Ring Of Honor Pick Suggests Strong Ticket Sales
July 23rd, 2009
Big events sell tickets. The shrewd Glazer Boys surely know that.
So Joe was a bit surprised when rumors started flowing yesterday that the Bucs inaugural Ring of Honor induction game this year would only feature Lee Roy Selmon as the first honoree.
Selmon’s a great guy and a Hall of Famer, but the dude hasn’t suited up in 25 years. Most Bucs fans never saw him play and wouldn’t even recognize him walking down the street. That’s the cold reality.
The point is Lee Roy Selmon’s Ring of Honor day won’t attract nearly as much interest as it would if he were being inducted along with another Bucs great or two, like Tony Dungy or John Lynch, for example.
If the Bucs were truly hurting for ticket sales and in danger of blacked out games, one can assume they would have assembled bigger names and crafted a bigger event for the Ring of Honor kickoff game.
That would have been the move of a team hurting to sell tickets.
And they surely wouldn’t have scheduled the Ring of Honor ceremonies against the Packers, who are certain to sell out in Tampa regardless and drop an annoying green bomb in the stadium? Why not a late-season game that could be meaningless against a less-popular opponent?
So Joe is thinking that Roy Cummings of The Tampa Tribune’s recent prediction is on the money: that regular season blackouts are a thoughtless rumor and every game is already nearly sold out.
Think of how the Glazers could have used inducting Tony Dungy or others into the Ring of Honor as a marketing hook to buy full or partial season tickets. All those Father Dungy lovers lining up for his big day.
Why would a team really hurting for ticket buyers pass on such an opportunity?
July 23rd, 2009 at 12:34 pm
Joe I think that Leroy Selmon is a great choice for the first inductee.
I mean there’s the Leroy Selmon Expressway, Selmon’s restuarant and Leroy has a TV personality. In addition Leroy is the spokesperson for USF football and he’s in great shape. I hear he gets frequent chiropractic care.
In addition, Selmon’s Restuarant is a great place to see a Bucs pregame. Sure it’s further to travel to Fergs sportsbar and more expensive that Courtside Grill but you can enjoy throwing back a cold one and smoking a Bucanero outside before going to RayJay.
If only Selmon’s would have a 25 cent wing special like Derby Lanes – now that would be special. 😉
July 23rd, 2009 at 12:36 pm
By all means Mr. Lucky, please continue to raise the awareness of the virtues of our sponsors in your comments.
July 23rd, 2009 at 1:00 pm
Joe:
If you think people don’t recognize Lee Roy on the street, think again. Everytime I’ve seen him and I’ve seen him very often since 1976, people approach him often….they love to talk to him, shake his hand, have their pictures taken with him.
He’s Tampa ONLY Hall of Famer until Derrick Brooks goes in. I think it’s safe to say no other Buccaneer will have a major highway in Tampa named after them. He has his own restaurant chain that is going to grow now that he’s partnering with Outback founders Chris Sullivan and Bob Basham.
Lee Roy brought football to USF and that school was previously unknown in the college world.
If you don’t think people readily recognize Lee Roy, you need to think again on that one, my friend.
July 23rd, 2009 at 1:07 pm
Joe here,
Tom – If you’re under 30, there’s a super darn good chance you couldn’t pick Selmon out of a lineup. And it’s not like the Bucs put a statue of him up at RJS, or a big plaque, that I know of.
The Glazers haven’t exactly made him a face of the franchise.
As old as us guys are, we can’t forget Selmon ain’t that popular with the younger crowd.
July 23rd, 2009 at 1:36 pm
Joe:
I have found he is MOST popular with about eight years worth of college students from USF and any and all players, all of whom are under 30. Basically, folks under 30 won’t recognize Tony Dungy either. In fact, a LOT of people OVER 40 don’t recognize Tony. He’s been behind me in line at the Publix by Avila and I’m the only person who spoke to him.
I’ve found over the years, back when I was traveling as a Tribune writer, that a lot of times, people rarely recognize celebrities and sports figures walking through airports. It’s amazing.
July 24th, 2009 at 6:32 am
Start at the beginning….screw the instant gratification newcomers that only know the Alstott era players !
I think they hould begin with 5 names the first year then go to one a year.
John McKay,Lee Roy,Ricky Bell,James Wilder,Richard Woods
July 24th, 2009 at 10:26 am
Joe, you certainly show your ignorance of the area by this article. Don’t speak for the folks who were either born in the area or have been around since the team’s inception. Your ‘out-of-town’ perspective is a slap in the face to the the true fans of this organization and city. Lee Roy is arguably the most recognizable sports personality of this area, period! To say otherwise is simply ridiculous. Your “cold reality” is false, off base, and based on a skewed opinion. He is one of the cornerstones of the Bucs, the Bay Area, & USF athletics.
