The Other Opponent

October 1st, 2020

Bucs general manager Jason Licht spotted masked up in Denver.

The self-appointed Buccaneers mask cop says he’s still working around the clock.

Five weeks ago, Bucco Bruce Arians declared on national television that he is “the mask police” at One Buc Palace. And it seems that hasn’t changed. League rules place all kinds of mask mandates and restrictions on players when they’re on the job or on a road trip.

As NFL fans know, there was a messy outbreak of The Sickness in the undefeated Tennessee Titans organization, and there upcoming Sunday game was cancelled and tentatively rescheduled for Monday night.

Joe asked Arians yesterday whether that was any kind of wake-up call for his team, and he said it was a topic at One Buc Palace and he’s still on high-alert.

“We talked about it before it happened and we talked about it after it happened. I’ve got to be the facemask police all the time, but I’ll gladly take the job,” Arians said. “I think our guys have made a good commitment to each other, but you never know. It could be somebody’s child that’s in school and comes home. Next thing you know, half your locker room is out. We never know with this thing but we’re being as diligent as we possibly can.”

The way the Bucs are playing, Joe sure hopes the team is as diligent as possible about The Sickness. It would be such a #BucsLife for a virus to undermine what looks like a uniquely special season.

24 Responses to “The Other Opponent”

  1. Sport Says:

    Be diligent away from the field. Makes sense. But on game day, when everyone on the field and in the locker room has been tested. Then to make non-players wear masks when the players are literally Face mask to face mask breathing on each other is just plain stupid.

    Tested Coaches talking to tested players and tested refs with a mask on game day is for optics only. Period. I understand their position, I just don’t agree with it.

    In BA I Trust!

  2. TheBucsAnthem Says:

    I have a feeling the virus bomb will explode during the playoffs that will turn it upside down.

    While I’m not a conspiracy theorist…………I think that it will become unleashed on purpose during the playoffs to create more drama and attention for the NFL during the playoffs.

    Just imagine how the national media will be if Patrick Mahomes and half of the Chiefs have to sit out before the NFC Championship game?????

    REMEMBER FOLKS! YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST FROM ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  3. Bucsfanman Says:

    Sport- Don’t fret, it’ll be coming to an end soon enough. I’m OK with it. If it gets us back to some semblance of “normalcy” sooner, I don’t care about the optics.

    I know what you’re saying though. Maybe it’s just over-cautiousness?

    Looks like Manatee County just lifted their mandatory mask order. I guess Florida is fine now!?!

  4. Sport Says:

    Oh don’t get me wrong, I’m super thankful we have ball and I agree taking steps to normalcy is important.

    The virus isn’t controlled by politics, who opens first or last. It will learn to survive by lying in wait if necessary. And we have learned a lot over the last few months.

    I keep going back to a statement I heard “this is first pandemic in history that we quarantined healthy people.”

    This shouldn’t be about forcing people to wear a mask or not. It should be a conscious, purposeful effort by all individuals to live their lives freely while protecting those who need it. Btw, that idea works in a post or nonexistent Covid world as well.

    Some people just lose their minds trying to force others to think and do as they think.

    In BA Trust!

  5. Bucnjim Says:

    Since the NFL is all about politics now they have to put on a show. If you have been tested before a game and everyone is negative guess what no one has it! It’s a joke watching 100 players run around without masks but the coaches and refs must wear them. That makes zero sense!

  6. Tampabaybucfan Says:

    i think we take “abundance of caution” a bit too far sometimes….I agree that coaches wearing masks on the sidelines is primarily for show….but if that’s the price that has to be played to have games……it’s worth it.

  7. Pablo Says:

    @TheBucsAnthem Patrick Mahomes is not in the NFC he is in the AFC, Pablo thinks you don’t know too much about football

  8. Bruce Blahak Says:

    it’s ludicrous to even attempt a season….the NHL got through with a bubble…NFLers are out and about and travelling….more sh*t to come, count on it…put your mask on, knuckle draggers…

  9. 813bucboi Says:

    anthem

    you just showed how much attention you pay to football TROLL!!!!!!

    YOU’RE A CLOWN!!!!!!….get your lies right!!!!!!

    GO BUCS!!!!!!

  10. Señor Harry in Costa Rica Says:

    @Sport, very well said. It is about respecting and looking out for others. We ALL hate wearing these stupid masks and having out lives turned upside down, but we can help each other get thru this. Thank you sir!

