Joe’s not ashamed to admit he gawks at the lovely Bucs cheerleaders.

Joe’s also not afraid to confess he was quite distracted by the Bucs official Twitter feed that kept posting photos from “behind the scenes” as the Bucs cheerleaders shot their 2011 calendar.

Viewing photos of a wet, scantily-clad Jaime Hanna is not very productive for the Tampa Bay work community.

Well, now the folks at Buccaneers.com (intrepid Scott Smith perhaps?) have gone and done it. They now have a video posted of the Bucs calendar shoot.

Trust Joe, video is better than just photos.

Joe believes you will enjoy being distracted at work on a depressing Monday morning.

You are welcome.

Cadillac Williams wasn't babying his knees this weekend at various sporting events. Williams (left) joined Earnest Graham to raise money for kids with cancer. Photo by Kyra Hallett, JoeBucsFan.com

JoeBucsFan.com correspondent Kyra Hallett caught up with Cadillac Williams at a charity bowling event that capped a weekend of altruistic activities hosted by Earnest Graham in Fort Myers on Saturday.

 Kyra Hallett, JoeBucsFan.com: Did you play basketball last night? Or did you stay off the court because of your past injuries? 

Cadillac Williams: Well, I didn’t play it safe. I played in the game. I think I was the leading scorer, too.

JoeBucsFan.com: How many points did you have?

Williams: I’m not sure, I probably hit like five or six [three point shots].

JoeBucsFan.com: It must have been a little strange for you to have an offseason in which you weren’t recovering from a major knee injury. Talk about what you did and how you think that extra rest might help you.

Williams: No doubt. I think all my hard work in ’07, ’08 and ’09, all the injuries I’ve gone through have just made me that much better. I don’t have to rehab to get back from an injury. Now I can just hone my skills and improve my skills in the offseason. I feel like I’m going to be very productive this year.

JoeBucsFan.com: Last year you said you had a bet with Ronnie Brown on the Bucs-Dolphins game. Did he cash in yet?

Williams: It wasn’t exactly a bet. It was just a friendly wager. That was the game he got hurt, so it kind of spoiled the whole thing.

JoeBucsFan.com: The Bucs don’t seem to be a Super Bowl contender in 2010. But how good do you think the team can be? What are the keys to the season?

Williams: Personally, I think we are going to do good. We added some pieces in the draft and we added some guys, and we already had a stable of really good guys on the team. So once the chemistry gets going, and everbody know their roles, we’re going to get going.

The Bucs are putting a lot of pressure on Gerald McCoy and his fellow rookies this season.

Though Joe has been very excited about the Bucs draft last month (on paper), it’s also a cautionary tale in Joe’s eyes.

The top four and perhaps top five draft picks very well could all be starting before the end of the season. That’s good in that it would mean the rookies are playing well, but bad because they are rookies.

Rarely, for example, do rookie wide receivers shine and often rookie defense tackles struggle the first few games.

Seems as though Peter King thinks the same thing. In knocking out a very, very early preview of each NFL team in his must-read SI.com column, Monday Morning Quarterback, the rookies both impress and scare King.

What I like about the Bucs: that the top five draft picks will get a chance to play right away, and a lot. What I don’t like about the Bucs: that the top five draft picks will get a chance to play right away, and a lot.

This is why Joe isn’t expecting a whole lot this year from the Bucs. For two rookies to have stellar seasons, well, that’s a home run. To expect four and perhaps five rookies to shine, that’s a rare grand slam.

Though Joe is like most Bucs fans, frustrated with blocking icon Michael Clayton’s inept receiving results, Joe has always maintained he’s a good guy.

Now Joe has proof, which may signal why Bucs general manager Mark Dominik has stuck his neck out for the embattled wide receiver and kept him on the roster.

Seems as though Clayton is a good locker room guy and a mentor to the young players.

Sunday morning while appearing on local sports media czar J.P. Peterson’s Tampa Bay Sports Central television show broadcast on WTOG-TV Channel 44, Peterson hosted Bucs wide receiver Sammie Stroughter who, as a rookie last year, felt welcome thanks to Clayton.

Stroughter lauded Clayton and others for making Stroughter feel part of the team, which Stroughter said went a long way to helping him feel comfortable so he could just worry about football.

“Guys like Michael Clayton, Antonio Bryant, Brian Clark, the vets, they put their arms around you.”

This may be the reason, other than dollars and cents of course, that Dominik keeps Clayton for one more season. If Clayton was able to assist Stroughter into becoming a productive pro, why not have him work the same magic on rookie wide receivers Arrelious Benn and Mike Williams?

Joe found something quite interesting on Twitter just now. And Joe’s having fun speculating about it. 

In short, what is Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops doing in Tampa Bay?

Per the Twitter feed of Bucs rookie defensive tackle Gerald McCoy, who is flying from Oklahoma to attend Bucs OTAs beginning tomorrow, Stoops is also coming to town.

