The Bucs class of '99 had its moments but still scores a grade of D

Booger McFarland, Martin Gramatica, the good Dexter Jackson and Shaun King were all scored by the Bucs in the 1999 draft.

These guys made significant contributions, right?

Well, Justin Pawlowski, host of The Blitz on 620 WDAE-AM, The Sports Animal, gives the Bucs a grade of D for the ’99 draft in his weekly Draft Rewind series. Joe thinks that’s a little harsh (C- perhaps)  but Pawlowski makes sound arguments based on a formula.

Check out Pawlowski’s Draft Rewind. 

And remember he’ll be providing super-deep analysis of the 2009 draft exclusively on JoeBucsFan.com beginning Feb. 28.

Donald Penn is close to hitting Lotto with the Bucs. Chalk him up as a great score of the Chucky-Alllen-Bill Muir era

The Chucky-Bruce Almighty era sure got lucky with players who emerged from the shadows of the Bucs roster and practice squad. 

Sure, the Dynamic Duo get credit for signing these guys, but only fate put them in the spotlight.

Joe puts Donald Penn on top of that list, with Earnest Graham and Clifton Smith close behind.

In 2007, Penn had zero experience when he made the team as a reserve left tackle behind Luke Pettigout, who was one of the Bucs’ significant free agent signings that year and was coming off an injury-plagued season with the Giants.

Predictably, Pettigout goes down in Week 4, and Penn performed like a veteran. He did it a gain in 2008, and now the restricted free agent wants his just payday. He’s come a long way since being undrafted out of Utah State.

The Bucs and Penn, now a restricted free agent, are near a deal, reports the St. Pete Times.

“Film doesn’t lie,” Penn said. “I think I deserve it. I want to make sure my family is financially secure. . .  I’ve been the lowest-paid starting left tackle for two years and you want to be compensated.”

Joe knows it’s not exactly invigorating to re-sign an above-average,  undrafted O-lineman. But this is a very necessary move for the Bucs. Plus now Penn can afford to hang at swanky places other than the IHOP kitchen.

Joe’s hoping Jermaine Phillips and Antonio Bryant also get deals done soon.

By STEVEN ISBITTS

Isbitts is one of the Joes at JoeBucsFan.com. He has written for many publications and spent 6  1/2 years writing for The Tampa Tribune in the sports and news departments.

It sure seems that Chris Harry of the Orlando Sentinel and Ira Kaufman of the Tampa Tribune made a friend for life in Jon Gruden. Their extra gentle exit interview of Chucky likely set him up to be a source of theirs for years to come.

Sports beat writers must consistently ask the tough questions of players, coaches and front office staff for the benefit of readers.

That’s what the job is all about.

At the same time they still have to play nice and maintain sources within the organization they cover.

It’s not easy. You don’t last long in the business as the reporter nobody will talk to.

That brings us to the rare “joint” interview of fired Bucs coach Jon Gruden last week by Tampa Tribune NFL writer Ira Kaufman and Orlando Sentinel Bucs beat writer Chris Harry, two longtime veterans of their newspapers. Stories from the interview were published this past weekend.

After reading their similar stories, thousands of Bucs fans let out a collective, “Huh?”

There were no red-meat questions of Gruden that had fans at the edge of their seats, even if the answer from Chucky was, “No comment.”

All the tough questions Bucs fans would have wanted asked were missing, it seemed, specifically the ones about personnel decisions over the past seven years, among other topics.

Harry’s story in the Sentinel was in a Q & A format, which gave a clear view of the line of questioning. These were the eight interview questions of Gruden published in the Sentinel.

Q, Right now, it looks like you’re going to take a year off

Q. People are going to think you want a college job

Q. The spread is being run high schools and colleges, is it possible it could be a base offense in the NFL one day?

Q. Most people are dismissing Tebow as a quarterback in the NFL

Q. How’d you come to terms with being fired for the first time in your life?

Q. What about the jabs taken at you? DId the comments by guys like Jeff Garcia, Michael Clayton and Simeon Rice hurt?

Q. How would you sum up the last seven years?

Q. Will you pull for the Bucs now?

One look at these questions and it sure seems that Harry and Kaufman were more concerned with keeping Gruden as a future source than providing compelling stuff for the Bucs fans who read their work.

If that’s the case, it’s unforgivable. Gruden is not a Bucs coach anymore. He should have been grilled quite a bit more. At least one question should have made him squirm or challenged his spin-spewing skills.

