So, I'm a self-confessed Sammie Stroughter fan. I promised myself after the Josh Freeman pick I despised that I would pick a selection that I liked and track his progress over the rookie season. The pick I made was Sammie Stroughter. Reasons and more past the jump.

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Well, I've noticed a certain tendency among fans recently to rate draft picks for the Bucs next year. Being one part college football fan and one part pro ball fan, I'd like to hazard my guesses at what the Bucs should consider for next season. Go on past the jump...(edited on November 8)

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A very nice comeback, a good game from a rookie and a coach that looked fired up for his first win with which I think is a bright future with the Buc's! Many more to the Buc's and thanks for adding to the Pack's ever growing misery this season. No doubt you've probably experienced some of the lesser qualities of some of their overly egomaniac fans. Here's to a more successful second half for you guy's.

SKOL Buc's!

It has taken me about a week to do all of this but I have added 13 separate posts to my blog all about the Buccs v Pats game at Wembley last sunday.

For those of you who did not attend or did not get tailgate tickets I hope these posts make you smile.

I have some pretty cool picture and a video of one of the touchdowns.

Start by clicking here

http://nflfaninengland.wordpress.com/2009/10/26/nflfaninengland-london-road-trip-part-1-wembley-welcoming/
as this is part 1 - then scroll up through my blog for pictures and some comments.

I have more pics so if anyone wants to see anything else I may have captured it.

Let me know your thoughts by posting back on my blog and feel free to forward to anyone you like.

Sorry its taken a week but I hope it was worth the wait.

cheers

Lawrence.
lawrencevos@yahoo.co.uk

cheers

Lawrence


http://nflfaninengland.wordpress.com/

Out of curiosity I traced all of the teams that went 0-7 in the last 20 years. I wanted to know what the average week they got their win was and how many games (on average) they won. I know this has no implications on our season, but my thought behind this was there has to be a breaking point. I wanted to find that. At some point teams are able to put it together enough to come out on top for at least 1 week. Below is a chart that tracks all of these teams.

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In case any you haven't been watching this season's "The Ultimate Fighter" on Spike TV, former Buccaneers' first round draft pick Marcus Jones is participating in this year's competition. Jones was selected 22nd overall out of the University of North Carolina as a Defensive End.

Although Jones was huge (6'6 270) he never really panned out for the Bucs. His career lasted seven seasons, but the only two years he was really productive were 1999 and 2000, in which he tallied 7 and 13 sacks respectively. I think it would be fair to say that he was a pretty gigantic bust. The reason for this may have been found on last night's episode.

SPOILERS AHEAD

In an interview prior to Jones' absolute destruction of a man 6 inches shorter than him (Mike Wessel)on last night's episode, Jones stated that he "never developed a head for the game" and never really loved to play football. He went on to state that he has put all of his life into being the best MMA Fighter he can be.

As a Bucs fan, I was pretty taken aback by this admission. It explained so much. I guess part of me realizes that you can't blame the guy for entering the draft, and obviously he can't help where he gets picked. But he strung us Bucs fans along for seven long years while we waited for him to live up to his potential. Obviously that day never came. Now to sit there and hear him pretty much just say that he was just never that into it is extremely disappointing. Was he that good of an actor? Is he just making excuses for a failed NFL career or did the coaching staff keep rewarding a player with a roster spot that didn't really have his heart set on producing on the field.

Just something to think about. Obviously this old news, and has nothing to do with the current plight of our beloved Buccaneers, but it still bothered me and I thought I would do a little write up about it. What do you guys think?

For the record, Jones did really impress me his Jiu Jitsu skills, he arm barred Wessel in about 30 seconds. It would have been nice to see what he could have done on the gridiron had his heart been in it.

So, I was reading about the Chiefs and their poor record today, and noticed that during one of the Chiefs' "legacy games", the coach was wearing the coach's polo for the Dallas Texans. Would you want Raheem Morris to wear the old orange, white and red too this Sunday? There's more past the jump...

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vs.

Overview: After a much-needed week off to nurse some bumps and try to get the nightmare of the London Massacre out of their domes, the Buccaneers return to the field this Sunday at Raymond James Stadium for a tilt with their former NFC Central rival, the Green Bay Packers.  The Bay of Pigs, as Chris Berman donned it.  Both teams come in looking to turn their seasons around, but for different reasons.  The Packers come to town fresh off of the receiving end of a William Gay-esque trucking courtesy of Adrian Peterson and the Vikings.  The Packers actually held up ok against AP and the Viking rushing attack on Sunday (allowed 110 yards), but surrendered 4 TD passes to the ol' gunslinger in an emotional homecoming at Lambeau.  The Bucs come in looking for something, anything, to spark a fading, winless team following a curbstomping on the other side of the pond at the hands of the Patriots.  Moreover, there are growing rumors among media outlets of off the field issues between the head coach and certain players.  Well, the future is now in Tampa, as the Bucs have given the keys to the offense to rookie QB Josh Freeman in what will be his first career start.  However, the Bucs are going to have to establish a consistent running attack to have any chance to sustain drives against the Packer defense.

3 Brief Keys to a Packer Victory:

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I'll be honest–I didn't like Freeman from the get-go, when he was drafted, and that was probably a mistake on my part. But, that's not really important at this stage. Skip past the jump for more...

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Training Camp, 2006.

Setting: Outside the hotel at Celebration in Orlando, Florida.

Characters: My friend Jay, Cadillac Williams, Joey Galloway, A Shuttle Bus and Michael Clayton.

The players were leaving the hotel and heading toward the shuttle van which was sent to take them to the Wide World of Sports, where the Buccaneers held training camp before moving to the new facility at One Buc Place. We experienced three noteworthy players, the rest were scout team and backup players. Here's how it went down:

Wide receiver Joey Galloway walks over to a crowd of about twenty or so fans stand along the sidewalk behind ropes and security. He signs a few autographs, waves and gets on the bus.

Cadillac Williams walks out the front door and toward the shuttle, approximately 30 yards. As fans plead for autographs, he walks to the van, clearly gearing up for practice with his studio-style headphones covering his ears.

Michael Clayton walks out the front door and to the bus, ignoring the crowd. He is not wearing headphones.

        Jay: Hey, Michael!

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