"Never been an athlete whose basic decency has come easier to him"; Gary Shelton on Lee Roy Selmon and the giant shadow he cast on a Florida community

"I appreciated the game, and I wanted to play it with my best effort, but I didn't want it to define my life." -Lee Roy Selmon

A Florida community grieves for someone whose performance was legendary and whose word was golden.

Early on Sunday morning, following a head's up from a friend in New York who works for a TV network, I read this terrific column online and knew that it captured perfectly the man and the sad mood of people I know throughout the U.S. who know and love college football and the NFL, and who know the real deal when they see it. And Lee Roy Selmon was the real deal.

St. Petersburg Times

The measure of Tampa Bay Buccaneers' Lee Roy Selmon's greatness is off the field

By Gary Shelton, Times Sports Columnist

In Print: Saturday, September 3, 2011

The measure of a man is not in the games he plays. Deep down, to the twisted pits of your soul where you feel pain over Lee Roy Selmon, you know that. He was a great football player, a terrific, inspired football player. There is no arguing that. Selmon was perhaps the best to play in Tampa Bay, and perhaps the best to play in Oklahoma, one of the best to play anywhere. He won awards, and he reached halls of fame, and he defined excellence. You can choose that definition of Selmon, if you wish. Or you can remember something greater about a man who has been far more than a football player.

The measure of a man is not in the money he makes. It is not whether he has an expressway named after him, or a restaurant, or if his name is in the Bucs' Ring of Honor. It is not a bust in the Hall of Fame, or a statue that may be built on his college campus, or in the memories of a thousand black and white photographs from his playing days.

In the case of Selmon, the measure of him and his meaning should be measured by the shadow he has cast. By the lives touched. By the grace shown.

Read the rest of the column at

http://www.tampabay.com/sports/football/bucs/former-tampa-bay-bucs-great-lee-roy-selmon-dies-two-days-after-suffering-a/1189808

The sad cover story in today's Times, at top, was penned by Rick Stroud.

St. Petersburg Times

Former Tampa Bay Bucs great Lee Roy Selmon dies two days after suffering a stroke

By Rick Stroud, Times Staff Writer

In Print: Monday, September 5, 2011

TAMPA

As stunned as his loved ones, friends and colleagues were about the suddenness of his death, it was the graceful, dignified and exemplary life of Lee Roy Selmon that they remembered most on Sunday.

The first player drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and their only member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame died at St. Joseph's Hospital on Sunday afternoon (Sept. 4, 2011) surrounded by family and friends, only two days after suffering a stroke at his Tampa home. Mr. Selmon was 56.

http://www.tampabay.com/sports/football/bucs/former-tampa-bay-bucs-great-lee-roy-selmon-dies-two-days-after-suffering-a/1189808

NFL Films video: Top 100 Greatest Players #98 Lee Roy Selmon - HD, HQ

http://youtu.be/-Ve6WIxalp0

I shudder to think about what this area will be like the day legendary former Dolphins head coach Don Shula passes away.

This area will be convulsed and I have no doubt whatsoever THAT will be the biggest Memorial/funeral in the recorded history of South Florida.

By far...

Most boring U.S. sports headline of year? Could be! 8/14 Miami Herald: "Miami Dolphins' Sparano's goal in preseason is evaluating his players"

My comments follow this early contender for worst -or most boring?- U.S. sports headline of the year, which can NOT be blamed on the reporter.

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Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/08/14/1775415/sparanos-main-goal-in-preseason.html

MIAMI DOLPHINS
Miami Dolphins' Sparano's goal in preseason is evaluating his players
By Jeff Darlington

Exhibition games aren't for everyone. Not for the established veterans who just want to stay healthy. Not for the casual fans who wish the score would count for something.
But for the coach?

"I have four preseason games right now, and I can't find enough time for some of the players that I have to see,'' Dolphins coach Tony Sparano said Thursday.

Balancing between the task of getting starters enough repetitions and evaluating little-known players, Sparano's agenda during Saturday's 7 p.m. preseason opener against the Tampa Bay will be slammed.

