Monday, 4 a.m.
Here in the land of the Damned, not much changes.
Yesterday is like the day before. Last week is like the week before that. Last year is a lot like last year.
We talk about a better day, and we share hope, and we see other teams change their fortunes. But here, the days blur together. The weather doesn't change. The stock market is the same. And the NFL team usually loses.
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It is the curse of living in Tampa Bay. The Bucs are usually dreadful. There is often a new coach, and occasionally a new quarterback, and sometimes, a new uniform. But the scoreboard rarely changes.
Through the life of this franchise, there have been three little bumps of hope. John MccKay once made the playoffs three time in four years. Tony Dungy once made them four times in six years. Jon Crude made them three times in six years.
And nothing.
It has begun to feel like a curse, like Sissyphus rolling that boulder up the hill for all eternity. Is this our lot in life? Are we doomed to be a bottom feeder?
Aside from Cleveland, perhaps, has any NFL team been rougher on its fans? Does t ask for more and offer less?
Except for those years, every coach has been the same, and every quarterback, and every defense. The team always moans about its turnovers, and its penalties, and its injuries -- because that's what you talk about when you're not talking about winning
But ask. yourself this: Are the Bucs, 2019, really any better than the Bucs, 2018?
Oh, perhaps you like Bruce Arians, who sounds a lot more like a head coach than Dirk Koetter did. But Arians is 2-4 (Koetter was 3-3 a year ago), and his quarterback throws it to the other team too often, and his secondary is horrible Sound familiar?
Other teams change their fortune. There was a time the Saints were a dreadful team. And the Rams. Even the Patriots. But they change. The Bucs don't change.
Around here, fans live for the draft. They dream of third place. And they wait for the next guy.
Vinny Testaverde turns into Trent Dlfer, and he becomes Josh Freeman, and he becomes Jameis Winston. Leeman Bennett becomes Ray Perkins who turns into Sam Wyche who is born again as Lovie Smith. Booker Reese, Sabby Piscatelli, Alvin Harper and Roberto Aguayo are the backup dancers.
So will it go on forever? For goodness sakes, this is the NFL, which does more to help its bottom feeder teams than anyone with a common draft, a salary cap and a weighted schedule.
Common sense would tell you it will take one special guy, a general manager or a coach, to grab this franchise by the lapels and shake. That was, the team can find the right quarterback. It can build a proper defense. It can put one step in front of the other.
Maybe someday, it can walk.
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