Not too many people in the fourth estate this side of Mel Kiper championed the cause of the Bucs drafting and now playing rookie quarterback Josh Freeman — no matter the consequences, no matter if he is ready — than BSPN.com’s Vacation Man, aka Pat Yasinskas.

Despite his long support for Freeman, Vacation Man, a former Bucs beat writer and current Tampa resident, isn’t giving the Kansas State product much time. Vacation Man is willing to give Freeman one year to prove his worth.

Jose S. (NYC)
Pat, if Josh Freeman does not show any promise for the remainder of this season and the first half of next, what is the next QB move for the Bucs?

Vacation Man
Hire a new coach and let him pick the QB.

Gee, for someone that appears to be in the tank for Freeman, that’s not much of an opportunity.

The dean of Tampa Bay sports radio, Steve Duemig, broke a story on 620 WDAE-AM yesterday about Aqib Talib and other Bucs significantly blowing curfew in London.

The result wasn’t pretty.

After the Bucs’ loss to New England, per Duemig citing an eyewitness, the curfew violators were confronted in the hotel lobby by a waiting Raheem The Dream and numerous F-bombs were fired from Talib’s mouth to Raheem The Dream’s ears.

Joe must note that the Bucs have not denied the report, and Joel Glazer has not issued a scathing response.

It happened.

Surely, Talib will be fined yet again. Whether it be paying fat hourly wages to defense attorneys, numerous team fines, bar tabs for Torrie Cox, and no doubt soon a civil suit payoff to a cab driver, Talib is a walking ATM these days.

What concerns Joe most is the lack of internal leadership within the Bucs locker room. What has multiple players thinking it’s OK to be 0-7 and bust curfew?

Does this happen if Derrick Brooks is on the team?

It was Raheem The Dream who labeled Talib “wild child” after he got in trouble shortly after being drafted by the Bucs in 2008.

It’s time for Raheem The Dream to drop serious discipline on his bad apple before he spoils the whole young bunch.

Still thinking about what to do tonight?

Why limit your options. Head over to Derby Lane in St. Petersburg for an unbelievable buffet in the Derby Club and enjoy live greyhound racing, poker tournaments and live action play into the wee hours. And you won’t miss any college football while you’re there.

Total fun.

So there’s Josh Freeman in the huddle at practice with his teammates hanging on his every word as he calls a play. And there’s Jeff Faine barking at the rookie, “Speak up!”

This was one glimpse Faine gave into the maturation process of Freeman, during an interview on 1010 AM on Friday.

Faine tossed aside the politically correct ramblings that flow from most players’ mouths while addressing the media and talked about how Freeman has the physical tools but needs to work on his leadership.

Faine talked about how Freeman needs to lose his soft-spoken guy aura. “It’s one of the things I’m trying to help him with.”

Joe isn’t surprised to learn about this being an area of weakness for Freeman. And surely he can step up and take command of the team, especially if he plays pretty well.

But Joe also has to wonder. What if it becomes obvious he’s clearly not ready to take this on, especially given the pressure of a horrendous team and an angry fan base?

Raheem The Dream can’t take him out of the lineup. There’s no turning back.

As talk of helmet-wielding Aqib Talib getting into yet another confrontation swirls (Joe will bring you that later), Joe thought it might be a good time offer the latest on Talib’s legal troubles.

In the case of the State vs. Talib, who allegedly clocked a cab driver in the back of the head while the cabbie sped along I-275 and Talib was intoxicated in the back seat, the court system is moving things along.

Talib’s arraignment on his midemeanor battery charge is on Nov. 9.

Talib has signed a waiver so he doesn’t have to appear in court for that, and he’s waived his right to a speedy trial. Mr. Talib also has filed his written plea of “not guilty.”

Jeff Faine says he was in the center of Thursday's skirmish at Bucs practice

Things got a little nasty as the Bucs practiced in full pads and their throwback helmets Thursday in a final workout before their bye weekend vacation.

No, this is not a post about a player clobbering a teammate with his helmet. That guy was given the day off to meet with his attorney nurse an injury.