While he focuses on the details, fans will get an opportunity to watch some of the bigger themes of training camp play out.

5. CORNERBACK DEPTH

In the wake of cornerback Will Allen's arthroscopic knee surgery, it has become clear that backups Jason Allen and Nolan Carroll are being pegged as the two players capable of filling his role. Carroll is a rookie, and Jason Allen hasn't lit up the world as a cornerback during his career, meaning the upcoming preseason games will provide coaches with the best proof possible to see if their strong training camp is the real deal. Both figure to get plenty of repetitions once Sparano has decided Sean Smith and Vontae Davis have seen enough playing time to justify sitting them down. So just because the starters might wind up seated by halftime, this preseason opener should provide at least a few reasons to watch.

4. SAFETY CHRIS CLEMONS

Five months ago, the Dolphins were in hot pursuit of Steelers free safety Ryan Clark to fill a significant void. But Clark snubbed Miami. How did the Dolphins resolve the issue? By giving second-year safety Chris Clemons a chance to prove his worth. Sparano said Clemons has taken more than 400 repetitions during practice -- and he has only made one mental mistake. As a result, a strong performance against the Bucs will cause Sparano to declare him the first winner of a competition during training camp. Sparano noted that "if it goes well on Saturday, and he gets enough opportunities,'' Clemons will be the guy. "Chris has proven to me right now that I think he's going to be a pretty good player.''

3. INTERIOR OFFENSIVE LINE

Every time it appears the Dolphins have steered toward a certain combination of players at guard and center, somebody gets hurt. The latest victim of Miami's almost daily injury bug was Nate Garner, who was taking repetitions as the first-team left guard before aggravating a previous foot injury. Center Jake Grove is coming back from a bone bruise on his knee, but Joe Berger is expected to start against the Bucs. Rookie John Jerry is the likely starter on the right side, but the left guard position remains up in the air. It will take more than one game to settle this unit. As the competition plays out, Sparano could take looks at as many as four combinations throughout this game.

2. FRONT SEVEN

If you believe the Dolphins' offense is going to be the catalyst for Miami's overall success this season, then it's important to still realize why a young defense will need to click for any of the rest to matter. Defensive end Jared Odrick and linebacker Koa Misi are slated as rookie starters, linebacker Cameron Wake is trying to prove he's a three-down linebacker and nose tackle Randy Starks is transitioning to a new position. All four will play integral parts in the fate of the defense -- yet none of the four have any extensive body of work during games when it comes to those tasks. The upcoming preseason might be more critical for them than any other group on this roster.

1. HENNE TO MARSHALL

Quarterback Chad Henne is slated to play at least one quarter against the Bucs, Dolphins coach Tony Sparano said. He could play into the second quarter if the offense isn't on the field enough in the first, which should please fans for one reason: He'll have more than a few opportunities to connect with wide receiver Brandon Marshall. Despite a strong start to training camp, Henne and Marshall struggled in the team's only game-like format -- a scrimmage that took place last week. It was no reason to worry, but an exhibition against the Bucs could be the perfect way to prove it. Chemistry will be critical for the pair to flourish. They are getting along great, and Marshall seems to really like the way Henne throws the ball.

Reader comments from very unsophisticated South Florida football fans who make up for their lack of football smarts and historical knowledge and context by being very opinionated sycophants are at:
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/08/14/1775415/sparanos-main-goal-in-preseason.html?commentSort=TimeStampAscending&pageNum=1

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After reading this article this morning, I wrote the following and submitted it.

Thank you ladies and gentleman but you can stop sending in nominations now as we already have our most boring sports headline of the year: 8/14 Miami Herald: "Miami Dolphins' Sparano's goal in preseason is evaluating his players"

Actually, the honeymoon of sorts that Dolphin fans have given Sparano will end in late October if he can't start showing that he can actually out-coach someone once in a while.

While we're at it, how come Sparano was never quite able to figure out last year how to create a scenario for a super-talent like Pat White, who has been a legit difference-maker and great teammate his entire college career, where he could have some early success to help his confidence?

