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RealClearSports Tampa Bay

Failure to Fit in With Bucs Dooms Winslow

Gary Shelton, Tampa Bay Times

Loss of 'Guardian Angel' Hits Bucs' Price

Rick Stroud, Tampa Bay Times

1st MLB Hit 13 Years in the Making

Dave Scheiber, Fox Sports Florida

Family Disaster Strikes Bucs DT Price

Rick Stroud, Tampa Bay Times

He was never a toes-on-the-edge kind of guy. As much as anything, that was what doomed Kellen Winslow's career with the Buccaneers. He was never a player to charge from one pract...(full article)

Brian Price closes his eyes but sleep rarely comes, not more than for an hour a day, not since the hit-and-run automobile accident last week that killed his sister and left two n...(full article)

For 13 seasons in the minors, Rich Thompson has taken an endless journey of dreary late-night bus rides on the back roads of America and boarded early-morning commercial flights ...(full article)

Bucs defensive tackle Brian Price was at Los Angeles International Airport last week preparing to board a flight to Tampa when he got a phone call informing him that his sister B...(full article)

Two hundred million dollars won't necessarily buy you wins. But it sure can buy you a lot of margin for error. If there's a difference between the rosters of the two favorites in ...(full article)

More Recent Articles

Yankees' Robertson Blows Save

Life without Mariano Rivera is going to be quite interesting for the Yankees. One night after he wiggled his way out of a ninth-inning jam, Dave Robertson was unable to repeat tha...

Rays Are Masters of Infield Shifts

Yankees outfielder Nick Swisher likes to call Tampa Bay Rays Manager Joe Maddon “the mad scientist,” and with good reason. When the two teams met, in St. Petersburg, ...

Price K's 12 as Rays Win 6th Straight

Left-hander David Price has put up impressive performances already this season in tying teammate James Shields for the American League lead with five wins, including a complete-g...

Bucs' Schiano Helps LeGrand Fulfill Dreams

There are bad football stories. Four New Orleans Saints players were suspended by the NFL on Wednesday for participation in a bounty program. Jonathan Vilma has been suspended fo...

Resilient Rays Will Manage Without Longoria

The Rays were hours from a clean getaway in April. They came away 15-8, in first place, a great start, capped by a 12th-inning walk-off win Monday against Seattle on a run-scorin...

Bucs Sign LeGrand in Heartwarming Move

There have been all kinds of undrafted free agent signings in the post-draft process, but we're pretty sure none of them will warm the heart like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers agreein...

Rays' Price Breaks Through, Beats Rangers

There was rain and lightning and thunder and the bases were loaded and Ian Kinsler was up, so, yeah, the end to Sunday night's game was a little dicey for the Tampa Bay Rays.One ...

Sapp Stays Positive in Face of Bankruptcy

Warren speaks. The voice is the same, a low growl that can turn blunt and pointed over the length of a conversation, punctuated by short bursts of laughter. It is the same sound ...

Pena Makes Homecoming Extra Special

Why, hello again. Man, did the Rays miss you. With one afternoon, with one game, with the simple act of pulling on the same suit he used to wear, Carlos Peña rekindled his love ...

Touching the Bases With Rays' Longoria

Evan Longoria calls 20 minutes before he’s supposed to arrive at River City Grill and says he’ll be there in 10 minutes. A conscientious athlete who shows up on time? Early, ...

South Florida: From Ugly to Unbelievable

Gave up, did you? Went to bed, did you? Decided it was just too ugly to suffer through, did you? Well, good morning. And lift your coffee cup to toast the Bulls, still alive and st...

South Florida an NCAA Redemption Tale

The first ingredient of a miracle is simple. First, there has to be widespread hopelessness before it happens. Often, there also is despair. And anguish. And gloom. If you look har...

Tournament Brings Out Best in So. Florida

They played like a program that had waited, and waited, and waited for a night such as this. They played as if they had been locked out of the gym for two decades. They played as...

Rays' Price Suffers Bizarre Injury

David Price had to leave Thursday's game against the Tigers an inning early due to a "towel" injury that left him with a stiff neck, which he doesn't believe to be serious. The R...

USF Is a Perfect Bubble Test Case

South Florida is a lot of things: Tough -- especially on defense. Hard to watch -- especially on offense. But are the Bulls an NCAA tournament team? No one is quite sure. South...