But there still was a good practice field fight on Thursday, so said Bucs center Jeff Faine.

Speaking Friday on 1010 AM, Faine said the entire offensive line got into it with rookie defensive end Kyle Moore, who has yet to play in the regular season. Faine wasn’t too specific but made it clear he personally was went after Moore — “twice.”

Faine said such heated practice exchanges can be good for the team but he avoided explaining how or why Moore set off the O-line. In fact, Faine wouldn’t even say the rookie’s full name.

“It’s just Moore. Rookies don’t have first names,” Faine said.

Former Bucs great and current NFL Network analyst Warren Sapp has never been one to hold back his opinions. One such opinion is the promotion of rookie Josh Freeman to the Bucs starting quarterback position.

In Friday’s chat with Sapp on NFL.com, Sapp tore apart the decision.

Jennifer, Tampa
Hi Warren! Do you think the Bucs are doing the right thing by starting Freeman or should they have let Josh Johnson handle the rest of the season?

Warren Sapp, NFL Network
Nope. Nope. Nope. You don’t have an OC. This is your third QB. What’s different about the people on the field? You went from a veteran to a young guy to a rookie. You want experience at that position … they’re going in the wrong direction.

Joe has no further comment.

Joe brings you the power rankings from various national media outlets for the Bucs bye week. It ain’t pretty folks.

Mike Sando of BSPN has the Bucs at No. 30.

With nine games left, is it too soon to hand over the offense to rookie Josh Freeman?

Adrian Hasenmayer of FoxSports.com is even more harsh with the Bucs dead last.

With all due respect to young QB Josh Johnson, this should have been Josh Freeman’s gig the entire time — tough Tampa schedule or not. With the Bucs headed into a bye week, the rookie first-rounder will get all the first-team reps for the rest of the season in what will be very accurately portrayed as “learning under fire.”

Pete Prisco of CBSSports.com isn’t as rough on the Bucs, ranking them at No. 30.

One has to wonder if Raheem Morris will make it longer than one year. There are doubts about it now.

Clifton Brown of SportingNews.com predicts bad things for the Bucs at No. 31.

Look at their schedule, and look at their team. A winless season is quite possible.

Knox Bardeen of Fanhouse.com also has the Bucs deadlast at No. 32.

The Bucs enter their bye week with a huge decision looming over their heads. The season is lost and Josh Johnson is floundering. Is it time to hand the quarterback job to the future of the franchise, Josh Freeman? Whoever is throwing the ball in Tampa, don’t expect too many wins from here on out.

Is Raheem the Dream beginning to crack under the pressure of being 0-7 in his first season as Bucs head coach?

The Bucs are taking a four-day weekend thanks to the bye — Joe will write about that in a moment — but Joe noticed some very curious comments from Raheem the Dream.

Joe is trying to figure out who he is calling out.

In a rare admission (?) of guilt or fingerpointing by an NFL head coach, Raheem the Dream claimed he could sense, or is just now realizing, that months ago the Bucs were being shaped into a potential winless season, detailed by Tom Balog of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

Morris said that this slide into NFL oblivion has been long in coming for the Buccaneers, dating back to the offseason, when their identity as a winless team began to take shape.

”We actually talked about it this morning. Losing doesn’t start, going 0-7 doesn’t start yesterday. It didn’t start at the beginning of the season when we played Dallas,” Morris said. “It started in weight training, it started in OTA days, it started in training camp.

”Everything we’ve done to this point is who we are. These guys are holding up, but we’ve got to do more than hold up. We’re not in here to hold up. Holding up gets you to 0-7. We’re here to fight through, we’re here to power through, we’re here to be our best selves. We’re not about holding up.”

What exactly Morris trying to say?

Is he starting to crack, dropping veiled hints that he’s not getting enough support from high above at One Buc Palace?

Is Raheem the Dream taking a swipe at general manager Mark Dominik?

Is Raheem the Dream admitting that he hired a bunch of louses as assistants?

Or could Raheem the Dream be dropping hints that maybe he’s having second thoughts about even accepting the gig as Bucs head coach?

