Anwar Richardson of the Tampa Tribune suggests the Bucs are getting shafted by the national media. Joe doesn't totally agree.

Are the Bucs getting dissed by the national media? Joe doesn’t think so.

Anwar Richardson of the Tampa Tribune suggests the Bucs aren’t getting any love from the national fourth estate. He cites how  Bucs highlights were buried on TV this weekend by the networks.

You expect Dallas and Green Bay to grab a lot of national attention, but Arizona has received way more attention than Tampa Bay and both teams have the same record.

Joe understands where Richardson is coming from and doesn’t completely disagree. But Joe also understands why the Arizona-Dallass (yes, Joe spelled that word incorrectly on purpose) highlights got so much play.

Much to Joe’s chagrin, Dallass is white trash America’s Team. Whenever Dallass is on TV, it draws eyeballs. BSPN, FOX and NBC are for-profit companies; they are not PBS which is funded by federal tax dollars. Eyeballs = more ad revenue.

So Dallass is naturally going to get more play. There’s a reason people like Joe aren’t on TV but people like Cobie Smulder are. Networks try to draw as many people as possible, not chase people away.

Besides, the Desert Rats — guided by the worst owner in the history of North American professional sports, Bill Bidwill — beat Dallass in dramatic fashion in overtime on a blocked punt, the first time in NFL history that has happened.

Again, Joe totally gets why that game got so much play.

In fact, Atlanta QB Matt Ryan is being built up as the league’s next great quarterback, leading his team to a 4-2 record, but Tampa Bay dismantled him recently. The Falcons are also 0-2 in the NFC South, but Tampa Bay stands atop the division at 2-1.

Joe understands this as well. To the casual fan, quarterbacks are sexy (except to Suzy Kolber) and the Dixie Chicks have a budding superstar in Matt Ryan. Here, too, was an upset in dramatic fashion against a team that oh, BTW, is from the nation’s third largest market (Chicago), pulls in a lot of viewers and is a power team in the NFC North.

The story of the NFL so far this year is the Dixie Chicks. They were expected to be the dregs of the NFL and are now tied for first in the NFC South with a stud rookie quarterback.

There’s a pattern here: Last-minute upsets of good teams that are also very popular to many Americans.

Joe has pointed out when national media people have lauded the Bucs such as Peter King and Chris “Mad Dog” Russo. So while Joe sees where Richardson is coming from, Joe doesn’t agree that the national media is giving the Bucs the shaft.

And let’s be honest, BSPN has its favorite seven or eight teams and they beat viewers over the head with them time and again. If your favorite team is not one of those select seven or eight, in BSPN’s eyes, your team doesn’t exist.

And if you rely on BSPN to provide you with highlights, you are cheating yourself. Go to the NFL Network. If you don’t get the NFL Network and are an Out House Networks subscriber, well, that’s your problem.