Joe is confused. He hasn’t been this confused since he covered Bill Bidwill’s flock.

For months the Bucs raved about Roy Miller’s play. They credited him with the reason why Gerald McCoy and Lavonte David had breakout seasons. Yet they let Miller leave for the price of an NFL bag of popcorn.

The Bucs admitted they needed more quarterback pressures from their defensive line, yet they turn a cold shoulder to a dedicated soldier who led the team in sacks and led the defensive line in tackles for loss and let him leave for the price of a six-pack of beers at the Stadium on Dale Mabry.

Manatee High School has a better roster of cornerbacks than the Bucs, yet the Bucs back up a Brinks truck for a safety (Yes, Joe loves Dashon Goldson if you must know).

Speaking of corners, right now, not counting the draft, your Bucs starting corners could be Eric Wright and Danny Gorrer. Surely, Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik and Greg Schiano can see this. Ray Charles could see this.

Cornerbacks and the Bucs were a subject brought up in a recent BSPN NFC South chat.

GurS (Edgware, UK)

We all know the Bucs need at least two new corners. If they’re adamant on pursuing Revis, why aren’t we trying to sign a second (much-needed) corner? At best, gives us upgrades at both starting spots, at worst, becomes insurance if the Jets’ FO decide to keep Revis

Pat Yasinskas

CB market isn’t great, as the CBs are finding out. Think you’ll see them add a CB as market continues to cool.

Now Joe knows the Bucs have turned their noses up at the available cornerbacks believing they are not that good, especially for the price they are asking. That’s understandable.

Thing is, beggars can’t be picky. This just in: The Bucs were a handful of yards away from a the worst NFL pass defense. The only thing that has been addressed at cornerback is the Bucs’ ability to wash their hands of Eric Wright, if they are so inclined.

Pick the top four free agent corners that were out there looking for a new team. Can anyone say with a sober mind that those four — you pick the four — are worse than Danny Gorrer?

Now Joe has written before that he wouldn’t be opposed to Dominik pulling a Bill Walsh and drafting three corners in the first five picks. But that option is out the window right now because of the voids left by Bennett and Miller’s exit.

So last year the Bucs had the best rush defense in the league and by mid-March three of the starting seven — almost half — are gone. That is not a comforting thought.

But this is not an accident. It was the Bucs that willingly waved goodbye to Bennett and Miller. Quincy Black can’t come back because of nerve damage. The moves (non-moves?) thus far make so little sense. Joe must believe the Bucs have had some plan all along that will be revealed soon.

Time will tell, but Joe just cannot fathom the Bucs are prepared to start Wright and Gorrer at corner this fall.

Joe knows the New Schiano Order wants to run the ball like the NFL hasn’t seen in decades. The return of Carl Nicks and Davin Joseph surely has Greg Schiano salivating, and now there’s a new punishing blocker in the mix.

The Bucs have signed Packers free agent tight end Tom Crabtree, per ESPNMilwaukee.com.

Here’s how the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel described him recently:

Though he won’t break the bank, there is a league-wide need for block-first, versatile players like the 6-foot-4, 235-pound Crabtree. Through his three years with the team, Crabtree became a core special teams player, reliable blocker and, in 2012, a deceptive playmaker on offense.

Crabtree caught just 18 balls in his three seasons with Green Bay. The Packers did not offer him a restricted free agent tender. But he will be missed in cheesehead land.

Here’s how Aaron Rodgers expressed his sadness on losing Crabtree, via BSPN.

 Quarterback Aaron Rodgers expressed on Twitter his disappointment in losing his friend to Tampa Bay, posting, “Had a lot of teammates in 8 yrs in GB. Few that I enjoyed as much as @TCrabtree83. Your tats, mustache n poor taste in music will be missed.”

The Bucs still need a tight end who can catch the ball and be dangerous up the gut of a defense. Joe hasn’t heard a peep on free agent Dallas Clark.

The man Greg Schiano called the “custom-built” nose tackle for his defensive line is now playing for Jacksonville. Roy Miller has inked a two-year deal with the Jaguars, per Woody Cummings of TBO.com.

This was Schiano’s assessment of Miller in Week 17.

