“Contact Is A Little Bit Of A Lost Art”

July 29th, 2013

As much of a taskmaster tough guy that Greg Schiano might be, there’s only so much a coach can do to drive a team in practice under the new NFL labor agreement. Training camp just ain’t what it used to be when it comes to how much guys can hit each other and play, you know, real football.

Schiano lamented the loss of physical practice time a bit today with former Bucs guard Ian Beckles, co-host of the Ron and Ian show on WDAE-AM 620.

“Contact is a little bit of a lost art,” Schiano said today. 

Joe remembers attending Bucs training camp at the old University of Tampa, when two-a-days were the norm and guys on the field were beating the snot out of each other. Does Joe miss that? Sure. But Joe’s surely not seeing a lesser product across the NFL because of softer practices.

If anything, the change has put more importance on preseason games, which surely needed a shot in the arm.

After a 2 hour and 30 minute practice today, their fifth consecutive practice, the Bucs have Tuesday off.

18 Responses to ““Contact Is A Little Bit Of A Lost Art””

  1. Mike J Says:

    Perkins, & this is back in the day when camp went on a LONG time, used to run three-a-days.

  2. Andrew 1 Says:

    Tuesday off?! get their asses back out there and make it 6 consecutive practices.

  3. Buc1987 Says:

    OMG the Ray Perkins days. You old folks are taking me back to the crap ol days. I so wish some of these youngins on this site could have experienced those days. On 2nd thought I like some of these youngins, I’d hate to have to torture them.

  4. Tampabaybucfan Says:

    Very ugly back then….the Hugh Culverhouse years…..McKay, Sombrero…..seemed hotter but I guess weather is the same.

    U of Tampa……Freedie Solomon….wow!!!

    No matter what you do with the practices, you still get players hurt….just a hazard of the game.

  5. Mike J Says:

    Tampabaybucfan, it DID seem quite a bit hotter back in the 60s & 70s & early 80s. Dust & Third World pollutants in the atmosphere masking the sun??
    Geez, I can remember midnights when it was still 89 degrees.

  6. Tampabaybucfan Says:

    @Mike J

    Used to jog at lunch on Bayshore Blvd….was very, very hot.

    You’d think with Global Warming it would be hotter now…

    I remember those hot bench seats….and an Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, Loggins & Mesinna Concert at the stadium Bicentennial 1976…..
    Cherry Bombs raining down!!! Hot Hot Hot

  7. Tampabaybucfan Says:

    Yea….with Global Warming and all….

  8. Raphael Says:

    Lol I remember Ray Perkins 3. A days…..it was brutal and guys were beat to crap when the season got here ..

  9. Tampabaybucfan Says:

    Yea….and I don’t think they wimped out by scheduling a bunch of 4pm games either…..

  10. Buc'n Junkie Says:

    One thing about those old days though was battling in the NFC central division. It seemed every time we had a home game against Green Bay, that we were in Green Bay. Same with Chicago, Minny, and Detroit. Many a times at the games, I felt like it was me against the world. We were GOD awful back then but through it all we still had 30,000 hardcore Buc fans. It seemed like groundhog day every year when we would finish 2 – 14. 10 years in a row with double digit losses and I’m still with them.

    Does that make me a “homer”? Nostalgia is great, and now that time has eased the painful memories of what it was like to be a Buc fan, the younger generation today will never appreciate what we endured then. A lot of you who demand perfection today would not have had the patience to have been a Buc fan back then. You had to have thick skin, and be immuned to lots of criticism.