July 24th, 2009 at 10:53 am
Joe here,
Chris, please. Nowhere did I speak for anyone. Just simply gave a straight opinion.
And you are way off base if you think Lee Roy is arguably the most recognizable sports personality of this area. He’s not even close.
There are legions of Bucs fans 30 and under who never saw Selmon play. And most wouldn’t recognize him, whereas probably every single darn one of them — plus all the older folks — would recognize Dungy, and any of the stars and names of the past decade.
And calling Selmon arguably the area’s most recognizable sports figure? You don’t think Evan Longoria is a tad more recognizable? Or Vinny Lecavalier? The same can be said for loads of other former stars in other sports on other teams. This is not a Selmon thing. He last suited up 25 years ago. If the Bucs were hurting to sell gobs of tickets to the Ring of Honor Day, they would have added one of the Super Bowl era heroes to the lineup. That was the whole point.
July 24th, 2009 at 10:55 am
Chris, I have to disagree with you for the simple fact that not everyone is an old school Buc Fan, and we have so many transplants in the Bay area. It doesn’t make them bad people or bandwagoners either. It does make you sound elitist, as if you are somehow better than someone else for having been here for a longer period of time or being a native. I believe you easily back up the argument that Derrick Brooks is one of the most recognizable personality in the area based TV exposure over the past decade or so. I am in no way knocking Selmon or his popularity, but for every single time he has been on TV recently, Brooks has been on there 100. If you hate Joe so much, why do you come to the site? It is also easy to bash the New Millennium Bucs, in favor of the Old School Bucs, but these are the Bucs that brought the Trophy Home to Tampa. There have been many great players throughout NFL history, but Championships is what most players and coaches covet and that is why they should be elevated to the highest team stature. Team is the word.
July 24th, 2009 at 5:10 pm
Joe – think long term. Starting a Ring of Honor with the Bucs ONE Hall of Famer is a good idea and a testament to that feat. On top of that, it’s great way to educate younger fans about the history (depressing as it may be) of this franchise . The REAL fans will still be there next year and the years after to see the waves of deserving Bucs that may be more widely marketable to be inducted. In my opinion, Lee Roy deserves a day of his own with John McKay as deserving inaugural inductees. GO BUCS!
July 24th, 2009 at 6:16 pm
Joe here,
bubashep: Couldn’t agree with you more. Absolutely glad the Bucs are doing it this way — the right way. And this is exactly why the opinion here is that ticket sales are pretty good, otherwise the Bucs likely would have been tempted to make this entire day more of a draw across the entire fan base.
July 24th, 2009 at 6:17 pm
bubashep Says:
July 24th, 2009 at 5:10 pm
Joe – think long term. Starting a Ring of Honor with the Bucs ONE Hall of Famer is a good idea and a testament to that feat. On top of that, it’s great way to educate younger fans about the history (depressing as it may be) of this franchise . The REAL fans will still be there next year and the years after to see the waves of deserving Bucs that may be more widely marketable to be inducted. In my opinion, Lee Roy deserves a day of his own with John McKay as deserving inaugural inductees. GO BUCS
July 25th, 2009 at 10:03 am
The ring of honor has to start with Selmon. He is the only the Hall of Fame Buc. But I cannot think of another player that readily comes to mind from the old regime ” creamsicle”. That I would say should be next in the ring of honor. If all the older players were to get in( Ricky Bell,James Wilder,Richard Woods). How big of an honor would it be.
The choices from the Dungy/Gruden era would be far more: Brooks (of course), Sapp, Alstott, Lynch, Dungy, Gruden.
I grew up watching both era’s. So I have seen them both.
July 25th, 2009 at 2:46 pm
you have no idea the sacrifice and excellence of Bell,Wilder,Woods ect……do you even know what it was like to build without FA…..
July 27th, 2009 at 10:43 am
Joe, I’m not off base by any measure. I wrote that Selmon is “agruably” the most recognizable athlete of the area. I did not write unequivocally; I wrote arguably. That means I can make an argument for my opinion.
BigMackAttack: Although I respect your opinions, you just can’t erase the orange years of this team simply because you didn’t support them back then. You can’t ignore the trailblazers who laid the foundation for this franchise. I’m not trying to sound like an elitist for being a native. I mean it’s Tampa for the love of Pete. Not exactly an elitist city.
My main point was that if Lee Roy is the only person being enshrined than that’s OK. Tell me Vinny’s done more for this area than Selmon. Tell me that Sapp has a bust of his likeness in Canton. The same goes for Lynch. These are all great Bucs (and Bolts) and deserve all the accolades bestowed upon them, but you can not marginalize Selmons impact to this area simply because the 30 & under demographic doesn’t identify with him. Do you think BoSox fans under 30 ever saw Jim Rice play ball? Does that diminish his contribution to the Boston area?