Raheem the Dream is calling someone out — maybe himself — but Joe can’t quite put a finger on who.

As for the four-day weekend, unless — which is quite possible — there is something written in the NFL’s contract with the NFLPA, all but a handful of these guys should be busting their rear ends off at One Buc Palace if they had any pride.

Sammie Stroughter, have fun back home on the west coast.

Donald Penn, take off for some time in the Bahamas.

Aqib Talib, party hearty anywhere you want, just hire a limo and stay away from cabbies?

Cadillac Williams, do anything you want so long as you rest those knees.

The rest of this winless team — especially your wet-behind-the-ears rookie starting quarterback who is about to make his first start against Dom Capers’ defense  — should be spending 14-hour days at One Buc Palace practicing, lifting and pouring over tape.

Why a winless team is getting a four-day weekend is beyond Joe.

Before he was hit with a gag order by Clear Channel management, WTSP-TV Channel 10 was able to snag an interview with suspended WDAE-AM 620 morning host Dan Sileo over his inaccurate report that the Glazers were near bankruptcy thanks to investing with financial scoundrel Bernie Madoff and were about to sell the Bucs to cover their losses.

Joe is sad to learn that former Bucs quarterback Shaun King, one of only three men to lead the Bucs to an NFC championship game as the starting signal-caller, was recently let go by BSPN.

But not for that reason.

Usually when BSPN lets go of an on-air personality, it’s for some sexual dalliance, whether it be (allegedly) sexting or getting to know a co-worker in the Biblical sense.

That is not the case with King.

Joe is sad to learn this. Joe enjoyed listening, the few times he watched King on BSPN (because, other than college football or basketball games, Joe avoids the four-letter like the plague). King was insightful, intelligent, and a likable personality.

Joe got to briefly know King when he was the highly successful offensive coordinator at Gibbs High School in St. Petersburg just after his NFL playing days. Joe had also interviewed King a time or two when he was the Bucs quarterback.

Here’s to hoping King lands on his feet for a superior operation like, say, the NFL Network.

And if you happen to be cheating yourself by not having the NFL Network, Joe kindly asks, “What’s the matter with you?”

Be a man. Get the NFL Network!

Vacation Man of BSPN discusses why the Bucs pulled the trigger on starting Josh Freeman against Green Bay. Joe already found a hole in Vacation Man’s premise. Let’s see if any of Joe’s readers catch it as well.

Joe is often asked about his favorite beer. That would be Caybrew, the dynamite lager from the Cayman Islands.

When Joe has ice cold Caybrew in his hand and a game on the tube, all Joe needs is Jenn Sterger holding him and heaven on earth will be achieved.

So where to find this Caybrew? A list of intelligent bars, restaurants and retailers can be found here.

But today there is a special Caybrew tasting with the glorious Caybrew girls at World of Wine at 3431 South Westshore Blvd. in Tampa beginning at 6 p.m. Come early or come late. It’s going to be a great time.

That’s right. Caybrew girls. They’re as fine as the beer.

Talk of the Bucs being sold, even though it was grossly inaccurate, has once again got Bucs fans worked up.

And one of the area’s more influential residents is again being talked about.

Eddie DeBartlolo, Jr., was the former owner of the San Francisco 49ers during their glory years. He was considered by many the perfect owner. He would stop at nothing to get a winning team.

His 49ers were the first team to win five Super Bowls.

Unlike Jerry Jones, DeBartolo was not a glory hound. Unlike Danny Snyder, he was not a cold, ruthless tyrant, sticking his nose all too often into the football operations.

But DeBartolo’s empire crumbled when he was forced to sell controlling share of the 49ers to his sister when, as detailed in the Los Angeles Times, in 1998, DeBartolo pleaded guilty to a felony charge of failing to report that Louisiana’s former governor, Edwin Edwards, had extorted money from him to win a casino license. The NFL then fined DeBartolo $1 million and suspended him for the 1999 season, ending his rule of the 49ers.

DeBartolo, after the false rumors were started by Sileo, has made no secret of his desire to buy the Bucs as he told the Los Angeles Times, via ProFootballTalk.com.

