* Cool idea that the NHL–and just last week the Lightning–have periodic father-and-son road trips: players and their dads. Actually, in the Bolts’ case, head coach Jon Cooper brought along his father too. Somehow, I don’t see some of the other professional sports leagues doing this.
* No, it’s not just Ava, the trendy SoHo restaurant, that is a non-baseball reminder of the Maddon presence in Tampa. Joe Maddon’s wife, Jaye, has now opened her Epic Boxing & Fitness Studio on Kennedy Boulevard across from the University of Tampa.
Observers say it’s a savvy move on Jaye Maddon’s part to bring in Esther Solano as boxing instructor. Solano has a following.
The native Puerto Rican has become a fixture in South Tampa with “Best of the Bay” accolades as a personal trainer and the former owner of “Knockout Fitness & Training.” Her credibility as a weight-loss guru is underscored by her personal story: In a previous incarnation, she weighed 150 pounds more than she does today.
Maddon and Solano: Could be the entrepreneurial counterpart of Maddon and (Dave) Martinez.
* Congrats to the USF women’s basketball team. For the first time in its 43-year history, the Bulls made the Associated Press rankings, coming in at No. 25.