  11. Buc1987 Says:

    Buc’n Junkie…so well said it’s like poetry. Although I’ve only been a fan since 87 it was tough on me. I was new to the game of football. I was a Celtics fan from the Boston area. The Pat’s we’re just OK. Not good either. I came down from Mass with Pat’s t-shirts and all. Since I was here in Florida as a northern transplant, I figured well, latch onto the Bucs. Not knowing ANYTHING about the Bucs history afterall I was a basketball fan, Larry Bird and all. Lord I had no idea what I was getting myself into. It was soooo bad I almost abandoned them when the Panthers came into the league, even though I would not be able to attend a Panthers game while living in Florida. I just figured pick a fresh and new team and root for them. I was teetering for awhile, then came Dungy and the new ownership. Which of course changed my mind. So I’m not a exactly a true-blue Bucs fan, as it was so bad I was teetering. I did learn a lot from Bucs fans that went through it since 76 though and realized how much damage Culverhouse did to this team. I was told that they only drafted big names to bring in fans and winning was not an issue, as long as the Culverhouses made money. So when people bash the Glazers, I defend them. Although I was not here since 76, the ONLY sports team that matters to me is the Bucs. Not the Red Sox, Celtics, Rays, Lightening, or Magic. Just the Bucs. I have a DEEP love for this team. I’m not questioning other fan’s loyalty when I blog. Nor am I a homer. I just follow the Bucs and ONLY the Bucs. If people ask me another player on the Red Sox outside of Ortiz, I have no answer for them. Same for the Celtics. All I care about in sports IS the Bucs. So in a sense to me I am a true blue Bucs fan, but I try to be objective. That’s because I’ve seen what shyte looks like. I hope others on here can understand where I’m coming from with all this. Maybe it’s our fault because we lived through the shyte years and don’t expect more from our org. I don’t know. I do know one thing though as a Buc fan. There is a lot of fair weather Buc fans out there. There is also a lot of fans that have ONLY seen the Dungy and Gruden years and expect more, which leads to impatience amongst them. Maybe we are just too tolerant, because of the past? Either way all of us have the same common goal. We just want MY Bucs to win. I say MY because it’s the only sports team I care about. Okay I’ve rambled long enough, it’s late, and this tequila is kicking my ass. Buc’n Junkie seriously though I DO want to tailgate with you. I want to hang with a REAL Bucs fan on game day. So when I show up around your parking area on gameday and hold up a sign that says HEY BUC’N JUNKIE. Don’t be shy, please do approach me and my wife and say hi. Oh and FINALLY to end this ramble, if I made any typos, I blame it on the damn tequila.

  12. Buc1987 Says:

    Oh and I forgot to add, I dealt with the criticism as well back then. The youngsters have NO idea.

  13. Raphael Says:

    @ Buc 1987 ……surely you can’t expect us to read all that ?

  14. Raphael Says:

    Just say this is my life story and I will read the first and last sentence to save time …

  15. Buc'n Junkie Says:

    I have been a fan since 1979, (the first year they made the play offs), at the young age of 16. They won me over especially when I didn’t want to pick the same teams all my friends liked. For one thing I lived here, so why not your home team? I have been a season ticket holder now since 1985 and still counting. I have never wavered.

    Buc1987 Fly that sign

    The more the merrier. I will be in a group of about 12 couples, you guys can grab some grub, and brewskis. We’ll even include you guys in our tailgate tradition of what we call “2 minute warning” We all get together, and we have 2 minutes, for each person, to say one word, each person at a time to try to form a complete sentence. The topic is to talk crap about the other team. It’s fun, but most of the time it sounds like we have tourette syndrome. 🙂

  16. Buc1987 Says:

    LOL Raphael…Okay so when I was born…LOL

  17. Buc1987 Says:

    Buc1987 Fly that sign

    ^^^ okay Junkie I’ll give it a go.

    Prolly not the 1st game though, as I have said on past threads. I will be out on MLK waving a Bucs flag for about 1-2 hours prior to kickoff. I’ll be waving the flag and my wife will be holding up a poster board that reads BE LOUD TODAY!

  18. Mike J Says:

    Tampabaybucfan, not to wander too far O/T so that Joe slaps us, but how about the Led Zep riot?? I may have mentioned that I lived at Buffalo & the river, east of the stadium, & I can recall watching off my balcony as an isolated T-storm head straight for the Sombrero liked it planned to make trouble.