“Call Them Scavengers …”
December 29th, 2010
Last Joe checked, Bradenton was about 45 minutes from One Buc Palace and had a good-sized daily newspaper, the Bradenton Herald.
But some marketing genius at the publication decided to stop having a beat writer cover the Bucs in recent years. Joe can only imagine a bunch of egghead editor types sitting in a conference room deciding that covering the Bucs wasn’t as important as keeping readers abreast of zoning board meetings, high school golf or flu shot availability.
So Joe was a bit stunned today to see a passionate, pro-Bucs column by Alan Dell on Bradenton.com. Dell tosses a grenade at those who think Mark Dominik and Raheem Morris aren’t geniuses.
Call them scavengers, masters of deception or simply lucky; say the chances they took were born from courage or desperation. But if what they did is a miracle in your eyes, be cognizant that it is what they set out to do.
Dominik has gained a deserved reputation as a man who can scour through the other team’s throw-aways and turn a discard into an NFL-looking first-round pick without the expense.
He has done it all season, keeping alive a team that has been on life support with eight starters and a total of 13 players sent to injured reserve.
But Dominik and Morris are not just bagmen hanging outside somebody’s training camp waiting for the Grim Reaper to deal a death blow to someone they can bring back to life.
They have thick skin and will not allow themselves to be intimidated.
No two people bore the brunt of more jokes last year than Morris and Dominik. It was the Cub Scout and his Scout master trying to grow into Boy Scouts, if you listened to their critics.
Joe advises you to click the link above, read the whole piece and even print it out. The way the Bradenton Herald covers the Bucs, it could become a collector’s item.
December 29th, 2010 at 3:27 pm
Pretty power excerpt. It has been nice seeing the national spotlight shine positively on our club for the first time in many years. We used to get the light because of Gruden, Brooks, Sapp, Barber and Lynch. Now we have a legion of quality players who are the youngest int eh league. I hope this is just a small sign of things to come.
I felt we didn’t get enough respect when Dungy/McKay built a consistent winner. We were always considered Paper Champions who blew it in the end. Maybe now we can really build a standing greatness that other try to emmulate. i don’t mind taking the licks from the media. Just want them to vocally admit when they were wrong and keep bringing that up when they praise us at the top. (not this year)
December 29th, 2010 at 4:14 pm
Just listened to Free’s press conference and he was really talking up Briscoe. I’ve heard nothing but great things about him and look forward to seeing him get more action this Sunday. I don’t think we need to draft any receivers next year.
December 29th, 2010 at 4:20 pm
“…eight starters and a total of 13 players sent to injured reserve.”
And we are still 9-6!
How you like ‘dem apples?!
December 29th, 2010 at 4:24 pm
In the NFL it’s all about the “next man up” mind set. Out guys have been solid with this and that is why we have been able to keep on winning.
December 29th, 2010 at 5:20 pm
good article. these guys are very good at finding talent and getting the most out of it. they are doing a better job of scouting and acquiring talent than gruden ever did and you could argue dungy too since most of the stellar players under dungy were wyche holdovers. speaking of holdovers though, i think talib was a gruden/allen pick..not morris/dominik. none the less these guys have this team headed in the right direction which is a great feeling after watching gruden run it into the ground. the schedule will be tougher next year..not because we won 9 games but because we won’t be playing the nfc/afc west. there is a common misconception about the scheduling these days. it used to be that several games on your schedule were based on your previous record, now it is just 2. so all this crap about our weak schedule and only 2 games are against someone different than new orleans or atlanta is playing. in fact since they get 2 against the 3-13 bucs from last year as opposed to our 2 against the reigning SB champs or Atl you could argue they play a lousier schedule than us. but they have beaten winning football teams which we haven’t. we probably only have one more game left and that is sad as a buc fan, but it’s great that we actually still have a shot at the playoffs. i myself figured at best 6 wins. if you had told me that majority of o-line, talib, starting safety (not sabby), 1st rnd pick, 2nd rnd pick would all end up on IR and we would be playing week 17 with a chance at playoffs i would have laughed beer out of my nose. way to go guys. you are doing a hell of a job over there and i am one happy buc fan. keep up the hard work. it only gets tougher when they see you coming.
December 29th, 2010 at 5:38 pm
Very well put young grasshopper!
December 29th, 2010 at 6:50 pm
Hardy….
56
December 30th, 2010 at 12:25 pm
Nice column by the Herald!
December 31st, 2010 at 12:35 am
You make your own luck