Of course they lost the season’s last home game because they were, probably to a man, fighting the effects of the previous night’s alcohol intake. Dozens of cases of beer consumed. Dozens of bottles of champagne. If you’ve ever tried to take a jog with a vile hangover, you know how debilitated you are. Now try to focus on a low-and-outside slider.

Hey, I don’t blame the guys for getting wasted after clinching the team’s first ever playoff spot on Saturday. And I don’t blame them for not admitting that the after-effects of boozing contributed to the loss — just so long as they realize that much more work is to be done to hold off Boston for the AL East title, and they get back in gear tonight.

Celebrating too early and allowing the Sox to pass them in the division race would really set a bad note for the playoffs, and that includes forfeiting home field advantage.

Shit, I almost forgot. Congratulations Rays. You got it done — the first part, at least.

• I can’t remember the last time the Bucs were in a barnburner like yesterday’s win against the Bears, and it was fun to watch. I give Brian Griese big ups for staying resilient and rallying his team.

But, man, did he make some bonehead plays, none worse than the intentional grounding penalty when the Bucs were close to scoring in overtime. Griese was not under immediate pressure, and all he had to do was run a few steps to the left before he threw the ball away. He would then have been out of the pocket, thus no penalty.

As long as Griese wins, he stays the starter, no argument there. But I still think Jeff Garcia is a better answer at QB for the Bucs — and I expect to see last year’s team MVP under center some time this season.

• Ronde Barber is the prototype cornerback for the Bucs zone defense, but, after getting toasted repeatedly in the third quarter yesterday, it showed he’s not fast enough and too small to consistently guard wide receivers man-to-man.

With the Bucs playing more and more man coverage, expect subsequent opponents to look for receiver match-ups against Barber.

Ronde’s struggles really underscored the notion that guarding a speedy wide receiver one-on-one is among the most challenging tasks in sports.

• It’s time to pull the plug on second round pick Dexter Jackson as kick returner, at least for now. Michael Clayton replaced him in key kickoff situations, and his barrel-straight-ahead approach worked a lot better than Jackson’s Fred Astaire-on-ice-skates bit (setting aside, for the moment, that Clayton fumbled and got away with it).

The Bucs have an able kick returner on the practice squad: Micheal Spurlock. It’s time to activate him.

Here’s a bleachers-eye view of the Rays celebration.

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He hit a sharp shot to right, then hung around the batter’s box admiring the flight of the ball, thinking it was a homerun. Then he ambled down the first base line when he realized it would stay in the park. An easy double. He jogged around first and coasted toward second base. The Angels first baseman followed behind him, took the throw from the outfield and tagged Upton just before he touched second.

Upton looked shocked. He’d been tricked. Worse, it was not a good time to appear lazy on the baseball diamond. He hung his head. All this scrutiny, he had to be thinking, I just don’t need this.

Thing is, I don’t see Upton as lazy. At least not in this case. 99 times out of a hundred, that hit turns into an easy double. The first baseman doesn’t shadow you down the line and tag you.

It was a baserunning mistake, taking a game situation too much for granted. Upton can fix this easily by never wavering from a few simple rules. Never stand in the batters box watching the flight of the ball and never trot out of the batter’s box. Do this without exception: As soon as you hit the ball, haul ass as fast as you can. If it goes out of the park, then break into your homerun trot.

Upton ran down a ball and made a great catch in centerfield a couple of innings later. He was hustling — and not just because he’d screwed up on the basepaths earlier.

Further compounding Upton’s perception problems is that he’s a cerebral player, stone-faced, taciturn, not fiery. He runs with a natural lope, a long-strider. That can make him look as if he’s not working hard. Yet Upton leads the team in stolen bases (with 36), which has long been Carl Crawford’s domain.

Upton may hear some more boos tonight at the Trop (they’re expecting to play the game despite the storm), and he absolutely must shut them out, or at least recognize them for what they are: temporary. One thing the ham ‘n’ eggers in the stands won’t stand for is lack of effort, not when these players are raking in all that dough.

B.J. should not dwell on the embarrassment, or feel too beleaguered. Maddon, correctly, did not punish Upton or criticize him too strongly; he characterized his centerfielder’s lapse last night as a mental mistake.

Rays teammates need to be supportive of Upton. At this point in the pennant race (it’s nice to write the words “pennant race” in conjunction with the Rays), the team can’t afford for B.J to go into full brood mode. I don’t know the man, but I get the sense that he could be susceptible to that kind of behavior.

