The Bucs, The Lightning And Championship Boat Parades
May 26th, 2022
Lightning put pressure on Bucs.
For laser-focused Bucs fans, this may come as a surprise. But despite all the run and hysteria of the Super Bowl boat parade in February 2021, the Bucs were not the first team to celebrate a championship with a parade on the water.
No, it was the Lightning. When the Bolts won their second Stanley Cup in the summer of 2020, a traditional parade was not allowed by Tampa city leaders because of The Sickness. So instead, the Lightning took to the Hillsborough River downtown.
A few months later, the Bucs followed their lead.
Last year this was repeated by the Lightning as defended their Stanley Cup championship. Last week, te Lightning advanced to their 6th Eastern Conference Finals in the last 12 years, so now they are eight wins away from a rare three-peat.
And it seems Bucs sack king Shaq Barrett is a tinge jealous. Shaq is one of several Bucs players who are regulars at Lightning games. Cam Brate, Ali Marpet, foot-rubbing Rob Gronkowski, Pat O’Connor, Sean Murphy-Bunting, Mike Edwards, Donovan Smith, Tristan Wirfs and Shaq, among others, can often be found at Lightning games.
Yesterday, Shaq spoke about being a Lightning fan. Last week he was at Game 4 against Florida with two of his sons. They both had bigger smiles than their dad.
“I am a big Bolts fan,” Shaq said. “My kids love it. I love it. The atmosphere is amazing. And they are really good so that makes it easy to be a fan, too.”
Like most competitors, Shaq said one reason the Bucs gravitate to the Lightning is their NHL dominance. And Shaq said the Bucs feed off the winning energy the Lightning generate.
“I love that they are really good,” Shaq said. “So I feel as though, if they keep winning, we have to do it. They’re bringing championships back so I feel like they are putting pressure on us.
“I love pressure. I love performing under pressure and coming out on top. We look at them, let them motivate us and get the job done like they get the job done.”
Joe thinks it is really cool that not only do so many Bucs support the Lightning, but that the success of the Bolts motivates the Bucs to strive to be just as good.
May 26th, 2022 at 12:19 am
Hockey is an irrelevant sport…. Please shaq….
May 26th, 2022 at 12:41 am
^^^^Maroon!
May 26th, 2022 at 12:55 am
I love football but there is absolutely nothing more electric and intense than a live playoff hockey game.
Red-Sparrow …. Whatever dude, try expanding yourself a little. Hockey ratings are the only sport that have been on the rise the last couple years. The last time the Lightning didn’t sell at a game was 2015.
GO BOLTS
May 26th, 2022 at 12:56 am
Nothing beats playoff hockey live.
GO BOLTS!!
May 26th, 2022 at 12:57 am
Red birdie is pretty ignorant. 😂
Nothing compares two playoff hockey live.
GO BOLTS!!!
Go Bucs!!
May 26th, 2022 at 2:45 am
Red-sparrow Says:
May 26th, 2022 at 12:19 am
Hockey is an irrelevant sport…. Please shaq….
LOLOLOLOL
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO BOLTS!!!!!!!!!
May 26th, 2022 at 2:56 am
Said the puckhead.
Bolts are on of the most solidly run franchises in PROFESSIONAL SPORTS.
or maybe your a jai alai guy?
May 26th, 2022 at 3:08 am
It’s always tough to be The Man that follows THE MAN
May 26th, 2022 at 4:50 am
We Want the Cup!!!
May 26th, 2022 at 5:06 am
It’s actually 6 eastern conference finals in the last 8 years. Which is incredible. Does not include the season when they had the best record in the regular season.
May 26th, 2022 at 6:23 am
If I lived over in that area i would definitely go to bolts games. Only got money for bucs in my budget since i live in Orlando. They have dominated the NHL in recent years with so many talented players.
Tampa over all (for a small market) has done really well in all their sports in recent memory
May 26th, 2022 at 6:55 am
Hockey will never have massive ratings because “evil white man” makes up 99% of the demographic. Guarantee it would get 3x the coverage if the demographic was like sayyyy the NBA. But I guess hockey sucks or something because poor people cant play it or even skate *as i make a jerk off motion*
But to be fair and objective, it DOES go both ways. Hockey fans are HARDOS, and its a bit funny to see 45yr old dudes wearing oversized hockey jerseys – they dont like basketball because they dont “relate” to it (and im being kind) and they were slow and couldnt jump as kids so they gravitate to a sport that is more for them too.