Frankly, it often looked to me like the team flat out quit on Pat White, and then his inexperience resulted in wasted opportunities or hasty turnovers. Don't give up on this kid. I still do NOT believe in Chad Henne, whether his self-evident staring-down of receivers or his lack of a 'touch,'Midas or otherwise, on thrown balls.
Far too often, he resembles a statue with a bazooka.

Interesting perhaps to look at in a museum, but his lack of mobility always makes me think he's about two seconds from either a concussion or a fumble.

He could've run for first downs so many times last year, too, yet stayed in the pocket too long, only to over-throw, under-throw or get sacked. His sense of inner timing is problematic, esp. in close games in the 4th Quarter.

After I got back early this evening from doing some errands and swinging by the beach to read some newspapers, political direct mail and make some notes and organize my thoughts about some things I need to write about here in the future, I went back to the article above.
Wow!

The Hectors in Hialeah and Mikes in South Miami do not like critical scrutiny of the Dolphins.

Not that this is a surprise to me, though, as you'll get no argument from me that South Florida sports fans are THE most ignorant in all of the major North American cities having pro teams, and the sports radio here proves it everyday.
Listening is the proof.

There are STILL people defending Randy Shannon everyday who say he should get a few more YEARS as the University of Miami's head football coach before any decision is made.
YEARS!

So after perusing some of the predictably dopey reader comments before the game started, I cobbled together some more thoughts to respond.
It was fun to write but not all of it would fit, but here it is:

Reading the reader comments to my earlier comments has been pretty funny.

I could mention that my first Dolphin home game was in 1970, that I first went to summer training camp at the then-Biscayne College 2-3 times a week in '71, that I purchased the first copy of Dolphin Digest -when that was really a new concept- at the mobile snack bar north of the scorching-hot metal bleachers.

That I was at MIA to greet the team with thousands of others after their '71 Christmas Day playoff OT win against the Chiefs, had season tickets for the first time in the '72 Perfect Season, only missed one home game -preseason, regular and playoff in eight years until I left for college.

Or, that I actually got to know some of the players personally who were most responsible for their glory days, even baby-sitting kids from time-to-time whose Dolphin father made it into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Or that I've forgotten more Dolphin history than 99% of you will ever know. I like him, but if White ends up being a bust with the Dolphins, Y-O-U and the Herald's sycophants have to blame Parcells for wasting an early second round pick, no?

Or that with the easiest schedule in the NFL, the Dolphins made the playoffs but lost, while the Steelers, with the most difficult schedule, won the Super Bowl.

Or that last year, the Dolphins had the worst fourth-quarter defense in the NFL.
But I won't, because that would be taking advantage of people who simply don't know what they are talking about.

I will mention, though, that while at West Virginia, Pat White finished in the top seven for the Heisman Trophy two years in a row, a not-inconsiderable feat, and was personally responsible for some of WVU's greatest victories in school history, including Bowl Game upsets that turned into routs.

Meanwhile, Chad Henne never beat Ohio State while at Michigan and is, in part, responsible for some of the worst games played in Michigan history, and often disappeared in games where he needed to have a strong presence, which perhaps explains why he wasn't an NFL First-Round pick, don't you think? (Oh, and that he often had no "touch" on his passes.)

Now, you kids go back to Los Marlins store on Calle Ocho and admit to your dopey pals that you're a football fraud who doesn't really knows anything about the game before you were born.

Adios!

When pols get ballgame tickets, ethics sometimes gets kind of hazy: "Tickets, tickets, who wants a ticket?"

Above, the old-style Miami Dolphins helmet decal that I grew-up with, when it was the most unifying symbol in all of South Florida. The Dolphins kick-off the exhibition season at home tonight against Tampa Bay.

I found this St. Pete Times story below quite interesting given what transpired at Tuesday's very contentious Broward County Commission meeting, when one of the few moments of levity came when Comm. Lois Wexler's made some comments about 26 Dolphin-Bucs tickets sent to her by the team to distribute, during the otherwise heated ethics debate.
http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/broward/blog/2010/08/ticketgate.html Later in the day, there was some news about interim Comm. Al C. Jones rescinding his ticket offer.