“He is a heck of a run stopper and plays the position, you know we call the tilt nose in our defense, he plays it very well. And he’s really custom-built to play it,” Schiano said yesterday. “I mean his traits really fit the position.”

What the hell are the Bucs are doing allowing key, young cogs in their defensive line walk away for miniscule cash?

The Miller move further fuels Joe’s take that Greg Schiano is driving the bus on some maneuvers.

Miller is replaceable, and he didn’t play most passing downs, but the guy was at least a solid defensive tackle last season. And, much like Michael Bennett, Miller was successful in Schiano’s system and had no off-field baggage. His loss is puzzling.

One must now put defensive tackle on the list of positions the Bucs could attack early on draft day.

The Benn’d around play is no more. Arrelious Benn is headed north. The Bucs have traded their coveted second-round pick in the 2010 draft, arguably the deepest draft in NFL history, to the Eagles.

The Bucs barely got a cheesesteak back for the underachieving wide receiver, per the Eagles’ website.

Continuing a busy week of roster moves, the Eagles made a trade Friday, acquiring 24-year-old wide receiver Arrelious Benn from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In the deal, the Eagles acquire Benn and a 2013 seventh-round pick from the Bucs in exchange for a 2013 sixth-round pick and a conditional pick in 2014.

Joe will go on the record now and say Chip Kelly will never run the Benn’d around play, which covered the Raheem Morris and Greg Schiano regimes and was an insult to thinking Bucs fans.

Benn’s got talent, but it’s clear the New Schiano Order gave up on him — hard to believe with such a young player.

Joe has suspected Benn never had the mental makeup to a be the guy the Bucs thought they drafted.

Joe wishes Benn well. Obsessed with fashion, Benn can now conveniently shop in Manhattan boutiques on his off days.

Joe has studied the moves of rockstar general manager Mark Dominik for years, and Joe must say that allowing Michael Bennett to walk away to Seattle for relative peanuts doesn’t smell like the call of the GM.

1) Dominik has said repeatedly over the years that his priorities, outside of a franchise quarterback, are protecting the passer and rushing the opposing passer.
2) Dominik also has spoken of the value of a deep defensive line roster in the Tampa heat.
3) Dominik has referenced a core belief that claims the Bucs will re-sign and reward their home-developed talent.
4) Bennett was a Dominik signing in 2009. A hand-picked steal off the scrap heap.
5) Dominik has been around the NFL long enough to know productive, versatile, young defensive ends don’t grow on trees.

It’s all speculation on Joe’s part, but Joe thinks the Bennett loss/debacle wreaks of Greg Schiano’s foot coming down in the bowels of One Buc Palace.

Schiano and Butch Davis and the defensive staff have a right to evaluate and assess players however they wish. Their livelihoods lie in their roster, and they should have a big say in who’s on it. Joe doesn’t quibble with that. That written, Joe doesn’t like the move and Dominik’s history suggests he wasn’t in favor of it, either.

Bennett was successful in Schiano’s system, not on another team — right here in the New Schiano Order defense. That’s gotten lost in a lot of the reporting, and it’s one reason Joe doesn’t think Dominik is behind the Bennett move.

Bennett did what they asked him to do. He stuffed the run like a beast and finished at the top of the league in tackles for loss. He recorded nine sacks, despite heinous cornerbacks behind him. And he rushed inside quite a bit later in the season on passing downs, as DaQuan Bowers got more playing time.

Joe can’t imagine a GM, let alone Dominik, letting Bennett walk given the state of the Bucs’ defensive ends.

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Well, Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik has had a rollercoaster week.

First, he gets stonewalled by the Jets trying to trade for cornerback Darrelle Revis, then he lands stud safety Dashon Goldson, then he sees his subpar pass rush grow weaker when Michael Bennett bolts for Seattle and now the week is ending on a high note for Dominik.

Cornerback Eric Wright’s grievance against the Bucs has been denied by the NFL. The NFL alerted the Bucs this afternoon that Wright’s contract can be voided.

@RCummingsTBO: NFL has indeed informed the Bucs they have won their grievance with Wright. Wright’s 2013 salary no longer guaranteed. As expected.

