Daily Loaf

This homey shop, which just celebrated its 20th anniversary, was founded by Polish immigrants Jan and Krystyna Milewski, who somehow manage to work hours on end under the same roof and then head home as husband and wife. That sense of family permeates the shop — the two hold court, joking and telling stories at the checkout counter (whenever Jan’s not schlepping kegs or slinging his handtruck around). The Mart might not have as much shelf space as its chain counterparts, and it might not be as well-labeled, but the selection is extensive and eclectic, and has all the basics covered. The store’s prices are easily competitive with, and often cheaper than, what you’d find at larger establishments. More than anything, the Milewskis have that special touch that makes stopping into their shop like an intimate, small-town experience.

Gift this: Svedka Vodka from Sweden. According to Jan Milewski, it compares in quality to Absolut. It’s certainly a lot cheaper: $19.99 for a 1.75 liter bottle, as opposed to $37.99 for Absolut. 7208 4th St N, St Petersburg, 727-522-5372.
Photos by Larry Biddle
See other stops on CL’s Indie Holiday Shopping Spree here.

It’s not always easy to find cutting-edge men’s fashion in the Tampa Bay area. One of your best bets is Urban Body, tucked conveniently behind the Starbucks in South Tampa. The airy shop stocks a variety of hip brands — Ben Sherman, 1921 Denim, 4 You, Z Brand, 191 Unlimited — most of which can’t be found in local department stores. Looking for tight low-slung jeans, tapered-fit shirts, unique sweaters or some, uh, interesting underwear? Point your chiseled bod toward Urban Body.

Gift this: T-Shirt by Division E (pictured), $64.50; jeans by Silver Denim, $86.50. 715 S. Howard Ave. #130, Tampa, 813-251-5522, urbanbody.com.
Photo by Eric Snider
See other stops on CL’s Indie Holiday Shopping Spree here.

Monte Kiffin headed to Univ. of Tennessee?

If ever there was a game that underscores the importance of turnovers, it was the Bucs’ win over the Saints. The Saints offense outgained the Bucs 332-254. Saints QB Drew Brees looked imposing most of the game, going 25-47 for 296 yards and two touchdowns. But Brees three three interceptions, all of them at crucial points in the second half (including one that set up the winning Bucs field goal, and another that ended the Saints’ comeback chance).

By contrast, Bucs QB Jeff Garcia was a fairly pedestrian 9 for 23 for 119 yards and one touchdown. He did not, however, throw an interception. (Garcia helped his cause immensely by rushing seven times for 42 yards, including a couple of key runs.) The Bucs only turnover was an early fumble by WR Michael Clayton, who was stripped in the first quarter. The Saints couldn’t turn it into points, though, giving the ball back after a 4th down play.

Ronde Barber continued his redemption effort with another good game, including a tipped ball that led to a key interception by Cato June. Barber was called for holding on Jeremy Shockey, which nullified a Bucs interception. The play looked to me, and I’m assuming pretty much everyone who calls themselves a Bucs fan, that Barber merely held his ground and Shockey ran into him.

A top candidate for Bucs game MVP was Saints RB Reggie Bush. He dropped several passes and, on punt returns, did his Dexter Jackson act by running backwards and sideways (and losing a ton of yardage).

Bucs returner Clifton Smith had another really good day running straight ahead, and — yeah! — he didn’t fumble.

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On those days when you’re shopping for a flight jacket, Dickies work pants, a 50-inch belt, a samurai sword and an ammo vest to hold your bullets and grenades, there is no better shopping alternative than the Army Navy Surplus Market just north of downtown Tampa. The store is a hodgepodge of stuffed-to-the-rafters wooden shelves holding all sorts of stuff, including plenty that’s not military-related — like, for instance, a basic pair of dress pants or a little-girl coat with a Strawberry Shortcake print.

The shop’s been owned for 35 years by Nick Potomatis (left), who can usually be found sitting in a chair at the front counter exchanging barbed banter with customers. Want to negotiate a price? Go ahead and try, but it’ll be a tussle. With its cheap prices and shelves filled with surprises, Army Navy Surplus draws plenty of traffic. It’s not only a place to buy some unusual things, it’s fun just to wander among the musty-smelling shelves.

Gift this: Blackhawk ammunition vest made of tough canvas and mesh and covered with pockets and slots for bullets, grenades and clips, $129.99.

1312 N Tampa St., Tampa, 813-229-2172.

This is the first stop in CL’s Indie Holiday Shopping Spree. Read more here.

I don’t know about you, but when the Bucs went down 17-0 against the lowly Lions, I really didn’t think they were in any trouble. Sure enough, Tampa Bay went on to score 35 unanswered points to take a 35-17 lead, and ultimately win 38-20. The Lions not only looked thoroughly inept, but completely snakebit. Detroit  doesn’t have any truly bad teams remaining on its schedule, so 0-16 seems a real possibility.

But this post is about the Bucs, so on to a few observations:

Clifton Smith, the once-obscure rookie who’s now a fixtures as a kick and punt returner, has fumbled in every game he’s played in. He was fortunate today because this game’s fumble was recovered by one of his teammates. That said, he also returned a punt 70 yards for a touchdown today (to go along with a kickoff return for a TD against Kansas City a few weeks ago.) Coach Jon Gruden has said Smith’s fumbling is simply unacceptable, but, really now, you gotta take the good with the bad.

