* No, they didn’t bring back the Stanley Cup for a Tampa tanning. But it was a helluva ride that the Tampa Bay Lightning gave this community for 26 games over the last two months. A gritty, talented team and a classy organization.
Sports at its best can be a rallying point for a region. A group psychology archetype. And, in our case, a national branding upgrade. We’re a better community as a result of the last eight weeks. Go, Bolts. Only three months until training camp opens.
* The NHL was more than pleased that the first two games of the Stanley Cup Finals were seen by an average of 5.5 million and 6.6 million viewers nationwide. The numbers continue to trend favorably.
For context, however, there’s the NBA Finals. Last Sunday’s Game 2 delivered 18.8 million viewers. Humbling.
* Odds are good that Tampa Bay will be represented in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games. Not necessarily in track and field, swimming, soccer or wrestling–but in golf. That would be Seminole’s Brittany Lincicome, who is currently ranked No. 10 in the world. The top 15 men and women automatically qualify.
BTW, golf is being reintroduced at the Rio Games. It was last included in the 1904 Games in St. Louis.
* Congrats to Tampa Catholic’s rising junior Kevin Knox, a member of the U.S. under-16 national basketball team. It won the gold medal last Sunday in the FIBA Americas Championship in Bahia Blanca, Argentina by defeating Canada 77-60. Knox had four points and eight rebounds.