There is nothing better than when your favorite sports team is in a championship! In the Tampa Bay area we had some droughts. Then we won the the Superbowl in 2002 and the Arena Football championship. Then we won the Stanley Cup in 2004. These teams were thought to be out of any running for any kind of championship and often looked like the were playing for the other team. We've put that to an end.
Now it is time for the Tampa Bay Rays (formerly the Devil Rays) to get some!
Baseball in the Tampa Bay area, up until 1998, was reserved for Spring training of other MLB teams. The St. Louis Cardinals were in St. Petersburg for years. The Yankees train in Tampa. The Phillies in Clearwater and so on. We knew baseball. Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio and others of fame stayed in the area. Baseball star watching was a popular sport in town.
In 1998 the Tampa Bay Devil Rays debuted to a sold out and enthusiastic home crowd!
(Just in case you don't know - the term "Tampa Bay" refers to the entire geographic area of 4 major cities and many small towns in and around the area.)
The Devil Rays started out in the basement and have been scratching and scraping their way up from the bottom ever since. Attendance dwindled. Heads hung low.
And now after 10 years in the league - they are in the World Series. Not only IN the World Series but BEAT the Yankees and the Red Sox to get there!
In the past there would be Yankees fans at Devil Rays games...they outnumbered the home team fans. There would be more cheering when a Yankee did something great then the Devil Rays (who never did anything great). Not for lack of trying. We had Jose Canseco a known DH but he was a dud. They got Joe Piniella to get the team rolling but no go.
This season the stands have been full. Baseball is back!
Apparently the Devil Rays just needed some faith. This season the Devil in the name was dropped and a new logo was developed. There might be something to that because when the Buccaneers changed their colors and logo they started having winning seasons. Coincidence?
Sport, if nothing else, is about superstition with luck and dash of fate.
The Rays are one of the youngest teams in the league (in regard to the age of the players) that seems to just enjoy playing the game. No, they aren't used to winning and maybe that makes the taste of it all the more sweeter.
I don't know what will happen when this series is over. If the Rays win there will be fireworks and horns blowing till 5am the next day. If they lose the fans will still meet them at the airport. That's the kind of sports town "Tampa Bay" is.
We know how to lose and keep playing.
And we know the taste of victory and how to relish it.
And sometimes it is...how you play the game.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Now Back to Our Regularly Scheduled Programming
A new season is here! Finally! After the writer's strike and a long summer (bright spot being The Closer) it is time to kick back and enjoy this season's fare.
I am glad that my old favorites have returned - Criminal Minds, Pushing Daisies, Ugly Betty, Ghost Whisperer (guilty pleasure!) and NCIS (I still hope for improvement).
I have decided to try out a few new shows as well:
Bones : This isn't exactly a new show but it is new to me. Having been on USA network since 2005 it has a steady following of viewers and I can see why. Starring Emily Deschanel (who has a decent sized body of work but only in small parts) and David Boreanaz (known to many viewers as the hunky sensitive vampire, Angel) as an odd couple solving cases for the FBI. Bones is the nickname of Deschanel's character because she is a forensic anthropologist who studies bones and what they can tell her. Boreanaz's character is an FBI agent who sees how she can help him solve cases. This could be a typical formula series but USA network has shown us through Monk, House, Psych and Dead Zone that they are far from formula. Bones follows these two investigators as well as the rest of her team and the FBI gang. There are many characters that get woven into each story (much like CSI) that creates more of an ensemble feel. There is sexual chemistry but it is not forced - it seems natural and the viewer isn't left waiting for these two to "get together." We can wait. They are very good developing characters. If you are looking for something different in your viewing - give Bones a chance.
The Mentalist : I can only hope that actor Simon Baker (you may remember him as the cad in The Devil Wears Prada) can carry this show on his own as the title character because the rest of the cast is lacking. Baker plays a former TV psychic who now works as a private investigator helping the police solve cases. He admits he was never a psychic but uses his keen powers of observation to solve the crimes (ala Sherlock Holmes). Baker is charming, witty and a pleasure to watch as he effortlessly cruises through each case. That cannot be said for his co-star Robin Tunney, who in spite of a large resume of TV and movies, falls flat. She is supposed to be this tough cop who puts up with his tricks. She is either mis-cast, mis-directed, badly written, a weak actress or all of the above. What they need is a tougher woman! There are many great examples of strong women on TV and she is not one of them. There is also this terrible excuse for sexual tension. It's not there! The rest of the cast is okay but the show needs work. Keep Baker and re-work the rest of the show and it will be a winner. It is worth watching for Baker and that's it.
I eagerly await the premiere of Eleventh Hour this week! I hope it is worth the wait.
I am glad that my old favorites have returned - Criminal Minds, Pushing Daisies, Ugly Betty, Ghost Whisperer (guilty pleasure!) and NCIS (I still hope for improvement).
I have decided to try out a few new shows as well:
Bones : This isn't exactly a new show but it is new to me. Having been on USA network since 2005 it has a steady following of viewers and I can see why. Starring Emily Deschanel (who has a decent sized body of work but only in small parts) and David Boreanaz (known to many viewers as the hunky sensitive vampire, Angel) as an odd couple solving cases for the FBI. Bones is the nickname of Deschanel's character because she is a forensic anthropologist who studies bones and what they can tell her. Boreanaz's character is an FBI agent who sees how she can help him solve cases. This could be a typical formula series but USA network has shown us through Monk, House, Psych and Dead Zone that they are far from formula. Bones follows these two investigators as well as the rest of her team and the FBI gang. There are many characters that get woven into each story (much like CSI) that creates more of an ensemble feel. There is sexual chemistry but it is not forced - it seems natural and the viewer isn't left waiting for these two to "get together." We can wait. They are very good developing characters. If you are looking for something different in your viewing - give Bones a chance.
The Mentalist : I can only hope that actor Simon Baker (you may remember him as the cad in The Devil Wears Prada) can carry this show on his own as the title character because the rest of the cast is lacking. Baker plays a former TV psychic who now works as a private investigator helping the police solve cases. He admits he was never a psychic but uses his keen powers of observation to solve the crimes (ala Sherlock Holmes). Baker is charming, witty and a pleasure to watch as he effortlessly cruises through each case. That cannot be said for his co-star Robin Tunney, who in spite of a large resume of TV and movies, falls flat. She is supposed to be this tough cop who puts up with his tricks. She is either mis-cast, mis-directed, badly written, a weak actress or all of the above. What they need is a tougher woman! There are many great examples of strong women on TV and she is not one of them. There is also this terrible excuse for sexual tension. It's not there! The rest of the cast is okay but the show needs work. Keep Baker and re-work the rest of the show and it will be a winner. It is worth watching for Baker and that's it.
I eagerly await the premiere of Eleventh Hour this week! I hope it is worth the wait.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