Headed down to Tampa Bay for OTA’s. On the same flight with my former head coach Bob Stoops!!

Interesting. Joe knows this is the time of the year that college coaches from around the country flock to Florida to watch high school spring football practices and to recruit. In fact, Joe knows of a large contingent of college coaches who descended upon a famous Clearwater eatery this weekend to swill ale and swap war stories after watching various teams take part in a football jamboree of sorts at Clearwater High School.

The trick is, NCAA head coaches are forbidden by the NCAA to monitor high school spring practices, a rule that irritates Florida State head coach Jimbo Fisher to no end, so Stoops isn’t coming down for watching high school football.

Could it be that Stoops is here to monitor Bucs OTAs? Joe knows that college coaches, when they can, often watch NFL practices to learn whatever tips they can pick up. NFL teams also love this routine as they get to pick the brain of college coaches of players they should keep an eye out for.

In Joe’s first NFL training camp as a journalist way back, Joe will never forget the sight of no less a coach than the legendary Eddie Robinson of Grambling using a tackling dummy as a desk, busy jotting down notes while watching Mean Gene Stallings’ old Cardinals battle amid the searing heat and humidity of a central Illinois summer.

Could Stoops be in town to gleam nuggets from Raheem the Dream?

Or perhaps Stoops will be stepping into Chucky’s bunker as coaches seem to be wont to do?

The Mad Twitterer, aka Rick Stroud of the St. Pete Times, stared into the Tampa Bay Sports Central TV camera and referrred to the 2010 Buccaneers as a “house of cards and Josh Freeman is holding it all up.”

House of Cards?

Last Joe checked, that expression refers to something on a very shaky foundation.

Does this mean Stroud doesn’t buy Team Glazer’s new mantra of patience? Or does The Mad Twitterer question the strength of the Bucs’ core players, draft picks and staff?

Asked by host J.P. Peterson about Josh Freeman’s projected improvement and readiness in his second season, Stroud rolled into his house-of-cards response.

“If he’s not, they’re all fired. This a house of cards and Josh Freeman is holding it all up,” Stroud said.

The Mad Twitterer followed that by stating that “25 starts” is the Bucs’ benchmark for Freeman to be ready to play at a high level. And Freeman likely will hit that mark in 2010.

Stroud said he thought that 25-starts mark wasn’t enough time for Freeman.

While Freeman has to improve, Joe’s much more of the belief that Raheem The Dream’s defense’s performance will drive the fate of what the Mad Twitterer calls a house of cards.

If the defense takes a step back this season, it won’t matter much what Freeman is doing.

Joe can’t stop wondering whether or not Team Glazer will prevent television blackouts again in 2010, like they graciously did in 2009.

Joe is fascinated by the revelation that Team Glazer seemingly avoided blackouts last year by cutting checks to the league for 34 percent of the face value of a game’s unsold tickets. Neil Best, of Newsday, wrote about the blackout buyout subject last week and he gave Joe an exclusive interview about it, which then sent the story national.

So what’s the next move for Team Glazer? And why, if Team Glazer prevented blackouts last year, wouldn’t they do it again?

Joe has to think that the Bucs-Patriots “home game” in England was a factor last year. That game had to be a huge cash windfall for the Bucs, with 84,000+ in attendance paying top dollar at Wembley Stadium and the Bucs as the home team, which gets the largest share of gate revenue.

That Euro cash won’t be flowing this year, so maybe Team Glazer won’t be willing to invest in televised home games.

Joe also has to wonder whether in-stadium signage deals in Tampa have a television component in their contracts. At the very least, it would be difficult for Team Glazer to renew stadium sponsorship deals after a 2010 season of blackouts across the board.

There are so many possibilities.

Is the new Bucs $25 youth ticket there more to save money on blackout prevention than to lure families to the games?

Joe suspects Team Glazer, being the shrewd business folks they are, will allow a few blackouts to happen in 2010, yet step up to prevent others.

For one, this would allow Team Glazer’s sales team to honestly drive up Buccaneers Radio Network advertising rates while allowing Team Glazer to look like heroes on certain weeks to local sports bar owners and tens of thousands of couch-potato fans at home. (Joe would love to know how the radio ads are being pitched now compared to at this time last year.)

Maybe Team Glazer allows opening day to get blacked out to guage fan reaction, and then steps up later in the season — always at the 11th hour — to keep all other games on TV?

Again, Joe’s just not seeing why Team Glazer would make a such a bold move to prevent blacked out games in 2009, and then radically shift gears and let every game fall off TV in 2010. Joe can’t figure out any logic to that.

Of course, ticket sales figures for the Bucs fall under the One Buc Palace cone of silence, so it’s all a bunch of guesswork. And that should be advantageous to Team Glazer as the season approaches, since fans surely will, in fact, believe that management would let games stay off local televison.

Joe suspects that Team Glazer, come September, will want to call fans’ bluff on opening day just to see what happens.