It started as another shaky outing for cornerback Ronde Barber, who was beaten by Calvin Johnson for the Lions’ first TD. Ah, but then redemption. Barber intercepted two passes — his first two of the season — one of which he returned for a touchdown. He now has 11 interceptions or fumbles returned for touchdown in his career, the most among active players.

At one point, Fox color commentator Tony Boselli said second-year defensive end Gaines Adams is “becoming the force he was expected to be.” I’m not sold. I find it maddening to watch the goose-necked Adams repeatedly take wide, outside rushes and get pushed out of the play by the offensive tackle. That said, he did have a sack, a tipped pass and three tackles against Detroit. He also dropped back in coverage a couple of times. Adams is quick off the ball, and brings some intangible qualities to the game, but I just don’t see him becoming a stud pass rusher.

It was nice to see RB Carnell Williams return from a catastrophic knee injury last year and get some action. He has a ways to go before he contributes in any positive sense. On his first series, he collided with QB Jeff Garcia in the backfield, causing him to fumble, which Detroit scooped up and returned for a touchdown. He ended up getting 16 carries (for a paltry 27 yards) in mostly mop-up duty. On one run, he showed a decent burst of quickness and a shifty change of direction, but it’s clear that Cadillac needs a lot of tuning up before he’s truly back.

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I recently caught the last few minutes of Jon Gruden’s press conference on the radio and was disappointed to find out that it appears running back Earnest Graham is out for the season with a serious ankle injury.

Photo: NFL.com

Bummer. Graham had emerged from obscurity to be the featured RB in the Bucs attack. He’s a good guy, a consummate teammate, and now it looks as if he’s done. At least he signed a new contract (four years, $11-million) this year.

Graham, who had been nursing an injured knee, hurt his ankle on his first carry early in the game. As bad as it is for Graham, it’s equally problematic for the Bucs. They now have Warrick Dunn (who played extremely well yesterday, but, at 33, can’t be expected to carry the feature-back load), rookie Clifton Smith and Cadillac Williams, who came off the Physically Unable to Perform List last week, but was not on the active roster against the Vikings yesterday.

I would’ve liked to see the Bucs baby Caddy along, but, knowing Gruden, that seems unlikely. Expect his reconstructed knee to get tested pretty quick.

Despite being a triage unit, the Bucs stand at 7-3. My friend Charlie said last night, “How can they have such a good record and be so bad.” To which I responded, “They’re not really bad. They just don’t look good.”

Hey, the scoreboard looked good yesterday. 19-13 Bucs.

Bucs coach Jon Gruden has what some pundits are calling a crucial decision to make this week: Whether to take RB Cadillac Williams from the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list and put him on the active roster.

I don’t see this as a tough decision at all:

Don’t do it.

Williams blew out his knee against Carolina in the first half of last season. He’s worked hard and made terrific progress. Even started practicing. He’s probably itching to get a roster spot, get in shape and play this season.

Don’t do it.

Resist the temptation and put Williams on injured reserve, shelve him for the entire season, thus ensuring that Gruden can’t turn to the half-healed guy if the running back situation goes bad. It’s not so good right now, actually, with Warrick Dunn hurt (but hopefully back for Sunday) and Michael Bennett yet to produce.

But turning to next year: With Earnest Graham entrenched, and Dunn likely to play at least one more season (health permitting), a finely tuned Cadillac could be a real asset to the Bucs. Look at the New York Giants, the best team in the NFL — they have a three-RB attack.

The key to get the best out of Williams is not overwork him, so I can see the temptation to give him some situational work during the remainder of this season.

Don’t do it.

Let the man heal all the way.

Check out the NFL power rankings by Bill Simmons of ESPN.com, where he ranks every team in the league from the worst (Detroit) to the best (Tennessee), with copious and irreverent commentary for each.

Where do you figure he placed the Bucs?

Eighth. Ahead of New England, Indy, Atlanta, Washington, Dallas, Green Bay and Minnesota (Sunday’s opponent).

I think Simmons is being generous. In fact, so does he:

He closes his blurb with:

“This is about five spots too high for the Buccaneers, but I couldn’t figure out a way to rig it differently.”

I do not, never have and never will, sympathize with the Oakland Raiders, but if you’re so inclined, feel free to feel sorry for the beleaguered franchise. Oakland gave up a 2nd round pick to Atlanta to get cornerback DeAngelo Hall, then signed him to a 7-year, $70 million contract.

The team just cut him. Here’s a remarkable stat:

In his eight games in Oakland, Hall was beaten 40 times for 552 yards on 66 passes thrown his way, according to data compiled by STATS LLC. He gave up more yards than any defender this season and was tied for third worst in catches allowed.

Welcome to the post-Rays, almost-all-Bucs version of the sports roundup.