Could Stamkos Win Hart Trophy?

Should a player whose team fails to make the playoffs get consideration for the Hart Trophy as NHL MVP? That’s a question voters for the award may be faced with t...

Bolts Top East-Leading Rangers in OT

Ryan Malone sat in the locker room at the Tampa Bay Times Forum, dried blood clotting at the corner of his left eye, the bruise underneath turning vivid shades of yellow and blac...

Rays Might Be Even Better in 2012

Parked outside the Rays clubhouse Wednesday was a '56 Chevrolet Bel Air, with Dick Bosman and Tom Foley trying to fix the wiring system. "Solid, isn't it?" said Joe Maddon of wha...

Schiano Looking Like Right Hire for Bucs

You heard it. You hated it. Like many, you probably had a hard time grasping the idea that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers hired a college coach whose biggest bowl victories ...

Lightning's Yzerman Focuses on Future

Steve Yzerman knew the timing again was awful; knew he again was going to disrupt the emotional balance of the locker room. Yzerman even admitted trading right wing Steve Downie t...

South Florida Seeks to Validate Big East Record

When a panel of sports writers, TV analysts and conference officials gathered at NCAA headquarters in Indianapolis to put together a mock bracket this week, the Big East's two 9-...

Sharks Acquire Moore from Lightning

The Sharks got the player they wanted Thursday night, but only one of the two points they needed. Hours after acquiring versatile forward Dominic Moore from the Tampa Bay Lightn...

Rays Wait to Trade Pitchers for Power

That general manager Andrew Friedman was able to cover first base, to strengthen his bench, to deepen his bullpen, to add a catcher and to secure a designated hitter wasn’t...

Sharks Acquire Moore From Lightning

The small list of NHL teams willing to sell off assets at the trade deadline grew by one on Thursday. Tampa Bay Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman signalled his intentions by...

Maddon Has All He Wants in Tampa

Joe Maddon has gone global. Dig: Maddon and his wife, Jaye, vacationed in Europe last month. One day, they were exploring the famed Sagrada Familia cathedral in Barcelona, the unf...

4 Quarterbacks Needing Overhaul

Young quarterbacks do not always get better with age. At least four NFL quarterbacks that were expected to flourish took a step back in 2011—Sam Bradford, Josh Freeman, Kevi...

Bucs Take a Risk in Hiring Schiano

Somewhere, away from the cameras, far from the microphones, a conversation is going on. Somewhere, where outsiders cannot hear, Josh is talking to Gerald, who is passing it on to...

Schiano Ready to Attempt Next Turnaround

Give the Tampa Bay Buccaneers an "A" for the hiring of Rutgers coach Greg Schiano. An "A" for "Amusing." An "A" for "Attention-grabbing." An "A" for "Audacious." It beats getti...

Schiano Has Lots to Offer, But Not to Bucs

This nothing personal against Greg Schiano, so please don't take it this way, but the Tampa Bay Buccaneers making him their head coach is one of the worst coaching move...

Bucs' Coaching Candidates Uninspiring

What do you do if it turns out to be Mike Sherman? After you yawn, of course. After all the names, after all the interviews, after all the days of wandering around the country lo...

Oregon OK If Kelly Leaves for Bucs

For what it's worth, Chip Kelly told me 18 months ago that he couldn't lie. He wanted to coach one day in the NFL. He wanted to coach in the league that employed the world's grea...

Chip Kelly Pulls Flip-Flop for the Ages

It was a flip-flop for the ages. A double-reverse, pass. A game-changer. Chip Kelly, gone to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, then, suddenly, trotting back out the tunnel at Autzen Stad...

Bolts Snap Streak, Defeat Bruins

Marty St. Louis didn't really want to talk about what he said to his Lightning teammates before Tuesday night's game with the Bruins. "I'd like to keep that internally, really," h...

Does Anyone Want to Coach Bucs?

Wade said no. And you said, "Whew.'' That alone should tell you something about Phillips and something about the team that was interested in hiring him. What it says are bad thin...

Ranking the Coaching Vacancies

1. St. Louis Rams Positives – Owner Stan Kroenke has money to spend; quarterback Sam Bradford is young and talented; and the team possesses the No. 2 overall pick in ...