Joe thinks there are loads of disgruntled fans who would rather pony up the cash on opening day than drive three or four hours round trip to watch at a sports bar.  The problem is only a real threat of a blackout is how Team Glazer will find out how many of those fans exist.

Joe’s friend electronic media czar J.P. Peterson continues to add to his wallet take over the Bay area sports landscape.

His Tampa Bay Sports Central show is now in full swing on WTOG-CW44. It’s one of those flashy half-hour sports TV magazine deals every Sunday at 11:30 a.m.

Today, Peterson has fresh interviews with a few Buccaneers, plus a roundtable chat with the Mad Twitterer, aka Rick Stroud, the St. Pete Times Bucs beat writer.

Joe wonders what the Mad Twitterer’s rules are regarding what he says on TV. Is that just agent-driven speculation, too?

Don’t miss the show. It’s not like there’s any football on the tube and it’s light years better than that horrid show with Mike Lupica that the Bristol Bolsheviks use to indoctrinate the proletariat.

Bucs fullback Chris Pressley (left) and Kareem Huggins shared a moment with a young fan at Earnest Graham's charity bowling event in Fort Myers on Saturday. Graham's foundation, Earnest Giving, is helping kids with cancer. (Photo by Kyra Hallett, JoeBucsFan.com)

Bucs fullback Chris Pressley is one of the more fascinating guys on the roster. The 23-year-old Wisconsin grad was an undrafted free agent and is notorious for his feats of strength.  He also has a master’s degree and might just be the Bucs’ starting fullback in September after being signed from the Bengals’ practice squad late last year. On the Bucs, Pressley is known for being a punishing force in practice on every play.

JoeBucsFan.com correspondent Kyra Hallett set out to talk to Pressley on Saturday. He was mingling with fans and on the lanes at Earnest Graham’s charity bowling event in Fort Myers.

Here’s what Pressley had to say.

Enjoy.

Kyra Hallett, JoeBucsFan.com: Talk about the program you attended at the prestigious Wharton School of business this year. What did you learn? And what was that all about?

Chris Pressley: It was a really good program. It focused a lot on entrepreneurship and real estate. It was pretty much like a week long. It was pretty extensive all day. You go to class and learn about everything from starting your own business to investing in real estate, and things like that. For me, it was more networking than anything. Getting to network with some of the professors, some of the people that talked to us were world renowned authors and professors, and they told us a lot. And they gave us their contact information, and any questions we have we can keep in touch with them. That’s something I plan on taking advantage of in the future.

JoeBucsFan.com: What are you goals in business and in life after football?

Pressley: My goal is to establish myself first in the community, so I have opportunities once football is over. And to use my degrees. I have my master’s [degree]. To use what I have in finance, communications and economics and try to use it to develop my brain as far as if I want to start a business. I really do want my own company one day. Just kind of use the tools I got in college and just network with people to start something that can eventually help [the community]. I’m young now. But hopefully after a couple of years of playing ball and getting involved and investing in the community, I can come back and do some big things.

JoeBucsFan.com: So how do you think you played in your time last season? And have you been told anything about whether you’ll be the starter at fullback in 2010?

Pressley: When I came over from Cincinnati, it took a little time to learn the different scheme. But I think I adjusted well. They used me as a thumper, which you means you pretty much have to go in there and bang a lot. I think I did well for the first year. I got a couple of starts. You know, I think it was really just getting involved with the O-line and you just have to build a chemistry. It takes a little bit of time. So that’s why this offseason we’re putting in as much time as we can together so we’re all on the same page and we’re out there clicking. I think that last season, since I came in toward the end, it’s going to propel us into this season to do some really big things. As far as starting, I don’t want to have to compete. But I’m always up for a competition. So I’m just ready to go in there and compete and help the team the best way I can playing fullback and special teams.

JoeBucsFan.com: Earnest Graham is the host of this big charity weekend. Have you guys talked at all about competing for the starting fullback job?

Pressley:  No. Honestly, you know, Earnest is a role model for me. We haven’t really talked about it, No. We kind of just go ahead and go about our business. He has things like this and invites me, and we’re really good friends. So it’s one of those things, you know. You’re going to have to compete wherever you are [in the NFL], regardless. He understands. You know, I’m a young guy in here. There’s always a young guy trying to take your spot. But at the same time, when we do things like this and we’re outside the locker room, it’s all fun. When we’re there, though, it’s all about business. His kids have to eat. My kids have to eat. But Earnest, he’s a much more valuable asset to the team than I am, as far as the things he does for the community. I aspire to be like him one day. As far as on the field, I think I can do some different things. I can bring some different things to the table. Hopefully, they see that value and they keep me around and let me show what I can do for the team.

JoeBucsFan.com: Has Earnest Graham given you any advice on the fullback position?