Upton should see the last couple weeks as a learning opportunity. You don’t have to be a baseball expert — I’m certainly not — to know those simple rules of baserunning: hit the ball, always haul ass.

Note: The Rays have the second best record in the Major League Baseball (tied with the Chicago Cubs at 76-48, a half-game behind the Angels, 76-47) and do not have a single player hitting over .300. Dionner Navarro leads at .294.

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Hillsborough Schools Closed Tuesday

Tampa, Fla. – (August 18, 2008) – Due to the threat of Tropical Storm Fay and the need to open shelters, Hillsborough County Public Schools will be closed on Tuesday, Aug. 19. The School Board meeting scheduled for Tuesday has also been canceled.

The latest information available shows that the Tropical Storm is expected to bring heavy rains and strong winds to the Tampa Bay area on Tuesday.
School officials will be in constant contact with Emergency Operations Center officials monitoring the path and intensity of the storm.  A decision will be made tomorrow (Tuesday) regarding the possibility of reopening schools on Wednesday, and we will use all our communications tools and rely on local media to help get out the word.

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Schools, Offices Closed Due to Tropical Storm Fay

All Pinellas County public schools and district offices will be closed Tuesday, Aug. 19, due to Tropical Storm Fay. Julie M. Janssen, Ed.D., interim superintendent, made the decision Monday afternoon based on information from the Pinellas County Emergency Operations Center.

All planned activities at schools today (Monday, Aug. 18) will go on as scheduled, including back-to-school activities for parents.

Parents are urged to stay tuned for communication updates that will be available on the district website, www.pcsb.org; the district’s recorded emergency phone line, (727) 588-6424; Pinellas County Schools’ television, WDPS-TV14 (which may be found on Bright House Networks Ch. 614, Knology Ch. 14 and Verizon Ch. 46), and in media reports. There also will be Connect-ED phone messages from the district to parents with the latest information.
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City of Tampa Action & Information

•    City of Tampa offices will be closed tomorrow, Tuesday, August 19, 2008.  This includes Parks & Recreation facilities and programs as well as the after school program.

•    Solid waste collection services including yard waste and recycling will be postponed for Tuesday, August 19.  Residents with regular Tuesday collection will be serviced on their next regularly scheduled collection day, Friday, August 22.  Tuesday recycling and yard waste collection services will be postponed until the next regularly scheduled collection on Tuesday, August 26.  All scheduled commercial collections will be delayed one day.

•    Sandbags: Residents may continue to pick up sandbags until 8 p.m. this evening.  Residents may pick up sandbags at the Himes Sports Complex, 4500 South Himes Avenue; Jackson Heights Playground, 3310 East Lake Avenue; and the solid waste facility at 4010 West Spruce Street.  Tampa residents interested in receiving sandbags must show identification verifying residence within the city limits. Valid driver’s license, utility bill or electric bill will serve as appropriate identification.

•    The Parks and Recreation Department has cancelled the Davis Islands Park Improvement Fund meeting scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, August 19. At this time a new meeting date has not been scheduled.

City emergency management officials are continuing to monitor the path of Tropical Storm Fay.  Residents are encouraged to stay tuned to local media organizations for storm updates.

Residents with questions regarding Tropical Storm Fay are encouraged to call the Hillsborough County Emergency Operations Center at (813) 272-6900.

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At 6-feet-4, 198 pounds — gargantuan for a sprinter — Bolt runs with a kind of joyful lope. In the 100-meter final, he came out of he blocks a bit behind, and at the halfway point started to put everyone in his dust. The last part of his run was pure euphoria.

If you haven’t seen the highlight, you should. I couldn’t get it on YouTube — just still shots set to music, mostly — but it is available through NBC (although you must have the right browser). I got blocked from posting it here, but this is the link.

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2. Make hurricane preparations.

3. Celebrate International Lighthouse Day with some lighthouse appreciation.

4. Week two of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games; tonight’s excitement includes the women’s trampoline final, the second night of individual event gymnastics (men’s rings and vault, women’s uneven bars), women’s beach volleyball semifinals, and several track and field competitions: the men’s steeplechase, 400m hurdles and long jump, and the women’s pole vault.

5. The Tampa Bay Rays kick off a three-night stand of home games against the Los Angeles Angels tonight at Tropicana Field.

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I knew death had been looming for years but when I saw the news online late last night it saddened me greatly. Still does. It’s not like Wexler and I were ever friends but the hours we spent together, which I recall vividly, and the kindness he showed me, made me feel like we had connected in way that rarely occurs during an interview.

Read this post in its entirety, and the Jerry Wexler interview I did in 2003, at TampaCalling.com.

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