Bucs, Rams Not as Bad as They Appear

There was little surprise factor that the Rams' Steve Spagnuolo and the Bucs' Raheem Morris were the first two head coaches fired on the NFL's Black Monday, given that their fate ...

Dismissing Morris Won't Cure Buccaneers

So a man who didn't spend enough money walked into a room beside a man who didn't find enough players, and together they tried to explain the firing of the man who didn't win eno...

Bucs Fire Morris, Entire Staff

Raheem Morris had a pretty good idea when he walked into a meeting with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers owners Monday he would not be leaving as their head coach. One year after leading...

Looking Ahead at NFL Coaching Carousel

The arithmetic is unrelenting. Since 1989, NFL teams have hired on average 6.5 new head coaches a year, and there have been a staggering 82 coaching changes made in the league fr...

If Bucs Fire Morris, No Perfect Replacement

How do you fix this mess? It's a simple question. Not a lot of ambiguity. Ask it of any fan of a last-place team in the NFL, and I'm guessing you'll hear one answer far more than...

Bucs' Ugly Loss Should Seal Morris' Fate

They came to plead his case. They came to defend his name. They came to protect his back. And, as is so often the case with the Tampa Bay Bucs, they failed at that, too. Raheem, it...

Rays 1 Bat Away From World Series

One bat. That's all it will take. One bat. And I like the Rays better than the Yankees or Red Sox. One bat. And I think Tampa Bay is back in the World Series in 2012. Is that an o...

Rays Are Smartest, Most Efficient MLB Franchise

The Tampa Bay Rays are a threat to columnists everywhere. Don't believe me? OK, buster, let's see you squeeze blood from a radish. That's what it's like writing a good, strong, ne...

Undisciplined Bucs Could Cost Morris His Job

At 4-9, the young Bucs have regressed to playpen behavior after looking so advanced the previous year. Starting with cornerback Aqib Talib’s shootout at his neighborhood corr...

Goalie Woes Sinkings Caps, Bolts

With 3 minutes and 44 seconds left in the first period on Tuesday night, Scott Hartnell of the Philadelphia Flyers fired a shot from the top of the faceoff circle to the right of W...

Interim Coach Wouldn't Help Bucs

There for a while, they were two men having the same career. One coached defense and one coached offense, but for most of three seasons, you had to call out the chains to measure...

Revisiting the Worst Hockey Game Ever

When the Philadelphia Flyers travel to Tampa later this month to play the Lightning, they'll revisit the scene of what has become widely regarded as the strangest NHL game played...

Glazers Hold Fate of Wretched Bucs

On the field, they are awful. Through the season, the Tampa Bay Bucs have identified who they are. They are worse by the week, and they might have just passed on their last chanc...

Bucs Should Turn to Tony Dungy to Fix Team

There is one man on the planet who could solve everything that is wrong with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. One man who, with the simple nod of his head, would sell out Raymond James ...

Freddie Solomon Gets Spotlight at Tampa

Joe Montana was telling the story about Fast Freddie Solomon and the way the yard lines blurred beneath his feet. It was January of 1983, a San Francisco 49ers conference champions...

QB Freeman Hurt at Shooting Range

Struggling Buccaneers quarterback Josh Freeman needed five stitches in his right thumb following a gun mishap at a local firing range on Oct. 31. The club acknowledged the mishap...

Maple Leafs Thrash Lightning 7-1

On a furious charge up the ice on Tuesday night, Matt Frattin, the Maple Leafs forward, split the defence with a burst of speed and hurtled toward Tampa goalie Dwayne Roloson. Fr...

NFC Wild-Card Race Will Be Tight

The NFC wild-card race is beginning to look like one gnarly bowl of beef stew. Yes, it's early. Yes, there's any number of catastrophes that could take place, like Matt Stafford ...

Lightning Defeat East-Leading Pens

Steven Stamkos has had one fight in his NHL career, so when the Lightning center Thursday night threw punches at the head of Pittsburgh's Matt Niskanen, it was worth noting. The ...

Rays Might Not Be Able to Keep Maddon

In Hazleton, Pa., they still know him as Joey from the hill. In Chicago, meanwhile, he's a potential savior. In Boston, he's a distant dream. In St. Louis, he's the one that got aw...

Manager of Year Is Really a Team Award

The day that the Manager of the Year award winners are announced feels like a day off amid the other award announcements made by the Baseball Writers of Association of America in...

