Some interesting news on the Bucs ticket sales front and it doesn’t look good for Bucs fans wanting to watch homes games from their homes.

Earlier today, David Kaplan of the Sports Business Journal, usually a very solid, credible source of sports business news, Twittered that NFL teams are ahead of schedule in season ticket sales.

Kaplan did not specify his source but teams don’t normally release season ticket sales information, especially if sales are down. That’s not exactly public information.

Now Sunday, eye-RAH! Kaufman of the Tampa Tribune reported that while earlier this year the Bucs season ticket sales were brisk, the engine has run out of steam, largely because of the asinine lockout brainstormed by NFL chieftain Roger Goodell.

As a result, Kaufman suggested lockouts may be common again this season at The CITS unless this asinine lockout ends soon.

Ten weeks ago in New Orleans, Bucs co-chairman Joel Glazer said club officials were encouraged by strong season-ticket sales for 2011. But the uncertainty about when, or even if, the new season will begin has hurt marketing efforts for all 32 teams.

Last year, the Bucs were the only NFL club with every home game blocked out in the local market. With sales stalled, Tampa Bay fans without a ticket may once again have to travel out of the blackout region to view games at Raymond James Stadium.

Even the one home game that appeared certain to be televised in the Bay area, an Oct. 23 matchup against the Bears at London’s Wembley Stadium, could be blacked out because the game will be played in Tampa if the lockout is still in place Aug. 1.

Joe would be stunned if the Bears do play at The CITS and that game would be blacked out. Bears fans used to flock to Bucs home games in droves, largely because of the awful weather the second city has. October in Chicago, specifically late October, is usually miserable. Bears fans used to invade Tampa Bay for a short weekend vacation when the Bears played here annually.

But there is also potentially good news for Bucs fans who prefer the leather couch in air conditioning with the 50-inch HD TV and the cheaper beer in the fridge than the upper deck on the east side of the stadium, roasting on a plastic seat with $7 beers and a standard-def replay board that too often shows more commercials than replays:

Kaplan also Twittered that the NFL is researching adjusting blackout standards and requirements so it’s easier for teams to broadcast home games.

Update 12:49 p.m.: Josh Freeman, Ronde Barber, Mark Dominik and other Bucs are now leading in their respective categories. It seems Joe’s readers were outraged. Well done.

Once upon a time, the Tampa Bay area was a football town. Really. Joe swears.

Now Joe’s not too big on Internet polls, but sometimes they can tell a story, especially when there are six polls together and the Bucs are at the bottom of all of them. This is the case right now at TampaBay.com.

TampaBay.com asked readers to vote for one identified player among the Bucs, Rays and Lightning from the following categories:

Best owner
Best general manager
Best coach
Best young player
Best old player
Best import (free agent pickup)

The Bucs came in last place in every category. Now Joe understands that the Bucs are out of season and a little out of mind for some people, but to come in last across the board is outrageous.

Under “Best old player,” Ronde Barber is far behind Marty St. Louis and Johnny Damon. Ronde Barber? A true Bucs icon that can still play? Damon is batting .276 and can’t play the field.

Under “Best import,” Matt Joyce and Dwayne Roloson have a huge lead on LeGarrette Blount. Once a upon a time a 1,000-yard bruising rookie rusher that only started seven games would have been idolized in this town.

Joe is shaking his head.

Ex-Bucs QB Jeff Carlson

Former Bucs quarterback Jeff Carlson (1990 & 1991) writes The QB Blast column here at JoeBucsFan.com. Joe is ecstatic to have him firing away. Carlson is often seen as a color analyst on Bright House Sports Network, and he trains quarterbacks of all ages locally via his company, America’s Best Quarterback.

Today, Carlson explains why he sees no reason for Team Glazer to have sent home employees without pay. 

By JEFF CARLSON
JoeBucsFan.com analyst

It was disturbing to read that Buccaneers employees will be forced to stay home from work without pay this week. The Bucs aren’t the first team in the NFL to announce different cost-cutting measures as the owners’ lockout continues. 

But what makes this disturbing locally and around the NFL is that as far as I know the league hasn’t lost any money yet (and are still nearly 100 days out from doing so).  On the contrary, NFL teams have saved a fortune this offseason.

