Sloppy, Sloppy, Sloppy
August 1st, 2015
Joe witnessed the sloppiest Bucs practice he’s ever seen Saturday night at USF. Photo courtesy of Buccaneers.com.
The genesis of this notion that the Bucs need an indoor practice facility to be able to get to the playoffs is lost on Joe.
But tonight, when the Bucs moved their first training camp practice to the campus of the University of South Florida and its turf fields under the lights, it proved to Joe that if anything, the Bucs need to practice in a rain a helluva lot more.
Once the rain began to pour, the practice almost became Keystone Cops-like. Fumbled snap here, fumbled snap there, fumbled snap everywhere.
Dropped passes here, dropped passes there, dropped passes everywhere.
Hell, at one point, the ball hit the floor so much Joe thought he was watching a volleyball game. During one stretch of plays in underwear football, rarely were there three plays in a row where there wasn’t a fumbled snap or a dropped pass. That is no exaggeration.
It didn’t matter who the quarterback was; it didn’t matter who the receiver was; it didn’t matter who the center was. It was as if the football was polluted with the Ebola virus.
“The ball was on the ground entirely too much,” Bucs coach Lovie Smith said.
Joe remembers a year or two ago when Bill Cowher admitted how excited it made him when his teams got to practice in the rain. Why? Wet ball drills. Yes, the climate in Florida this time of year is brutal, but there is also a decent chance the Bucs might play in a deluge at the Den of Depresion. They need to learn how to handle a wet ball.
Yes, Joe knows it was the first practice of training camp in the rain, but there was no excuse for the terribly sloppy play Joe witnessed. A high school coach would have freaked out. We’re talking professionals here.
If anything, Joe wouldn’t be surprised if the Bucs had buckets of water at a scorching hot training camp practice this week filled with wet footballs, so the Bucs can learn to handle them better.
The Bucs really, really, really needed this practice in the rain, and frankly, need a few more.
August 1st, 2015 at 10:57 pm
Volleyball? It sounds like it was closer to being that OTHER ‘football’. And I agree that they really need to be able to handle a wet ball. Who knows, that may be Brady’s next ‘advantage’.
August 1st, 2015 at 10:59 pm
Playing football in the rain was always my favorite when I played
August 1st, 2015 at 11:05 pm
This is not a good omen.
August 1st, 2015 at 11:05 pm
It was cool!
August 1st, 2015 at 11:06 pm
“The Bucs really, really, really needed this practice in the rain, and frankly, need a few more.”
That’s just nonsense Joe. Simply nonsense. They need to get in proper reps without the rain. Once that’s accomplished then throw the rain at them.
August 1st, 2015 at 11:16 pm
Joe..The team is learning a whole new offense, timing on patterns and such. You can’t build up to anything in that downpour. You can’t get any continuity going in the downpour they had on the first day of practice. Like I said throw the wet balls at them 2 weeks from now after they’ve had a little bit more time to adjust to the new plays, routes and scheme. LUDICROUS!
You’re the same guy that thinks there’s no need for an indoor facility. So I’m basically talking to a wall.
August 1st, 2015 at 11:18 pm
Yea, the video that was just on NFL network did not look good at all. Reps now, rain later.
August 1st, 2015 at 11:20 pm
Lovie thinks different – said so tonight. So does Bill Cowher.
August 1st, 2015 at 11:34 pm
BUCKETS Joe. That’s what I’m saying BUCKETS of rain.
Tell me they don’t need an indoor facility after one of their main stars goes down with injury, say GMC slips and busts his back or Evans slips and breaks a collar bone.
If they ever have to play out in BUCKETS of rain during the regular season the other team will be at just as much of a disadvantage as they will.
Like I said this is the FIRST practice. No time to get any continuity down or anything before….WET BALLS. This is just common sense. Normally I wouldn’t complain about wet balls especially in the bedroom, but not in this downpour.
If the team had, had atleast 3 practices without rain and then the downpour came, that’s a different story. Not the first one. I would of just cancelled it all together.
August 2nd, 2015 at 9:19 am
this is great news. usually its all “wow they look so good…”, then they end up sucking. Maybe it will be different this year?!
August 2nd, 2015 at 9:35 am
Simple fix – deflate the footballs!
Yeah, I went there 🙂
August 2nd, 2015 at 9:56 am
Slip sliding away, slip sliding away. You know the nearer to the destination the more you’re slip sliding away.
August 2nd, 2015 at 10:00 am
[Joe notices you are using yet another username. Might want to see a professional for your schizophrenia. How many usernames have you used now? — Joe]
August 2nd, 2015 at 10:17 am
You’re right Chicago.
August 2nd, 2015 at 11:28 am
First practices are usually not sharp. Add in wet and sloppy conditions and of couse this is the result you get. Also add in a 4 hour delay.
Great job of whipping up the hysteria Joe. Remind me not to sit next to you in a crowded theatre in the small chance someone flicks their Bic.
August 2nd, 2015 at 1:51 pm
drdneast Said:
“Remind me not to sit next to you in a crowded theatre in the small chance someone flicks their Bic.”
Bic nothing! Joe would go hysterical if someone’s I-Phone lit up.
Think of the traffic… jam. :^)