“Wembley In Late October Is No Sweatbox”
April 19th, 2011
The man Joe has often dubbed “Tampa Bay’s voice of reason,” Tampa Tribune columnist Joe Henderson, recently penned his views on the Bucs 2011 home game in London and Henderson thinks the Bucs punted on third down by agreeing to the game.
Henderson doesn’t see an advantage to the Bucs playing in England. He assumes the overseas game is a strain on the team and thinks it could strip the Bucs of its biggest homefield advantage: searing heat.
I sure hope this isn’t a response to last year’s sea of empty seats at Ray-Jay. That’s the same stadium that until last year was sold out every time the Bucs played since it opened in 1998.In that same sit-down last month with the Tribune, Glazer noted, “Ticket sales have been strong. They were strong in January, strong in February and they haven’t stopped.”
So what’s the problem?
The game probably will be played in late October or early November. We don’t know for sure if the Bears would have been sent here in September or early October, but we do know that Wembley in late October is no sweatbox. Ray-Jay can be a real homefield advantage, but only if the game is actually played here.
So much for that.
Joe can’t argue with the potentially lost climate advantage the Bucs could have against the Bears in Tampa, but that’s surely no sure thing, especially if the game was at 4 p.m.
However, Joe’s not sure he can agree with Henderson saying the game is a strain on players. Joe would have to hear that from coaches and the guys wearing pewter and red.
This Bucs team obviously is very comfortable on the road and it gets a bye week following the trip to England. Playing in England seems like great bonding time and more togetherness to study Raheem Morris’ core beliefs.
Yes, the 2009 flight somehow injured Antonio Bryant’s knee, but Joe suspects that won’t be a problem this year.
April 19th, 2011 at 1:48 pm
I tend to agree. I hate the fact that it takes a home game away and that the Bucs have to give up another home game in just a few years for London…. but…. this young team with Morris as coach and Freeman at QB should take full advantage of the trip and the bonding experience.
It should only help a player like Talib… if he is playing and goes.
April 19th, 2011 at 2:07 pm
I’m sorry, but I think this is a big disadvantage. And for me it’s not even about crowd noise, or the weather, etc etc…..For 7 games this year our team will be sleeping in their own beds on Saturday night, while every other team in the league will get that opportunity 8 times. Every other team in the league will be on familiar turf, in a familiar locker room, near their familes, favorite restaurants, etc etc. Every other team in the league will have “travel days” before 8 of their games this year….while the Bucs will spend a day traveling before 9.
Yes, the team did play well on the road but no one in their right mind would say it’s better to play on the road than at home….and for the 2nd time in 3 years we’ve had one of those games taken away.
I was fine with this last yr as I figured every team would be going at some point and it was better for us to get it out of the way. But this, for the 2nd year, puts us at a competitive disadvantage over the course of the season.
April 19th, 2011 at 2:46 pm
I think it’s great for Tampa fans – one less blacked out game to worry about.
Sorry Joe one less stop for the Blackout Tour! 🙁
April 19th, 2011 at 2:55 pm
Derf:
Why apologize? Joe doesn’t make a dime off of these tours.
April 19th, 2011 at 3:03 pm
This surely hurts us competitively. If this was a road game for us which would have been fair, then it wouldn’t be so bad.
But the Glazers in their rush to accept the London game did so at any cost.
April 19th, 2011 at 3:17 pm
No other ownership group would accept this yet lobby for it. I can’t understand how anyone not being, directly or indirectly, paid by these gluttons can stick up for them.
How did the team handle the travel last time? They got spanked by Bellichick and co. It was embarrassing I recall how the quotes from the Brit fans were how pathetic the Bucs looked.
On a seperate note: what happened to all of you “the 2011 draft is one of the deepest in history” fools last year who were arguing that we didn’t need to acquire vets etc b/c we could rely on the 2011 draft. All I am hearing now is that how everyone virtually in the first 2 rounds has big red flags – remember Dom saying that the 2011 draft will be SOOO DEEEP. Guess not.
April 19th, 2011 at 3:33 pm
Quality blast.
April 19th, 2011 at 3:34 pm
WOW. Amazing that THOMAS .000002 can see into the future and know how all the the round 1 & 2 talent is going to turn out 5 years from now.
You should be a scout!!
April 19th, 2011 at 4:14 pm
It does assure a bye that does not happen in week 3 as usual. And Wembley will be sold out. There are a lot of diffent ways of looking at things, stop a minute and think for once.
April 19th, 2011 at 4:50 pm
Joe here,
@bigdog — Well, the Bucs did go 10-6 with a Week 3 bye week. That’s not too shabby.
April 19th, 2011 at 6:45 pm
@Bigdog: Yeah, I am sure that not having the week 3 bye was the reason that the Glazers were on their knees with tears in their eyes begging to give up a home game! That makes a lot of sense.
That is probably the weakest excuse yet.
If you dont think that this is solely about $ your lost. BTW – Do you really think that having 9 away games (with one being on another continent)when the rest of the league gets 8 is somehow a competitive advantage? Of course not.
April 19th, 2011 at 6:53 pm
Thomas,
I haven’t heard anywhere that this years draft is deep. Last year (2010) was supposed to have the deepest draft in years as more underclassmen were entering the draft before the new CBA and a potential rookie salary cap. That depleted this years draft, and most draft experts are saying this is probably the weakest draft class in years due to everyone coming out last year.
What was supposed to be deep in 2011 was the free agent market, as most teams had worked contracts out to expire this year in case there was a lockout. That way owners would have less guaranteed money to pay out with no income coming in. And of course, there are more free agents than any year in the history of free agency in the NFL (but no one can touch them with the lockout).
I do have a feeling the draft will be somewhat depleted for several years due to what happened last year. With a depleted draft, the juniors coming out this year will have increased value (less competition from seniors that would have been there, but left as juniors last year), but will also deplete next years draft. Eventually it will balance out and things will be back to standard drafts, but we may expect a couple drafts where the talent level is lowered due to the rush to avoid a rookie cap.
April 22nd, 2011 at 6:52 am
All the people complaining that the London game will be ‘like another road game’ clearly forget the Bucs were 6-2 on the road and 4-4 at home last year