Bucs Fans Do Laughlin
(September 20, 2000)

Earlier this month, my wife and I took a trip out west. We spent some time in Arizona, saw the appropriately named Grand Canyon, then went to Nevada. We spent a couple of days in Laughlin and the trip concluded in Las Vegas. Laughlin is a small town along the Colorado River which exists only because of casino gambling. We were there when the Bucs played their home opener at Raymond James Stadium.

My wife said people could tell we were tourists. That Sunday, we both had on our Tampa Bay Buccaneers T-shirts and she was wearing her gray, I mean pewter, shorts. On the way down to the sports book to watch the game, someone commented "Hey, I bet on them today."

I grabbed a cup of coffee and headed to the sports book at the Edgewater Hotel, where we stayed, to watch the game. The three hour time difference, and a late night playing blackjack, made the 10 a.m. kickoff time seem early. I expected a large crowd to gather for the NFL games, but more people seemed interested in betting on the ponies than watching football. While it was great to watch some half dozen games on a bank of television sets, the experience was far more subdued than I anticipated.

The Bucs and Bears play a scoreless first quarter, a typical Bucs-Bears game I thought. Prior to the game, I had thought of betting the under, and was kicking myself at that point. Remember the last time they met at RJS? It was a 6-3 affair. I did not except the Buccaneers to go on to the biggest winning margin in team history, a 41-0 blowout. Actually, I left in the third quarter knowing full well the Bears would not be able to come back on the Bucs defense. The sports book featured a dull group anyway.

That evening, while riding the water taxi on the Colorado River, someone noticed our Buccaneers shirts and made a comment about us being 2-0. Now, we're 3-0. Vacation time is over, now it is time for some football.