Following the combine in February, free-agency usually kicks off in March and multi-million dollar bonuses are paid to myriad of players in signing bonuses. Jeff Faine, the oft-maligned (on this site) center was one of those a couple years back. Every team goes in at different levels (e.g. Albert Haynesworth), but every team has probably saved more than the entire cost of a week’s salary for its employees simply in signing bonuses.

Besides the bonus costs of free-agency, the process of courting free-agents is anything but free. Many players are flown in and put up in nice hotels and nice dinners are had at nice restaurants. I wouldn’t hazard a guess at this cost, but let’s just say that many “regular Joe” workers around NFL offices could pay their bills quite nicely on this line-item alone.

Right after free-agency opens, the offseason training program starts and the team starts spending wads of cash on paying its players to lift weights and run around. A number of these players (usually young guys like Gerald McCoy and Brian Price) have pretty big attendance bonuses (like $500,000 or so) worked into their contracts. I don’t have those figures, but they are available through agents or elsewhere, and that money is available to be used on employees’ salaries this week, since it didn’t go to more important things like jeweled-encrusted watches and Escalades with 22″ rims.

Besides the bonuses paid to some, everyone enjoys the daily pay for their spring sweat. The Bucs paid me $50 a day in 1990 and 1991. The Patriots paid me $100 a day in 1993. I’m guessing that offseason training pay has at least doubled from those days since minimum wage has sextupled (thought you would like me throwing in a sex reference to make my stories a little racier and exciting) since the days of minimum wage being $50,000. Aren’t football stories about sex and money incredibly exhilarating?

With the Bucs usually boasting about incredible participation rates by their players, they are saving more money this offseason than other teams. At 50 players at $200 a day, that’s $10,000 a day or $40,000 a month not flowing out of their bank accounts. In the “good-old-days” we used to eat breakfast before we came to work and paid for our own lunch after, but in these recent economic boon days for the NFL, teams have gourmet food available for both of those meals every day. While that food cost could range widely and wildly, it is a cost not expensed for the last three months by any NFL team.

OTA’s, or Official Team Activities, have been completed eliminated from the schedule and those usually add significantly to the offseason training budget because they put more players up in hotels and feed them dinner, the most expensive meal of the day or give them cash per diem.

Immediately following the draft, the race is on to sign the best rookie free-agents. Now that there are only seven rounds to the draft, more quality rookies are on the streets and can require higher signing bonuses to acquire their services. While these aren’t the multi-million dollar signing bonuses that will be paid to the likes of Adrian Clayborn when the lockout ends, they are still in the $10-25,000 range and would buy quite a bit of gasoline and groceries for the employees that never got a signing bonus like that in their lives.

From what I understand, NFL teams don’t start missing “real” money until games start dropping from the schedule, so am I missing something here?  The owners are making the hoi polloi miss paychecks in May, when they won’t miss any until the middle of September. At this point, training camp is a heavy August expense that won’t have to be incurred if things continue to stall in the legal process.

It would be great to get some clarification from One Buc Place on this perplexing matter, but that will have to wait a while. Because they’re on “vacation” this week.

Last year when Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik coughed up extra cash for wide receiver Dezmon Briscoe to pry him off of Cincinnati’s practice squad, always angry Marvin Lewis lashed out at Dominik and the Bucs for what he perceived as an underhanded move.

In reality, Lewis needed to look no further than that NFL version of Fred Mertz, Lewis’ boss who may be the cheapest owner in sports.

Speaking to Cincinnati.com this weekend, Bucs coach Raheem Morris was golfing with Lewis and waved off any suggestion that Lewis doesn’t like Morris.

At last week’s Marvin Lewis Golf Classic, Morris discounted the notion of a feud and said that both get along well.

“That’s business, this is about the community and the bigger picture,” Morris said. “It’s not about whether you have a disagreement on the field or whether I like him on game day.

“I wanted to come in for Marvin and be supportive of him because he’s always been supportive of me.”

