Bucs Scale Back Practices To The Public
June 30th, 2010
Last year, per eye-RAH! Kaufman of the Tampa Tribune, the Bucs had 23 practices open to the public.
This year there will be seven practices open to the public.
Though the Bucs stated additional practices could be made available, only practices the first week of training camp can fans attend. The last practice scheduled for fans will be held at the CITS at night, Aug. 7.
2010 Bucs public training camp practices
July 31: 10:20 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Aug. 1: 2:30-5 p.m.
Aug. 2: 10:20 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Aug. 4: 10:20 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Aug. 5: 2:30-4:35 p.m.
Aug. 6: 10:20 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Aug. 7: 7-9 p.m. at the CITS.
June 30th, 2010 at 5:08 pm
That REALLY sucks! I guess it cost too much money to accommodate us fans.
June 30th, 2010 at 5:39 pm
WTF?
June 30th, 2010 at 5:50 pm
Maybe they want to implement some game plan in which they don’t want the division foes getting hold of before preseason? Last year was so open and obvious there was nothing other teams were surprised by. Maybe they just want to bring out some new things in preseason or early in the year that other teams aren’t expecting. Either way, it’s training camp. At least there are 7 practices open to the public. It’s not like they’ve moved it back to Orlando or anything.
June 30th, 2010 at 6:01 pm
I just don’t get this team anymore.
Sooo order of events…
Hire PR guy who specializes in “administration disaster control.”
Not resign your starting LT in favor of a power foward to block the franchise’s blind side.
Publicly announce that they’re ok with blackouts.
Shut off more time of fans’ access to their team.
um, remind me again how this team is uniting and conquering?
June 30th, 2010 at 6:15 pm
Wasn’t that land where the lavish practice facility is located part of the Stadium deal? Now practices are shorted so the dream can implement his super secret strategies?
June 30th, 2010 at 6:27 pm
They don’t game plan in training camp. They’ve got plenty of time after camp breaks to add any secrets.
As far back as I can remember, they’ve always had the majority of camp practices open — all the way back to the UT days.
If anyone can come up with a reason other than money, please enlighten me. Hell, Culverhouse never pulled this cheap crap.
June 30th, 2010 at 6:29 pm
Not to worry – once someone like Jeremy Zuttah kicks a field goal or Josh Freeman makes a spectacular special teams tackle as a “gunner”, Rah will cancel the majority of these practices, just as he did when Trueblood caught a punt.
June 30th, 2010 at 6:57 pm
I don’t know why they’re practicing anyway…. based on comments I’ve read here, they don’t need practice to lose games, they probably shouldn’t even play the games, the games are lost anyway. Dom and Morris should just show up and forfeit each Sunday. Since Penn won’t sign and Freeman’s gonna die, since we will lose every player on the team next year because the owners are too cheap to pay them, why practice or play? Let’s just let the team move to another city with new ownership and find a new team that has a great owner and great HOF coach and veteran players that are all signed to 7 year fully guaranteed contracts. I’m not thinking such a team exists in any organized professional sport, but we can all dream can’t we? Or is that just reserved for Raheem?
It would be much better to hope the team is horrible and loses all the time to get the coach and GM fired, even if it means losing the team to another city. It would leave so much more time on Sundays in the fall to do other things than watch tv.
Seriously, I’m not gonna fall into that trap. I’m gonna keep looking at the positive aspects (whether there are few or many) and hope they do well with this coach and players so there is NO chance of anyone moving the team anywhere else. I’d hate to lose my favorite team over the past 30+ years. I’m not sure I’d stick by them if they moved, so hate the coach all you want but I’m gonna hope for the best with Morris, Dom, Penn, Ruud, Glazers, Caddy, McCoy, Benn, Williams, Talib, and all the rest. Go Bucs! I hope you prove many doubters on here wrong!
June 30th, 2010 at 7:33 pm
LOL. Some of you people would find anything to bitch about. Hey, the sun is going to rise in the east tomorrow. “Damn those Glazers!” Ridiculous and I love the “money saving” and “cheap” comments. Classic
June 30th, 2010 at 8:45 pm
Why don’t you post the full explanation offered by the Times:
“Bucs tweaking public access to training camp
The Buccaneers will hold their training camp at their Tampa headquarters for the second straight season, and the public will again be invited.