“If a situation came about with something as close as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, I would be a moron not to at least look into it and be somewhat interested.”

As has been pointed out several times over the years, the Glazers aren’t selling the Bucs. If that day were ever to come, Joe couldn’t think of a better candidate to own the Bucs than DeBartolo.

In a somewhat surprising, quick move, management at WDAE-AM 620 has admitted that morning host Dan Sileo was wrong in some of his claims about the Glazer Family, owners of the Bucs. Yesterday, Sileo claimed the Glazers were victims of financial thief Bernie Madoff and therefore selling the team.

Sileo claimed he had insider information that the Glazer Family had lost some $400 million in investments with Madoff and as a result were near bankruptcy and were about to sell the Bucs in order to pay off their debts.

Sileo’s apparently baseless claims brought out a rare yet quick and scathing statement from Joel Glazer, co-chairman of the Bucs, who hinted at legal action against Sileo and his employer, Clear Channel, which is the parent company of WDAE. Among other things, Glazer referred to Sileo’s claims as “slanderous.”

This morning, WDAE has been broadcasting what amounts to a public service announcement from WDAE program director Mike Killabrew, which is also on the WDAE website:

“During a broadcast Thursday, 10/29/09 on WDAE morning host Dan Sileo made some statements about the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Glazer Family that were factually inaccurate.

We sincerely apologize for these statements and hereby issue a full retraction.”

As a result of his actions, Sileo, who has a long, documented track record of playing with the truth, was suspended yesterdayby WDAE indefinitely.

As Joe wrote yesterday, given Joe’s decades of experience in print journalism, if anyone is going to make claims like Sileo did from unnamed sources, you better have mounds of documented proof such as bank records and/or court documents to prove your case.

Naturally, Sileo had none of these.

With a few adjustments, Stylez G. White could be a major sack machine, writes former Bucs DE Steve White.

JoeBucsFan.com analyst and former Bucs defensive end Steve White isn’t just about breaking down defensive line play like no other.

White lives and breathes Bucs football, and his blog is filled with quality Bucs takes that only a hardcore football man could provide.

Joe recommends you put White’s blog in your favorites. Just before Josh Freeman was named starting quarterback, White churned out a top-10 wish list for the Bucs during the bye week. Joe’s plucked No. 3 for you to read here; it’s a personal favorite.

3. Greg (Stylez) White needs to develop a spin move. White is a really good speed rusher and uses his hands really well against offensive tackles, but he gets run by the quarterback a lot. Many times this is a function of the opposing quarterback stepping up in the pocket and none of our inside guys being there to make the sack. If White were to stop about a step deeper than the level of the quarterback, get low and take a hard step with his inside foot, swing his outside arm around and pivot inside he would be right there to make a lot more sacks. I like the hump move that he uses at times but its not really a good counter move for his speed rushes. Rushing from the right side means that a lot of the time the B gap to his side will be open because most teams normally have their formation strengths to the defense’s left the majority of the time. For that reason there is a natural lane that most quarterbacks are going to step up into. If he can develop that spin move this week and is able to start mixing it as a late counter off his speed rush, it will be like taking candy from a baby and our pass rush over all will significantly improve.

See, Joe told you White breaks it down like no other. The man needs one of those telestrators with the fancy markers.

Amidst all the gloom and doom for Josh Freeman taking over the starting quarterback job, Joe has found someone who thinks Freeman is not only ready and special, but a leader in the huddle, too.

That someone is Earnest Graham.

Speaking Tuesday evening on 1010 AM, Graham told host J.P. Peterson that Freeman is the real deal. And that was the day before Freeman was named the starter.

“Josh has definitely been getting more reps in practice. And he’s been looking great. I mean he looks like a pro quarterback,” Graham said. “From his stature, to the way he releases the ball, how quick he gets the ball out, the way he operates in the huddle, I think the guy’s ready.