The Bucs 30-27 overtime victory over the Kansas City Chiefs — the first time they had played in K.C. since 1986 — was the most nerve-racking, entertaining Bucs game I’ve seen in a good long while. A gyroscope-inside-a-cement-mixer-on-a-rollercoaster type game. Much weirdness:

The 21-point comeback (from 24-3) was, according to local radio announcers, the biggest in Bucs history.

Steady Earnest Graham fumbled twice, at very inopportune times. Funny enough, it was after his second fumble, with 3:28 left in the game, when the Bucs were about to score a TD to pull within two points, that I said to my deflated group of fellow watchers: Plenty of time left. The Bucs’ll score, get the two-point conversion and win it in overtime. That, of course, is what happened. How’s that for pigskin prognosticating?

Rookie Clifton Smith, just put on the active roster last week to return kicks, provided the big momentum shift with a 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, closing the gap to 24-10. It was the second kickoff return for a touchdown in Bucs franchise history. Smith later fumbled in a key spot (as he did last week). Even though he’s a terrific upgrade at returner (over deactivated Dexter Jackson), he doesn’t want to be the kind of player who, when carrying the ball, has fans yelling, “Hold on to it. Just hold on to it!”

In the first half, Fox play-by-play guy Ron Pitts, speaking of receiver Michael Clayton, said, “Clayton’s starting to get some balls.” What he meant was: Clayton’s starting to make some catches. Pitts’ comment must’ve been a good omen. Clayton’s 35-yard catch-and-run in overtime was the key play in the final drive.

Jeremy Trueblood’s false start penalty before Matt Bryant’s 38-yard field goal try in OT turned out to be a good thing. Bryant missed the kick (whether it was because the whistle blew, we’ll never know); the Bucs backed up five yards, but because the attempt was on third down, they went back on offense, Gracia threw a nine-yard pass to fullback Jameel Cook, which set up Bryant’s 34-yard try, which he knocked straight through.

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We continue our series of posts showcasing a trove of old 8×10 black-and-whites. At first, I thought this was a classic cigar/tobacco pic, but on closer inspection, it’s either a flower operation or a large-scale marijuana grow house.

What with Phillies phans setting fires, breaking windows and toppling cars on Broad Street, we got to wondering: What would the celebration have been like in St. Pete if the Rays had stayed alive and won the World Series at Tropicana Field? Here’s a few things we might’ve seen. Feel free to add your own in comments.

• Drunk, belligerent Rays fans taunt Philly backers by pelting them with onion rings from Ferg’s.

• Several cars blow tires after driving over discarded cowbells.

• Crazed fans overturn St. Pete’s downtown Looper.

• Mons Venus strippers offer discounted lap dances on the B-ring catwalk.

• Two-block ticker tape parade scheduled for Sunday is postponed as to not conflict with Bucs game.

• Rick Baker gets dragged out of the Mayor’s mansion and Rayhawked.

• Uhurus condemn rioting; serve breakfast instead.

• Old Northeast residents seen hugging homeless people. Homeless promise one-day moratorium on panhandling.

• People from North Tampa wake up the next morning, sip their coffee and wonder, “The Tampa bay who? They won what?”

• Brian Blair rips phone book in half.

• Pirates II suspends shooting on the HMS Bounty so porn stars can get dressed and join the party.

• Jubilant fans consider ripping up pieces of artificial turf for souvenirs but see police and think better of it.

• Rabid fans run up the five steps of City Hall mocking the Rocky theme.

We recently came across a trove of 8×10 black-and-white photos capturing Tampa as far back as the 1920s. A lot of folks at the CL office were mesmerized, so we thought we’d share them on the Daily Loaf.

Most of the photos came without any information about the year they were taken, or what part of town they were taken in, or, in some cases, what they depict. If you can shed any light on these photos, or if you know anyone who might, please hit us with a comment (You can view the photos in the gallery below).

Below is the first installment of our Tampa Back in the Day photo series. Keep an eye out for new ones over the next dozen or so weekdays.

By the way, if you look on the lower right corner of a real-size version (click on slide show below), you can see a store called Rio Liquors next to a Hav-A-Tampa cigar shop. The Rio Liquors looks like it might be where the Hub currently is. Thoughts?

Thanks to Maria Sevillano for the hookup on the photos.

 

Photo: Jim MacMillan

Philadelphia threw quite the party after the Phillies won the World Series last night, bagging the city’s first major sports championship since 1983. Philly.com played down the mayhem, vandalism and larceny. Their headline read “City celebrates the World Series; the cleanup begins.”

My favorite line: “No homicides were reported overnight.” So, yeah, Philly fans have that going for them. But as you can see by the above picture, some folks got a little overzealous out there on Broad Street. [Correction from editor and former Philadelphian: That photo ain't Broad. It's Walnut. Same mayhem, different street.]

Bay New 9 sports guy Rock Riley talked to Ron Diaz on the Sports Animal this morning, and said the scene was pretty crazy. The station’s news van was in an area heavily patrolled by police, but Riley said he strongly felt that, without the cop presence, the van would’ve likely been rocked and tipped over.

Further, he left in a rental car that had Florida plates, so he and his companions were a bit nervous on the drive home. Maybe Riley’s just being a homer, or overly dramatic, but his anxieties were not baseless. In case you hadn’t heard, Philadelphia fans are known for being — how can I say this diplomatically? — raging assholes.

