Bucs and Storm Make for Full Saturday
(June 5, 2000)

Tampa Bay football put on quite a show for area fans this past Saturday. There was the Buccaneers FanFest at a sweltering Raymond James Stadium and the Storm's record setting rout before the largest crowd of the season at the Ice Palace. If fans attended both events, it certainly was a full day of football.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers annual FanFest, which ran from 9 am to 2 pm, drew over 20,000 people to RJS. Much is written about how difficult, if not impossible, it is for families to afford National Football League games. An event like FanFest does much to bridge the gap. Admission and most of the activities are free, while hotdogs and soft drinks were only a dollar. There are opportunities for autographs, to play games, check out the cheerleaders, listen to a live band and run around on the same playing surface that will host Super Bowl XXXV. Most monies raised by the event were earmarked for charity.

While it was a very hot day, fans did not seem to mind standing in the south end zone to participate in a question and answer session with the Bucs coaching staff. When head coach Tony Dungy said ""We think we can compete for a Super Bowl," the crowd roared. It was one of the highlights of the FanFest.

While the last Storm article on this web site was titled Storm Thursday Night Triumphs, that string came to an end on May 25 in Iowa. The stars of that Nashville Network telecast were Barnstormers Aaron Garcia and Mike Horacek. The Storm lead 20-14 after the first quarter, but were out scored 21-0 in the second on the way to 52-34 defeat. On a night when Iowa retired Kurt Warner's jersey, Garcia threw seven touchdown passes with Mike Horacek on the receiving end six times. Tim Marcum was not a happy camper. "Right now, we aren't a very good football team. I'm going to have to make some real painful decisions on personnel. Some guys that are not getting it done are going have to head down the road. That's all there is to it. It looks like we're going to have to get some new players in here."

What a difference a week can make. On Saturday, the Storm offense exploded and the records fell against Florida at the Ice Palace. When the final horn sounded, Tampa Bay posted a dominating 77-26 victory. How dominating? Records were set for largest margin of victory (51 points), most points scored at home and it was the worst defeat in the history of the Florida franchise. For the second time in three weeks, James Bowden set the record for all purpose yardage. He caught a team record tying twelve passes for 175 yards receiving with three touchdowns and added 170 yards on returns for a total of 345 yards. Lawrence Samuels also scored three touchdowns and Andre Bowden ran for two scores. John Kaleo threw for five touchdowns, was not picked off and he ran for a TD. Not that it was all offense for the home team, as the defense held the Bobcats to Storm record low of 73 yards. Tim Marcum became the first head coach in league history to win 100 regular season games. He was happier with his team's effort, "We just played a full game."

The Storm have a much needed week off and may be able to get some players healthy. The next game is June 17 at the Ice Palace against the Nashville Kats. As for the Buccaneers, they are looking at the New England Patriots on the first Sunday in September. As new offensive coordinator Les Steckel told the crowd at the Q&A at RJS, "Playing the Patriots in Foxboro, that's the focus right now."

It might have been a long day, but I'd do it again next year.