The famous $9.95 roundtrip chauffeured luxury bus to Tropicana Field is back for its third season!

Get your seat on the No Excuses Tour chauffeured luxury bus to Tropicana Field, courtesy of Paradise Worldwide Transportation, Lee Roy Selmon’s and Joe, departing from Selmon’s locations in Carrollwood and near International Plaza.

You get to ride in style — with beer and food in hand — and get dropped off right at the gate!!

Click on through to buy a seat and get all the details at NoExcusesTour.com.

Don’t flush your gas and parking money down the toilet. More 900 fans have enjoyed the Tour. Get on board! Check out the BayNews9 video on the tour below.

It seems cornerback Darrelle Revis is of the mind that the Jets, his current employer, are not about to get a deal done that sends him to the Bucs.

NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport appeared on NFL Network this evening and spoke to someone who has first-hand access to Revis. Per Rapoport’s contact, Revis doesn’t think the Jets and the Bucs can finish a deal, as the two teams have come to a stalemate in the trade talks.

While Revis, per Rapoport, believes the Bucs will pay him well and Revis believes his best chance of hitting a payday is with a trade to the Bucs, Rapoport claims the Jets are insist on getting the Bucs’ No. 13 pick in this month’s draft. He also claims Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik has his heels dug in and he will not give up that pick.

What does Joe think? Bravo, Dominik, bravo. You have all the leverage Mr. Dominik. Don’t cave.

Joe always giggles when he hears SEC types embrace Missouri, a horrible football program, as one of their own. Joe remembers hearing a caller to Paul Finebaum last year rightly roast SEC commissioner Mike Slive for letting the back gate open to invite Missouri because, the caller said, “They are Big Ten rejects.”

It’s true. A few years ago when the Big Ten expanded, Missouri put on a full court press begging Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany to be invited. Instead, Delany selected Nebraska.

Neither the Big Ten nor the SEC impressed Missouri defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson. Before Missouri’s SEC debut against Georgia, Richardson had this to say, per CBSSports.com:

With his team’s hotly anticipated SEC debut against Georgia on deck for this Saturday, Richardson was asked by the Columbia Daily Tribune if he’d watched the Bulldogs’ ho-hum 45-23 win over Buffalo.

“I watched that game. I turned it off, too,” Richardson said. “It’s* like watching Big Ten football. It’s old-man football.”

Richardson, like a wise young man, learned the error of his ways. It was that “old-man football” in the SEC that transformed him into one of the top defensive tackles in the draft.

“Handing the ball off. ‘Old-man football,’ that got taken out of proportion,” Richardson told Joe and other reporters at the NFL Scouting Combine. “You know, I told (Georgia) Coach (Mark) Richt how he had a great team and I didn’t mean any disrespect, after that game. I respected his team, they had a great season.

“But when I said ‘old-man football’ I meant ‘old school football.’ It was just a joke. It is what it is. I’m a jokester to this day. So hopefully they’re laughing about it. It was a good game between us and Georgia.”

Playing in the SEC “motivated me a lot. Jumping into the SEC brought a whole lot of offensive competition, which I was ready for. And I wanted to prove that I was ready for it. I liked it. Loved it.”

Richardson is a soon-to-be stud and the Bucs just may want to upgrade at defensive tackle in the first round. Mike Mayock has Richardson listed as his No. 2 defensive tackle.

Playing against star Alabama tackle D.J. Fluker, Richardson had a field day racking up 14 tackles and a sack.

A redshirt junior, Richardson totalled 75 tackles — in the conference that plays “old-man football.”

Now Joe isn’t sure whether the Bucs would pick Richardson at No. 13, but if Bucs rock star genreal manager really wants a good, solid one-two punch with Gerald McCoy, Richardson just might be the man.

A very intriguing take was floated on Jets-Bucs-Revis negotiations during a NFC South live chat today on BSPN.com. A fan wrote that the Bucs should deal their 13th overall draft pick later this month to ensure the team is ready for a potential new general manager and franchise quarterback in 2013.

It seems this fan is in now-or-never mode when it comes to rockstar general manager Mark Dominik and No. 5.

Cassidy (Tampa) – I say give up THIS years number 1 pick for Revis and put Freeman and Dominik’s jobs on the line with results. We can’t have no first round pick and no QB next year IF Freeman is up and down and Dominik can’t assemble a playoff team.

Pat Yasinskas — Valid argument.

The crop of rookie quarterbacks is supposed to be significantly better in 2014, so the logic presented is rather sound. If Freeman is inconsistent this season and the Bucs, say, finish 7-9 again, then the Bucs would want a first-round pick next year to help bag a new franchise quarterback. It’s reasonable, as well, to think Dominik could be looking for work if the Bucs check in with a losing record come January.