Thinking this interview was censored in some way by Gruden — meaning he made topics off-limits — I asked Ira Kaufman to explain the ground rules of the interview, if any, established by Chucky.

Kaufman responded with the following in an e-mail today: “Gruden set aside some time of our visit that was on-the-record and he did not designate any subjects that were off limits for that time period.”

JoeBucsFan.com readers can decide if Harry and Kaufman went softball on Chucky.

Kaufman and Harry deserve major kudos for landing the Gruden interview. But the take here is that the fans deserved a lot better.

There's a reason why this asswipe can't get a job outside of Alabama.

Before Joe really goes off on his rant (sit down and take a deep breath because it will be good) he wants to make one thing perfectly clear:

Joe has nothing against the good people of Alabama.

Now that this is out of the way, buckle up:

Sometimes when a big fish in a small pond gets stagnant in his little cove of the fishing hole, his head grows just slightly larger than its proportion. This, in a nut shell, describes the mental patient on the loose walking the streets of Birmingham that is Paul Finebaum.

Let’s face it: If Finebaum, a radio personality and amateur columnist masquerading as a journalist for a paper in Mobile, was worth two bits he would have graduated to bigger and better things than polluting the public’s airwaves in Alabama. His recent missive, which indirectly is written about two former Bucs coaches, is Exhibit-A.

(Joe is embarrassed to even link to this nonsense, but fears a lawsuit from some unemployed public defender in Montgomery if he doesn’t.)

Finebaum is a disgrace to anyone who holds a journalism degree from an unaccredited college. In simple terms, his cue ball mugshot is found next to the word “hack” in Merriam-Webster’s dictionary (Eleventh Edition). In short, six of nine of his columns basically center around the same theme: Fire (insert coach).

Fire Mike Price… Fire Mark Gottfried… Fire Mike Shula… Fire Tommy Tuberville…

His latest asinine column states emphatically that the University of Tennessee should fire Lane Kiffin after not quite three months into a six-year contract that, if Kiffin is fired before the completion of the contact, the school (read: Tennessee taxpayers and university boosters) would owe him a reported $7.5 million.

Kiffin hasn’t even presided over his first spring practice and this empty head Finebaum thinks the taxpayers of Tennessee should cough up $7.5 million to can him. Maybe Finebaum thinks this buyout money will come from Obama’s stimulus package?

But wait, this gets much, much better (or sadder, depending on your point of view).

Sure, getting rid of Kiffin now would be unprecedented and expensive. However, I’m sure even Tennessee fans with a working brain would admit his career is DOA. Besides, Alabama dumped Mike Price in 2003 before he ever coached a game. But Price’s much-publicized encounter in Pensacola now seems tame compared to what “Lame” has done.

Background: Mike Price was canned by the University of Alabama as the school’s football coach just days after he was hired because he ran up a food/bar/hooker tab on a university credit card. What made the incident worse is that Price did this with a Pensacola call girl. Can you imagine?

So Lane Kiffin, who has been a bit outspoken as the Volunteers coach — nothing even remotely as bad as the smack Steve Spurrier used to spout — is a crime worse than a high-profile state employee using state money for hookers and booze?

Joe can’t consume enough Jameson to figure out just what twisted logic Finebaum is using there.

Here comes the kicker though:

Mike Hamilton, the embattled UT athletic director, should call him in, thank him for three months of (dis)service, hand him a blank check and direct him toward the door while gently placing a pacifier in his big mouth.

Later the same day, the school should formally introduce Jon Gruden as his replacement.

BUHAHAHAHAHA!!!

So let Joe get this straight: In Finebaum’s demented mind the Vols should fire a guy who talks a little bit — which, Joe might add the recruits LOVE — and hire a guy who hasn’t coached at any level of college above a grad assistant? Really!

Tennessee has another nationally respected figure in Bruce Pearl as well.

I suggest Finebaum do a cursory Google search on the name “Deon Thomas.” Joe never knew someone could break federal wiretapping laws and be considered “respected.” Respected by who, G. Gordon Liddy or Sandy Berger?

Gruden would be the perfect replacement. He is available and anxious, having just shockingly lost his job with the Tampa Bay Bucs.

Shocking to who? Someone who doesn’t have a clue to what they are writing about perhaps?

