No Happiness Without A Championship
June 6th, 2010
Good-guy St. Pete Times columnist Gary Shelton has been studying and hounding Raheem The Dream at One Buc Palace of late, and Shelton shared his observations in a column today.
He found the head coach confident, non-committal and using the lastest talking point to describe the Bucs’ 2010 plan — to build a “lasting contender.”
… The Bucs played better, and there were hints that he had finally left his imprint on his team. Still, a bit of improvement doesn’t offset a bad season. Morris knows that.
“We have one ultimate goal, and that’s to win a championship,” Morris said. “I’m not going to tell you that if we went 13-3 and lost in the first round that I’d be happy. I would be a liar if I said that.”
Yeah, but wouldn’t you be happier?
“You guys would be. The town would be. But I don’t think my team would be. If you don’t win some form of championship, I don’t know that you can be truly happy.”
At 3-13, however, who is searching for true happiness? At 3-13, a winning season would look pretty good.
“What we’re trying to do is build a lasting contender,” Morris said. “To do that, you have to have young players play together.”
Raheem The Dream had much more to say, and Joe is all good with his infectious optimism. But, frankly, Joe misses all the offseason talk last year about being “violent,” running downhill and play-action passing.
These young Bucs, Joe believes, need to get back a real nasty edge on their defense and establish a smashmouth culture on the offense, not just from the blocking icon.
That, and Josh Freeman progressing, will go a long way toward pulling the team out of the NFL crapper.
June 6th, 2010 at 7:59 am
There are just soooooo many things wrong with this blog entry – where to begin?
1. Going 13-3 and losing the first round of the playoffs wouldn’t be acceptable? Are you kidding me? What a moronic statement – especially coming from a HC who’s team went 3-13!
2. The only way to win championships is with a young team? Tell that to Minnesota with Brett Farve at the helm. I guess the Colts are considered a bust too?
3. Joe wants the Bucs to be “violent” like last preseason? All that did for the Bucs was getting Tori Cox stitches, Talib punching out a cabbie and players breaking curfew over in London.
4. While attitude IS important you can’t have a smashmouth offense when the OC is pass-happy
June 6th, 2010 at 8:14 am
Maybe he needs to get a prescription for Happy Pills, they wont have a winning season this year with him coaching this team and Olsen a OC..
June 6th, 2010 at 8:53 am
@Mr. Lucky Yes, he said going 13-3 is unacceptable if you don’t win a championship. That’s all he said. He didn’t say it wouldn’t be better than 3-13, he just said he wouldn’t be satisfied with that finish.
Any coach that WOULD be satisfied with that I don’t want as my head coach.
June 6th, 2010 at 8:54 am
Just the Dream’s attempt to spit out the company line, told to him by his superiors, to continue to cover their idiotic decision to fire Jon Gruden and replace him with this guy. And, to also distract from their lowly spending habits concerning the team so they can maintain that posture.
As usual, he screwed that u too, taking it to the exteme and made himself look rediculous.
In that department “Rah” is not a “lasting contender”, but the undisputed champ.
June 6th, 2010 at 10:01 am
I’m going to LMAO when he does what he says and all the haters are dining on foot. Last season sucked but served a purpose. I see that now. This season should be much better, and by next they should be a contender. With so much young talent it’s an exciting time to be a Buc fan and still have season tickets. Raheem also cuts a pretty quick check, so if Olson and Wash don’t live up to expectations, they will be history. Rich Bisaccia (Associate Head Coach) is still there and he is a great coach. Firing Gruden was a mistake at the time, but the potential is there for a great team. I don’t care what Raheem’s message is to the public, it’s the team message that counts. I just can’t bet against them at this point, no way.
June 6th, 2010 at 11:07 am
Mr Lucky,
What championship did the Vikings and Brett Favre win? I must have missed that.
June 6th, 2010 at 11:20 am
Just so we are clear, if Rah goes 13-3 this year, and they lose in the first round of the playoffs, all the Rah supporters will consider that a failure?
Please, Rah supporters, bucs players, and Rah himself, have tried to spin 3-13 into a success. (almost won every game with Freeman, three years ahead of schedule, nearly made the playoffs, best running backs in the league, came on strong second half, blah blah blah) Remember Clayton bragging after the LOSS to Dallas, along with Rah?
Suddenly some Buccaneer fans, and the Head Coach, have gotten so high and mighty that only a Super Bowl Championship will due!!!!!!!!!!!!
HAHAHAHAHHAHAHA Awesome!
These folks have become a complete joke. led by the Head Moron.