Well that’s nice to read but Joe is too much of a cynic. Could it be that Lewis, once one of the NFL’s best defensive assistants, sees that Mertz could cut him loose after this year and then Lewis could land in Tampa to work with Morris?

"Jimminy Christmas, can't someone find me a red vest so I can look like Jim Tressel? If I don't get one I'll punch somebody like Woody Hayes."

With the Japan-like earthquake that erupted this morning in Columbus with the resignation of Buckeyes coach Jim Tressel, there is already talk of former Bucs Super Bowl-winning coach Chucky taking his place.

Joe’s hurting and it’s not from the multiple adult beverages he had last night, it’s from laughing so hard.

Joe may have written this before, so let’s be clear: Chucky would be a horrific college football coach.

In college football, the coach has to be half-salesman, half-coach, unless you are JoePa where your name is big enough so you don’t have to recruit and can pull in millions of booster dollars without having to make small talk to a bunch of rubes.

During his time in Tampa Bay, Chucky possessed none of the traits necessary to succeed in college. Chucky despised the pen and mic club — unless they were going to give him a handsome check. Chucky was less than honest virtually all the time. Chucky hardly made himself an ambassador with the general public.

Oh, sure, Chucky could turn on the charm when he wanted to. But after a while, people began to see right through it.

A college coach has to be able to recruit. Given Chucky’s ability to judge talent in the draft, imagine what he’d be like with 18-year old kids?

Also, as he often admitted, Chucky’s not a patient guy. He loathed working with young players as an NFL coach. Just how would anyone expect him to work with players who aren’t even old enough to legally buy a bottle of beer?

Then there is Chucky’s offense, perhaps the most complex in the NFL. It is believed that it often would take a young quarterback four years to fully grasp Chucky’s offense. Bill Callahan tried this at Nebraska. How’d that work out?

Joe just can’t imagine Chucky going from house to house during recruiting season, begging an 18-year old to play for him. Jake Plummer, yeah, but not a high school kid.

Then throw in the Ohio State crazies who ran Kirk Herbstreit out of the state and chased him off Twitter.

No, Chucky would be an unmitigated disaster in Columbus. Joe doesn’t hate Ohio State that badly. (Though Joe would love to see Chucky in Ann Arbor.)

Joe admits he was a little taken back yesterday when some commenters here blasted NFL Draft guru Justin “The Commish” Pawlowski of WDAE-AM 620 for expressing excitement over the pick of Adrian Clayborn.

The Commish’s love for the Clayborn pick shined through in a recent episode of JoeBucsFan TV. You can watch it here.

Some commented that The Commish’s draft-guru credibility took a hit because he had expressed negativity about Clayborn before the draft but was now smitten. Joe’s going to say that’s completey unfair. Pawlowski served up positives and negatives on Clayborn and all defensive ends two days before the draft (see below).

8. Adrian Clayborn – Iowa
6’3’’ – 281 lbs – 4.83
1st/2nd Round

Why The Commish would take him: I think you take Clayborn because of how well-rounded he is and how good he is in multiple areas. Clayborn has been a 3-year starter for Iowa, a captain, had a great work ethic, been productive, and has shown fantastic instincts. He has excellent technique against the run and in getting to the quarterback. Clayborn can be very good with the bull rush, but also shows many different moves to get to the quarterback.

Why The Commish would stay away: There are a few concerns with Clayborn.  First, it’s been reported that he has one arm shorter than the other arm which has forced him to only play RDE in his collegiate career. It’s also been reported that he has Erb’s Palsy that some teams are concerned about. In 2010, Clayborn saw his production really fall off after a great 2009 season.  I’ve heard people say that opposing offenses were keying on him, but you could say the same for Ryan Kerrigan and JJ Watt, and they were both very productive.  There are also some character concerns as Adrian Clayborn was arrested for assaulting a taxicab driver.

Commish’s Final Say: There are obviously many positives and negatives with Clayborn. I do think the Bucs have a good amount interest in him and he could end up being the pick. I do think there is risk, but Clayborn does have the talent to end up being very good in the NFL.

Comparison: Charles Grant – New Orleans Saints

The Commish also had Clayborn going 25th overall in his final mock draft, which was released the morning of the draft. 