But that public access is changing significantly, the team said today.
Following the concept that less is more, the Bucs will limit public access to seven workouts, but they have targeted practices that are scheduled to be full-contact, full-squad workouts, as opposed to some where spectators may leave less than satisfied (special-teams practices, etc.). And the open practices will all be held on a single field, alleviating the problem of fans having to predict where to sit and risk being in poor position to view the action. There also will be more extensive autograph sessions and photo opportunities during and after practices.
Last year, the first year camp was held in Tampa after seven years on Disney’s grounds in Lake Buena Vista, every practice was open to the public.
Additionally, the team said it plans to hold a free practice at Raymond James Stadium for the second straight season, complete with a fireworks display, on Saturday, August 7. The evening will also feature $1 hot dogs and soft drinks, part of the club’s effort to continue reaching out to its fanbase.
The Bucs said they referred to fan feedback and an internal review of the club’s first training camp at the current facility last year.
The team will continue using the One Buc Club on buccaneers.com to distribute tickets for training camp. The free tickets will be available on-site but only if space is available.
“Incorporating fan feedback and an organizational review of last year’s inaugural training camp at One Buc Place, we have designed a more streamlined public schedule with more entertaining views, action, and access,” spokesman Jonathan Grella said. “This year’s public offering provides the up-close, full-team, padded practices — as well as more extensive autograph and photo opportunities — that our fans most enjoy. We will closely monitor camp and gladly open additional dates, if needed.”
The Bucs found that after the initial high demand for tickets during the first few days, demand dropped significantly, particularly on weekdays when many fans are working. Three of the seven open practices will be held on weekends, including the first two days of camp: July 31 and and August 1.”
They’re doing it because the logistics of opening them all up just wasn’t worth it and fans weren’t satisfied with those practices anyway. Now they are opening up the practices that they think fans will enjoy seeing, as well as offering a new, ‘primetime’ practice with cheap food.
Sounds reasonable to me…
June 30th, 2010 at 8:49 pm
Matt:
Why don’t you read Joe tomorrow morning?
June 30th, 2010 at 9:00 pm
I’m sure I will 🙂
But the Times one was posted at 4:20 and yours wasn’t posted ’til 5:00, so you don’t have an excuse there 😛
June 30th, 2010 at 9:41 pm
That was pretty much what the TBO article said. I love the line, “They’re doing it because the logistics of opening them all up just wasn’t worth it and fans weren’t satisfied with those practices anyway.”
So, let me get this straight, last year they moved from Disney, where they could accommodate the crowds. Why, because it cost too much. OK, so this year they’re only opening up 7 practices because of “logistics”. It’s because they can’t handle the crowds. It’s like the effing government, they nickel and dime you to death.
On top of that, it’s the first 7 practices! Those are typically the worse practices to watch because they are just coming back from a month off. I always waited until later to go see them practice. This just SUCKS!
June 30th, 2010 at 10:02 pm
Kinda hard to post a story right away when your blackberry buzzes with the news while driving home from work. 🙂
June 30th, 2010 at 10:17 pm
Poor Louie, no joy in Mudville. Those Glazers are out to ruin your fun.
June 30th, 2010 at 10:49 pm
Hey Louie, maybe they closed the rest of the practices because they read these forums and didn’t want half the fans booing the team at a practice… that’d kill morale for the team having their own fans boo them. Maybe they’d like to actually practice rather than answer to a bunch of critics that think they can run the team better.
June 30th, 2010 at 10:59 pm
This is a big deal?
June 30th, 2010 at 11:06 pm
lol Larry, it’s late June/early July when a 6th round draft choice clipping his toenails is big news. Heck, most stories are rehashed over and over and just sensationalized more than last time to make it seem like bigger news.
July 1st, 2010 at 8:55 am
They are just tring to draw interest from the fans so they can sell the left-over hot dogs from FanFest. You know the Glazer’s, they never want to lose out on a Dollar!
July 1st, 2010 at 1:48 pm
Tampa2 — only thing missing from your comment was the name Madoff. You are a class act