“His résumé is spectacular… “

So being two games over .500 in Chucky’s seven years in Tampa Bay is “spectacular?” So a record of 45-51 since Chucky’s first year is “spectacular?” So being tied for first in the NFC South with four games left and then missing the playoffs with four straight losses is “spectacular?” In what world? Shouldn’t someone pretending to be a columnist have just a slightly better grasp of vocabulary than a second grade student?

Besides, if UT delays, Gruden will get snapped up by Notre Dame…

And if Joe doesn’t delay, he’ll get snapped up by Jessica Alba. Hate to break this to Finebaum, but Notre Dame ain’t biting.

Let’s not forget that one of the Alabama coaches Finebaum led the charge for in running out of Tuscaloosa, Mike Shula, was better at developing quarterbacks than Chucky. How sad is that?

Gruden also has solid Tennessee connections, having been a graduate assistant for two years under John Majors. His wife, Cindy, was a UT cheerleader.

OK, by this twisted, narcotic-induced logic, if Joe somehow dropped the hammer on Jenn Sterger or Tiffany Simons, that means Joe would be in line to succeed Bobby Bowden? Or if Joe somehow hooked up with Jenn Brown that Joe would be working for Urban Meyer?

(Please forgive Joe for a brief moment of lustful fantasies.)

[Gruden] was also reportedly Tennessee’s top choice but showed no interest, believing his future was safe in Tampa where Kiffin’s father, Monte, was his defensive coordinator.

Hey Finebaum, you got a source on that or are you just throwing feces against the wall like you normally do? Not even an “A Tennessee insider told me… ?“

Oh, Joe might add that Bruce Almighty admitted that Monte Kiffin had told the Bucs hierarchy before the season he was leaving. And why exactly would Chucky leave a gig in his hometown for $5 million a year to take a job making roughly half that?

Another provoking thought: How did Chucky’s offense work at the college level with Bill Callahan at Nebraska? Anyone? Bueller?

Look, Joe quit reading Finebaum years ago because the guy was clueless to what he was writing about. Joe suggests any reasoned, sane, literate football fan do the same.

Anyone who writes such moronic, unsourced, ill-researched tripe shouldn’t have his scalp that screams for Rogaine gracing anything above a neighborhood weekly grocery rag much less be credentialed to cover any sporting event above a preseason Little League game in Dothan, Ala.

And people wonder why newspapers are in trouble?

In short, Finebaum’s screed may be the most irresponsible column Joe has ever read.

Joe hopes The Dream can point the Bucs in the right direction. It won't be easy.

Former Bucs beat writer and current SI.com columnist Don Banks isn’t exactly jumping for joy over the Bucs hiring Raheem The Dream. Banks recently wrote a column on how he thinks each of the NFL’s 11 new coaches will fare in 2009.

Let’s just say Banks isn’t sold on The Dream. Like “The Pessimist,” Banks thinks the comparisons of The Dream to former Bucs defensive backs coach and Super Bowl-winning coach Mike Tomlin is a stretch.

And while it has been oft-mentioned that the 32-year-old Morris conjures up comparisons to Super Bowl-winning Pittsburgh head coach Mike Tomlin, there are more than a few areas in which the similarities break down.

For starters, Tomlin took over a perennial winner with a proven personnel department, one of the finest defensive assistants in NFL history in coordinator Dick LeBeau, a young and talented Super Bowl-winning quarterback in Ben Roethlisberger, and one of the most respected and successful ownership families in the Rooneys. Add in the loyal and absolutely rabid fan base of the Steelers and you have a tremendous head start on winning.

Suffice to say Morris doesn’t have quite that combination going for him. In fact, some league sources I talked to this week describe the Bucs as being in disarray at the moment, and wonder if Morris has been given much of a chance to succeed with a team that’s getting old defensively. “The problems there [in Tampa Bay] run deeper than people understand,” said one league source. “I almost feel sorry for Morris, because he’s going to be under a tremendous amount of pressure in making that transition to head coach. It won’t be easy.”

Joe wholeheartedly agrees with “The Pessimist” and Banks in that comparing The Dream to Tomlin borders on outrageous. Look, Joe is totally in The Dream’s corner and like any Bucs fan hopes he does well. Joe hopes the gamble the Glazer Boys took on The Dream pays off.

Jeff Garcia is thinking he likely signed his last autograph in a Bucs uniform

Monday’s Luke McCown signing has Jeff Garcia questioning the likelihood of his return to the Bucs, reports Roy Cummings of the Tampa Tribune.