25. Seattle Seahawks – Adrian Clayborn – DE – Iowa
6’3’’ – 281 lbs – 4.81
Needs: QB, OG, DE, DT, CB
Commish’s Take:  At first I thought the Seahawks might go with a quarterback, but now I’m  starting to think they’ll try and trade down or grab a defensive player.  Clayborn has his issues  and red flags, but is still a good player.

All Joe’s saying here is that ripping Pawlowski for doing an about-face on Clayborn isn’t accurate or fair. Joe’s not about to let the guy take it on the chin for no good reason.

The asinine lockout overseen by NFL chieftain Roger Goodell is really beginning to irritate Joe. There are a myriad of reasons to be hacked off about this, not the least of which is the effect it will have on the young Bucs.

Noted quarterback guru Brian Billick breaks down how the lockout may force some players to regress in their development in a FoxSports.com column.

While Billick didn’t mention any Bucs players that could stagnate, he believes if the Bucs are to be playing in mid- to late-January in 2012, there are specific second-year players that must improve.

If Tampa Bay is going to take that next big step and be as good as many think they will be, wide receivers Mike Williams and Arrelious Benn coupled with defensive lineman Gerald McCoy and Brian Price must have substantial increases in productivity in their second years.

Joe’s not so sure all four of those guys should be on that list. Williams just needs to play like he did his rookie year and he will be fine. McCoy was coming on strong when he was hurt. Benn was the same way.

Of the four Billick mentioned, Price is the guy a lot of eyeballs will be on.

Joe and every other Bucs fan knows the tough December home loss to the Lions crushed the Bucs playoff hopes. They win that game and they end up in the playoffs and the Packers aren’t in the postseason dance.

Today, Bucs linebacker Adam Hayward joined Tampa Bay Sports Central and shared somewhat troubling insight into that tough loss, during the WTOG-TV Ch. 44 show hosted by J.P. Peterson.

“We weren’t playing like ourselves. We went in there kind a flat. We were thinking, ‘Oh this is Detroit,”” Hayward said. “That’s how you get your butt wupped.”

Hayward went on to explain the Bucs learned a valuable lesson about playing consistently and not playing up or down to their competition, which Hayward said was an issue during the 2010 season.

Yeah, Hayward’s comments are old news from a great season, but it’s troubling nonetheless. How could the Bucs have possibly taken the Lions lightly after almost miraculously squeaking past the Redskins the previous week and needing the game to get in the playoffs?

If Hayward’s take is accurate, then Raheem Morris and his players really dropped the ball.

In another surefire Emmy award winning episode of JoeBucsFan TV, draft guru Justin “The Commish” Pawlowski, of WDAE-AM 620, makes bold statements as he assesses Day 2 of the Bucs draft.

So when did Josh Freeman begin commanding the respect that led to his current status of unquestioned leader of the Bucs?

TBO.com/Tampa Tribune beat writer Anwar Richardson offers up the answer, or at least Kellen Winsow’s take on the evolution.

Freeman helped erase a 13-point deficit at Miami. He led a go-ahead drive, running for 14 yards on first down and throwing to Winslow four times. Cadillac Williams scored on a 1-yard run to give the Bucs a 23-22 lead with 1:14 to play. The defense collapsed and the Bucs lost, 25-23.

Yet, that loss is when Freeman earned the leadership role on his team.

“We were driving the ball and it was like an ‘Any Given Sunday’ moment,” Winslow said. “He was like, ‘This is what I’m talking about. Let’s go. It’s us or them.’ I was like, ‘All right, this is the dude right here.’ “

Just more love and respect pouring in for Freeman. If you didn’t watch it yesterday, Joe highly recommends the recent Freeman video from Ch. 10.

For those nauseated because Joe published Winslow’s mere mention of the 2009 Miami loss, one of the great heinous Jim Bates Experiment collapses, Joe apologizes.

Summer’s almost here and you need a new ride — and a great deal. So head to Joe’s friends at Brandon Auto Mall by Ed Morse this weekend to check out their impressive inventory and spectacular professionalism. Or just click the image below to shop online right now.