Stamkos' Hat Trick Leads Lightning

Lightning coach Guy Boucher called the Blackhawks the league's "most menacing team in the offensive zone." And Friday night, Chicago's quick-strike offense at times had Tampa Bay ...

Big East Is Best Conference for USF

For argument's sake, let's begin with this premise: Following the defections of West Virginia, TCU, Pittsburgh and Syracuse, the Big East Conference no longer deserves an automat...

Could Maddon Join Epstein in Chicago?

Twenty-nine teams probably would offer Maddon a job if they had an opening, and Epstein is especially well acquainted with him. Maddon was the other finalist when Epstein hired T...

Goodell Sees Bucs as 'Global Franchise'

et's agree the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are not moving permanently to the U.K., okay? But they are interested in playing one regular-season home game in London every year, NFL commis...

Florida Football: State of Despair

It is only appropriate that the mockingbird is the state bird of Florida because we deserve to be mocked. There should be one of our feathered friends perched atop every goalpost ...

Harbaugh Puts Imprint on 49ers

To accommodate Jim Harbaugh's fear of flowery tributes, let's describe the 49ers' huge win Sunday as simply some serious bone-crushing, snot-snorting, loogie-hocking football. They...

Rays Not 1st Team to Outscore Opponent and Lose

Of the 260 playoff series in baseball history, just 40 have ended with the victor scoring fewer runs over the series than the loser. It never happens in sweeps, because the lose...

Beltre Belts 3 HRs; Rangers in ALCS

Adrian Beltre hit three straight home runs and the Texas Rangers powered themselves back into the AL championship series, beating the Tampa Bay Rays 4-3 Tuesday to win their play...

Rays to Start Rookie Moore

The Rays aren't freewheeling, they just hadn't been in a position where lining up a postseason rotation was exactly possible -- or the logical thing to do. When they arrived at R...

Longoria HR Sends Rays into Playoffs

In many ways, Evan Longoria's season couldn't have started off much worse. The three-time All-Star third baseman had his 1967 Chevrolet Camaro stolen in March, and his spring tra...

Can Rays Continue Improbable Run?

Savor this, Rays fans, savor every minute, every second. You might never see it again. The September show that never ends, the Tampa Bay Rays and the Boston Red Sox, pretty much to...

Rays Rally, Stay Tied for Wild Card

Matt Joyce was hurting Tuesday afternoon. His right foot was taped and wrapped, the result of painfully fouling a ball off his right foot the night before. After Tuesday's game, ...

Rays Win, Gain in Wild-Card Race

The Rays got a strong start from Wade Davis and four home runs - including a inside-the-parker by Ben Zobrist - to beat the Blue Jays 5-2 on Sunday. Combined with Boston losing a...

Rays Batter Yanks, Gain on Red Sox

NEW YORK — Knowing he'd be making his first major-league start the next night, Rays rookie Matt Moore came out to Yankee Stadium early Wednesday morning and stood out on th...

Nova Helps Yankees Blank Rays

Ivan Nova screamed into his glove as Robinson Cano's relay throw completed a double play that got the Yankees out of a bases-loaded jam in the seventh inning. Nova was only celebr...

Huge Game for Beckett, Red Sox

And now for the most important game of the Red Sox [team stats] season. Getting blown out at Fenway Park [map] last night was on the menu from the moment manager Terry Francona dec...

Red Sox End Skid, Beat Rays

With Josh Beckett back on the mound for the first time since he sprained his right ankle Sept. 5 in Toronto, the Red Sox were given a reprieve from a September swoon that saw the...

Rays Climb Closer, Clobber Red Sox

A break and a blast. That’s what got the Rays out of their two-game tailspin, and that’s what turned up the heat on the Red Sox. It happened in the third inning Thur...

Rays Lose, Fail to Gain Ground

The Rays players sat around the clubhouse in the afternoon and cheered as the Blue Jays rallied past the Red Sox. Then, with an opportunity to make up a game in the wild card sta...

O's Damage Rays' Playoff Drive

BALTIMORE -- The lasting image from Tuesday's loss was J.P. Howell on one knee as Matt Wieters' eighth-inning home run touched down deep in the left-field seats, while in right fie...