“It looks like they have decided to go in another direction with the signing of Luke,” Garcia said. “I’m happy for him and his family. He has worked hard and is a talented player.”

Garcia, who led the Bucs to the playoffs two years ago and was their starter in six of their nine victories last season, is slated to become a free agent at the end of the month.

Bucs general manager Mark Dominik said the Bucs are still talking with the agents for all the players slated to become unrestricted free agents but Garcia doesn’t seem confident about a return.

“We’ll see what happens in the next couple of weeks but it seems very unlikely that I will get an offer,” said Garcia, who will turn 39 before the free-agency signing period begins.

Joe has built a relationship with Garcia’s agent, San Francisco-based Steve Baker. But there is no news on that front.

Garcia is rightfully dejected. But he’s not yet out of the picture.

Steve Silverman of NBCSports.com doesn't think -- provided he is still with the Bucs -- that wide receiver Antonio Bryant's catches will lead to very many wins in 2009.

Granted, it’s still February, but Steve Silverman of NBCSports.com predicts the Bucs on are the decline and will have a subpar season in 2009, missing the playoffs.

Offseason issues: The Bucs lost their last four games and a certain spot in the playoffs went up in smoke. The good news is that divisive coach Jon Gruden is gone and the sense of relief the players feel should make new coach Raheem Morris feel quite comfortable. The defense is still strong but the Bucs need to get younger in that area. The quarterback position must be addressed. Even if the Bucs bring back Jeff Garcia, it is obvious he can’t withstand the rigors of a full season.

2009 season: The Bucs have holes at quarterback and receiver and that will put a ton of pressure on what should be a solid defense. Don’t expect the Bucs to make the playoffs in Morris’s first year. Instead, they will endure a losing record.

Joe isn’t ready to jump ship yet, specifically in February. While it’s not unlikely the Bucs miss the playoffs this year and could be in a rebuilding mode, Joe is more apt to wait until training camp to see how The Dream’s first stab at assembling a team shakes out.

Wes Bunting of the NationalFootballPost.com in his updated mock draft has the Bucs picking Ohio State running back Beanie Wells. Jim Miller of NFL Radio suggests this would be a major mistake by the Bucs.

In his updated 2009 NFL mock draft first round, Wes Bunting of the NationalFootballPost.com has the Bucs selecting Ohio State RB Chris “Beanie” Wells with the 19th pick.

The Buccaneers’ running back position has seen its fare share of injuries the past two seasons, so it’s imperative they bring in a franchise type of back this offseason. Wells is a big, well-built runner with the power and vision to create plays at the line of scrimmage and wear down defenses. He should help give the Bucs a new identity on offense under rookie coach Raheem Morris.

While Bunting’s logic makes sense and Joe has no problem with the Bucs taking a running back in the first round (though Joe prefers it be a defensive tackle), it’s ironic over the weekend Joe heard Jim Miller of NFL Radio take apart Wells.

Per Miller, who also is color analyst for Michigan State, Wells is already a beat up RB and is little more than damaged goods. Miller noted Wells has run the ball so much at Ohio State and been beat upon so much, he has limited shelf life and is already brittle.

Miller explained that last year the Spartans had a soft defense yet they pounded on Wells so much he had to leave the game. Miller went on to say, in so many words, that if someone picks Wells in the first round it will be a waste of a pick.

There is ample evidence that Big Ten running backs are so abused in their years running in a run-oriented conference with brusing linebackers and defensive lineman that they are virtually shot by the time they graduate.

Based on Miller’s information and the recent history with Big Ten running backs in the NFL, Joe hopes the Bucs pass on him.

If the Bucs consider a Big Ten running back, Joe is hopeful it would be Iowa’s Shonn Greene, who didn’t play his junior year because he didn’t like to go to class and is coming out a year early. Green hasn’t taken near the punishment Wells has and should have fresher legs and a longer shelf life.

The Dream promised QB Luke McCown a real chance to start for the Bucs in 2009

Props to Pewter Report for securing an in-depth interview with Luke McCown, who re-signed with the Bucs today.

Terms of the deal were revealed and now McCown can definitely afford to pay someone to chop wood for him.

According to league sources, the Bucs signed McCown to a two-year contract worth $7.5 million. He received a $2.5 million signing bonus and is scheduled to earn $2.5 million in base salary in 2009. McCown has playing time and playoff incentives that could make the deal worth as much as $14 million over two years.