To view MacMillan’s hilarious photo gallery of the postgame insanity on Broad Street, click here.

I can’t feel all that bad this morning. The Rays lost the World Series last night, 4 games to 1, and they didn’t look good doing it. (If you win one game out of five, I guess it’s hard to look good.)

I figured I’d endure some hard disappointment, and then after awhile move on to reflecting on just how astonishing the Rays ‘08 season really was. Instead, I’ve already managed to spit the bitter taste out of my mouth. I’m proud of our St. Pete kids.

This despite some unpleasant truths: The Rays came that close to being world champs, and are now a footnote. (Quick, who lost the 2006 World Series?) They may never get here again; that’s just a reality in pro sports, baseball in particular. Yes, the Rays have a great nucleus of talent, a terrific manager, and a crafty front office … but they still play in the American League East, where the Red Sox and Yankees can go out and buy top talent. And the Rays can’t. (That said, I’ll be shocked if the Rays revert to bottom feeders. I expect them to at least stay in the playoff mix over the next few years.)

After game 1 of the Series, the whole thing seemed somehow fated. I don’t know why, exactly, but I was not nearly as emotionally engaged as during the Boston series. I’ve heard the same said in conversations, on talk radio, etc.

The prevailing sentiment out there is that the Rays played poorly during this World Series, that their devil-may-care attitude dried up, that the gravity of the situation got to them, that their derring-do dissipated. That’s all true; it’s there in the booted balls and baserunning mishaps, the less-than-clutch pitching and, especially, all that swinging through baseballs and walking back to the dugout.

But the Philadelphia Phillies had something to do with it. Another prevailing sentiment locally is that the Rays were the better team that happened to fall into some unfortunate slumps and make some badly timed mistakes. Uh, wrong. The Phillies were, are, the better team. And for reasons that go beyond their 4-1 World Series victory.

At least the Rays went down fighting. After a 46-hour weather delay, they took the field last night in their winter gear. Joe Maddon left Grant Balfour on the mound and he promptly gave up a double to a pinch hitter by the name of Geoff Jenkins. The Phillies pushed him home and, just like that, led 3-2.

I thought: Game over. But then Rocco, God bless’m, walks up and ties it with a home run. 3-3. (Hmm, maybe this destiny thing has some juice to it after all.) The Rays had a chance to take the lead when Phillies second baseman Chase Utley made the play of the game. Seeing he might not be able to get the runner at first, he faked there and then easily threw Jason Bartlett out at the plate. (Cue sound of baloon deflating.)

After that, the Phillies bullpen took over. But even in the last-gasp top of the 9th, the Rays had fast guy Fernado Perez on second, and the usually steady Eric Hinske at bat. Problem was, the Phillies had their perfect closer, Brad Lidge, on the hill. Eric struck out.

The Phillies piled on each other. I watched for a few minutes. And then I switched over to my DVR queue. Time for Entourage.

I’ve said this before in blog posts and in print, but it bears repeating: Thank you, Rays. You gave a community a lot to feel good about over the last several months, especially when feel-good moments got scarce.

You turned this less-than-casual baseball fan into a rabid fanatic. Actually, that’s not quite true. I’m not such a convert that I’m going to start watching the Mariners play the Twins on Saturday afternoons. I’m not so much a baseball fan as a Rays fan.

When do pitchers and catchers report?

After some hesitation this morning, Major League Baseball has announced that the remainder of the Rays/Phillies Game 5 will start at 8:37 tonight. The score is tied 2-2, with the Phillies coming up in the bottom of the 6th.

Weather.com forecasts that it will be mostly cloudy and 39 degrees (with a feels-like of 31), so you’re apt to see more players wearing those hats with the cute ear coverings. The hopefully rejuvenated Rays now get a chance at redemption, but more important, an opportunity to bring the Series back to St. Pete. Those game would be played on Thursday and Friday.

Major League Baseball has further postponed the World Series due to nasty weather. No resumption of the game tonight; it’s scheduled to start up again Wednesday night.

Although the remaining innings of World Series Game 5 are scheduled for 8 tonight, a lot would have to change on the meteorological front for that to happen. The Weather Channel’s hour-by-hour forecast doesn’t have the rain stopping until midnight.

Pundits are speculating that, barring a drastic change in the weather, tonight’s partial contest will be further postponed until Wednesday night, when the Weather Channel’s prediction is for partly cloudy skies and fuckin’ freezing. Here’s a story that explains he rules and contingencies regarding Game 5.

Some folks have asked me if the remainder of the game could be shifted to Tropicana Field. That would be, uh, no. MLB Commissioner Bud Selig has said that the game would be completed in Philly regardless.

I had my Rays eulogy all ready to go. It’ll have to wait. Who knows, maybe I won’t even have to write it.

In one of the weirder moments in World Series history, Game 5 was delayed at 10:40 last night with the Rays and Phillies tied 2-2 in the middle of the 6th inning. The teams had played in dismal, rainy, low-40s weather for more than an hour when Major League Baseball officials stopped it. The game is schedule to resume at 8 tonight, weather permitting, but the forecast calls for rain, and the hope is the World Series will conclude before Thanksgiving.

