-steam ahead for the Bucs backs in 2009.

Still not convinced? The Giants ranked No. 1 in rushing yards per game last year with 157.4. Nos. 2 and 3? NFC South rivals Atlanta and Carolina respectively.

New Orleans is now the only team in the NFC South not running zone blocking on their offensive line. Look for them to hang around the bottom of the rushing list as they did last year.

2. Defense Still Dominates

Let's go to another cliché to explain this one: defense wins championships.

Tampa Bay's No. 1 defense proved that decisively in their Super Bowl XXXVII win over Oakland's top-ranked offense.

New defensive coordinator Jim Bates has defensive credentials out the ear, which will help mitigate the post-partum depression caused by Monte Kiffin's departure.

Bates' defensive schemes emphasize man-to-man coverage, which will help ball-hawking cornerback Aqib Talib improve on already-impressive rookie stats (23 tackles, four interceptions).

New head coach Raheem Morris hails from a defensive background as well. His first season as a coach in the NFL was with the Buccaneers in 2002, where he studied under then-defensive backs coach Mike Tomlin.

Astute readers will recognize Tomlin as the head coach of the NFL's stingiest defense (237.2 total yards allowed per game) last year.

Still not convinced? The players picked in this year's draft show the continuing commitment to defense.

Defensive tackle Roy Miller, defensive end Kyle Moore, defensive end turned offensive tackle Xavier Fulton, and cornerback E.J. Biggers are bookended by the only true offensive players chosen: quarterback Josh Freeman and wide receiver Sammie Stroughter.

3. Dumb Luck

Let's be honest, it's difficult to predict the outcome of a week of NFL football, let alone an entire season a full three months before the preseason begins.

And as long as we're being honest, I don't think it's unrealistic to expect a little luck propelling the Bucs to a 10-6 record and a Wild Card spot in 2009.

So, let's have a little fun and make some dumb luck predictions.

1) Luke McCown, who has shown flashes of semi-brilliance in his limited playing time, wins the starting slot in training camp and finishes the season with a quarterback rating in the top 10. This comes mainly from high-percentage, short-yardage passes across the middle to new tight end Kellen Winslow.

2) Michael Vick is reinstated by the Falcons. Arthur Blank finds it easy to give Vick a second chance. Not so for PETA, however, as their protests block every stadium Vick is slated to play in, forcing the Falcons to forfeit all of their games.

3) Turnovers. In some ways the dumbest of dumb luck opportunities, Bates' emphasis on containing the run and creating turnovers should create more opportunities for the greatest of sights in the NFL: a 300-pound defensive lineman scooping up an errant football before lumbering down field for 26 yards and a touchdown. It warms the heart just thinking about it.

Still not convinced? The Buccaneers play in Buffalo for the first time ever in 2009. You know what else happened for the first time ever recently? America elected an African-American President.

Anything can happen, Bucs fans!

After shaking off my fever dream of realistic optimism, I quickly sank into catatonic pessimism.

Before me in my mind's eye I saw the hopes and dreams of a franchise laid to waste.

Here, then, are three reasons the Buccaneers will not win more than four games in 2009.

1. Their schedule is the stuff of nightmares
Let's go right to the numbers.

The Bucs will play only three teams with 2008 losing records.

The Bucs will play 11 games against quarterbacks who put up more than 3,000 passing yards last year, plus Tom Brady.

The Bucs will be forced to defend 11 receivers who had at least 1,000 yards receiving, plus six more who were on the happy side of 900.

The Bucs will play seven playoff teams.

Tampa Bay will have to overcome those numbers without once having back-to-back home games. Granted, their game against New England in Old England is counted as a home game, but when you've got to fly 4,000 miles to go home, how rested can you expect to be?

