Not much happened at tonight’s lightning-abbreviated practice, but afterwards there was plenty of action (stick with Joe for all kinds of goodies tonight and tomorrow).

Speaking to assembled media, Lovie Smith named his top guards in his starting rotation for training camp practice — for now. (more…)

Opening day of Bucs training camp amounted to about 30 minutes of training and about 30 minutes of practicing. Lightning delayed practice at One Buc Palace and a second series of bolts cleared the fields of One Buc Palace for good.

Lovie Smith waved the white flag. (more…)

Just a couple of hours after the Bucs announced that the team and stud guard Carl Nicks parted ways, Bucs general manager Jason Licht met with the Tampa Bay pen and mic club to discuss the transaction.

Though Licht spoke highly of Nicks, he refused to give any details about a possible financial settlement of any sort with Nicks, nor would he discuss any salary cap ramifications. (more…)

There’s a reason Carl Nicks hasn’t reported to training camp.

Agents, lawyers and team officials have been finalizing the end of Nicks’ Tampa Bay career behind the scenes. And now it’s over. (more…)

The fun didn’t last long. The Bucs barely finished stretching before the first of many lightning delay of training camp. Shoot, Joe literally just sat down in the bleachers and all of a sudden, there was the roar of the lighting alarm.

Stick with Joe through the evening for news and notes from the first practice of training camp – once it resumes.

Update 5:50 p.m.: practice should resume no earlier than 6:45 p.m.

Joe’s partners at WDAE-AM 620 had Lovie Smith on the air this afternoon and later reported that Carl Nicks will not be at training camp today, the opening day of on-field activities.

Feel free to speculate.

Joe’s heard loud rumblings that Nicks’ Bucs career is over. Stick with Joe through the night for all kinds of news from training camp.

Joe was up with the chickens on Thursday and cruised down Hillsborough Avenue in the way-too-early hours. But hey, the Bucs, minus human armoire Carl Nicks, were reporting to training camp about 6:30 a.m.

Who could pass on such excitement? Josh McCown stopped to talk to gathered reporters, and one question posed to him elicited a response of “I don’t know.” (more…)

The Lovie Smith era opens wide for fans this evening at One Buc Palace. Practice kicks off at 4:30 p.m. and runs until 7. Admission is free.

Inevitably, Joe will hear voices in the crowd saying where’s Mike Glennon what kind of soft practice is this? (more…)

Has the often punished “Hawk” found a valuable friend?

Maybe.

Bucs icon and soon-to-be Hall of Famer Derrick Brooks has a new job with the NFL. (more…)

The Bucs’ GM explains

Of course nobody knows what the Jeff Tedford Buccaneers offense will look like. The man is an artist. Artists know no bounds. They’re not locked in a traditional box. Their creativity results in free expression that will tantalize, surprise and bewilder.

Joe sort of learned all this from Bucs general manager Jason Licht. (more…)

No, leaky, sleepy Josh Freeman wasn’t worthy of the dubious list.

Yes, the recent “The Countdown: Worst 20 Buccaneers Of The Past 10 Years” was very popular.

But in some circles, it angered Tampa Bay fans.

It wasn’t like Bucs fans did not enjoy guessing who would land on the dubious list. They were mad because [insert a player's name] was not included, or at the top of the list, even. So Joe decided to explain why those whose absence irked many readers did not make the list. (more…)

Joe’s jumping in for a pre-training-camp chat with the popular Ron and Ian show this morning at 10 a.m. on WDAE-AM 620.

Always a fun time. Click below to listen online.

Bucs TE Austin Seferian-Jenkins declared himself fully recovered from offseason surgery.

For the most part, even to the Tampa Bay pen and mic club, rookie tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins is a mystery. Not only was he recovering from foot surgery to stabilize a fracture during Bucs spring practices, ASJ rarely attended.

University of Washington is on a quarter system and the school’s schedule was a conflict. Per NFL rules, rookies whose college hours conflict with OTAs or minicamps cannot participate.

Joe knows Bucs general manager Jason Licht liked his tight ends prior to the draft (in particular, Tim Wright) but ASJ had really wowed both Bucs coach Lovie Smith and Licht big time while they studied pre-draft film. (more…)

Bucs WR Mike Evans chose an interesting workout partner this summer to prep for training camp.

The man Bucs general manager Jason Licht tabbed “Godzilla” is ready to rock and roll across NFL fields as his namesake did Tokyo. Bucs wide receiver and seventh-overall draft pick Mike Evans is ready.

The first round draft pick held court, briefly, with the Tampa Bay pen and mic club as he arrived at One Buc Palace for his first NFL training camp. Evans noted a few things that opened Joe’s eyes. (more…)

Bucs news forthcoming.

Alabama man enters hospital for a procedure and has his penis surgically amputated by mistake. [AP]

Joe realizes cops have rotten jobs and they have to deal with all types of parasites, but this is out of hand. [TheBigLead]

It’s time people begin taking matters into their own hands. If your friend/relative is stupid enough to have a wedding in the football season, then they should not expect you to attend. This practice of weddings during football season is not only rude, but crass (no, bye weeks don’t count). [Eleven Warriors]

So let Joe get this straight: To try to dodge a traffic ticket, you call 911 and report you are about to get gunned down in an attempted murder? Creative, yes, but really ignorant. [Brevard Times]

The winning streak is so Rays. [RaysIndex]