That’s OK with me. I was all set to move on with a well-the-Rays-really-did-have-a-great-season attitude.

Instead, more baseball, and Rays fans can now approach it with, not exactly optimism, but a sense of excitement. The team did not go quietly, although that’s how it looked early, when Scott Kazmir did his usual post-season thing: going deep into counts and digging a 2-0 hole in the first inning.

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Striking a blow for the old-school instincts in all of us, Mike Singletary, the former Bears linebacker and new head coach of the San Francisco 49ers, made splash yesterday. After prima donna tight end Vernon Davis committed a stupid personal foul penalty, Singletary yanked him from the game and chewed him out.

Singletary thought his player took the whole thing too nonchalantly, so banished him to the showers, forcing Maxwell into a walk of shame to the locker room. Here’s a clip of Singletary’s pull-no-punches post-game comments. He really gets going about two minutes in.

It was a bad, bad, bad weekend for Tampa Bay sports teams, with (two) losses by the Rays, Bucs and, for good measure, the USF Bulls.

The Rays were the big news, of course, playing in their first World Series. On Saturday night, their hitters looked befuddled by 45-year-old Phillies pitcher Jamie Moyer, who lobbed the ball at the plate, um, very accurately. The St. Pete club had a chance to win, but blew it in the bottom of the 9th inning with a series of blunders.

Last night, they simply got stomped, 10-2.

There were a plethora of indicators that last night was simply not the Rays night:

Two errors by usually surehanded second baseman Akinori Iwamura.

Three walks by starting pitcher Andy Sonnanstine, tying a career high, including walking in a run with the bases loaded. He was pulled earlier than usual.

Ryan Howard finally hitting a ball to the opposite field: a three-run homer over the left-field fence. He later homered to right center, giving him five runs batted in for the game.

Catcher Dionner Navarro had to dig a ball out of the dirt in the 6th inning … while Edwin Jackson was intentionally walking Ryan Howard.

And probably worst of all: Phillies pitcher Joe Blanton hit a homerun off Edwin Jackson, the first time a pitcher homered in the World Series since 1974. Meanwhile, the best Rays hitters made Journeyman Joe Blanton look like Bob Gibson.

Carlos Pena and Evan Longoria’s power outage continued. Longoria looked like he had a case of vertigo at the plate, like he couldn’t wait to strike out and get back to the dugout. Pena managed a walk.

After the Rays went meekly in the first inning, Andy Sonnanstine, known for his control, took the mound and proceeded to be wild. He fell behind in counts, and walked in a run. He did manage to get out of the inning lightly scathed, though, giving up only that one run.

In the bottom of the first, Ryan Howard tapped the ball back to Sonnanstine, who trapped Jimmy Rollins between third and home. Sonnanstine flipped to Evan Longoria, and Rollins, scampering back to third, was called safe. A replay clearly showed that Longoria had practically shoved his glove up the crack of Rollins’ ass. Blown call, and a big one. Sonnanstine walked the next batter, forcing home a run. Analyst Tim McCarver pointed out, though, that Sonnanstine should have thrown to second and got the slow-running Howard out on a double play.

Late in the game, the Phillies homerun derby got going in earnest.

Another note about Saturday night’s game: It turned out all for naught, but B.J. Upton’s one-man comeback was more solid evidence that his detractors have their heads up their asses. He got an infield hit, stole second, then stole third, then came home on a throwing error, which tied the game.

The Rays now face elimination tonight as Scott Kazmir goes against Phillies ace Cole Hamels. Uh oh.

BUCS/COWBOYS

No one would claim that going into Dallas and beating the Cowboys is an easy thing, but the stars had aligned so that yesterday’s Bucs game certainly seemed winnable. The Cowboys had been reeling, and were forced to use 40-year-old ex-Buc Brad Johnson at quarterback in place of Tony Romo.

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One month of Crossfit workouts under the tutelage of Steve Ashton at Anytime Fitness on Central and MLK in St. Pete. Time to take some stock, evaluate results. Sorry, I don’t have before-and-after pictures. I don’t because, well, I have some self-respect. But let me start by saying that this program, while very challenging, works. Fast

Crossfit is all based on multiple movements and short, high-intensity workouts. It’s essentially the opposite of station-to-station weight-lifting — y’know, three sets of bench, curls, triceps, etc.

I started Crossfit because I wanted to get back in shape (click here for my first Crossfit post) after shoulder surgery (in March) and not go back to the outmoded model of multiple sets on machines and free weights that I had done for years.

The longest workout I’ve had, and I’ve only done six proper Crossfit routines, has been just short of 30 minutes. Because there is very little rest involved in the exercise sequences, you get a lot of cardio. Kind of like lifting and getting sprint training at the same time. Man, do I get gassed.

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That’s better. 4-2 Rays. They won in a different fashion last night — no dramatic home runs or barrages of hits. Instead, they pieced together this win. How about two ground ball outs that drove in runs? How about Rocco Baldelli beating a throw to first?

B.J. Upton’s two key opposite-field singles that set the tone.

