*At the Lightning-New York Rangers game last Saturday, former Bolts’ coach John Tortorella and former center Brad Richards were honored on the video board as part of the team’s 20th anniversary season celebration. Nice touch to include the visitors, both still very popular with Tampa Bay fans. Richards was predictably gracious. Tortorella was, well, Tortorella. “I don’t talk about the other team,” he noted curtly.
Yo, Torts, you couldn’t have gotten out of character for the occasion and shown some class?
* Interesting that Hillsborough County’s gun buyback program included $75 vouchers plus two tickets to either a Lightning or a Rays game in exchange for unwanted weapons. Both teams donated $35,000 worth of tickets and promised more if needed. That’s particularly notable for the Bolts (“Guns and Goals”?), who have sold out every game so far this year.
* The other day I was walking down the street headed to the gym when I noticed a couple of boys tossing a football back and forth. They couldn’t have been older than seven. They stood about 10 yards apart. One lad had to run a couple of feet to make a catch. He then raised both hands in the air and started to wiggle his hips in a circle.
I wonder where he learned that?
* It’s no secret that Florida is fertile territory for high school football players. This year’s Parade Magazine All-America team reinforces that reputation again. Five Florida players, more than from any other state, made the first team. Plus Parade’s Player of the Year is Yulee (Fla.) High running back Derrick Henry. Moreover, two of those Floridians are from Hillsborough County: defensive back Vernon Hargreaves, Wharton, and defensive back Leon McQuay, Armwood.
* Isn’t it unbelievable that the Rays only sold 300 season tickets in St. Petersburg? Surely Mayor Foster has more friends than that.
* Imagine if Ray Lewis and Warren Sapp were as classy as they were talented. But Sapp, the former Buccaneer recently voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, was merely rude and arrogant. He never helped cover up a murder.