2. A near-total lack of a passing game
The Buccaneers have had nine unique starting quarterbacks since 2002.

There's no clear-cut starter this season. Why should there be when your choices are ossified Brian Griese, broken Byron Leftwich, hilariously under-experienced Luke McCown, Div. I-AA wunderkind and Jon Gruden vanity draft pick Josh Johnson, and rookie and Raheem Morris vanity draft pick Josh Freeman?

Even if one of those five earns starting honors by means other than being least awful, who is he going to throw the ball to down field?

Two of Tampa Bay's top three receivers (Ike Hilliard and Warrick Dunn) are gone.

Their fourth-best receiver, Michael Clayton, moves to number two by default. His stats last year (38 receptions, 484 yards, 1 touchdown) were the best he's done since his break-out rookie season of 2004 (80 receptions, 1,193 yards, 7 touchdowns), but still a ways off.

The Buccaneers are left with Antonio Bryant and... who, exactly?

3. Dumb Luck

If Lady Luck can smile on Tampa Bay, she can sure as shooting ruin their season, too. Let's see how that might play out.

1) Cadillac Williams could continue to underperform. It might not be fair at this point to call him a bust since he has had to have a third knee installed, but if he can't get back to rookie form, the Bucs' run game will suffer.

2) The Falcons reinstate Michael Vick. Without Derrick Brooks to spy on Vick, he runs wild through a defense that, last December at least, looked porous at best. The rabid (har!) PETA protestors are pacified when Vick poses nude for an animal-rights billboard overlooking the I-85/ I-20 interchange in downtown Atlanta.

3) Turnovers. Of the two Tampa Bay quarterbacks with any real experience under center, neither one has a truly stellar touchdown-to-interception ratio. Let Griese or Leftwich start throwing picks and suddenly you're looking at the worst thing the NFL has to offer: Chris Berman playing highlights going "Whoop!" as a defender flies past a Griese arm tackle.

Misery's the river of the world: a Tampa Bay Buccaneers fan reflects

People are always asking me why I support the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Well, maybe not in exactly those words.

“What the hell is wrong with you?”

“Are you high?”

“No son of mine is a Yucks fan!”

A guy in a faux-dive hipster bar in Brooklyn in 2005 insinuated I liked the Bucs only after Jon Gruden arrived and took the team to the Super Bowl. I insinuated we could take the conversation outside if he wanted to see if I bled crimson and pewter.

Actually, I bleed orange and white as a result of exposure to the sun’s radiation reflected a thousand times over off the bleachers in the Big Sombrero at a young age.

How, then, to answer the question? What the hell is wrong with me? It’s simple.

Every American loves an underdog.

I love the underdog, and I really love schadenfreude, a German word which translates to “satisfaction or pleasure felt at someone else’s misfortune.”

Let me give Detroit Lions fans an example: feeling glum because your team went 0-16 last season? Well, it’s not as bad as 0-26, which the Bucs were across two seasons starting in 1976, their first year.

How can a Bucs fan take pleasure in that misfortune? The Bucs aren’t the Saints or the Cardinals, the first two teams who lost to the Bucs, an act so unforgivable both teams’ head coaches were fired afterwards. Ah, satisfaction.

Eagles fans can forever rest uneasy knowing the Bucs closed out their beloved Veterans Stadium with a playoff win January 19, 2003 and then opened the new Lincoln Financial Field with another win September 8, 2003.

Every team in the league can quake in fear of the "Tampa Bay Curse," which states that any team which loses to the Bucs in the regular season will not go on to win the Super Bowl.

But it’s not all schadenfreude directed at other teams for me. I also take a sick pleasure in seeing the bumbling Bucs.

Up until Michael Spurlock took a kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown in 2007, I could look forward to seeing a graphic on the TV screen telling me this was, say, the 1,779th kickoff the Bucs had fielded without returning one for six.

Other teams have their best seasons led by names like Troy Aikman, Peyton Manning, Bob Griese, or Joe Montana. The lone Super Bowl quarterback in Buccaneers history is Brad Johnson, and he was outscored by his own defense that game.