June 6th, 2010 at 11:48 am
Eric,
Don’t confuse being a Buc Fan in support of the team, with being a Rah supporter. Raheem is the Coach and right now that isn’t going to change. Everybody knows that if the Bucs win 8 or 10 games this year, it is a total success, but no Head Coach can say that to his players before the start of the season, much less his players. It is a defeatist attitude, because you want your players to believe they can win a Championship, every year, and to strive for any less would demonstrate a lack of faith and confidence. As far as spin and press releases, they have to sell more tickets so can you blame them for being optimistic. I’m just glad you aren’t the coach, Eric. Once again you have proven that you have been educated far beyond your level of intelligence.
June 6th, 2010 at 11:49 am
“much less the media”
June 6th, 2010 at 12:16 pm
@BigMacAttack
Ah, ok so the way to make your players strive for perfection is to make a bunch of BS excuses for last season (example: changing coordinators hurt Clayton), blasting reporters for criticizing Clayton last year, pretending they almost won every game with Freeman, etc. etc. etc.
So, you like this currrent message to the players, but ignore the other ones? And we should believe that “Rah” has a brilliant consistent message behind closed doors?
Do you think our players are so stupid they can be lead buy the great “Rah” to believe 13-3 would be a failure? If so, we have assembled the biggest bunch of idiots in the history of the sport.
No matter how you slice it, it is an enormously stupid thing to say, and an outright lie. You know damn well Rah would be dancing in the streets with 13-3. Hell if they made 8-8 he would be bragging his ass off about the great progress. Same with 6-10.
Lets face it, this man is an idiot.
June 6th, 2010 at 12:29 pm
Agree with your last point there Eric (last paragraph). But get real, Rah never said that season would be a “failure” as you wrote.
I think it comes down to he just shouldn’t be talking at all. Just shutup and win.
June 6th, 2010 at 12:40 pm
My prediction is that Rah will not win 13 games in his career as a NFL HC.
Also, since Rah said he doesnt get offended with the nickname Radio can we start calling him that again?
There is no need to rehash what an aborrtion of a HC this bozo was last year, that is old news, obvious and the fact that anyone really thinks that he should be here stinks of delusional fanatacism.
I understand the belief that we should support him since he is the HC, well what I learned from the Gruden firing is that the new Glazerhouses fired gruden in part b/c a small but loud contingent led by Duemig were so vocal that the kid glazers considered it. Why should we not do the same when we have a clearly unqualified, cheap imitation of a HC who was embarrassing last year.
Here is the real question: How was Shelton able to take accurate notes during a Rah interview, rumor has it that Rah answered all questions posed to him by Shelton in 3 seconds total. I heard that Shelton recorded the interview and then played it back in super-slo mo with FBI voice translaters present for interpretation!
June 6th, 2010 at 1:26 pm
Monte Kiffin sure would’ve made a good coach for us
June 6th, 2010 at 2:07 pm
Any article that quotes Morris is irresistable catnip for Eric and Thomas. The two of you are so angry — notice Eric’s comment about Gruden — that you cannot wait to tear down Morris. That, my friends, is called having an agenda and it makes everything you post useless drivel.
June 6th, 2010 at 2:19 pm
@jimbuc
Even agenda driven useless drivel can be right sometimes!
June 6th, 2010 at 2:39 pm
It’s all about Faith. I think the Buc’s players believe, and I think they will succeed because of it.
As for Gruden, he is still my favorite Coach of all time, and firing him was a bad move. Raheem could have learned a great deal more as Jon’s DC, but that point is moot, just like most of the points you are making today. It be’s that way sometimes.
June 6th, 2010 at 2:41 pm
Would you rather be right and lose, or be wrong and Win?
June 6th, 2010 at 2:45 pm
It aint moot, this man is the Head Coach!!!!!!!!!!!!
I can’t stand it anymore!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Auuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
June 6th, 2010 at 2:50 pm
First time poster. You guys are a trip. Who the F cares what he says? And who can trust the media anyway. Morris probably gave a 10 minute answer to that question and shelton pulled two sentences. IT”S JUNE.
On that note, have to say I made a trip out to Mugs for wings Joe and they were out of this world. Really. Told the waitress Joe told me to come.lol
June 6th, 2010 at 3:04 pm
haha Eric you’re funny
I’m with you though I don’t like Morris as the HC either. I thought what we should’ve done is kept Gruden as the coach, dismissed Allen and still bring in Dominik as the GM because he does appear to have an eye for talent, and kept Raheem as the DC. I really don’t think Gruden was the problem. It was the Glazers and Allen. If you recall, back in 07 Chuckie wanted Calvin and Allen wanted Gaines Adams (RIP). Who’s the smart guy now? Imagine how much better our offense would be with Calvin Johnson.
Now i give Raheem and Dominik credit for bringing in talented guys like Winslow and Freeman. But I seriously question Raheem’s ability to coach this team and make good, wise decisions. I know he’s trying, but it’s just hard for me to trust and have confidence in him. Him and dominik made too many insane mistakes last year and I sure hope they learned from them!