In conclusion – I think i hate most people
May 26th, 2022 at 7:17 am
I hope Bowles becomes as proficient, insightful & deft as Cooper, sooner than later. That would go a long way in creating boat parade opportunities!
May 26th, 2022 at 7:52 am
gofortheface30 Says:In conclusion – I think i hate most people
You make some very good points, let me read it again to see what they are says a basketball hater.
May 26th, 2022 at 7:55 am
Let’s go BOLTS 3 peat baby!
May 26th, 2022 at 8:42 am
Hockey? Yawn.
May 26th, 2022 at 8:44 am
Bolts are the best organeyezation in all of sports. Nothing like playoff hockey. Sorry some people don’t relate. Plenty of Bolts players are big time Bucs fans, A bunch of them were with Giselle at The SB. When Brayden Point signed his big extension he did it in a Bucco Bruce hat. Go Bucs, Go Bolts!!
May 26th, 2022 at 8:51 am
Go Bolts!! Keep that trophy in Tampa!
May 26th, 2022 at 9:02 am
Best show in tampa is at amalie arena.
May 26th, 2022 at 9:04 am
Up here in Canada never could get excited about hockey.. to each his own i guess. We have the battle of Alberta going on and I couldn’t care less
May 26th, 2022 at 9:04 am
Also,I love that hockey is the only (?) sport you can punch another man bare fisted in the face and not go to jail… lol
May 26th, 2022 at 9:32 am
Red Sparrow, it must be tough being g a 20W bulb.
The NHL playoffs are a meat grinder, Especially for teams in the East. Look at all the 100 pt. teams that are now spectators themselves.
No surprise why NFL players are fans, tough guys know what tough players have to do to win the Cup. Playoff hockey is the best!!!
The Stanley Cup trophy has the greatest history and tradition of any sport!!!
LFG Bolts, the cup lives in Tampa Bay.
(I want Carolina next. Just because)
May 26th, 2022 at 10:17 am
The lightning are one of the ALL-TIME great hockey teams in this championship period and I hope that they are up there with the Red Wings and Oilers, when it is all said and done. It always pisses me off that the first bucs dynasty defense is not given their due as one of the greatest defenses of all time and that is Bullspit. That D brooks, Sapp, Barber, etc defense IS one of the top 5 all time great defenses and deserves to be mentioned with the Bears & Steelers defenses
May 26th, 2022 at 10:35 am
Hockey… baseball… basketball… I gave up watching those sports a long long time ago. My life improved because of it. No more wasting my time on something that I don’t particularly care about and i was able to focus on far more important things. I grew up watching about 200 baseball games a year either on TV or in person. That’s 600 viewing hours a year for over 20 years wasted on baseball. That is the equivalent of over 500 days of nothing but baseball… what a waste. I still watch football, not like a used to, but it’s a great way to spend Hangover Sunday. It’s my only remaining vice, a Bucs game and Redzone Channel. Some of you need to start investing in yourselves a little more and a little less in sports you barely understand and/or never played.
May 26th, 2022 at 12:37 pm
Thanks for your concern Brandon. Worry about yourself.
May 26th, 2022 at 1:56 pm
Red Sparrow has clearly never been to a hockey game in person.
As a dyed in the wool Buccaneer FOOTBALL fan, I can honestly say that it pales in comparison to a live Lightning hockey game!
If you’ve never been, and even if you’re not a fan, you owe it to yourself to catch one live.
Go Bolts!
May 26th, 2022 at 2:01 pm
Brandon- You left out one of your vices: Doling out unsolicited advice on how others should spend their time. Ironically, on a football BLOG!
…just wasting time! LOL!
May 26th, 2022 at 3:32 pm
Pat Maroon was on The Pat McAfee Show today, and was talking great things about the relationship between Bucs and Lightning players and awesome it is!
May 26th, 2022 at 10:50 pm
Go Bolts! I think we’ll match up better with Carolina, but this layoff sucks cuz those guys need that routine of playing.
If you’re not catching Lightning games, you are missing out on a HOF factory of a franchise. We just churn them out. The team is stacked with future HOFers, past and present.
May 29th, 2022 at 11:24 am
SB nailed it.
Go Bolts! Go Bucs!