Rays Gain Ground on Idle Red Sox

The experience of being in the playoffs twice in the past three seasons is something that B.J. Upton will never forget. And that he badly wants to experience again. Making sure t...

Rays Finish Sweep of Red Sox

They looked at the schedule when it came out at this time last year, saw all these September games with the Red Sox and Yankees and wondered if it was a cruel joke. Of course bac...

Rays Trim Red Sox's Wild-Card Lead

Wade Davis waited until his biggest start of the season to try something new.Why not, right? The Red Sox were in town and something old hasn't worked for Davis when he faces the Re...

Price Sets Rays Record With 14 K's

Of all the numbers flying around after Sunday's 12-0 win over the Jays, manager Joe Maddon correctly identified the 6 - representing the suddenly shrinking gap between the Rays a...

Rays Hit 5 Home Runs Off Sabathia

The way to beat CC Sabathia, according to Rays manager Joe Maddon, is to out-pitch him, play good defense and find some ways to scratch out a few runs. David Price took care of...

Nats Look Like Favorites for Upton

The trade market for outfielder B.J. Upton(notes) is “interesting,” as one Tampa Bay Rays official put it Tuesday, and as it develops one thing is becoming clearer: I...

Rays' Shields Outduels Sabathia

James Shields walked into the Rays clubhouse Thursday afternoon dressed for business in a light gray tailored suit and tie. “It’s getaway day,” he said six hours...

Rays Halt Red Sox Winning Streak

Forget the long road trip and everything that happened over the course of those 13 days, good or bad. Forget the record at home this season, which has been very un-Trop-like. The...

Longoria HR Lifts Rays Past Rangers

Evan Longoria pumped his right fist in the air as he rounded first base. He said he had to. He just hit his first go-ahead home run of the season, which gave the Rays the lead in...

Price Strikes Out 12, Blanks Indians

David Price returned to form and survived a scare in the process, and Sam Fuld jumped into a phone booth and became Super Sam again. Price pitched seven shutout innings and record...

Bucs' Talib Indicted in Shooting Case

A Texas grand jury on Friday indicted Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback Aqib Talib on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, raising even more questions about whether...

Going to Game 7 Not Surprising

You know who you are, and that goes for the bride in question, although in fairness to her, it’s almost impossible to pick a wedding date that doesn’t interfere with ...

Bruins Hold Edge in Game 7

Both teams have already won a Game 7 in this postseason. The Lightning have come back from a 3-1 series deficit to defeat the Penguins in a Game 7 in Pittsburgh. The Bruins have ...

Game 7 Showdown Next for Bruins

The Bruins have not won the Stanley Cup since 1972, when most fans watched Bobby Orr on black-and-white televisions that had aluminum foil crunched around a UHF antenna. The Brui...

Lightning Get Power Play on Track

Through the first two rounds of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Tampa Bay Lightning thrived in part because of their work on the power play, converting more than 27 percent of their ...

Bolts Edge Bruins to Force Game 7

Once again, the Tampa Bay Lightning must go the distance to advance in the postseason. Tampa Bay staved off elimination for the fourth time this postseason, defeating the Boston ...

Back Against Wall, TB in Familiar Spot

For the fourth time in this postseason, the Lightning find themselves teetering on the edge. One more push and the spectacular playoff run under rookie coach Guy Boucher and rooki...

Lightning's Roloson to Start Game 6

The Lightning plane from Boston landed Tuesday afternoon bearing news, if not victory. No state secrets this time: Back in goal goes Dwayne Roloson. It's the call I would make. The...

Rejection Fuels Lightning's Run

Someday, they may appreciate the story line a little more. When the puck has thawed and the crowd has dispersed, they may recognize the compliment in the insult. But for now, it ...

Tampa Sports News

Sports on TV/Radio for Friday, May

Times staff Friday, May 25, 2012 Arena Football Jacksonville ...

Angels 3, Mariners 0

Times wires Friday, May 25, 2012 Angels 3, Mariners 0SEATTLE ̵...

Phillies 10, Cardinals 9

Times wires Friday, May 25, 2012 Phillies 10, Cardinals 9ST. LOUIS...

Padres 11, Mets 5

Times wires Friday, May 25, 2012 Padres 11, Mets 5NEW YORK —...

White Sox 11, Twins 8

Times wires Thursday, May 24, 2012 White Sox 11, Twins 8CHICAGO &#...