Pressley: He’s helped me out. When I first came, Earnest knows the offense really well. Just some things that he helped me out with. He understands that my head’s on my shoulders pretty good and he always encourages me to continue. Basically at practice I bring pretty good energy, so he tells me to make sure I keep that and to stay hungry and stay humble. All those things. He was [an undrafted] free agent like me, you know, came in through the back door. And he always advises me on that, ‘Don’t ever change so you don’t lose the work ethic that you have.’ … Things like that. As far as the position, Coach [Steve] Logan does a great job of helping me out because he’s our coach, and he puts out everything to do. 

JoeBucsFan.com: Earnest said you are one of the few guys that brings a very physical presence to practice every day. Can you explain about your approach in practice and how your teammates react to it?

Pressley: When I’m at practice I just believe they’re going to react to how you’re going. If you’re going full speed and they’re out there, I don’t know if the cobwebs aren’t out yet, but if you get’em with a good smack they’re going to wake up. It’s only to help the team. I’m not trying to hurt anyone. But on Sundays, that’s what they’re going to get, you know. I do believe in saving your body a bit, but when it’s time to practice and it’s time to go, you know, it’s a business. I have a business approach. Let’s take a business approach when we’re out there. We can laugh and play in the locker room. When we’re out here at practice, I’m trying to get better. I don’t want you to cheat me on a rep because that’s not going to help me get better. So my approach is let’s all do this together and get better, but seriously have business approach and go as hard as you can all the time.

JoeBucsFan.com: What have your coaches told you that you need to improve in the offseason?

Pressley: Catching the ball out of the backfield, just running the ball. I didn’t get a whole lot of opportunities here. In Cincinnati they were doing a lot of that. They said just to be prepared to do more things in the offense. You know, just get better. You can always get better. Whenever you feel there’s no room to improve, you’ve got to really look in the mirror. It’s just one of those things where he tells me to focus on the little things — things that you think aren’t important. And when you’re working hard, work harder.

Joe beat up Raheem The Dream pretty good this week when he revealed the head coach’s bizarre and outlandish comments during a radio interview on 1010 AM.

Now it wasn’t all bad during that interview for Raheem The Dream. Joe was impressed by some of his candor and down-to-earth attitude. 

At one point, host J.P. Peterson told Raheem The Dream to sip his drink and brace himself for a “tough question,” which got Raheem The Dream all fired up.

Raheem The Dream replied: “What is a tough question, first of all? There’s no tough question when you go 3-13. You’re in the line of fire at 32 years old. Everybody’s calling for your head. You’re being replaced by [Bill] Cowher. There’s no tough questions at this point.”

Joe appreciated that response. It’s good to know the coach can keep it real (as opposed to thinking up Bill Belicheat analogies).

Nice take, Rah.

Yes, Joe knows it’s mid-May. The Rays are in the early stages of a pennant race and just got rid of one of their offensive albatrosses (will windmill Carlos Pena be next?). The only “football” being played is that schlop, gimmicky, glorified small-school, 8-man game on melted hockey rinks.

(Sorry, any “football” league that allows offensives players to run in forward motion is unadulterated schlock. Why not then let linebackers blitz across the line of scrimmage before the snap?)

So it’s difficult to play with a depth chart at this point with the Bucs roster, partially because no one knows exactly what the roster will be.

But it appears Woody Cummings, of the Tampa Tribune, has an idea what the roster will be. Buried in a story about vets needing to improve this offseason is a nugget that Sabby the Goat is no longer considered a starter.

After watching him struggle in almost every phase of the game last year, the Bucs are convinced that Piscitelli is best suited to play the role of a third safety. To prove the Bucs wrong Piscitelli will have to outplay free-agent newcomer Sean Jones. That won’t be easy. Jones is best in the area Piscitelli struggled most in last year, which is making tackles near the line of scrimmage. If Piscitelli can improve his tackling skills and make good on the chances he takes in coverage he could keep his starting strong safety spot and force Jones into the role of the third safety. If not, Piscitelli will spend most of his time working special teams.

Whoa! That’s the first Joe has read or heard of that but this can hardly come as a surprise by any standard.

Was there any player on the Bucs defense, or offense for that matter, that played more miserably than Sabby the Goat?

Florida State football coach Jimbo Fisher — damn, that’s weird for Joe just to type that — came to Tarpon Springs yesterday and Joe had a sitdown with the new Seminoles coach (along with good guys Brian Landman of the St. Petersburg Times, Gene Williams of Warchant.com and local sports TV and radio personality J.P. Peterson).

No, this is not a Florida State post. Bucs fans recognize there are all sorts of connections between Florida State and the Bucs.

First, there’s Derrick Brooks and Warrick Dunn. Also, there are two and potentially three new Bucs who are from Florida State. Fisher spoke about the aforementioned players and what Bucs fans can expect from newcomers linebacker Dekoda Watson, wide receiver/return man Preston Parker and if he can pass a physical, tight end Caz Piurowski.