It’s not that Brad Johnson is the best quarterback to ever play for Tampa Bay, either. Doug Williams, Steve Young, and Trent Dilfer were drafted by the Bucs before winning Super Bowls elsewhere.

Vinny Testaverde could have been Tampa’s Brett Favre, the only Bucs quarterback anyone under, say, age 25, would remember playing.

Bo Jackson’s not a quarterback, but don’t get me started.

Those were the bad old Hugh Culverhouse days, but even after his death the team struggled.

Tony Dungy couldn’t coach his teams to a championship.

Jon Gruden coached Dungy’s team to a championship then went 7-9, 5-11, 11-5, 4-12, and 9-7.

The Bucs were 9-3 heading into December last year, but messed the bed, finishing 9-7.

Gruden wound up fired.

Phew. That’s a lot of self-directed schadenfreude.

But isn’t that what fans need? Don’t we need the lows to balance out the highs?

Patriots fans fully expected a return to the Super Bowl at the start of last season, despite posting the worst 18-1 record in sports history the year before. Tom Brady’s knee got blown out in week one and all of Beantown was swearing vengeance on “the fackin’ dahkie who done this to ya, Tawm.”

Steelers fans thought Ben Roethlisberger was set for back-to-back championships in 2006. Everyone but Big Ben will remember 2006 as the year of the concussion for Roethlisberger. Roethlisberger will remember 2006 once stem cell technology allows for repairing damaged brain tissue.

Being a Buccaneers fan keeps my blood pressure down. The wins are so much sweeter when your team is expected to lose. And if they do lose, no big deal, they weren’t supposed to anyway, right?

Despite the rich tradition of losing, I have always been and always will be a Bucs fan. It warms the soul to be a litmus test of terrible for other teams, while providing enough barbs to needle other fans with, and that is truly a unique fan experience in the NFL.

Plus they have a freakin' pirate ship in the freakin' stadium.

5 Questions Somebody Ought to Ask Jerramy Stevens

In the world of sports there are sinners and there are saints. Celebrated saints include Danny Wuerffel, Tim Tebow, and...I guess Drew Brees? On the sinners side, you have Albert Haynesworth teaching us about sportsmanship, Adam "Pacman" Jones giving lessons on meteorology, and Michael Vick educating the public on animal husbandry.

Unfortunately, sportswriters are often reluctant to grill these criminals about their misdeeds. It's sadly understandable, though: ask the wrong guy the right question and suddenly your organization is locked out of practices and games. Or maybe they're just afraid of Haynesworth stomping their faces in.


As a result, the world is full of empty questions and empty information. "Got any mildly inflammatory rhetoric for [hated division rival]?" "How about that [showboating wide receiver all over SportsCenter]?" "Coach, any vague comments on [underachieving first-round draft pick/injured veteran/Brett Favre]?"

What we need is someone with balls.

So these suggested questions aren't for the gainfully employed sportswriter with a pretty face. This is for the guy getting laid off next week. With the economy in the toilet and the newspaper industry crashing and burning faster than the Hindenburg, there's got to be someone out there with nothing to lose. Not me, though; I'm just starting out in the biz.

So to you, the disgruntled reporter facing "right-sizing," I offer you this list of five questions for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' Jerramy Stevens. Knock back a shot of liquid courage and dive on in.

1. You played quarterback in high school. Did it frustrate you back then when receivers would drop easy catches like you do now?

2. You've been charged with reckless driving and driving under the influence a handful of times. Your salary is listed as just under $656,000. Why can't you afford to hire a driver or at least call a cab when you're intoxicated?

3. The Seattle Times reported you had some problems with complaints lodged against you from your condominium board including setting off fireworks, having loud parties/fights at all hours, vomiting on doors, double parking, and leaving used condoms on other residents' decks. Does the University of Washington still have etiquette classes?

4. Speaking of Washington, did you have anything to do with the drugging of the girl you raped or was that just you being in the right place at the right time?

5. How do you sleep at night?