McCown talked about Chucky, his leadership ability and many other subjects.

Joe will leave you with McCown’s words regarding his love of the Bucs organization and the Bay area.

“Well guys, I think number one we love Tampa. My wife, both of our sons, and our third son will be born here in Tampa. We love it here. We enjoy playing here. We love the organization. We love my teammates and the friends that we’ve made here. We love the community and the fans. That always comes into play. You never want to move when you’ve been here a place four years and started your family here, and established a relationship base with a lot of people – especially when you love your team and the team that you play for. That is a major factor.

“And I am really excited to play for Coach Morris. I’m really excited to play for Mark [Dominik]. The organization is on the right track this year, and for them to show that confidence in me … also to show the support this early before free agency, and they showed the confidence in me that I’ve wanted to have somebody show. That meant a lot, and for them to say ‘Look, we know you have the potential to be great.’ One of the first things that Raheem said to me was ‘You’ve got some untapped potential that we want to tap into. We are going to give you the opportunity to compete to be our starter.’ That is all I could ask for and all I was looking for. That pretty much sealed the deal for me.”

The Dream wants to keep the Bucs family together

On Raheem The Dream’s first day as head coach he said the Bucs would “Stay the Course,” Joe can’t get the comment out of his head.

Stay the Course. It’s something only a new coach with confidence in his team would say.

With today’s signing of Luke McCown, The Dream is living up to his word, like it or not.

McCown no doubt asked The Dream and general manager Mark Dominik whether he has a real chance to be the 2009 starting QB. It seems Dominik and The Dream said, ‘Yes,’ considering McCown signed before the start of free agency.

Assuming the dishonesty of the Gruden era is in the past, Morris may have indeed decided to Stay the Course. This could be it. The Bucs might enter July training camp with McCown (28), Brian Griese (33) and Josh Johnson (23), their three QBs under contract.  

Joe’s still thinking this move through.

Going with McCown represents a chance to develop a young quarterback with good skills and some experience who comes very cheap. That leaves plenty of money to bring in a monster running back and other free agents.

But Joe still hopes the Bucs are at least open to a blockbuster deal to bring in a top-flight QB.

The Bucs resigned quarterback Luke McCown today.

Since the end of last season many Bucs fans, including Joe, have wondered aloud who will be the Bucs starting quarterback next season, since Jeff Garcia and Luke McCown are both free agents. And Joe is praying each night that Son of Bob is not the answer.

Well, this afternoon the Bucs eliminated one free agent: Luke McCown. The Bucs signed the quarterback today.

“Luke McCown is a talented and athletic quarterback who we have gotten to know well over the last four years,” said Head Coach Raheem Morris. “I know he is looking forward to the opportunity to be an integral part of our quarterback group this season.”

Did Bucs new offensive coaches see enough of him on tape to make the conclusion that he is the answer as the Bucs starting quarterback next year?

NFL Draft coverage is about to heat up, and Joe is committed to bringing Bucs fans top flight analysis. 

From the days after the combine in late February until the big day on April 25, Joe will rely on the premier NFL Draft expert in the Bay area Justin Pawlowski, host of The Blitz on 620 WDAE-AM, The Sports Animal.

Pawlowski has joined the JoeBucsFan.com team and will lead the only can’t-miss draft coverage in the Bay area.

Not only will Pawlowski breakdown NFL prospects position by position, he’ll provide Joe’s readers with the impact of potential picks on the Bucs roster and how they would mesh with the team. No Bucs fan will want to miss it.

Pawlowski’s work will complement other draft experts, as well.

Pawlowski played Division I college ball and has a long history of bringing unmatched NFL Draft coverage to his listeners on The Sports Animal. Of course, that will still happen. But the meaty stuff that’s too intense for the radio will be available right here.

Pawlowski kicks off his coverage for JoeBucsFan.com on Feb. 28. Joe will provide more details in about 10 days. Check back for updates. 

So let’s all welcome Justin to the team. And let’s hope he doesn’t drink all the beer at JoeBucsFan.com headquarters.

Some elitists in the journalism world must be convinced that the earth is coming to an end now that the Bucs hired a (former) radio show host as an assistant coach.

The elitists in the fourth estate look upon sports radio as little more than the unwashed drunken masses screaming because they don’t have a wife or a family (or a co-worker because they are unemployed) to listen to them.