Though this is Fisher’s first year as the Seminoles head coach, he was Bobby Bowden’s offensive coordinator the past three seasons so he is familiar with FSU players of recent history.

(Fun fact: Fisher and Raheem the Dream have a mutual best friend: Steelers coach Mike Tomlin. Fisher and Tomlin coached together at the University of  Cincinnati. In 1999, Fisher was the Bearcats offensive coordinator and Tomlin was the defensive backs coach.)

JoeBucsFan: As you know the Bucs signed one of your former players Preston Parker. Parker seemed to be a special player. Having to play his senior year at North Alabama, a Division-II school, how much did that hurt his development?

Jimbo Fisher: I don’t know if that set him back. You’ll be amazed sometimes at how many Division-II level players and the quality of athletes that play there when they transfer in and do some things. I think what may have set him back was structure-wise. He had to learn a new offense. Anytime you don’t know what you are doing as well as you did before, it slows you down from doing what you are capable of.

As a competitor, I don’t know if that slowed him down. But it was probably just the change.

Joe: Joe calls Parker a poor man’s Dexter McCluster. Your thoughts?

Fisher: Probably because [Parker] doesn’t have the blazing speed. He may not have the top end speed but I tell you what the guy is now: He plays in a game as fast or faster than he runs in a 40. He is extremely competitive and he is extremely tough and he’s not going to shy away from anything or what you want him to do. I think that’s where he makes up for his lack of true blazing speed.

Joe: What made [Bucs seventh round draft pick] Dekoda Watson such a tough linebacker?

Fisher: First off, his athletism. He can run, jump, has size, you know what I mean? He can rush on the edges — a very good pass rusher. I mean he can get those hips and sink and run. He can run with you in space and he can hit you.

Joe: Was there anything in particular that Watson did that gave you fits in practice, was there something he did that your offense in practice was never able to overcome?

Fisher: Dekoda drove us more crazy when he was pass rushing. He did a great job in other things but he had that natural knack as a blitzer and a pass rusher to cause us a lot of problems.

Joe: What do you know about Caz Piurowski’s situation? The Bucs signed him as a free agent and he couldn’t pass his physical due to a bad knee. It seems the Bucs still want to sign him and Piurowski still wants to sign with the Bucs but the physical exam is the problem. Do you have any update on Piurowski?

Fisher:  It’s a shame. He can be a really good player. He’s big, he has size, he can block, he’s got ball skills. He was really coming into his own — it’s a shame he got hurt when he did. He was having a great season. He can play in the NFL. I don’t think there’s any doubt. He’s an NFL player. I think he just needs an opportunity.

Joe: I don’t know if you had a chance to talk to him or his family [Piurowski’s father, Paul, was a linebacker for Bowden at Florida State] or Caz about his status? It sounds like he still wants to play for the Bucs.

Fisher: He does, but since I’ve been on my [golf] tour, I haven’t had any contact with him. He has a great family, great mom, great dad and he’s a great kid himself.

Joe: Joe knows that Derrick Brooks and Warrick Dunn are very involved with your program — Brooks is on the school’s board of trustees. A lot of your players obviously grew up watching those two. How much do those former Bucs mean to your players?

Fisher: [leans back in his chair and spreads his arms wide] (Brooks and Dunn) are their heroes. I mean they are heroes to the kids. When you talk about, “This is the way you act off the field. This is the way you act in the classroom. This is the way you conduct yourself… ” They are both carbon copies [of each other]. They are both poster men for how you want your players to act in all facets of life. I mean they are complete people. To have two guys of that caliber and to have played at the high level they played and to conduct themselves as men to the level they have done it, I don’t know if there’s any better ambassadors as Derrick Brooks and Warrick Dunn.

Brooks of course is back on campus a lot and I’ve seen Dunn a number of times on the golf tour. At different times he will come by and speak and he’s still very associated with us.

Earnest Graham shakes hands with Madison Cavanaugh, 5, a cancer victim from St. Petersburg, on Friday at Mariner High School before Graham's celebrity basketball game and fundraiser for his charity Earnest Giving, Inc. (TERRY ALLEN WILLIAMS/The News-Press)

Quarterback Josh Johnson may be on “equal footing” with undrafted free agents Rudy Carpenter and Jevan Snead, so claimed Greg Olson, but Joe suspects Johnson is at least light years ahead of them on the basketball court.

Playing in Earnest Graham’s annual charity basketball game at a Fort Myers area high school last night, Johnson caught the eye of a News-Press reporter who covered the event before a packed house.

Jackson and Buccaneers quarterback Josh Johnson put on a showcase of slams, assaulting the rims back and forth every chance they could get.

Earnest Giving, Graham’s Foundation, is focusing its support this season on helping children with cancer. Joe talked to Graham last week about all things on and off the field.

As for the other Bucs there playing basketball, Cadillac Williams also made the newspaper report for his half-court shooting prowess. 

