In a question-and-answer article on SI.com, a reader asks Peter King how the Bucs can go from being in first place in the NFC South in the first week of December 2008 and be fighting for the first pick in the draft less than 11 months later with one of the more putrid teams Joe has ever laid eyes on.

King dodges the question but offers a morsel for Bucs fans.

WHY DO THE BUCS STINK? From Dale Schoelles of Dallas: “Lack of owner support, lack of talented players, coach and management being clueless, lack of fan support… How does Tampa fall so far so fast? What should a long time fan believe? How do teams like Tampa and Nashville go from playoff contenders to toilet?”

As the Buccaneers GM, Mark Dominik, told me the other day, they’re staying the course, and what’s happened shouldn’t be too surprising when you see they’ve gone from being the third-oldest team in the league in 2008 to the fifth-youngest in 2009. If I were a Bucs fan, I’d want to see the two kid quarterbacks, Josh Johnson and Josh Freeman, play about equal time in the final 10 weeks. That’s the most important thing that can come from the rest of the season — seeing what you have at quarterback entering 2010.

What a friggin’ miserable season this has become. Bucs fans have to look forward to watching a rookie and an inexperienced second-year quarterback struggle. Ugh!