Frustrated because they have been thrown out of the bar so often by the bartender, the sloth call sports radio to vent, so suggest many of the self-proclaimed worldly sophisticated editors and scribes.

In some cases, that’s accurate. One only needs to point to two examples on local radio airwaves: one in the morning who is an admitted steroid abuser and documented liar; another where a handful of trollops are (to Joe’s perpetual bewilderment) granted the public’s airwaves to abuse. Best as Joe can tell, their greatest attribute was once being attractive some decades ago (which doesn’t exactly translate to an audible medium) and that they are adept at wiping little kids’ snot off of tables in chicken wing houses.

As a co-worker once told Joe about sports radio hosts, “If you are not informative you better be entertaining and if you are neither, what’s the point?”

The two aforementioned sports radio shows perfectly fall into that category.

So the mere thought that a sports radio host — to some — would be elevated to some form of authority of an NFL team is a sure sign of the apocalypse.

Well, then the Bucs are reaching the end of the world because that’s exactly what has happened.

The Bucs recently hired Boston College offensive coordinator Steve Logan as an offensive assistant and Rick Stroud of the St. Petersburg Times reports that — gasp! — Logan once was a radio host in Raleigh, N.C.

And Logan apparently enjoyed it.

Look, Joe has nothing against sports radio so long as the host(s) isn’t a total buffoon (see above). In fact, Joe never understood why some in journalism’s ivory towers so looked down upon sports radio. Granted, awful sports radio is bad enough that Joe suggests some stations should be in danger of losing their federal license to broadcast on the public’s airwaves.

But good sports radio, which often has solid, informative guests, is in fact quality journalism and should be lauded; not scorned.

Joe hopes that Logan does (quality) sports radio hosts across the land a favor and shines as a Bucs offensive assistant.

John Lynch had an interview with Steelers coach Mike Tomlin during Super Bowl week where the two discuss their days winning a Super Bowl with the Bucs. Joe considers it a must-watch interview and a shining example of why the NFL Network rocks.

Joe’s a bit late on this but better late than never. Joe has long been a proponent of the NFL Network and during Super Bowl week the NFL Network was nothing short of fantastic. The amount of fresh broadcasting and top-notch guests was riveting.

For those of you who do not have NFL Network, why not?

There’s no excuse, none. An example of how those of you who do not have NFL Network are cheating yourselves is a John Lynch interview with Mike Tomlin. The two warmly discuss their days with the Bucs and winning the Super Bowl in a touching interview.

Yes, Roger Goodell still won’t cough up embed codes. But Joe gives him a pass because his network produces such quality content like this.

Though Mike Lombardi of the NationalFootballPost.com predicts the Bucs will try to trade for Patriots quarterback Matt Cassel, Joe isn't totally sold on the largely unproven signal-caller.

Mike Reiss of the Boston Globe wrote recently that there is a strong possiblity that the Patriots will trade recently franchised quarterback Matt Cassel. To expand on that suggestion, Mike Lombardi predicts the Bucs will be one of the suitors for Cassel’s services.

After seven years of Jon Gruden moving and changing quarterbacks and getting older at the position, the Bucs are now desperate to fix things. They have a huge need and a ton of cap room. They have a mid-level first-round pick (19th overall), a young head coach and a young defense. The time is right to make a bold move and find a long-term answer at quarterback. Matt Ryan (Atlanta) and Drew Brees (New Orleans) are fixtures in the NFC South. The Bucs need to find a fixture, too, and right now they don’t an answer.

Though Joe wouldn’t lose sleep if the Bucs trade for Cassel, Joe thinks it would be safer if the Bucs trade a third round pick for Matt Leinart. For all Joe knows, Cassel may just be a system quarterback. Remember: Cassel was Leinart’s backup at USC.

Jeremy Green of BSPN predicts the Cardinals will cut Edgerrin James and the Bucs will sign him.

Saturday night Joe was almost on his breaking point (again). Sports radio was largely all A-Roid, all night (and Joe fully expects the same this morning, so between that and the constant regurgitation of “ko-BEE” and “LUH-bron” Joe isn’t even going to touch a nationally broadcast sports radio show today for fear he will throw a radio through his window).

Joe years ago grew tired of Yankees talk on radio, no matter how credible it may be. Joe was bored by A-Roid talk once the news broke (somewhere, Albert Pujols is laughing). Thankfully Joe was behind the wheel and turned to a safe haven: NFL Radio on Sirius. However, during a commercial break, Joe took a chance and found there to be football talk on BSPN. Imagine!