And, of course, James Shields doing his bend-but-don’t-break bit, pitching out of jams, striking out guys with men and third and less than two outs, throwing shutout ball.

Dan Wheeler was efficient. David Price looked like a rookie for a minute, then he didn’t. Another bend-don’t-break effort. I was never particularly concerned when the Phillies mounted their mini-comeback late in the game. This one just seemed in the bag.

Now the World Series moves to Philadelphia. National League rules. The pitcher takes his cuts. That’s not much of advantage for the Phillies. They play outdoors. The Rays know how to play outdoors. It’s a bigger adjustment for the Phillies in the Trop than it is for the Rays at the Phillies park. My big wish, a could-be difference-maker:

I hope to hell it’s not cold. Mid 40s-type cold. Now that’s something the Rays are not used to. Hell, let’s check the forecast. 90 percent chance of rain on Saturday night. Sunday: sunny with a high of 61, low of 44. If Saturday’s a rainout and they have to play Monday: high 60, low 37.

Hmmm. Under the lights, my guess is that game temps will be in the 50s. We’ll see how it plays out.

A quick note on last night’s telecast: Joe Buck and Tim McCarver got into Baldelli’s muscle fatigue syndrome with some very compelling specifics — for instance, his legs shake and cramp by the fifth inning. Makes it all the more impressive that he’s even out there, and beating out infielder’s throws … and crashing into the catcher at home plate.

I’ve gotten my pessimism back, and I’m glad about it. I always feel more comfortable when I’m worried about my team than when I’m confident. And I was confident that the Rays had the upper hand going into the World Series last night.

The Phillies took care of that. I’m back to normal.

Which is not to say that I’ve become a Rays doomsayer. I still like their chances:

They have, on paper, better starting pitching the rest of the way (until Pretty Cole Hamels gets another start).

I think the hitting will pick up against the Phillies’ next two starters.

I tell you what does concern me: The Phillies late-inning prowess on the mound. Apparently, they have a flawless system: Get to the 8th inning, hand the ball over to set-up man Ryan Madson to mow batters down, then send in Brad Lidge — who has not blown a save all year — to finish it off in the 9th. Man, those two cats looked really, really good last night.

So. The Rays better put some runs up by the 7th inning.

Obviously, the Rays can’t go down 2-0 with an impending trip to Philly. I’m cautiously pessimistic, but feel strongly they can win (figure that one out).

In the meantime, the weather forecast for Saturday in Philadelphia calls for a 90 percent chance of rain. Maybe we could convince the Phillies to hang around St. Pete and play in the dry, 72-degree comfort of the Trop. Hey, no one wants a rainout. No one wants to drag this thing out.

Elsewhere, philly.com posted a story that says the Phillies are “ranked 20th while the Tampa Bay Rays are third on [baseball guru] Bill James’ list of the top young players in baseball.”

But if you think that’s going to elicit a we-can-always-get’m-next year sentiment, well, y’alls is crazy. This year is the year, and I say that with all due pessimism.

Top of the order coming. Time to make your bones, kids

________________________

Just gotta text from a non-baseball fan friend, who wanted to know: is it me or do the Rays look sloppy? Perhaps, but I think they look listless.

________________

End 4th: Gay men just showed up, late, and with chicken. And Crawford hits one out. There’ the mojo we were looking for.

———

Bottom 4: Heroics anyone. Apparently not Carlos

__________________

middle 4: Anybody have any mojo ideas? Rally caps? Rays look befuddled. They looked more confident against Boston, probably ’cause they saw them so much during the season.

__________

End third: Uh oh. Stuff is lining up the Phillies way. I said this out loud when Upton was up — “anything but a strikeout or double play” — wish I hadn’t. This game really isn’t going as I envisioned it. No more false confidence. I repudiate my former confidence.

________

Pop ups won’t get it done

Middle third: That’s a little better, Kaz. He’s fighting through it, keeping it to two runs. Needed the strikeout against Howard, and got it. He looks in rhythm now, and facing the lower part of the order. Can only hope that the early 2-0 lead Philllies won’t hold. Now the bats need to pick him up.

__________________

End second: Cole Hamels: Pretty AND unhittable. Please Kazmir, bring some game. The opposing starter is making you look bad in your own house. Time to sack up.

________________

middle of the second: Hey Upton haters, of which I am not one, check THAT out. Kazmir: officially rattled. Concentrating on base runners instead of the hitter. Nice way to get out of a jam, though, with big ups to Upton.

___________

Pickoff: Fucker was OUT

__________________

Uh, lemme see … there’s a lot of baseball left to play? Cole Hamels looks hittable to me, but then again, I’m not up there hitting against him. I hope this doesn’t turn into one of those inning-after-inning affairs where we wait for the Rays bats to get in gear. Let’s hope Kaz is settled down. He didn’t look too rattled after the HR

Ahh, a nice little hug between Pretty Cole and Ryan Howard

___________________

A shame. Kazmir actually looked pretty good except for the one pitch he grooved to the Phillies’ best hitter. Let’s hope Pretty Cole Hamels isn’t as unhittable as everyone says he is. Let’s hope this is shades of the early part of the GAme 7 with Boston. I always wonder: OK, dude, give up a double, just not the HR in the first. I guess that’s easier said than done.

