Still Den Of Depression
August 31st, 2017
Home record of Bucs is horrid.
The cries have resumed. So Joe has to answer.
“Why do you call [the stadium on Dale Mabry Highway] the ‘Den of Depression,’ Joe? I thought that name has been put to rest?”
No, it has not. And there is a reason.
Last year, Joe ran a story on the team with the worst home record in the NFL since the greatest coach in Bucs history, Chucky, was jettisoned. And that team with the sorry home record is the Bucs.
Since that dark January 2009 Friday afternoon when Chucky was shown the door, the Bucs have had the worst home record in the NFL. It now stands at 21-43. The only team that is close is the bungling Browns at 23-41 wins.
Last season, there was light at the end of the tunnel. After starting 0-4 at home, winning Bucs coach Dirk Koetter got the team turned around and the Bucs finished 9-7 and 4-4 at home for 2016. That matches Raheem Morris’ home record in 2010, the last time the Bucs had a winning record. At no time since Chucky was fired have the Bucs had a winning home record in a particular season.
(Gallingly, lazy Lovie Smith was a kick-in-the-nuts 3-13 (.187) at home, the worst record for any coach in Bucs history. He even went the entire 2014 season without a home win, if you can imagine such a thing. Believe it or not, John McKay had a decent home record for a guy who started out 0-13 at home. He finished with a 30-39 home record, a .434 winning percentage.)
Joe so wants to rid the stadium of this label, but to do so, the Bucs must win no less than five games in a season. Is that really too much to ask? The minute the team wins five games in a season, this moniker is finished.
Perhaps one reason the Bucs can’t win at home is because, at the start of most home games, the home crowd is ambushed with The Black Eyed Peas song “Let’s Get It Started.” This has been going on for years on end. The only thing that song will get started is for someone to heave all the poorly-cooked chicken wings and Miller Lites fans hurriedly threw down their gullets before entering the Den of Depression.
Could you picture Kwon Alexander rocking out to this tripe in the locker room to get worked up for the game? This is about as edgy and hip as a re-run of “Full House.”
August 31st, 2017 at 12:19 am
I think that 4 game losing streak that lead to gruden getting fired doomed this franchise. We still recovering from that moment
August 31st, 2017 at 12:28 am
I realize now that this site’s subversive goal is to zap all of the fun out of the upcoming season. The city is on a high with all the national buzz and Hard Knocks attention and then – ZAP – this site runs as many negative stories a day as possible. It’s one thing to bring up the Buc’s home record – it’s an entirely different thing to constantly bring up terms like Den of Delression to emphasize and deter from Buc’s fans feeling optimistic.
August 31st, 2017 at 12:34 am
Tony:
Joe’s excited for the season. Alas, we are a few days away from that.
August 31st, 2017 at 12:47 am
I’m excited too but not happy about beer prices raised to $10-$11 each. We get a small STM discount but I think they should have got your 5 home win season first 😂. I wouldn’t mind paying the $11 if they were mega-beers like they sell at Lightning games.
August 31st, 2017 at 2:40 am
If anyone over at One Buc Palace doesn’t like this *earned* nickname then DO something about it!
August 31st, 2017 at 5:11 am
Hey the good news is, 3- 32oz drinks is only $27.00 with tax. Not to mention you too can purchase a turkey leg or nachos with a drink for only $22.50. It’s ok though, service was in preaseason mode as well. 10 minutes to get those 3 soda’s for $30!
August 31st, 2017 at 6:59 am
Let’s Get It Started is hands down one of the coolest songs ever recorded, second only to Smash Mouth’s All Star. They should be played regularly.
August 31st, 2017 at 7:25 am
Yes circa 2004 with that song. Please, please Bucs you upgraded the stadium, now upgrade the music.
August 31st, 2017 at 7:34 am
Frankly, I kind of see it the opposite of what some of you see. I don’t think it is a “den of depression”… especially after the turn around the second half of last year. But then, we mostly all expect the team to play like it did the second half of last year or better…hopefully so. My bottom line in this is that to really get the place rocking, as it did during the turn of the century, we must win and be consistently competitive. Then the stadium will look like Lambeau. Regarding the Playoffs, I certainly hope so. We are in the toughest NFC division, which has to be at least one game more difficult than any other division. And if we don’t win the division championship, the WC spots will be competitive. I just hope we come out this year and play like the playoff is in the balance every game…because it very will is.
August 31st, 2017 at 7:34 am
If I remember correctly, that 4 game losing streak that cost Gruden his job, came after Kiffen announced he was leaving after the season. I believe that was the nut kick that took the wind out of the Bucs sails. Gruden took the hit, but I believe if Kiffen would have kept quiet, that streak probably wouldn’t have happened. Just my opinion.
August 31st, 2017 at 7:59 am
@Tony
it’s an entirely different thing to constantly bring up terms like Den of Delression to emphasize and deter from Buc’s fans feeling optimistic.