There, he heard BSPN football analyst Jeremy Green tell John Clayton that he expected the Bucs to get a new running back. It will be Edgerrin James, Green said.

Green explained that he fully expects James to be cut by the Cardinals. James has made no secret, so Green said, that he wants to play in his home state of Florida. Green suggested that the Bucs are the perfect fit.

Joe can also understand James coming to the Bucs. Warrick Dunn, though Joe loves him to death, is getting up there in years and is best used in spot duty. Earnest Graham is coming back from an injury and there’s no sane person on earth expecting Cadillac Williams to play next year.

So long as James isn’t asking for the sky and the moon, Joe would consider James to be a solid pick up. Joe hopes Green’s prediction comes true.

It seems Chucky's list of off-limits questions for his recent media interview was as long as his playbook

Joe vows to get to the bottom of the weak joint interview of Jon Gruden by the Orlando Sentinel and The Tampa Tribune  on Friday night. It sure seems like the fix was in.

Chucky’s comments were published by both newspapers this weekend.

Now Joe has been a reporter for many, many years. And he’s the first to say both newspapers deserve great credit for getting Gruden to talk. It was his first local interview. But it’s obvious there were ground rules for the interview established by Gruden, topics that Gruden approved and those that were off limits.

That’s just fine. However, the Tribune and the Sentinel did not publish any of the restrictions placed upon this interview. Why not?

in reading the stories, not once did Jon Gruden decline comment. How could that possibly happen in a truly open interview?

The Sentinel published a transcript in a Q&A format. It had eight questions. That’s it – eight freaking questions. The Tribune’s stories did not have any significant Chucky comments that were not in the Sentinel. So it appears that was it. Short and sweet.

The mere fact that this was a “joint” interview granted to the newspapers is a major clue that it was censored by Chucky. There were also no questions about personnel moves and past Bucs decisions, or football questions about Bucs players, among other topics.

 Joe assures you that the reporters, the esteemed eye-Rah! Kaufman of the Tribune and Chris Harry of the Sentinel, had no desire to talk to Chucky together. Why not just give each guy 15 minutes, rather than put them together?

Joe doesn’t blame Chucky for keeping a tight reign on the line of questions. Smart move. Joe just thinks it’s very lame that the newspapers didn’t come clean to the readers. Barbara Walters would have told us what was off-limits. She often does.

There is always the one-in-a-million possibility that the reporters asked Gruden anything and everything they wanted. But that’s about as likely as Chucky candidly answering the tough questions.

Joe just can’t get up for today’s big game in Hawaii.

Best of luck to Davin Joseph and Clifton Smith. No injuries, guys.

For Joe’s football fix of the day, he’s chosen this memory below. It never gets old.

Joe is way too tired to start speculating what member of the Bucs championship team sold his Super Bowl ring at a Tampa pawn shop in 2007, as noted today in a slightly bizarre story in the Tampa Tribune.

…the former Bucs player had fallen on hard times about a year and a half ago after he was released by the team, Cacciatore said. The player brought the ring into the shop to get a quick loan without the hassle of going through a bank.

At first, Cacciatore said he thought the ring was a fake or stolen. He had an undercover detective come in to witness the deal. But it all turned out to be legit.

Cacciatore kept the ring for the allotted 60 days and even longer. The ex-Buc was trying to negotiate a contract with another team and ended up getting $6,000 from the pawnshop for the ring that cost about $17,000 to make. Then, he moved out of Tampa and never returned to claim the championship bauble, he said.

Joe feels bad the guy didn’t have the brains to put the thing up on Ebay or sell it directly to a collector for twice the $6,000 he got.

Any guesses on the ex-Bucs player?

Wes Bunting of the NationalFootballPost.com predicts the Bucs will draft Hawaii defensive end David Veikune in the second round.

If Wes Bunting of the NationalFootballPost.com is to be believed, the Bucs will choose in the second round defensive end David Veikune of Hawaii.

Bunting has a second round mock draft, a follow up to his first round mock draft in which he has the Bucs selecting defensive tackle Peria Jerry of Mississippi.

With no quarterbacks or receivers on the board worthy of the pick, the Bucs go back to the D-line looking to retool a former strength.

Joe thinks a lot of what the Bucs will do in the draft depends on what they do in free agency and/or trades. If wouldn’t irritate Joe if the Bucs did load up on defensive linemen.