Joe’s almost frightened to look past this year’s Super Bowl much less look forward to 2015. Shoot, for all Joe knows, Skynet caught a virus and will be delayed a month from implementation.

So long as John and Sarah Connor and Jack Bauer keep the world safe and free from the soccer heathens, it appears the Tampa Bay area has a 50/50 shot of hosting the 2015 Super Bowl.

That’s the word from Richard Danielson of the St. Petersburg Times.

Mayor Bob Buckhorn said he couldn’t be happier at the news.

“We’re in the finals; it’s us against Arizona,” he said. “I fully expect that we will do what we do best, which is put on great Super Bowls and big events.

“Coming on the heels of the (2012) Republican National Convention, it puts us in the spotlight once again,” Buckhorn said. “We’ll just have to get our best game up and be ready in October.”

After seeing what the Bucs are becoming, one win shy of the playoffs last season, the Rays continuing to play damned good, fun baseball, the Lightning pulling off a thrilling series against Pittsburgh to advance to the Eastern Conference finals, and now this, well, it’s a good time once again to be a sports fan in the Tampa Bay area.