“I think when that time comes Josh Freeman’s going to do a great job. He throws one of the most catchable balls. I mean, if you’re a receiver out of the backfield, it’s always 100 percent of the time a tight spiral. He throws the ball without having to force any velocity on it. He doesn’t force  it…It’s always a tight spiral and it’s always in a great spot. I mean he throws a catchable ball every time.”

The quote almost doesn’t do Graham’s comments justice. Graham’s voice inflections were those of a guy extraordinarily impressed with Freeman. (Joe tips his cap to Big Papi for the audio.)

Joe sure hopes Graham is miraculously correct, and Freeman is indeed ready.

Hours after he claimed the Glazer Family, owners of the Bucs, were near bankruptcy as a result of being involved in Bernie Madoff’s financial scams and likely to sell the Bucs to pay off their debts, Clear Channel, the parent company of WDAE-AM 620, suspended morning host Dan Sileo.

Thursday morning, Sileo, not exactly a credible source of reliable information, threw out all sorts of accusations about the Glazers’ financial status and future of the Bucs. Sileo boasted he would have more information later Friday.

Shortly after Sileo’s show, Joel Glazer, making a rare public statement, harshly scolded both Sileo and Clear Channel hinting at seeking legal action for what Glazer deemed, among other things, “slanderous.”

As a result, Clear Channel suspended Sileo until an investigation can be completed reports Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune.

Sileo reported this morning that the Glazer family was among the plethora of high-profile victims in the Madoff scheme and is considering bankruptcy. Sileo also said the Ponzi losses have led to the family being $650 million in debt, and he surmised the team may be for sale.

“The report today by WDAE’s Dan Sileo about our family and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is 100 percent false,” Glazer said in a statement released by the team.

Sileo, who hosts the early morning show on WDAE, quoted a “friend” who works with the Securities and Exchange Commission as saying the Glazers lost $440 million in the Ponzi scheme.

Joe has heard the audio and Joe will say only this: Given Joe’s decades in print journalism, if someone, anyone, makes such claims from an unnamed source(s), that person better have rock solid evidence the claims are 100 percent accurate beyond a shadow of a doubt.

Given Sileo’s background and track record, just on face value, Joe thought Sileo’s claims were dubious at best.

Let’s be honest here: Some of the most reputable newspapers, both American and international, including the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, The Times of London, the Miami Herald, and various New York and English tabloids, have scoured Madoff’s records and files as well as government documents and none of these organizations’ teams of investigators have found even a hint of a financial connection between Madoff and the Glazers.

How a sports radio host in Tampa with a chequered past could find this information on his own, well, it’s a stretch for Joe.

Joel Glazer

In a scathing press release on Buccaneers.com, Bucs co-chairman Joel Glazer pulled no punches, going after WDAE-AM 620 morning host Dan Sileo.

Sileo, a former Bucs player who has a chequered past, claimed, in so many words, the Glazer family was a victim of Bernie Madoff’s scams and as a result, have put the Bucs up for sale to cover their losses.

Glazer blasted Sileo. Joe is posting the release in full:

 

Statement Regarding False Report
Oct 29, 2009

Statement by Joel Glazer, Co-Chairman, Tampa Bay Buccaneers:

“The report today by WDAE’s Dan Sileo about our family and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is 100 percent false.

“The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are not, nor have they ever been for sale. In addition, our family or any of our related companies have never invested one penny with Bernie Madoff.

“The report is baseless, irresponsible and slanderous. This type of behavior by Mr. Sileo and his company Clear Channel will be dealt with in the appropriate manner.”

Only thing Joe has to say is, “WOW!”

NFL.com scribe Jason LaCanfora, of NFL.com, is hardly touting the Josh Freeman era in this video.

“The expectations here are pretty low,” LaCanfora says. 

Of course, intelligent Bucs fans expect little from Freeman this season. But Joe can’t help but wonder why he can’t find one national talking head, often an uninformed boob, who is high on Freeman and thinks he can have a strong impact.

Freeman said he’s better than Mark Sanchez. Doesn’t anyone believe him?

This video — no embed codes courtesy of warden Roger Goodell — also includes a film package of Freeman’s action against New England. Let’s hope Jeff Faine never gets beat again like he does in this video.