How could Hillsborough County Commissioner Kevin White really think a Bucs skybox ticket had no "value" if there was not a price on it?
Wow!

Years ago when I still worked in Washington, D.C., when the MCI Center -now Verizon Center- finally opened downtown, in a perfect location, right next to Chinatown, and with the arrival of the one-and-only MJ, Michael Jordan, because he knew that Washington lobbyists would actually find going to Wizards games more fun now that they didn't have to schlep out to suburban PG County, Maryland, Wizard's owner Abe Polin reportedly -definitely!- had some very nice lower-level seat tickets which had a higher financial value, intentionally marked with a lower one so that lobbyists could legally give them to Members of Congress, influential staffers and other D.C. insiders and poohbahs without fear of running afoul of lobbying and ethics rules.

Mr. Polin believed that having more elected officials and lawyer/lobbyists at games would give going to a Wizards home game more cachet -albeit, NOT as much as going to Redskin games at RFK in the late '80's when Jack Kent Cooke was still alive.

Or so the Wizards and the Washington Post surely thought at the time.

Which perhaps says more about what D.C. and the woebegone Wizards though 'cachet' was about than anything else!

See also: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-mssp/sport.pdf
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St. Petersburg Times
Kevin White belatedly reports free Bucs skybox tickets

By Bill Varian, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Saturday, August 14, 2010

TAMPA — Hillsborough County Commissioner Kevin White has belatedly reported as a gift a luxury suite ticket he received last year from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

White said he received an invite from the Buccaneers to attend their Sept. 27 game against the New York Giants. He said the tickets, for him and his wife, had no face value printed on them, so he thought nothing of it.

Read the rest of the article at:
http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/kevin-white-belatedly-reports-free-bucs-skybox-tickets/1115204

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Tim Smith's Fort Lauderdale blog Posted by Tim Smith at 8/10/10 4:27 P.M. Commissioner Indian Giver !

Todays' Broward County Commission meeting was one for the record books.

Commissioners crying, yelling, stomping their feet over the proposed Ethics Proposal.
They even had to call a time out and send everyone to their corners for a cooling off period!

But while Rome was burning, and Commissioner's ethics was the topic, District 9 County Commissioner Al C. Jones was busy passing out goodies to the neighborhood Presidents in his District by e-mail!

Read the rest of the post at:
http://blog.timsmith.com/2010/08/10/commissioner-indian-giver-.aspx

So THAT'S why newspapers are dying? BORING!; Jon Gruden must go!

While waiting for the Ohio State-Texas ballgame last night, as I have a lot since the end of the NFL season, I went over to The Tampa Tribune's website to see if there were any more stories about whether Tampa Bay Bucs head coach Jon Gruden should've been fired already.There were, because he should. Hot Seat Available For Gruden Again

Then I went to the main website, http://www2.tbo.com/news/

You'll never guess what The Tribune's lead story was.

Panetta to lead CIA?

Upcoming Ohio State-Texas ballgame that same night?

Special Legislative session starting in Tallahassee?

The Gators' upcoming BCS title game here in Miami?

Nope, their lead story is about some 21-year old utilities worker being suspended from work.

Really?

You click the large box marked TOP STORY and are sent to... well, nowhere really:

http://www2.hernandotoday.com/content/2009/jan/05/utilities-worker-suspended-without-pay/

Utilities Worker Suspended Without Pay

Utilities worker Jason Booker on Monday was suspended without pay for five days for repeated absenteeism.

•  Be the first to comment!

That would explain a LOT!

I don't even think that's the TOP STORY tonight on that guy's particular

block.  In fact, I'm positive it isn't. 

______________________________

There's a photo run on the Tribune's Bucs homepage that spells out exactly the nature of the problem with the Bucs and their perennial December swoon, akin to the one of the Mets the last two years in October.

Since winning the Super Bowl against the Raiders after the 2002 season, with ex-Seminole/

Redskin/Viking Brad Johnson as QB, the Bucs are 45-41 in regular season games.

In six years they are only plus four games.

In my opinion, the best piece written on Jon Gruden's tenuous status in Tampa Bay is this one by Tom McEwan from Monday.