Wright, a free agent pickup last year by Dominik, had a clause in his contract that it could be voided if he was suspended. Last season, the NFL nailed Wright for popping Adderall and he served a four-game suspension for violating the NFL’s banned substance policy, thus kicking in the option for Dominik to cut him.

But Wright isn’t cut, yet. Given how miserable the Bucs cornerbacks are, given how Dominik has yet to land Revis after much heavy petting with Jets general manager John Ikzik, given how Dominik has either struck out on every free agent cornerback, or has decided to sit in the dugout and watch all the decent corners go elsewhere, the Bucs, as the roster currently stands, do not have the luxury of cutting Wright, even though Bucs fans have been drooling for Wright to get kicked to the curb since the end of the 2012 season.

Wright is a backup plan for Dominik now. If the Bucs cannot upgrade the corner position (God forbid), Dominik, Joe believes, will rework Wright’s contract for a much more team-friendly deal.

He’s still with us, folks.

Joe finds it troubling that the Bucs just let their formerly beastly run-stuffing defensive end, Michael Bennett, leave town for the NFL equivalent of a good lunch at a nice restaurant. And ironically, that all went down while the rival Falcons jacked up their rushing attack signing Steven Jackson.

Michael Turner had fallen off last season and Joe believes Jackson is a massive upgrade. He’s a tougher runner and far more dangerous in the passing game.

Obviously, with Tony Gonzalez in what’s sure to be his final season, the Falcons are going all in to win now.

If the Bucs are pushing to trade for Darrelle Revis, one has to think the Bucs regime believes it can win  right now. Joe wonders whether this Falcons upgrade will put more pressure on the Bucs to get that deal done and, potentially, move to sign Brent Grimes and keep him from returning to the Falcons.

Yes, the Bucs are trying to squeeze superstar Darrelle Revis out of the Jets.

Yes, the Bucs have a contract offer in front of still-effective Ronde Barber, but the Bucs icon apparently stares at it every morning and doesn’t know what to do.

Right now, Bucs rockstar general manager Mark Dominik is gambling. The Bucs’ cornerbacks situation is in shambles and options are drifting away. A pile of corners have been signed during the first three days of free agency.

So who’s left?

Well, Brent Grimes is out there. The Falcons free agent is a stud but is coming off an Achilles tear in September and is 30 years old. Old Antoine Winfield (almost 36) is coming off a strong season with the Vikings. Helmet-wielding, cabbie-slugging, Adderrall-popping, coach-cussing, referee-charging, pistol-friendly, granny-hassling Aqib Talib is still unemployed. There’s also former crushes of Bucs fans, Nnamdi Asomugha and Stanford Routt, plus names like Quintin Jammer, Kyle Arrington, Mike Jenkins and Tracy Porter are floating around.

It’s pretty obvious to Joe that the Bucs aren’t high on Grimes, otherwise he’d be looking for a South Tampa condo right now.

Yeah, the Bucs can easily land a couple of flawed veteran starters and roll with a couple of rookies and Leonard Johnson and Danny Gorrer, but is that going to win the NFC South?

Joe’s confident there’s a plan in the bowels of One Buc Palace. Hopefully, it doesn’t involve Eric Wright.

Screamin’ Stephen A. Smith can be found hollering about the Jets bungling trading cornerback Darrelle Revis to the Bucs in this BSPN video.

One of the few writers who has been on top of the Darrelle Revis saga in Joe’s eyes from Day 1 has been Jason Cole of Yahoo! Sports.

While Cole believes the Jets are under pressure to get rid of Revis before he flies away from the New Jersey Swamplands and goes all free agent in 2014, Cole believes that in the long run, Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik has the most pressure on his shoulders to lock up Revis. Cole explained on the “Booger and Rich Show” heard on WHFS-FM 98.7.

“[It’s an] argument over the first round draft pick basically, the Bucs do not want to give up this year’s first round draft pick. Percy Harvin set the standard.

“Tampa wants to get this done and the Jets want to see if they can get more. Sooner or later this will have to get done because the Jets don’t want to get left out in the cold. Revis’ camp is content to play out this deal and hit the market. Revis’ camp has an awful lot of leverage. There are 15 teams willing to get Revis but not willing to get the deal done (because of the cost of the contract/ransom for the trade).