___________

The GOOD Kazmir to Rollins, then the BAD Kazmir to Utley.

______________

Here we go:

First pitch to Jimmy Rollins, STRIKE ONE

You know what would be real neat? If the game started. I mean, I knew we were going to have the first pitch after 8:30, but that does not make it easier.

__________________

“They’re one of the biggest recording artists in the world”

You mean, they WERE one of the biggest recording artists in the world.” T.his is anthem is horrific, sorry. Bust out some high school sax player.

Two obvious keys tonight: We need the GOOD Kazmir. We need the bats not to end up befuddled by Pretty Cole Hamels

___________

8:10: Could this be a mercifully short pregame show? Wait, there’s still the player intros and such. By the way, ain’t Cole Hamels pretty? I’ve got some chicks and a couple of gay guys coming to the house. We’ll see if we can get them to comment

———————–

8:04: Heyyyyyy, Jeanie Zelasko just introduced the pregame show from ST. PETERSBURG. This is the woman, you might remember, who always said the Rays played in Tampa — until Tom Jones from the St. Pete Times dogged her so bad that she had to apologize to the citizens of Tampa Bay.

____________________

7:59: The Rays are favored in the series, according to Vegas odds. But I’ll be damned if I can understand how favored they are. Check this supposed explanation out, if you still need to put down a bet. In a more understandable context, the Rays are even money and the Phillies are 3/2 underdogs.

____________________________

7:48: Live blog starts … why not now?

I’m a little worried. I’m too confident that the Rays are going to win this thing, and that makes me nervous. Can’t wait to get it going. In the meantime, I can’t wait for the Fox pregame to start. This local Ch. 13 pregame special is brutal, mostly because John Wilson is the most insufferable blowhard I can think of. What a pompous, self-important ass clown.

I can’t help it, I’m still trying to process the idea that the Tampa Bay Rays are in the World Series. Wow.

__________________________

Hey sports fan (and johnny-come-lately Rays fans), you know how you’re sitting in front of your TV during a big game and you blurt out all kinds of stuff to either yourself or friends who are only half-listening?

Y’know, stuff, like “Joe, Joe, don’t put in Balfour! He’s in a funk!.” I’ll be doing the online equivalent of that, live-blogging tonight’s opening game of the World Series. Sign in, people, get in on the fun, post comments and let’s get into some good back-and-forth. Or just check out my expert and erudite commentary.

I’m starting at 8. You should too.

Does it need to be said? Go Raysssssssssssssss!

Watching ESPN this morning, I saw Rays manager Joe Maddon being interviewed about the distractions that come along with going to the World Series, stuff like a barrage phone messages and texts and ticket requests. He was smiling, not complaining.

Amid all this, he says, “A lotta folks back at the pad.”

I love it. To translate for those of you unfamiliar with Beat-era hipster slang, that means: A lot of people are staying at my house.”

“Back at the pad.” Beautiful. Keep ‘em coming, Joe.

Amid all the hooplah about the Rays and the (justifiable) crowning of Joe Maddon as the Bay area’s top coach, let’s take a timeout to praise Jon Gruden.

Yeah, Gruden. You remember him.

I think it’s safe to say that the Tampa Bay Bucs coach had lost his golden-boy luster over the last two or three seasons. Even after taking the Bucs to the playoffs last year, he just didn’t have the aroma of a hometown idol.

The reasons are many. Gruden has earned a reputation as a manipulative, untrustworthy guy. Inside info and rumors from players past and present have painted him as a snake. He has reportedly been big on promising players contracts and considerations, then sending them to the GM’s office when the bill is due. He tends to blackball players, bury them on the depth chart and leave them there to rot.

In the preseason, all the misinformation about wooing Brett Favre took its toll on team morale and further tarnished Gruden’s image. It also appeared to destroy the relationship between him and QB Jeff Garcia.

It was, there goes Chuckie again — can’t trust him as far as you can throw him; can’t believe a word he says. Worst of all, fans have felt that they’re being lied to.

His antics, outbursts and facial contortions, once sorta cute, became ugly. When I saw Gruden cursing Brian Griese up one side and down the other during a preseason game, I thought to myself, “This guy really is a card-carrying prick.”

And now the Bucs are 5-2. Did anyone expect them to be 5-2? They are playing passionately and cohesively — and they haven’t defeated a bunch of stiffs (except Seattle). So Gruden justly deserves a lot of the credit.

You might argue that the Bucs defense is still the team’s bell cow, and that credit goes to Monte Kiffin. But it also goes to Gruden, who apparently gets out of Monte’s way.

The offense looks better, although you still get the sense that it could vanish at any moment, especially against a powerhouse defense.

More than anything, I give Gruden props for how he handled he quarterback situation — once the Favre thing ended. Garcia came to camp late and hurt, both physically and emotionally. He looked lousy in Game 1 against New Orleans. Gruden had the balls to yank him.