  11. james west Says:

    jason then can you tell me why, when viewing a pic of players exiting the team bus and arriving at the hotel in denver, there were several players and other people who were wearing mask’s, and one very important player who was not, this player i do believe has the number 12 on his jersey, it would be very selfish of Mr Brady, if he came down with the covid and had to miss 2 games, especially if they were divisional or conference games, as it may lead to a tie breaker scenario, here’s a suggestion for ya, with all the connections and where with all of owning a NFL franchise, how come our players are not taking hydroxychloriquine, azithromycin, zinc, and high doses of vitamin c and d as a preventative measure against the covid, i am sure the glazers could make it happen

  12. El Buco Realisto Is a Dicko and NDog is a Crybaby and TheBucsAnus is a Troll Says:

    There goes TheBucsAnus again, showing off his ignorance!!!!!!!!!!!

  13. mark2001 Says:

    Bruce…said some time ago…. the bubble is the one proven way of really ensuring a season. But if we don’t want to do that, we buy our ticket and take our chances. I’m up north now and coming back to Florida soon… spent most of the summer in the great outdoors. But now it reverses in that regard up here, except for those going down south. And when I see the winter coming on where people spend much more time in bars, restaurants, other stores, with indoor activities, and the way the virus is starting to soar, I’m glad I can come back to Florida and enjoy nice walks early in the morning in the great outdoor, in many “cool” places. But the point is that these northern teams will be more highly susceptible with friends and family, more than they have ever been.

  14. bojim Says:

    Just wear a mask. How difficult is that?

  15. jb Says:

    ^^^^^^^^^^^
    I Concur

  16. Brandon Says:

    Well, there is zero actual research that supports they work, there bojim. There’s actually research that shows that they don’t work.

  17. unbelievable Says:

    I heard the Titans players got it from hanging out with some ladies of the night after a game… similar to what happened with baseball.

    Guess they need to have a bubble for side chicks too…

  18. unbelievable Says:

    @Brandon- that simply not true at all.

    There are however different levels of effectiveness depending on the type of mask worn.

    Also, you have to actually wear them, and wear them correctly.

  19. Bush's Coke Spoon Says:

    bojim Says:
    “Just wear a mask. How difficult is that?”
    .
    .

    Perhaps the most comprehensive studies on whether or not wearing masks work, took place in 1918 in the throes of the Spanish Flu.

  20. Bush's Coke Spoon Says:

    unbelievable Says:
    “@Brandon- that simply not true at all.”
    .
    .
    Quit lying to people. The only studies which have shown effectiveness of masks are when they are used in a controlled hospital setting. But it doesn’t matter how many times you are told this, you will continue to spew your lies because you don’t actually care about the truth. You only care about your feelings and your politics.

  21. Bush's Coke Spoon Says:

    @unbelievable
    .
    .

    The most comprehensive studies of general public mask use were done in a real life situation during the Spanish Flu in 1918. Conclusion? It’s a waste of time, money, and energy. The virus is going to do what viruses do.

    If you are healthy, there is an easy way to stay safe. That is by making sure you have proper levels of vitamin C, vitamin D, magnesium, and zinc. If you want to be useful, why don’t you teach people this, instead of crying constantly about a slave mask that you know does not work? Because you don’t really care about health and truth. You want to virtue signal.

  22. Señor Harry in Costa Rica Says:

    @Bush’s, yeah, that makes total sense. OMG so the next time you have surgery, tell them not to where their masks. How dumb some people are is just astounding.

    “You can’t fix stupid…”

  23. Bush's Coke Spoon Says:

    Señor Harry in Costa Rica Says:
    “@Bush’s, yeah, that makes total sense. OMG so the next time you have surgery, tell them not to where their masks.”
    .
    .

    You missed the part where I said, “The only studies which have shown effectiveness of masks are when they are used in a controlled hospital setting.”

    Surgical masks don’t even stop all expulsions from entering the air around you. They just stop respiratory droplets from directly entering the surgical wound, which prevents infection. Your exhalations still pass around the outside edges of the masks. I’m pretty sure if the surgeon had the flu, he would call in sick instead of thinking his mask will save everyone he’s working with from catching it. SMH

  24. BuccoDav Says:

    Joe says…”The Sickness in the undefeated Tennessee Titans organization, and “there” upcoming Sunday game was cancelled”…

    “Their”… Damn, you were doing so well…