“As much as I know how much the Glazers like Mark Dominik, if he doesn’t make some headway soon, you would think there will be pressure on him.”

Cole noted Dominik is entering his fifth season as the Bucs general manager without a playoff appearance, and Jets general manager John Idzik is in his sixth week, so Idzik isn’t under the gun as much as perhaps Dominik, Cole suggested.

Also, Cole thinks Revis’ agents will shoot for a $16 million annual contract but may settle for $13-14 million a year.

It is 2:25 a.m. as Joe is typing this post on an otherwise quiet, peaceful time in the small hours of Friday morning. Joe has had but two beers, and has spent the better part of Thursday evening trying to clear his head.

On an under-performing defensive pass rush, sans Gerald McCoy, the Bucs let loose their most effective pass rusher (who was also damned good against the run) over a paltry $5 million despite having over $20 million in Team Glazer currency to play with.

Joe went and saw “Emperor” last night and then watched college hoops trying to understand the rationale of letting your best pass rusher go over relatively minimal cash when that is one a weak trait of your team.

It seems Scott Reynolds can’t figure this move out either. The Pewter Report chieftain took Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik to task for letting Michael Bennett walk away.

Bucs general manager Mark Dominik gave overrated receiver Michael Clayton $6 million in 2009. He caught a career-low 16 passes for 230 yards and one touchdown before being released prior to the 2010 season.

With just over $20 million in salary cap room left in 2013 Dominik couldn’t spare $5 million to keep the team’s best pass rusher?

Dominik also gave running back Derrick Ward, a bum, $5 million in 2009. He rushed for 409 yards and one touchdown, while averaging 3.6 yards, in addition to catching 20 passes for 150 yards and two more scores before being cut after just one season in Tampa Bay. Clayton and Ward were fat-cat players who played football for the paychecks. Bennett, who led the team with a career-best nine sacks in 2012, plays football for the love of the game and it shows in his performance.

Reynolds also noted how cornerback Eric Wright, a team disappointment and a public embarrassment, was paid more than what Bennett received from the Seahawks.

Now Joe has stated before several times he had a hunch that Dominik was going to draft a pass rusher at No. 13. Joe is even more convinced of that now.

If Dominik doesn’t draft a pass rusher, or sign one in the next few days, he’s putting a whole lot of stock in a player (Da’Quan Bowers) who has yet to prove he can stay healthy. Then there’s his gun hassle in New York, which could affect his availability in 2014.

Lest we forget, Adrian Clayborn is coming off major knee surgery. Will he return to 100 percent? Joe doesn’t have a crystal ball.

No, Bennett was no Reggie White. But he was the best the Bucs had at putting heat on the quarterback from the edge. And now he has escaped to Seattle.

As much as Joe lauds Dominik for landing Dashon Goldson, he’s scratching his head over letting Bennett bolt to the Northwest.

“Look, Glazer. I know what I’m doing.”

In a move that absolutely makes Joe want to vomit, Bucs free agent Michael Bennett has signed a one-year, $5 million deal to play defensive end for the Seahawks, per ProFootballTalk.com.

A ONE-YEAR deal for only $5 million!

Joe really doesn’t get the logic of the New Schiano Order and rockstar general manager Mark Dominik here. Bennett was their best defensive end, is in his prime, and was an absolute manbeast against the run. He also logged a stunning amount of playing time and showed his versatility rushing inside at times.

For now, the Bucs will bank on hasn’t-proven-much-yet Da’Quan Bowers and Adrian Clayborn coming off a knee surgery to start.

Jimminy Christmas! The Bucs’ pass rush just got worse.

Joe can’t wait to see what the Bucs have up their sleeves to put a quality rotation of defensive ends on the field.

Joe wrote last week about how Team Glazer used to boast about their streak of not losing a homegrown talent because of money. Either the team had no use for Bennett, or the streak is broken.

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Just when you thought the deal was dead, here we go.

The New York press had all but thrown ice water on the Bucs’ chances of swapping draft picks, players and wives for Jets All Pro cornerback/whiner Darrelle Revis.  And now, with some logical thought, Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com believes the two squads will eventually consummate a deal for Revis.

It just won’t be for a while, La Canfora writes.