“I was 6-of-17,” Williams estimated, laughing. “I just like to come out, have fun and support one of my really, really good friends. I’m not the best shooter, but I try.”

In mere hours, the Bucs entire team will gather for OTAs, the first time this year that the full squad will practice.

Except perhaps disgruntled left tackle Donald Penn.

As Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune points out, there are several vets that need to make a statement to secure their positions with the Bucs. One of which is blocking icon Michael Clayton.

For years, the Bucs embattled wide receiver has been woeful, except for rare occasions. There’s no use in trying to deny that. One  reason, Cummings notes, that Clayton has stuck with the Bucs for so long is how he teases the Bucs staff in preseason, only to shrink in the regular season.

No Buccaneer has taken more of a beating this offseason than Clayton. No one should be surprised, though. After being re-signed to a five-year, $24 million contract, Clayton paid the Bucs back last year by posting career-worsts in receptions (16) and yards (230). Now he’s on the bubble, fighting with the likes of Mark Bradley, Mario Urrutia and Preston Parker for a roster spot. The thing about Clayton is that he usually shines during the offseason program and training camp. If he does that again this year he’ll keep his roster spot and maybe even regain his starter’s job.

Joe has stated this before and he will state it again. The lone reason the blocking icon stays with the Bucs is that Bucs general manager Mark Dominik is trying to save face after signing Clayton to a misguided contract last offseason.

Joe’s pretty confident this will be the blocking icon’s last regular season with the Bucs. In other words Bucs fans, Joe hopes you won’t get fooled again.

There was no worse player for the Bucs last year than Sabby the Goat.

The former second round pick played like a guy the Bucs found on the street leaving one of the clothing optional establishments across the street from the CITS on Dale Mabry Highway at 4 a.m. on a nondescript Sunday morning.

Despite play that made Joe want to throw up all over his brand new Bucs jersey from BucsGear.com, Joe doesn’t hate Sabby the Goat. He seems like a really cool guy.

Take for example his appearance on the too Jewish-named “King David” show on WQYK-AM 1010 Thursday with co-hosts Shaun King and Toby David. Sabby the Goat spoke of the problems the Bucs defense had last year, noting the abortion that was the Jim Bates Experiment.

“We have a lot of room to improve, everybody knows that. There’s not one person [at One Buc Palace] that doesn’t know that.

“We feel more confident. We have to bring the defense back to the hard-hitting Tampa-2 that everyone is used to. For me, it’s a personal challenge. I didn’t live up to where [the Bucs] expected of me.”

Sabby the Goat also said the Bucs defenders last year never were confident in the Jim Bates Experiment. The worse it got, the more convinced they were it was a horror show.

“As you play you want to have that sense of confident, that your playing is second nature, you just react. We believed in the defense early in the OTAs but the veteran guys didn’t believe in the scheme,” Sabby the Goat said. “Maybe we didn’t have enough reps? Maybe we didn’t give it enough time?

“We were thinking. When you have 11 guys thinking and not reacting, it slows everyone down. But we are professional. There’s no excuses.”

Joe assumes Sabby the Goat knows his time to prove his worth is nearing a deadline. He is one of 17 players who will be free agents at the end of the 2010 season. Per Anwar Richardson of the Tampa Tribune, via Rotoworld.com, Sabby the Goat is only making $550,000 a year.

If his play doesn’t markedly improve, he won’t even make that much. For his new team.

Veteran Bay area sportscaster Rock Riley jumps into the hot seat today filling in for Steve Duemig, the dean of Tampa Bay sports radio, at 3 p.m. on WDAE-AM 620.

A lifelong baseball man and the guy who chased down defrocked Jim Bates at a fast food restaurant, Riley always talks his share of Buccaneers football, and he’s got excellent sources within the team.

Click here or on the logo above to listen online.  And don’t forget to call in and show Rock some love.

Thinking about the best Bucs to interview over the past few years, a few guys come to Joe’s mind: Jeff Faine, Antonio Bryant and Stylez White.

Faine’s very quick with intelligent, insightful takes and only slightly holds back.

Bryant was very intense and passionate about everything. The kind of guy who wears his heart on his sleeve on seemingly every issue, no matter how minor.

As for Stylez White, well, Joe’s just going to recommend you watch Part 1 of his latest interview on Buccaneers.com. The dude has got charisma.

If Joe was that cool, he’d probably lose the name Gregory, too.

And with White’s long road to the NFL and his strong commitment in the community, he might be the easiest guy to root for on Sundays. Joe’s pulling for Stylez to score double-digit sacks and cash in when he’s a free agent after the season.

Enjoy the interview.

That Bucs beat writer Stephen Holder is a classy guy.

Holder worked hard to take the high road while publicly doubting the depth of unsourced claims made by a certain outfit that quoted anonymous agents bashing Doug Williams last year. (Joe will not name the outfit today because he doesn’t feel like dealing with the whiny, juvenile hate e-mail that follows.)

