Looking back, Kif never should have left

February 19, 2015 general

SEEKING EMPLOYMENT: Super Bowl winning football coach. Led his team to one of the best defensive eras in the history of the game. Perfected Tampa Two. Has coached Hall of Famers. In all, worked for five college teams and seven pro teams. Alas, I’m 75 next week, although I’m going on 27. * * * […]

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Rays begin search for clues as camp opens

February 18, 2015 general

Thursday, 6 a.m. Around here, all the exclamation marks have turned to question marks. The footing no longer seems steady around the Tampa Bay Rays. No one is sure of anything anymore. The giant-killers of baseball are starting over, it seems, and these days, a lot of positions seem like multiple choice quizzes. Fourth place? […]

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Ask the Expert: Jerry Angelo

February 17, 2015 general

Tuesday, 11:08 a.m. Jerry Angelo is a former personnel director for the Bucs and former general manager of the Bears. Each week, Angelo answers your questions regarding the NFL. Send your questions to GarySheltonsports@gmail.com with “ask the expert” in the subject line. The most interesting question will be selected. Josh McCown seems to be on […]

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Testimonial Tuesday: Talking about Gary Shelton

February 17, 2015 general

Going back to my days with the Devil Rays, you knew that Gary Shelton was the man in Tampa Bay sports. His columns were always a must read. With that being the case, I’m sure his new website will continue to be a must read, whether you agree with him or not. Fred McGriff, former […]

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A life in sports means lessons learned

February 17, 2015 College Sports in Florida

Tuesday, 1:52 p.m. My speech to the St. Petersburg Kiwanis Club: All my life, my classroom has always been a pressbox. My classmates were the other writers, all in a row with notebooks and pens and laptops. My teachers were the athletes and coaches of the day. My field trips were to the athletic stadiums. […]

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Remembering Worst, Best Bucs’ Free Agents

February 16, 2015 general

Monday, 8 a.m. In this market, the shelves are usually empty. The prices are ridiculous. The pickings are slim. The production is awful. And yet, in the search for hope, teams keep grabbing a cart going down the aisles. There has to be hope somewhere, doesn’t there? There has to be a short cut. There […]

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Random Thoughts: Peyton set for regular season

February 15, 2015 general

Sunday, 6 a.m. Random thoughts: — Hello. I’m Peyton Manning, and I want to play some more. Heck, I’m free up until the first round of next year’s playoffs are over. — It turns out that previous stories were false. No, Brian Williams did not save Private Ryan. I was misremembering. — So, what would […]

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To all fields: Lovie admits his mistake

February 14, 2015 College Sports in Florida

Saturday, 6 a.m. TAMPA In the NFL, cutting your quarterback means never having to say you’re sorry. With Lovie Smith, however, it is implied. When the Bucs gave up on their failure with Josh McCown this week, Lovie Smith made an admission that he was wrong. He was wrong when he signed McCown. He was […]

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Ask the Expert: Phil Esposito

February 13, 2015 general

Friday, 10:54 a.m. Phil Esposito was a Hall of Fame forward for the Boston Bruins. Not only that, the Tampa Bay Lightning was his brainchild, and he was the team’s first owner. Even now, he works on the team’s radio crew. Each week, Esposito will answer questions from readers. To ask Phil a question, send […]

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Asking Gary about Rays, Bucs and Super Bowl

February 13, 2015 general

  Do you think there would have been so much turnover on the Rays roster if Andrew and Joe were still here? Or could they have possibly left because they didn’t want to face another roster churn?                                 — Robert […]

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