________________________________

Tampa Tribune

Breakfast Bonus with Tom McEwan

http://www.tboblogs.com/index.php/sports/comments/help-wanted-signs-posted-at-one-buc/

Help Wanted Signs Posted At One Buc

Posted By Tom McEwen

Jan 03, 2009 at 05:38 PM 

Hard for us to understand, isn’t it?

I am talking about this Tampa Bay Buccaneer season that just recently that went south, that went from 9-3 to 9-7 like a bank robbers heading for Mexico.

Buccaneer fans, especially those weary enough to remember the 0-26 start, have unchallenged memories for memories of losing, so this lousy finish with four straight defeats fits well into our mental file of Bucko losses, particularly those final two (losers to San Diego and Oakland) at that great Raymond James Stadium we built for these players, and those before them.

Lousy deal, wasn’t it? Just lousy. This shabby finish at the site of the next Super Bowl, in maybe the best stadium in the NFL, on the best playing surface in the NFL, next to the best training palace in the NFL, built by team owners who certainly haven’t told Coach Jon Gruden and his players to shape up or they’ll ship them to Green Bay, who surely deserve more than their staff and “athletes” have returned, in wonderful weather and circumstances, before the most decent fans anywhere, fans who now are likely to face a ticket price raise.

Injuries, oh, we know about them. The coaches know about that risk. Yes, the loss of running back Ernest Graham was plenty serious. May well have made the difference. Got to figure on that, and to enjoy and reap the benefits of the arrivals of wideout Antonio Bryant and return star Clifton Smith.

We should not have lost those last three games—13-10 at Atlanta, 41-24 to San Diego and 31-24 to Oakland. San Diego and Oakland, remember, flew across country to lose here, and neither was a quality team. The Bucs had everything to win, were at home and quarterback Jeff Garcia had been playing pretty doggone well, recently. But, we’ve said all this before because it has happened so often before. 

Oh, the coach has taken the blame, and should have, but the losses are still losses and these Bucs so beautifully accepted them.

These Buckos are not in the playoffs of a Super Bowl lottery for the SB-41 that is booked in their backyards.

What’s to be done? Well, send in some more dough for season tickets next year, when money request arrives soon.  And assume Coach Gruden—no one has said he will not be back—is already checking his fishbucket of a roster for keepers and throw-backs. His assistants are already going and new ones will be coming.

Right now he’s surely looking at the free agent list and college draft. Since he all but dismissed Brian Griese this season, he certainly is in the young quarterback business. He’ll get a couple to go with his project Josh Johnson. They’ll need to get some defensive help. Stars Ronde Barber and Derrick Brooks may be back but will need help to work with coming linebacker headliner Barrett and his sidekicks. I mean, even defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin has gone to the Tennessee Volunteers to join son Lane, while other of Kiffin’s aides have move to promotions. The solid Buc defense of Kiffin of so many years—though not this last one when it slowed and leaked—must be rebuilt.

Malcolm Glazer, head of the owning family, is not well, and this last season could not have helped him, except in resolve. So far as anyone knows, there is no “for sale” sign out, nor is there a “situation wanted’’ sign on the Joel/Bryan Glazer door at One Buc.

But, believe me, there will be plenty of business for the name plate makers for the Buc locker-room. Losing in December has become unacceptable for the Buccaneers in the future.

Better be, some season ticket damage has already been done and higher prices could cause more in these rotten economic times.

________________________________

Since the U-M wasn't smart enough to make him the Hurricanes head coach when Larry Coker was let go, I'd love to see someone like Texas Tech head coach Mike Leach at Tampa Bay, and give the fans there the sort of team they desperately want but will never have with Gruden around.

Exciting and winning, instead of a team whose number one goal every week seems to be to prevent the other team from scoring more than 20 points, since once that number is hit, the Bucs seem to lose more often than not.

Watching the Bucs try to come from behind in December and the first playoff game every year is like the film Groundhog Day.  

If we've seen it once we've seen it a thousand times already.

Mediocre wide receivers without the ability to separate or come back for the ball when the QB has to scramble -just like U-M's.