And Holder succeeded on the high road by not naming said outfit when he took time to throw cold water on those anti-Williams rumors during a radio interview on 1010 AM.

Appearing as a guest with Shaun King and Toby David, Holder, who works for the St. Pete Times, was asked how the recently departed Williams is regarded by the Buccaneers and NFL executives. Holder responded by defending Williams, even though he wasn’t prompted to. 

Toby David: In football circles, how is Doug Williams regarded by executives with the Buccaneers and around the league. What was his reputation?

Stephen Holder: …I know that there was some talk that he was not highly regarded. I have not, I have to be honest, I have not heard that from people. And, you know, I’m not going to tell you it’s a frequent topic of conversation, per se, but I have not gotten that sense from people. And it doesn’t mean that there’s not any sense of that out there, but I have not heard that from people. I feel like for what they asked him to do, he did it adequately. And that’s the bottom line here. They weren’t asking him to perform a general manager type role. Yeah, he would be dealing with agents in some capacity, but the majority of those conversations are going to take place with the general manager, when you get into the high-level conversations, you know. So he’s not the one negotiating contracts. He’s not the one making a decision on whether they want to sign a player or not sign a player. So, you know, that’s where you really get to develop those reputations among agents and people in that circle. So I don’t really know that there’s much sentiment out there about that. There may have been some, and clearly there was because I know it’s been expressed. But I’ve not heard that, and I don’t get the sense that it’s nearly as widespread as we’ve been told. So that’s my opinion of that.”

That was a curious response from Holder, considering he wasn’t asked about agents, only about NFL executives and Bucs officials.

In honor of Holder taking such a high-road, non-confrontational stance on this issue, Joe will decline his usual post-ending comment.

Joe’s readers can read between the lines themselves.

Joe has stated several times before two things:

1) Arguably, Donald Penn was the Bucs best player last season.

2) Until there is a new CBA, anyone expecting Team Glazer to load up on free agents should ask the bartender for another cold adult beverage.

Stuck in the middle of those two premises is Penn himself. He knows he is a stud. The Bucs know he is a stud. But he will not be paid like an NFL stud, at least not for the 2010 season.

As a result, when OTAs commence next week at One Buc Palace, Penn is making noises that he may not show up. That’s the news from Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune.

Penn is still bent over the Bucs refusal to give him a long-term contract. He’s no different than middle linebacker Barrett Ruud in that sense, but unlike Ruud, Penn has yet to figure out that skipping workouts won’t change that.

Penn, Ruud and dozens of other worthy players are being forced to wait on the long-term contracts they desire and deserve because the NFL and its player’s union have yet to agree on a new collective bargaining agreement.

That obviously Penn, Ruud and all the others with very uncertain futures, but there’s one thing Penn can be certain of. The Bucs still consider him a big part of their future.

Cummings goes on to type that Penn has an ace in his corner, and that is Bucs general manager Mark Dominik. It was Dominik that thought enough of Penn to pull him off the scrap heap and resuscitate his career.

In a roundabout way, it was Dominik that made Penn a wealthy man who is about to get wealthier.

Look, the Bucs need Penn. Next year is pretty much a wash, let’s be honest. For the Bucs to succeed next year, it means they must get stellar play from four or five rookies. Does anyone realistically expect that to happen? That’s asking a whole lot.

If Penn sits out, he sits out. But the Bucs will need him when play resumes after the 2010 season ends, which may not be until 2012.

Warren Sapp and Jamie Dukes demonstrate in this NFL Network video how zone blocking can be effective.

Joe sure thought the Bucs offensive line was on the cusp of something big prior to last season.

Instead, the offensive line regressed. Part of that, some suggest, was the Bucs trying to implement zone blocking up front, a sometimes radical, sometimes difficult blocking system to learn.

In this tremendous NFL Network video, future Hall of Famer Warren Sapp and former NFL and Florida State offensive lineman Jamie Dukes demonstrate what zone blocking is and how it can be effective if run properly.

This video may be the best tutorial Joe has seen or read or heard of that explains zone blocking.

There are certain mysteries of American history that gnaw at Joe. Some examples:

* What on earth was Bobby Lee thinking when he sent George Pickett’s division to a suicidal march at Gettysburg?

* What exactly was Hideki Tōjō thinking when he gave Isoroku Yamamoto the green light to bomb Pearl Harbor?

* With first base open, why the hell did Tommy Lasorda pitch to Jack Clark?

Recently in the Tampa Bay area, a riddle has perplexed Joe. Last year, the Bucs sold out every home game.  Well, sold out in theory. Some games, there were more people at Fergs before a Rays game than at the CITS.

Granted, the Bucs gave away thousands to non-profit groups and charities. Still there were blotches of empty red seats.

Yet the Bucs never had one home game blacked out last year, despite the fact a game must sell out all non-premium seating 72 hours prior to kickoff.