However, the Bucs have no backup quarterback now and appear to be positioning themselves to draft a QB in the second, third or fourth rounds later this month. Perhaps that’s because the Bucs are, in fact, planning to move the 2014 first-round pick to the Jets and want to give Greg Schiano a chance to pick Freeman’s potential replacement immediately, rather than be handcuffed by a second-tier rookie QB in 2014.

If Joe were Schiano, he’d prefer to take a young QB now.

It’s obvious that Greg Schiano and rockstar general manager Mark Dominik get some sort of bizarre comfort from having Eric Wright on the roster, kind of like Joe knowing a pudgy-yet-cute babe is easily accessible during the wee hours of a Saturday morning.

Nobody can convince Joe that Wright is reliable, durable, fast, hard-hitting or irreplaceable. Joe will give Wright versatile and overpaid. That’s about it. But the New Schiano Order seemingly wants to keep Wright around and get him to remain a Buccaneer at a reduced price — way under the $7.75 million due him in 2013.

One would think the Bucs hold all the cards on Wright, since they could cut him just before the season starts and only have had to pay him 2013 workout and attendance bonuses, and miniscule cash for preseason games. So it’s easy to assume Wright might jump at a chance to take a restructured contract from the Bucs. However, various media reported Wright was in Tampa this week to meet with the Bucs brass but left without a new contract.

That got Joe thinking of Wright’s interview on the former 1010AM with JP Peterson, shortly after Wright signed with the Bucs a year ago.

Peterson asked Wright about what he would do with his new giant payday, and Wright laughed and said he and his wife are very conservative with their money and would put the cash in the bank and live off interest. Wright said he had nothing to purchase. Jumping ahead a year, in a recent blog post, Wright explained that his offseason has just been about hanging out with his wife and living a simple life waiting for their first child’s birth.

So this got Joe thinking that Wright is hardly desperate to make a deal with the Bucs at a reduced price. He’s not hurting for cash after banking $5 million or so last year (after suspension), and six NFL seasons.

The longer Wright waits, the more desperate the Bucs might become to restructure his contract in a way that benefits Wright, or, if Wright won’t restructure and forces the Bucs to cut him or trade him, then he’s got to know there are strong odds he’ll find work with a team that lost a cornerback to a preseason injury and/or is flat out desperate.

After all, the Bucs seemingly have scouted Wright to be a top cornerback, given the fact they passed on every free agent CB to date and paid Wright a king’s ransom in 2012. Perhaps, Wright, believes he’s a valuable commodity, as well.

The famous $9.95 roundtrip chauffeured luxury bus to Tropicana Field is back for its third season!

Get your seat on the No Excuses Tour chauffeured luxury bus to Tropicana Field, courtesy of Paradise Worldwide Transportation, Lee Roy Selmon’s and Joe, departing from Selmon’s locations in Carrollwood and near International Plaza.

You get to ride in style — with beer and food in hand — and get dropped off right at the gate!!

Click on through to buy a seat and get all the details at NoExcusesTour.com.

Don’t flush your gas and parking money down the toilet. More 900 fans have enjoyed the Tour. Get on board! Check out the BayNews9 video on the tour below.

Showing video from a team’s locker room, without audio, may be as boring and lame as the TV poker dweebs. At least golf has something moving and the manicured courses are pleasing to the eyes.

Only fans wearing blinders believe the Bucs are the lone team with difficulty selling out games. It’s a leaguewide issue that has been around for the past couple of years.

Joe was stunned to learn after the 2012 season that the mighty Pittsburgh Steelers, in the heart of football country with one of the largest fanbases in the nation, a supremely loyal mass of partisans, posted the worst attendance for home games in the Steel City in over a decade.

That right there reinforced Joe’s notion that attendance isn’t going to get better any time soon, surely not while this sluggish economy is stuck in park.

NFL warden commissioner Roger Goodell has spoken about how the at-home product is now the preferred method for watching NFL games. Going to games as a fan, as Joe has also done in the recent past, is clearly a better and cheaper choice to stay at home.

Now Goodell is pushing owners of NFL teams to make the in-stadium experience better, and Joe hearitly encourages these efforts. A recent mandate for NFL teams to improve WiFi at stadiums so fans can monitor NFL Sunday Ticket and their fantasy teams was not just a great idea, but overdue.

Earlier this week, the NFL ordered that video from the home team’s locker room at halftime, without audio, be piped in to stadium JumboTrons.