Joe is just keeping it real. Every year this time we all feel like this could be the year and the wheels fall off. pump the brakes and really think if the bucs van go over .500 at home. doesn’t happen much..
August 31st, 2017 at 8:19 am
Change the 1970’s (Burger King) styled uniforms.
August 31st, 2017 at 8:39 am
Per: Bill Polian
August 31st, 2017 at 9:07 am
Had season tickets through the Schiano years. I can’t remember leaving that stadium happy more that 3 times during his tenure. At one game I am rushing out to my car, pissed off as the other teams fans are hootin it up, then I realized how many thousands of dollars I had paid to feel that way every Sunday. The Den of Depression nickname is well earned. Having said that, Koetter is trying hard to change that, he has asked the fan base to help so now in support of that goal we have the stick carriers. As fans do we want to be a stick carrier, chearing on the bucs, happy, loud, and motivated or do we want to hold on to the negitive energy from years past. As I posted last week, you might want to keep the nickname on standby, ready to go until after/if the Bucs lose a 4th home game this year. Then it will be earned again. Otherwise your working hard to reinforce the notion that the Bucs can’t win at home. Are you a stick carrier or are you not?
August 31st, 2017 at 9:17 am
To those who mentioned the upgrade in the stadium…and the upgrade requested by Joe for the music…can I join the chorus of fans here who want to upgrade…as in return to the old Pewter SB unis our ugly arse uniforms!
August 31st, 2017 at 9:26 am
Joe come on bud you can’t count pre season lol our win streak is still alive
August 31st, 2017 at 9:31 am
Yeah, its the music that has been the problem… 😉
August 31st, 2017 at 10:37 am
Here’s an idea. Why not start the chants that the stick carriers are chanting coming into the stadium at kickoff instead of these old songs. The “we ready” chant sung by all the Bucs fans in the stadium after the coin toss up to kick off would be a nice change of pace and would show our team that we are behind them and believe they can change the losing culture to a winning one and be a contender for years to come. I’m tired of this losing mentality and “we’re rebuilding” mindset. We’ve been rebuilding for about 10 years now. Enough is enough.
Speak softly…
August 31st, 2017 at 10:43 am
I hate that it is the Den of Depression, but the name is accurate. The Bucs went a YEAR AND A HALF without a home win, and then team reps and players have the audacity to call out fans for not coming to the stadium? Um, there’s is literally a 4 hour kitten-stomping on the field on Sundays and the FANS are at fault for not waning to shell out money to watch?
And by the way, it would be different if the stadium experience was a little better, and I’m not talking about the scoreboards or anything. I’m talking about how every employee there openly hates you. Last week, in the middle of a lightning storm, RJS closed all the gates and refused to let fans into the stadium. Why? They said “NFL Rules.” A TPD cop said they don’t let people in when it was lightning. I told him it was unsafe considering we were standing next to giant STEEL gates in a lightning storm and this mouth breather said we should walk back to our car… a mile away.
In 12 years with season tickets, I can’t remember a season where there wasn’t one game where there wasn’t a major glitch with the CC machine at the concession stands or them running out of something (one season there was no ice at one game). Last season a guy in my row got yelled at for standing up and cheering and the TPD came and threatened to throw him out… for cheering.
You walk in the gate, guess what? Walk through a metal detector. Then guess what, there’s a guy with a WAND to wand you… well thanks jacka$$, you just admitted that the metal detector does NOTHING. They scrutinize the size of your bag, whether it’s see-through, they give you flack about the case for your binoculars. They have the nerve to put baby-changing stations in the bathrooms, but don’t let you carry in a bag big enough to carry diapers, wipes, etc. Not to mention your baby in a bjorn needs a $90 ticket to sit with you.
It’s an expensive ticket. In the words of Dalton in “Roadhouse,” “No one pays to go to a slaughterhouse.”
August 31st, 2017 at 11:09 am
You know, I will NEVER see the Buccaneers reach .500 all time in my lifetime. It’s that bad. It’s why I was so damn pissed of at St. Lovie’s 0-8 record a few years ago. But you know, what makes Buccaneer fans so special is that the ones who keep coming back, keep buying tickets when they can, feel so rewarded when things go right. It’s why that 2002 Super Bowl season was so special here. All those years. And now? I feel we are on the cusp of greatness again. And HELL yes, winning at home is a HUGE part of it. BUC CAN EERS GO BUCS!!!
August 31st, 2017 at 12:26 pm
Song suggestion
1:10 secs in
Get Buc Wit Me
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwG6vD2vP8A
DJ can mix it however
August 31st, 2017 at 1:36 pm
Lovie has company. Leeman Bennett also had a 3-13 home record for his two seasons in ’85 and ’86. But back to back 2-14 seasons gives Bennett the title for the worst overall winning percentage of any Bucs coach
August 31st, 2017 at 3:46 pm
Law of Probability says we break it this season :p