That’s what Joe thought. So how in the world could or did the Bucs get away with lifting the blackout of every home game when, technically, all but one home game wasn’t remotely close to a sellout?

Joe has found out perhaps how, thanks to one of the top media writers in the country, Neil Best of Newsday.

A former Giants beat writer, Best may not be quite as entertaining — close! — as the great Phil Mushnick, may not be as well-known as the now retired Rudy Martzke, but Joe does not know one media writer with better sources or a better work ethic than Best. The man is tireless at his craft!

In fact, Best, who has one of the most underrated blogs known to Joe, influenced Joe. This very site in many ways was inspired by Best’s blog, “Watchdog,” found on Newsday.com (sadly, now behind the cloak of pay-per-read).

When readers see Carmella’s lovely figure within a post about Jeff Garcia, with no mention of Carmella at all, that is a direct influence from Best, who knows that lovely lasses somehow connected to the subject of the post have a way of drawing eyeballs to a story.

And my friends, it’s all about the eyeballs!

Joe follows Best on Twitter and noticed a post this morning from Best that documented an obscure NFL rule on how teams can dance around blackout rules — for a fee — which may explain how the Bucs didn’t have a game blacked out last season.

For this and other goodies, Best agreed to an interview with Joe concerning the NFL and TV. Enjoy!

JoeBucsFan: Noticed your Tweets about NFL blackouts. The common belief is the stadium must be sold out 72 hours prior to kickoff in order for the blackout to be lifted by the NFL (sans a special order from Park Avenue giving a team a few extra hours to sell more tickets). Just to confirm from what you posted on Twitter, a home team can avoid a blackout simply by cutting the league a check covering the costs of the visiting team’s share of the gate?

Neil Best: I was not aware of this until this week, frankly, and several prominent, experienced people I know in pro football were not aware of it either. But, sure enough, it turns out a team can cut a check for 34 percent of the face value of unsold tickets to cover the visiting team share and, presto, problem solved! But the Jets insist this is a moot point because they will sell out.

Joe: What is the blackout rule for preseason games? There is nothing specific about preseason blackouts on the NFL’s media site. There is also conflicting information concerning this floating out there. ESPN.com ran a series of articles last season claiming Jacksonville would be blacked out for all preseason games (it was), yet the Bucs never came close to selling out either home preseason game, but there wasn’t a blackout. The sports director of the local NBC affiliate (which has the rights for all locally produced Bucs preseason contests) claims it is in the station’s contract with the Bucs that all home preseason games are not blacked out; that regular season blackout rules do not apply to the preseason. Can you shed some light on preseason blackouts?

Neil: Honestly, I don’t know what the rules are for preseason. I’m just speculating here, but there can’t be blackouts in preseason, can there? If there is a rule blacking out preseason games that are not sold out, all is lost for us as a civilization.

Joe: It is becoming a belief of sorts that with the saturation of HDTVs and the costs of going to NFL games and the assorted hassles involved, that fans are choosing more often to stay in the comfort of their homes and watch the games on their HDTVs. Jerry Jones has openly spoken about how an NFL game must be an event in order to get people off the couch. Roger Goodell has spoken about this subject as well. Given your contacts with various media industry giants and the NFL, has there been any discussion of the NFL making home games in individual markets available on pay-per-view?

Neil: I am not aware of the NFL having any plans to take the PPV plunge. Its contracts with the various TV networks are so lucrative, not sure what the point of that would be. There is no question that the appeal of watching at home on a big, HD screen is a huge issue for the NFL to deal with. Other sports, too. That is one reason there are four huge video screens in each corner of New Meadowlands Stadium and a monster screen in Texas. You have to give people the in-person and TV experiences at the same time these days!

Joe: David Hill of Fox Sports has stated that the NFL making more and more games available online (via various broadcast partners, NFL Sunday Ticket and NFL.com) will dissuade broadcast networks from bidding for future NFL broadcast rights. This smacks of posturing. More and more people are going to the computer, not staying away. Your thoughts?

Neil: Well, I think that will continue to evolve as an option over the next five or 10 years, but as I wrote earlier, in the short term the NFL can’t do anything to mess up its main meal ticket, which is money from the TV networks. For now, that is still the mother lode.

Joe:  Time for you to gaze into your crystal ball. What is the future of the NFL and TV? Will all games at some point be pay-per-view? Will 3D broadcasts, like HDTV currently is, be the norm? Will fans someday have a device on their remote that would mute a broadcaster yet be able to hear the sounds of the game (a handy tool when Gus Johnson is involved)? Will fans in the stadium be offered smartphone-like devices in stadiums where they can watch other games or choose their own replays of the game they attend? What do you envision NFL broadcasts to be like, both short-term and into the future?

Neil: Heavens! The answer to that is a five-part series, at least. I think all of the above is very possible and/or probable. But there is no way to predict this stuff. Ten years ago I did not think the entire accumulated knowledge of the human race would be floating around in the air of my house and available to be captured on the laptop in my basement.