Is this what fans are truly clamoring for?

While Joe appreciates the NFL trying to be creative and give fans better access, Joe cannot think of a more boring thing. So fans are going to buy tickets, in part, so they can see the team sit at their locker stalls, still swearing like banshees. Remember, there is no audio and surely coaches won’t allow anything like diagrams of coverages or plays to be sent out on the JumboTron.

This is about as compelling as watching the poker dorks on TV who wear sunglasses. A test pattern is more visually appealing (if not enlightening).

Locker room video will be no different than seeing a defense sit on the bench after coming off the field.

Joe has a novel concept: Rather than halftime video of the team in the locker room, how about mandatory replays of all plays, each and every play? That’s one of the main sticking points why fans stay home and watch games on their giant HDTV screens: replays. Often, fans can see more at home.

The Bucs have invested in a monster replay board. Use it, and not just for corporate sponsored ads.

Joe hears all the time how fans stay home, many times because of so few replays on the JumboTron. Joe has yet to hear anyone say they are staying home to watch football because they can’t get a peep show from the locker room at halftime.

It’s a nice effort, Mr. Goodell, but misguided. More replays, mandatory replays, less locker room peep shows, um-kay?

Surely the Bucs are not considering pulling Vince Young out of mothballs after turning loose Dan Orlovsky yesterday, are they?

Joe is just about convinced either the Bucs will draft a quarterback no earlier than the second day of the draft (in three weeks) or are about to pull a trigger on a trade for a quarterback.

Yes, Josh Freeman is the starting quarterback, let’s get that out of the way right now, at least for the time being. How many times have we heard about the Bucs wanting competition at quarterback, even though Bucs coach Greg Schiano knighted Freeman as the starter at the NFL Combine?

So if competition is important to the Bucs, then take a look at these Canton QB candidates still available on the streets, courtesy of Rotoworld.com.

Byron Leftwich
Brady Quinn
Vince Young
Matt Leinart
Charlie Batch
Kellen Clemens
Tyler Thigpen
Caleb Hanie
Sage Rosenfels
Seneca Wallace
A.J. Feeley
Troy Smith
Chris Redman
John Beck
J.P. Losman

Excited?

Now why is Joe ceratain the Bucs will trade for or draft a quarterback? Consider there were some OK quarterbacks out there that Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik could have signed to give Freeman a push to be excellent. Matt Moore was available. So too was David Carr, and Ryan Fitzpatrick, as well as Matt Hasselbeck. No more. Each has a new team.

Surely the Bucs wouldn’t think of dragging Vince Young, who enjoys running around nightclubs topless, out of unemployment? So if the Bucs were truly serious about competition at quarterback, does anyone believe there’s a QB in that list above believe that could push Freeman anywhere but to the chow line at One Buc Palace?

Joe was of the mind, and has told people in social settings, that if Freeman struggled this year, the Bucs likely would draft  Alabama quarterback A.J. McCarron in the second round of 2014.

Maybe the Bucs have moved up such plans, albeit sans McCarron?

When the Bucs signed former Rutgers icon Brian Leonard this week, Joe figured D.J. Ware was the guy in trouble. But given Leonard’s versatility at running back/fullback, there was at least a shot that the New Schiano Order was preparing to dump its talented backup RB, LeGarrette Blount.

However, Blount is still a Buccaneer Man, and Ware is walking the streets.

Joe is pleased.

Blount remains a holstered, loaded weapon (or at least zipped up in airport luggage), and there’s really no reason for the Bucs to ditch the depth he provides. Sure, if a third- or fourth-round pick is served up to rockstar general manager Mark Dominik for Blount, then the Bucs must make that deal, considering they’ll never re-sign Blount when he hits unrestricted free agency after the 2013 season. But there’s no way that happens. Running backs, outside of a select few, don’t carry that kind of value.

Joe would prefer to see the Bucs’ offensive braintrust figure out ways to incorporate Blount and play to his strengths. After all, if the Bucs make a win-now move for Darrelle Revis, then Blount’s final year in pewter is one in which he should be maximized.

The D.J. Ware Era with the Bucs is largely forgettable by Joe because, well, can you think of a significant play he made?

Actually for Joe, the most memorable thing Ware did was something that Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman didn’t do, and that was throw the ball away.

Joe can’t even remember the opponent, it may have been New Orleans or Atlanta but it was a home game, and Freeman was back to pass and had time to throw. Freeman looked for his first option, looked for his second option and then his third before he checked down to Ware.

Problem was, Ware was covered like stink on feces by a linebacker, as Ware was a good four yards behind the line of scrimmage blocking for Freeman.

