FanPost

Goodbye 2014


My fellow BUCS fans it isn't hard to get a little melancholy during this time of the year.

We mourn for those we have lost. We hug those that mean the most a little more. We feel a little older but are grateful for the time we've been given and...

We drink 160 proof straight grain alcohol to get the taste of this year’s Bucs team out of our mouth.

The season, like many, started out with a ton of promise. A new EXPERIENCED coach who promised discipline and wins. A seasoned veteran quarterback to push Lovie's "Quarterback of the future". A decent draft, at least we thought at the time, to compliment key positions already in place. A truckload and lifetime of money spent on free agency. We bought into it, none more than me. Playoffs? I said sleeper for the NFC Championship Game, a division crown and a 11-5 record.

This was the end of the beginning not the beginning of the end. And then...

Mr. Glazer died. RIP.

That veteran, seasoned quarterback was a bust and that rook he was supposed to push, benched and forgotten. A healthy Doug Martin turned out to be a healthy average and on his way out of town player. The offensive line was only offensive, the worst in 39 years of Buc football in my opinion. The penalties didn't go away but the defense went into hibernation. Worst of all these dumpster fires? A coach who seemed a little too eager to brush things off sooner than later.

I believe the players saw this attitude and went into "rebuilding mode" after a while. "Hey if coach can't remember our record than why should we" became the locker room motto. By the time Week 6 came around the Ravens had our man Lovie looking confused and broken. The press conferences began to look like the games, sad with disappointment always revolving around a lack of energy.

It’s easy to point fingers, however, at this level it’s expected. You want 75 a ticket to watch this? No. But most people have moved on to paying 50 to see a great Lightning team. That old cliché about changing the culture has never been more relevant than now. More and more people are moving on to the Bolts, the Rays, the Storm...etc., why? Because they win, we don't expect them to lose often. The Bucs' approach of the only ticket in town is for the opposing fan who watches their team embarrass the Bucs.

You ask any quarterback or coach in the league who would they rather play on the road, 100 percent answer the Bucs.

I look forward to 2015. A number one draft pick. A vast overhaul of the O-line. A new Quarterback. A new Offensive coordinator. A healthy Gerald McCoy. A future HOF play making stud named Mike Evans. A monumental turnaround, whispers of a sleeper Super Bowl run, We'll show em, just wait and see. We might be toothless after this season but we can still smile, even if it’s a bloody smile.

There is hope, again at the bottom of our empty box and that is all we have.

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