June 6th, 2010 at 3:09 pm
Kevin:
That was a very kind thing of you to do Kevin. Glad you liked Mugs (apparently you liked your waitress as well).
Thanks for being both a patron of Joe’s and a patron of one of Joe’s sponsors. Don’t be a stranger.
June 6th, 2010 at 4:31 pm
OK Eric, I’ll buy you a beer if you drag yourself to a game.
My inner self probably agrees with you but don’t tell my outer best self.
Sorry man, I don’t have any Zanax, but good luck with that.
June 6th, 2010 at 4:46 pm
Thanks, but in such situations I have a few street hoes on call…………
That should carry me to the preseason.
June 6th, 2010 at 6:31 pm
d-money – Yes the Vikings didn’t win the NFC Championship game but they did win their division. If I were a Vikings fan I wouldn’t consider their season a bust.
I’m a firm believer that you concentrate on winning your division first and foremost.
Just like the Gators – was 2010 a bust for them? I enjoyed watching them and will consider myself a Gator fan as well….
June 6th, 2010 at 8:57 pm
Eric,
Clueless to the point of painful
1) Grudens refusal to coach OR play young players set this team(and the Raiders) back years. He inherited a great defense and an average offense. When he left, both were below average. And all his old vets couldn’t get a job ANYWHERE! The only time he had a winning season, was when playing the last place schedule for finishing LAST the year before. Which he did so often, it had to be a stategy!
2) we are rebuilding- last year AND this year. Everyone knows this and understands that- except you. It happens every few years to most teams – grow up and quit whinning. It’s part of following a team. Don’t like , quit watching. We can struggle on without you.
3) The one position on a team that really changes everything is the QB. If you luck up and develop a franchise QB- then you throw all the talent at him you can- young, old, Free Agents, troubled all-pros, WHATEVER. Because if you have a GREAT QB, you CAN ALWAYS WIN any game you play. They are extremely rare. Tampa has never had one. I really hope we have one now. If Freeman turns out to be that good, it changes all plans for a team . I’ll be screaming to sign Free agents, bring in ProBowlers,etc, to get the most out of that window of oppurtunity we Can.
4) All the Buc Players Rally around Coach Morris- that’s over half the battle in modern NFL. That doesn’t mean he’s going to be a Great coach. I thought he should have been DC, then HC. But Ronde Barber says he’s a Great Coach , and he knows more about coaches than me and you put together. We’ll see this year how much he’s learned
5) played on teams with losing records, and teams that came in 2nd. Believe me, both were disappointing.But coming in 2nd sucked worse, cause you felt like you missed you chance. You only play for the title. Everyone else is a loser- sad but true.
June 6th, 2010 at 10:14 pm
@Capt. Tim
Uh, the 2008 Bucs had a winning season, playing the first place schedule, having won the Division Title the year before. Whoops, wrong right off the bat. (not to mention a 12-4 home regular season record the last two years of that idiot Gruden)
But of course, I am clueless and you are well informed.
I also like Freeman, im just pissed they didnt get the kid some great and available players (Brandon marshall, Santonio Holmes, Boldin, AB).
Do you really expect Rhonde barber to say he is a bad coach? Cmonnnn.
I do agree we shall see with Coach Morris. Tick Tock the regular season is getting closer by the day. Total disaster will soon be upon us.
Me thinks the evidence will show I am not clueless.
June 7th, 2010 at 11:36 am
Raheem Morris shouldn’t be a head coach in the NFL, period…. not this year or last… dude needs 10 more years of NFL experience to even be considered.
This is ALL the Glazer’s doing to cover up not spending any money… anyone who drinks the coolaide are blind.
why haven’t the Bucs re-signed their young restricted free agents yet? The longer they wait, the easier it will be for Barret Ruud and Donald Penn to stick it out for one more season and hit pay dirt.
June 9th, 2010 at 5:04 am
@ BigMac
You can’t win in this crowd man. Eric, Thomas and Lightningbuc have taken over the blogs, and anyone with anything remotely positive to say about the team is going to be shit on by them! I’ll be the first to admit that I was just like them during and after the season, but in the end, I’m a fan of the Bucs and want and hope that they do well this season! The three amigos would rather have you believe that the owners are shit, the players are shit, the coach above all else is shit, and Dom can’t draft for shit vice giving these guys time to actually implement some sort of plan! Personally, I’m done with these assholes, and sick of hearing how the guru Gruden would have done so much more with so little, considering he didn’t do a damn thing but LOSE in the first round after 2003 when he actually MADE the playoffs with supposedly “Grungy Dungy’s” players! ENOUGH with the negativity Moriarity, just support the damn team, and if you can’t, THEN SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!!!!!