The desire to do a deal from both sides is there. Though they have yet to agree on a trade, those talks could easily be stoked at the owners meetings in Arizona next week.

In essence, the entire front offices will be gathered as well as the head coaches and owners. To this point, the money for a new Revis deal is not expected to be a holdup, sources said, and the Jets want to avoid a situation in which they lose Revis for nothing after the 2013 season. The Bucs would love to upgrade their struggling secondary, and the record signing of safety Dashon Goldson is not a hindrance, either, from a budget or cap standpoint.

New York is trying to get a first-round pick as part of the compensation, and the sides could get creative in how they structure the deal, with provisions that would elevate a future draft pick based on Revis’ production.

Of all the smokeblowing about the Bucs and Revis, this is the first thing that actually makes sense to Joe. Of course both teams’ front office staffs will be at the meetings and both can spend time together, for days if need be, to hash out something agreeable for all parties.

So for Bucs fans who came home from work and drop kicked their dog across the back yard after learning Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik hasn’t yet signed a cornerback, go out and have a beer, take a deep breath and enjoy some college hoops.

Your cries for a cornerback just may be granted. Next week. In a big way.

Joe takes no pleasure or joy in typing this. None at all.

Bucs linebacker Quincy Black has been cut because of the nerve damage he suffered last year and it is clear he will be unable to return.

Now Joe knows he has been Black’s harshest critic. Until this past season, Joe just could not understand how Black was re-signed by Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik, or was even on the field.

Black, until 2012, was about as invisible of a linebacker as Joe had ever seen. Good running backs, like the Rams’ Steven Jackson, literally ran rings around him. And Joe literally means “rings.” Ever see a guy run around a light pole? That’s exactly what Jackson did to Black, as did other top running backs.

Joe can only believe Black improved because he finally had a defensive coach who had a friggin’ clue. Black’s play was actually decent, bordering on good. Yes, Joe is serious.

Look, if you are an strongside linebacker on the NFL’s top rush defense, you are doing something right. Joe remembers the depressing body language of Greg Schiano when Black was hurt, and Schiano said Black was finally starting to hit the promise the Bucs always had for him.

No player wants his NFL career to end when it does. Father Time is undefeated. But no player, nor any thoughtful fan, wants to see a guy leave the game under the circumstances under which it appears Black is leaving.

As we learned this week in the Deadspin wiretap of Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik, he has been shopping oft-injured receiver Arrelious Benn.

The move today by the Bucs to sign former Cowboys No. 4 receiver Kevin Ogletree seems to Joe that this reinforces the information in the wiretap.

Ogletree gives the Bucs depth at wide receiver. He may be able to push Tiquan Underwood for the No. 3 receiver slot, but per Brandon George of the Dallas Morning News, don’t hold your breath.

Why Ogletree is likely gone: The Cowboys gave Ogletree a chance to establish himself as their No. 3 receiver the last two seasons and both times he has failed to hold onto the job. By the end of 2012, Dwayne Harris had surpassed Ogletree in terms of production and playing time. Though the Cowboys don’t have much depth at receiver, Ogletree isn’t likely to get a third chance at the No. 3 receivers job and, thus, doesn’t add much value to Dallas’ 2013 53-man roster. Additionally, John Garrett, the Cowboys’ tight ends coach and passing game coordinator, was one of Ogletree’s biggest supporters, and Garrett left this off-season to become Tampa Bay’s receivers coach.

It seems Bucs wide receivers coach John Garrett had a hand in this move. If he was Ogletree’s biggest supporter when he was an assistant with Dallass, well, feel free to do the arithmetic here.

While Bucs fans are grinding their gears watching cornerback after cornerback fly off the market and, with the Bucs staring at a possible return of Eric Wright and Danny Gorrer as starting cornerbacks, those same fans may also be missing another potential Bucs starter slipping away.

There is no question a Michael Bennett return looked grim. He even said himself this week it was looking like a “20 percent” chance of him suiting up for the Bucs next season.

So it is not a shocker to see Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times throw out on Twitter that Bucs fans should “expect” Bennett to ink a pact with the Dolphins.

