Bucs News 9/30

Rookie Arrelious Benn took all the flanker snaps at practice Wednesday as the Bucs get him ready for an expanded role.

The Bucs are planning to come out of the bye with significant changes on offense. Benn could very well be their starting flanker, with Sammie Stroughter kicking into the slot. N ow that we know the Bucs are serious, Benn can be added as a flier in deep formats.

Bucs coach Raheem Morris defended new starting FS Cody Grimm after the rookie struggled in his first NFL start in Week 3.

Grimm missed numerous tackles and was victimized on a Mike Wallace 40-plus yard touchdown. "(Grimm) played too well the rest of the game to even talk about that right now," said an apparently delusional Morris. The Bucs will return from their Week 4 bye as a pass defense upon which to feast.

Coach Raheem Morris backed off his LeGarrette Blount goal-line comments Wednesday, saying the rookie still has to battle Earnest Graham.

Morris originally declared Blount his short-yardage and goal-line back on his Monday radio show. Although he's backpedaling now, Morris is likely to give Blount the first chance to secure the job after the Bucs' bye. Morris' statements confirm that Cadillac Williams is all but out of the mix for carries in scoring position. It's not a crazy idea to drop Cadillac in shallow leagues.

It would be a good indication fans that the Bucs are going with their young players in Blount ,Grimm, and Benn over the veteran presence in Graham, Caddy, and a possible FA safety. Althought it is possible the Bucs go after a older more experienced FS, it is not a bad sign that Cody Grimm struggled from his first outing. After all, he was a 7th round pick and he was is a rookie so we can only hopefully expect him to get better from this game against the Steelers. The Bye week came at a perfect time to heal up some lingering injuries and prepare the Bucs for the  Cincinatti Bengals. 

Thoughts on the Bolts this season!

Well fellow hockey fans, we are approaching another year of hockey coming up very quickly. It seems like forever in the offseason but we will be sure to get our fill this year from basically October to June of straight hockey action. We get to go into depth as we look at the rebuilding efforts of the Tampa Bay Lightning. Lets start off by they got a great upcoming coach in Guy Boucher. he was the most highly regarded AHL coach and he was a great pick up. Another solid move by  new owner Jeff vinik had hired Hockey great Steve Yzerman as a Gm. He will prove to be very effective for years to come because he knowns the proper way to build a team. With the additions of Dan Ellis, Pavel Kubina, Simon Gagne you have to like the improvement of defense and offense done this off-season by the Lightning. With the solid core group of St.Louis, Lecavalier, Stamkos, and Victor Hedman the Bolts have a great future with the perfect mix of veterans and young progressing players. We have to like the improved roster of the Lightning. The improved play should bring out more fans to the stadium. I am liking this team but it will take some time for this team to be a contender again. Especially in a division with the Washington Capitals. I will say they win at least 45 games this year! Go Bolts!

Rays News 9/29

David Price tossed eight innings of shutout ball Tuesday against the Orioles, striking out eight and walking none in a 5-0 victory.

In his second-to-last opportunity to woo Cy Young voters, Price absolutely demolished the hapless Orioles lineup. The left-hander scattered six hits in the contest. He seems to be getting stronger as the season progresses. Price is now 4-0 with a sub-2.00 ERA in September. He's currently scheduled to start the regular season finale against Kansas City. While he'll need that game to get to 20 wins (he's now 19-6 with a 2.73 ERA), it's difficult to envision Tampa Bay sending him to the mound if they've already sewn up the AL East and home field throughout the AL playoffs.

According to Buster Olney of ESPN.com, early speculation among rival executives is that the Angels and Red Sox are going to go "wallet-to-wallet" for Carl Crawford this winter.

Let the speculation begin. Crawford, 29, is expected to draw interest from some of baseball's biggest spenders this winter. We've heard about the Angels for months now, but the Red Sox are an interesting fit in that they already have Jacoby Ellsbury, Mike Cameron and J.D. Drew under team control for next season. Of course, all three players come with significant injury risk and there's early buzz that the Red Sox would consider trading Ellsbury this winter. To be continued.

Bad news for Rays fans this upcoming off season. Unless this team goes very deep in the playoffs we could see a total dismantle of the rosters high powered offense as Crawford, Pena, and Upton could all be heading out of town. Thank god the pitching rotation is still very solid. 