Instead of Freeman just tossing the ball away and/or throwing at Ware’s feet, Freeman throws right to Ware (who was equally to blame for catching the ball). Ware grabbed Freeman’s desperate pass and was immediately hauled to the ground for a four-yard loss.

Joe, watching this with his binoculars was aghast and silently asked, ‘What are you doing?’

Despite every crazy throw Freeman makes that has your jaw drop because it is so good, there are aforementioned plays Freeman creates that makes Bucs fans pull their hair out at night.

And sadly, it is a Freeman hiccup by which Joe will remember Ware.

When Bucs coach Greg Schiano said he wanted competition for quarterback Josh Freeman, it appeared he didn’t mean for that competition to come from journeyman Dan Orlovsky.

So that may be why Orlovsky, who threw a grand total of seven passes as Freeman’s backup last season, is now looking for work, so Twittered plugged-in NFL scribe Adam Caplan.

Orlovsky’s days with the Bucs were forgettable; Joe didn’t remember him throwing a pass until he looked it up.

Orlovsky will be best remembered by running out of the end zone when playing for the Lions, unknowingly, for a safety, in what is known as one of the biggest bonehead plays in NFL history.

The NFL just released preseason schedules for all teams, including the Bucs. Below are the Bucs’ opponents for the 2013 preseason.

Week 1: Baltimore Ravens
Week 2: Saturday, Aug. 16 at New England Patriots (FOX)
Week 3: at Miami Dolphins
Week 4: Washington Redskins

The NFL determines the window in which each week’s preseason game can be played.

Week 1: Aug. 8-11
Week 3: Aug. 22-25
Week 4: Aug. 29-30

Joe’s pleased to see that the most telling preseason games — Weeks 2 & 3 — are on the road and not subject to a local blackout.

The famous $9.95 roundtrip chauffeured luxury bus to Tropicana Field is back for its third season!

Get your seat on the No Excuses Tour chauffeured luxury bus to Tropicana Field, courtesy of Paradise Worldwide Transportation, Lee Roy Selmon’s and Joe, departing from Selmon’s locations in Carrollwood and near International Plaza.

You get to ride in style — with beer and food in hand — and get dropped off right at the gate!!

Click on through to buy a seat and get all the details at NoExcusesTour.com.

Don’t flush your gas and parking money down the toilet. More 900 fans have enjoyed the Tour. Get on board! Check out the BayNews9 video on the tour below.

One great mystery surrounding the Bucs’ 2013 draft plans is how a Darrelle Revis deal/no-deal factors in.

Yeah, one could say the Bucs will draft the best player available and/or they have so many needs on defense Revis won’t affect the draft, but that’s all dream-world talk. There’s no way the Bucs won’t be influenced by the state of the Revis union/non-union come three weeks from today at the NFL Draft.

Renowned Sirius NFL Radio host Pat Kirwan, who also coached Jets linebackers with Monte Kiffin and now works for CBSSports.com, believes he has the Bucs’ draft figured out in his latest mock draft for CBS. Kirwan says the New Schiano Order will stay focused on the trenches in the first round.

12. Miami Dolphins: Xavier Rhodes, CB, Florida State: Rhodes has a rare combination of height, long arms and skills to cover. Sean Smith is gone in Miami and Rhodes is a solid replacement.

13. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Ezekiel Ansah, DE, Brigham Young: The Bucs will think long and hard about a corner like Trufant and Rhodes if he was still on the board. Bucs head coach Greg Schiano watched the New York Giants closely when he was the head coach of Rutgers and he knows a defensive end with Ansah’s skills is always a solid pick. You can never have enough pass rushers in the NFL.

14. Carolina Panthers: Star Lotulelei, DT, Utah: The Panthers need to shore up the inside of their defensive line. Lotulelei is versatile and can play either nose or 3 tech. He has quickness to penetrate, and a burst to pursue.

Might the Bucs draft another DE with a premium draft pick, after snagging DaQuan Bowers and Adrian Clayborn just two years ago?

Joe would hardly be surprised, as Joe’s written previously. But the absence of any new cornerbacks bodies in free agency makes that less and likely by the hour.

As for Kirwan’s breakdown, in this scenario, Joe would prefer to see the Bucs bag Lotulelei, who might do more for the pass rush than John Abraham Ansah.

Intrigue is developing at One Buc Palace and it’s about Bucs fans favorite subject the past few weeks: cornerbacks.

Largely considered the top cornerback in the draft, Alabama’s Dee Milliner, had an extended long visit at One Buc Palace, notes Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune by way of Ian Rappoport of NFL.com.