A lot of Bucs fans spilled beer in frustration when they learned Team Glazer politely declined to have the Bucs featured in this year’s edition of HBO’s “Hard Knocks.”

But it seems Bucs star quarterback Josh Freeman endorses the denial. Speaking with video star Anwar Richardson of the Tampa Tribune, Freeman said the team doesn’t need the distractions the HBO crew would create.

“Obviously, it was going to be a distraction having HBO cameras,” Freeman said. “You have guys who are trying to show out and going out of character a little bit. For our team, obviously I’m not going to disagree with Raheem (Morris), Mark Dominik or the Glazers.”

Interestingly, when Richardson asked Freeman if he was concerned the Bucs won’t get the proper exposure without appearing on “Hard Knocks,” Freeman responded he was more concerned about wins.

In Joe’s eyes, that’s the perfect response.

Fantastic WTSP-TV video here of Josh Freeman detailing the Bucs’ local workouts and how he’s training with guys four or five times a week — current Bucs and former Bucs.

Joe suggests you invest the time to watch this. Freeman is setting an incredible standard of leadership.

That’s right, Joe’s good friend Justin “The Commish” Pawlowski, the sometimes Saturday host on WDAE-AM 620, has been granted airtime today by the generous programming gods at Clear Channel Tampa Bay and will entertain and educate listeners beginning at 1 p.m.

Hhhmmm, what will Justin talk about? Oh, yeah, the Bolts incredible, yet sad, finish in the Eastern Conference Finals. Then there’s David Price’s masterpiece for the Rays. Plus Joe will join The Commish to talk all things Bucs around 2 p.m.

Another great show from The Commish is on the way.

With all the tension of the last day or two, Joe thought this was a good time to roll out another episode of JoeBucsFan TV. NFL Draft guru and WDAE-AM 620 personality Justin “The Commish” Pawlowski tells all to believe in Adrian Clayborn.

Bucs center and captain Jeff Faine has reacted to the criticism leveled at him by JoeBucsFan.com in a big way today.

Earlier this week Faine said in a radio interview that he didn’t want to attend team workouts in Tampa led by Josh Freeman and said he didn’t see the value in it. Joe criticized Faine for not acting — or communicating — like a captain.

Today Faine penned an open letter now published on TampaBay.com and spoke to J.P. Peterson on WQYK-AM 1010. Faine told Peterson it is “ludricous for me for me to have to defend my leadership” and went on to say he will attend future Bucs workouts with his teammates.

Here’s his verbatim letter on TampaBay.com:

Open letter from Jeff Faine:

I don’t typically respond to blogs but I found it necessary to respond to a recent post when my dedication to my team and the quality of my character as a captain was questioned.  The Buccaneers fans deserve to hear the truth directly from me.  There is nothing more I’d rather be doing than going through the offseason program and preparing for the upcoming season with my teammates on our journey to compete for a championship.

Back in February when I was asked about the feasibility of organizing player workouts, I wasn’t questioning Josh Freeman’s ability as a leader, I was more saying how difficult it will be for any individual to logistically get the entire team together for an offseason program comparable to one organized by the Buccaneers.  If I wasn’t clear on that matter, I apologize.

I can assure you that my dedication to my team, the Buccaneers organization and the Tampa community has never wavered.  I take pride in sharing not only football experience, but life skills and business knowledge that my teammates can use after their football careers end.  This quality is why I have been voted a captain the past three years.  It would be tough to find a player in this league that wears that captain’s patch with more pride.

As Josh well knows, the relationship between a center and the quarterback is of utmost importance and he knows that I support him completely in his efforts to prepare during the lockout.  Although I missed the first three days of field work in Tampa because of prior commitments, I will be part of future sessions to build team camaraderie.  As professionals, we are all accountable for our training and preparation regardless of where we live in the off season.  I can assure you I will do all I can to continue to build on our team success from last season.

 Go Bucs!
Jeff Faine

Joe’s glad to see Faine has done an aboutface and now has determined his presence is valuable at Bucs workouts in Tampa.

Joe considers this matter closed and wishes Faine the best of luck.

Unlike a certain center and team captain, Aqib Talib has not turned down Josh Freeman’s invitation to work out with his teammates in Tampa.