Bucs Thoughts For the Season

For all my fellow Bucs fans on here, or football fans in general I feel like I should spread the word about the growth of the new era of Tampa Bay Buccaneer Football. We are seeing the early but exciting stages of the rebuiling process in which we are overhauling the Offense and Defense in order to become a championship contending team for years to come. Given the tough division that the Bucs are currently in (NFC SOUTH) with the Saints, Falcons , and Panthers it will be a true test in nature for the growing Bucs to deal with. The offense is based around 22 year old Josh Freeman, Quarterback out of Kansas State. He offers a unique style of pocket passer and fairly good scrambling QB at 6'5'' 250+ pounds. He draws comparisons to Ben Rothelisberger and Donovan McNabb. He will be the key future on Offense for the Bucs if they are to contend for years to come. Some names that you will become fairly known with in a few years are RB LeGarette Blount, WR Mike Williams, LB Dekoda Watson, S Cody Grimm, DTs Gerald McCoy and Brian Price, and CB Aqib Talib. These are just a few of the core members of the Buccaneers team. They will be the future and can only get better with time. The Bucs have got some real great developing weapons and they will continue to get better with more experience, better coaching, and another great draft or two. Be prepared for the remergence of the Bucs! They will surprise people this year, but just wait. Its 1997 all over again!

Legarette Blount to get increase in carries?

There were few bright spots for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in their 38-13 loss to the visiting Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday in a battle of two 2-0 teams. Yet one of those bright spots was the play of rookie running back LeGarrette Blount. The Oregon product made a statement on his first NFL carry, which went for 12 yards and picked up a first down. 

Blount finished the game with 27 yards on six carries (4.5 avg.) and scored his first NFL touchdown. Read what Bucs head coach Raheem Morris and Blount had to say about his NFL debut in Scott Reynolds' story for FoxSportsFlorida.com


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZnFSv1fwF8&feature=player_embedded

Bolts News 9/28

Dominic Moore left Friday's practice early because his sore groin acted up.

Moore hasn't played since the Lightning's first preseason game. Consider him day-to-day for now.

The Tampa Bay Lightning cut 21 players from their roster.

Mark Barberio, Alex Berry, Mitch Fadden, Mitch Fritz, Stefano Giliati, Radko Gudas, Alex Hutchings, Scott Jackson, Jaroslav Janus, Blair Jones, Vladimir Mihalik, Niklas Persson, Kevin Quick, Juraj Simek, Paul Szczechura, Dustin Tokarski, Ty Wishart, James Wright were the cuts. They were all sent to Norfolk. Tim Marks and Matt Fornataro were released altogether

Rays News 9/28

Wade Davis yielded three runs over 6 1/3 innings in Monday's loss to the Orioles.

He gave up seven hits, walked one and struck out a pair. It certainly wasn't a bad outing by the youngster, but he was simply out-pitched by Brian Matusz. It's Davis' first loss of the second half, as he's posted a 3.36 ERA after the break. He's currently slated start against the Royals this weekend.

Evan Longoria (quad) took swings off a tee Monday, but is likely still a couple days away.His strained left quad is progressing, but the Rays want to make sure he is close to 100 percent before returning to the starting lineup. The series against Kansas City seems like a fair bet right now. Dan Johnson is starting at third base Monday night.

Bucs News 9/28

Rick Stroud of the St. Petersburg Times expected rookie WR Arrelious Benn to be more involved after the Buccaneers' Week 4 bye.

Benn made his first three catches of the season in Week 3. He is still a bit raw, but the rookie's upside is much higher than the likes of Sammie Stroughter and Micheal Spurlock. Benn is only a deep league stash for now, but keep an eye on him in regular-sized leagues.

Buccaneers rookie RB LeGarrette Blount admits that he needs to better learn the team's protection schemes before he expects his role to increase.

Blount picked up 27 yards and a touchdown on six carries in Week 3, and afterward coach Raheem Morris said the staff had planned to get Blount even more involved. It appears the rookie's role will continue to grow, and he's a big threat to take some of Cadillac Williams' workload

Coach Raheem Morris confirmed Monday that the Bucs are planning to decrease Cadillac Williams' workload going forward.

Williams ranked among the NFL's carry leaders through two weeks, but his per-attempt average of 2.5 has only earned him more time on the sidelines moving forward. Week 3 Bucs rushing leader LeGarrette Blount is suddenly a major sleeper, and Kareem Huggins is also slated for an expanded role once he's back to 100 percent. Williams is bench material in all leagues.

Buccaneers WR Sammie Stroughter is likely to play more in the slot going forward.

It makes all the sense in the world. Stroughter is built more like a slot receiver, anyway, and rookie Arrelious Benn can only play flanker at the moment. It wouldn't be a surprise at all if Mike Williams and Benn start on the outside in Week 5 and Stroughter plays out of the slot.