Milliner was scheduled to arrive at One Buc Palace on Wednesday evening and extended his visit through today, which is in an interesting development.

The Bucs are obviously in need of cornerback help, especially after passing on them so far in free agency, and this could be an indication they are willing to move up to get one – namely Milliner.

Of course, moving into range to get Milliner could require quite a leap. It may even require getting into the top five, because Cleveland, which picks sixth overall, is believed to be after cornerback help as well.

Now this could be viewed in several ways. It is highly unlikely, barring some unforeseen red flag only NFL teams know about that would allow Milliner to slip past Detroit, among other cornerback-needy teams. So on face value this sure smells like a smokescreen.

With the draft loaded through the first three rounds at cornerback, why would Bucs rock star general manager trade up for a corner when he likely could get just as good of a corner, such as Desmond Trufant or Xavier Rhodes?

More likely, as Dominik likes to say, it may just be the Bucs doing their due diligence just in case something crazy happens and Milliner falls.

It’s time for another amazing, hot concert ticket giveaway from Joe’s good friends at Ed Morse Cadillac Tampa, 101 East Fletcher Avenue in Tampa.

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Check it out here, the April 20 concert at the Tampa Bay Times Forum is all but sold out.

So get to Ed Morse Cadillac Tampa on Saturday for your chance to win!

Will Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik target Utah DT Star Lotulelei at No. 13 if the Bucs land Darrelle Revis?

Yes, cornerbacks, or a lack of them, is all the rage with Bucs fans. Joe gets this because he reads the angry comments each day.

If Bucs fans are not pining for Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis, they are up in arms because troubled Eric Wright remains on the Bucs roster, or they’re cursing at their favorite bartender because the Bucs haven’t signed a corner yet, any corner, even a mummy, just so they can rest easier at night.

Well, when Revis comes, says “The Professor,” John Clayton of BSPN, the Bucs will get more help than just an All-Pro corner.

Clayton is convinced the Bucs will draft a defensive lineman at No. 13.

Q: I have a Tampa Bay question. I’ve been a fan ever since the late John McKay era. What is your gut feeling about Darrelle Revis to the Bucs? Do you think if Tampa doesn’t get Revis it would drop down to get DE Margus Hunt from SMU in the lower part of Round 1? The Bucs spent a long time interviewing him, and if they pick up another second-rounder do you think they would pick two CBs in Round 2 and another DL in Round 3?

George in Alba, Texas

A: I think they will end up getting Revis before the draft. They are the most logical team. They could trade a No. 1 pick and a mid-round pick to get him. They have the cap room to handle a new contract for Revis. It’s a great fit. The Bucs also need help along the defensive line. By keeping the first-round pick this year, the Bucs can get some help at either tackle or defensive end. I’m not sold a trade-down is the answer. Draft the best player possible.

This is interesting, but Joe doesn’t totally agree.

Even with Revis, Joe sees Dominik drafting a corner in the first round, though a defensive lineman at No. 13 wouldn’t knock Joe backwards.

The Bucs’ defensive line is razor thin thanks to the departure of Michael Bennett and Roy Miller, and banking of Da’Quan Bowers to be fully healthy this season and Adrian Clayborn recovering 100 percent from knee surgery is a gamble.

This “Draft War Room” segment from NFL Network is pretty compelling stuff.

A case is made that the Bucs should deal for Darrelle Revis, insist on keeping their 2013 first-round pick, and then select Florida State stud corner Xavier Rhodes to play opposite Revis. (It’s somewhat humorous hearing that discussion as NFL Network cameras focus on Leonard Johnson and Myron Lewis on the Bucs’ depth chart.)

Charles Davis, of NFL Network, also plays out a scenario that has the Bucs drafting pass-rushing defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson in the first round, who recently was featured on JoeBucsFanTV, and then drafting Boise State cornerback Jamar Taylor in the second round to play with Revis.

Imagine all that and Ronde Barber returning.

Be one of the first 5 people to like Festa Italiana sponsor Brandon AutoMall Fiat on Facebook and post on their Facebook page to receive a pair of free tickets to attend this wonderful event! Act now!

Sunday is the 16th annual Festa Italiana main event of the four-day celebration, in which a true taste of Italy arrives in historic Ybor City.

Taste the finest cuisine from over 30 of the Tampa Bay area’s best restaurants and caterers. Enjoy the premier entertainment on the main stage featuring some of the world’s top headliners. Experience the excitement from the Grape Stomping presentation, cooking demonstrations and contests. Festa’s Kidz Zone offers Italian costumed characters, children’s activities, amusement rides, magic shows, face painting and much more.