NFC South blogger Pat Yasinskas, of the BSPN syndicate, reports that the former helmet-wielding, cabbie-slugging Talib is a regular. The recently indicted cornerback is working on both sides of the ball.

Teammates said Talib has been coming out to players-only workouts run by quarterback Josh Freeman on a fairly regular basis this offseason. The workouts have been mostly for offensive players, but the teammates said Talib has gone through workouts in the weight room and worked as a wide receiver on the field. The teammates said Talib sometimes will line up at cornerback and shadow receivers on their routes, but no contact is allowed and he’s been one of the few defensive players to show up.

Kudos to Talib, who played some receiver during his college days at Kansas. Hopefully, none of the Bucs there decides to tease him with a mother joke.

In all seriousness, Talib’s attendance illustrates what a tough call Mark Dominik and Raheem Morris likely will have to make on Talib’s future, assuming he cuts a deal on his pending felony assault charge in Texas and stays out of prison.

Obviously, Talib’s attendance shows he has the support of his teammates.

Despite the spin the suits will spew, nothing good can come of this asinine lockout, choreographed by NFL strongman Roger Goodell. Joe could smell this miles away.

Even Tom Jones of the St. Petersburg Times realizes this. In a chat he had at his newspaper’s site yesterday, Jones pointed toward the depressing union-first Jeff Faine fiasco as Exhibit-A of how the asinine lockout is hurting the Bucs.

Comment From LeoInCanada
Hey Tom, thanks for hosting today. What’s your take on Faine avoiding Bucs player workouts while praising the Saints for theirs?

Tom Jones
I don’t know all of the details of the Faine situation, but it was unfortunate to hear about it. I think this was one of the fears about a lockout mess this offseason for the Bucs. They were coming off such a solid season, a foundation-building season and, suddenly, everything is up in the air. The Bucs are still so young that they really needed the structure of a routine offseason. I’ve felt all along that an offseason full of uncertainly won’t hurt veteran teams out there, but could stunt the growth of a young team such as the Bucs.

Popular sports radio personality Adam Schein spoke of this as well with Josh Freeman earlier this week heard exclusively on SiriusXM NFL Radio: That the Bucs had major momentum built during the 2010 season to carry over into the offseason and it has been blown up thanks to the asinine lockout.

Now, instead of building upon that in the offseason and in OTAs, a team captain (in title only) like Faine is more concerned with ironing slacks than bonding and pumping weights with his teammates.

If you can tolerate the often wacky use of the English language by the British, The Guardian has penned an interesting article on how shrewd Team Glazer has turned around the finances at Manchester United and is building a manbeast of a cash cow.

The team is again the toast of England and much of the world, and it can take its investment over the top by the winning the European Championship on Saturday. That game will grace or pollute  — depending on your perspective — the American FOX Sports airwaves at 2 p.m.

Barely a week goes by without a new sale being rung up by the growing commercial operation that operates out of the heart of upmarket offices 206 miles away from Old Trafford. On Wednesday it was a deal with Honda to sell Manchester United branded scooters in Thailand.

The future vision is for a gaggle of pre-match reporters on the pitch at Old Trafford, delivering bespoke content in different languages that will then be distributed via “triple-play deals” with mobile phone, internet and TV companies and into which can be inserted locally targeted digital ads on advertising hoardings. The Glazers have sensibly left the Manchester “football” operation, overseen by David Gill and Ferguson, to largely run itself.Therefore the mythology and romance that fuels the marketing operation has endured even as it is ruthlessly sliced, diced and exploited around the world.

Insiders insist much of this strategic vision is down to the Glazers, who are far more hands on in the business side of the club than they are given credit for and are enthusiastic and passionate owners. Given their secretive business practices and refusal to speak to the media, we’ll never know.

Joe’s glad for Team Glazer, which has even all but silenced the mobs of haters they first encountered in England.

And perhaps there’s some comfort for Bucs fans knowing that the Glazers are building on their extraordinary success in the sports world, especially those who buy that the two teams’ finances are connected.

Though Joe doubts those One Buc Palace employees losing cash next week will share that sentiment.