@NFLSTROUD: Expect DE Michael Bennett to become a Dolphin. The Bucs are committed to going with Bowers and Clayborn. Bennett wants paid as a starter

This does make sense. No team in the NFL is throwing money around like a drunken Monopoly player more than silly Stephen Ross and the Dolphins. Shoot, malcontent wide receiver Mike Wallace is getting $60 million over five years and one could make an argument he isn’t even a top-10 wide receiver.

So if any team is going to overpay Bennett and his agent, South Florida-based oily Drew Rosenhaus, it would be the Dolphins.

If the Dolphins don’t sign Bennett, Joe wouldn’t be shocked if he did re-sign with the Bucs, though Joe has no idea what the odds are. The market for defensive ends is greatly depressed and Bennett, to date, has not closed the door on a return to Tampa Bay.

Bucs coach Greg Schiano has been adamant about competition looking for a better backup for Bucs starting quarterback Josh Freeman. It seems one of those targets to compete with backup Freeman is now signed elsewhere.

Dan Hanzus of NFL.com reports the Bucs lost out on Cassel because Cassel believed he had a better shot at beating out Christian Ponder than Freeman.

Fox Sports Insider and NFL Network contributor Jay Glazer reported Thursday that the Vikings have agreed to terms on a contract with Matt Cassel. NFL.com’s Albert Breer reported, per a source, that Cassel picked the Vikings over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Cassel, who turns 31 in May, has a 29-33 career record as a starter with 82 touchdown, 57 interceptions and a passer rating of 80.4. Cassel spent the past four seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs, who recently replaced him as starter by trading for Alex Smith. Cassel was released earlier Thursday.

This is a smart move by the Vikings, whose lack of depth at QB was laid bare in the NFC wild-card round. Joe Webb struggled mightily in place of an injured Ponder in a loss to the Green Bay Packers.

Joe is not broken up by this. Shoot, Cassel’s turnover ratio made Freeman’s struggles look like he was Tom Brady. Cassel was nothing less than a turnover machine and was benched for Brady Quinn of all people!

David Carr is still there for the taking for Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik.

No lover of snap counts, longtime Bucs right tackle Jeremy Trueblood has moved on. He’ll compete for a starting gig with the Redskins, so reports the Washington Post.

One of the funnier media moments this millennium went down when a Sarasota Herald-Tribune editor tried to secretly blast Trueblood, labeling him “Team Dunderhead,” but it didn’t slip past Joe.

Trueblood will always be remembered for his false starts and general underachievement. His finest move might have been fleecing the Bucs for $4 million last season.

In other ex-Buccaneer movement, Geno Tase-Me-If-You-Can Hayes has signed with the Jaguars. It’s Hayes’ third team in three years. He’s still just 25 years old.

Yes, Bucs fans are banging on that F4 key virtually by the minute wanting information. What’s up with Michael Bennett? What’s up with Brent Grimes?

More importantly, Bucs fans are panting over Jets whiney stud cornerback Darrelle Revis.

As Joe has documented a few times the past couple of days, the Jets are stonewalling the Bucs on a trade proposal that would bring Revis to Tampa Bay.

Trying to gather insider information, Joe’s good friend Justin Pawlowski, of WHFS-FM 98.7, asked NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport today to dish info on the Revis situation.

“The latest is that both sides at the least are discussing it. It is such a complex issue. So many different moving parts. Both sides are open to [a trade] yet, but there may never be a resolution.

“I hear there is another ream interested but I don’t know if there is another team involved. Not a lot of teams can withstand this: Accept star system or a coach who can handle it. Schiano handles it a lot better than most. You have to be comfortable with the injury, have to be able to pay him and give up the draft picks.

“The Bucs are pretty smart. The way they do things are very savvy. The longer they wait, the better it is for the Bucs. If the Bucs trade for Revis today I won’t be surprised and if the Bucs don’t trade for Revis today I won’t be surprised.”

Rapoport later noted free agent cornerback Sean Smith is still available and a signing of Smith by any team “could happen today but I’m not sure where.”

As Joe has stated many times already, coughing up the No. 13 pick for an expensive diva who may not return 100 from his ACL injury is just too much to ask.

Joe is on top of all things Rays on JoeRaysFan.com, aka RaysIndex.com. Call it what you want, but you should be there daily.

Opening day is in a mere 19 days!!!