In retrospect, it looked as if Garcia needed some physical and mental rehab, to get his leg healthy and be reminded that he could be benched. To be reminded that at 38, banishment to the bench wouldn’t do much for his future prospects or legacy. If that seems harsh, well, as they say, it’s a tough racket.

Some players might’ve sulked, but Garcia just got fired up. Gruden knew that would happen. I maintained this season that Garcia should’ve been the Bucs QB all along, but Griese performed just well enough to snag a couple of wins.

Then he did Gruden a big favor: He got injured. That allowed for a relatively smooth transition back to Garcia, culminating in last night’s win over the Seahawks, where he looked spectacular (from what I could see, switching over from the Rays game).

Tampa Bay has remaining contests against bottom-feeders Kansas City, Oakland and Detroit. Plus a rematch in Tampa against New Orleans, as well as games against Atlanta and Carolina, which the Bucs have beaten already. San Diego and Minnesota at home sure look winnable. Even next week’s game at Dallas, if Tony Romo doesn’t play, seems like a solid shot.

So that’s it: 14-2, and the No. 1 seed throughout the playoffs.

Of course not. But in this topsy-turvy NFL season, the Bucs have been one of the more consistent teams. And they appear to be getting stronger.

Give Gruden his due. And let’s hope the good times roll in Tampa Bay long past the Rays and the World Series.

Well, doesn’t this suck?

Had my whole weekend planned out without having to be near a TV to watch the Rays. For a couple hours last night, it certainly looked as if the plan would fall into place. The fellas and I were at the Sports Bar in Bay Pines and in the fifth and sixth innings we were shooting the shit, full of mirth and revelry, only half-watching the game. It was a Rays crowd; any Sox fans were keeping a very low profile. It was sunny inside. Birds were chirping.

Then the TV got our attention — real quick.

Seven-zip. Seven-four. Eh. When it got to 7-6, I just knew in my gut that the Red Sox would win it. (8-7, in case you just got out of a Turkish prison.) Times columnist Gary Shelton wrote today that the loss is just a speed bump. Not to worry.

I’m worried. This loss had that doomy feel.

My friend and colleague Domestic Joe laid out a silver lining: Without this loss, the Rays would’ve taken on Philadelphia without dealing with much adversity … Read the rest of this entry »

Wanna get in shape — in a hurry?

That’s what I wanted — and it’s working. I started Crossfit about three weeks ago, and blogged about my first, damn-near-killed-me routine that lasted all of eight minutes. Since then, I’ve done one more workout that was even harder than the first, but got waylaid from the program for various reasons.

But I’m back at it.

The full-on Crossfit program calls for something crazy like four days on and one day off. I’m not about to go there, not yet at least.

Yesterday at 6:30 p.m., a couple of other newbies and I convened at the Anytime Fitness (900 Central Ave., St. Pete) owned by Steve Ashton, a certified Crossfit trainer.

He was in a merciful mood, or maybe he didn’t want to scare us off. He had designed a scaled-down workout that I’ll get to in a minute.

Crossfit is all about multiple body-part exercises that, its website says, “deliver a fitness that is, by design, broad, general, and inclusive. Our specialty is not specializing. Combat, survival, many sports, and life reward this kind of fitness and, on average, punish the specialist.”

Speaking of punishment, that’s a fair description of Crossfit — but, y’know, the kind of punishment that’s very good for you. Conversely, does doing three sets of arm curls or bench presses and then taking an ample break really punish you? Not so much.

Each Crossfit routine has a name. Last night’s was called The Chief. Its main, and most challenging, exercise is the “clean.” This one’s tough to describe in words, but basically it’s pulling — snapping, really — a weighted barbell from the floor to shoulder height. It’s the first part of the Olympic lift called the “clean and jerk.” Those words don’t do the exercise justice, so check out this video.

Read the rest of this entry »

Every morning I walk out onto the driveway and pick up the daily newspaper — yes, there are those of us who still do — take it into the house and, y’know, read a good portion of it.

Lately, that paper’s been a bit of a godsend to me, because on the front page — shouting out amid the other 1-A stories about the collapse of the banking system and worldwide economic woe, this bailout or that (and how they don’t seem to be working), the stock market rollercoaster and all sorts of other upsetting stuff — is a big, fat story about the latest milestone by the Tampa Bay Rays.

In fact, give or take a few days, the Rays’ remarkable playoff run has coincided with the economic meltdown, and, for me at least, that has been a welcome tonic. For that reason, I’m glad that I’m an innate sports fan, and have an automatic enthusiasm for the success — the unprecedented, unexpected success — of a local team.

Right now, I feel a little sorry for the folks who don’t connect with the Rays. Some people just aren’t into sports, and I get that, but I’m sure they wouldn’t mind a diversion right now.

Of course, there are the hyper-political types who prefer to monitor all the malfeasance and corruption, and let it stoke their anger and activism. Good for them, if it makes ‘em tick. But I think most of us can only take so much bad news.

So in Tampa Bay we’re lucky to have a major helping of good news to mitigate the dread a bit.

Like last night. In the first inning of a pivotal game 4 in Boston, the Rays dropped the hammer on Red Sox knuckleballer Tim Wakefield, treating him like a guy lobbing underhand in a slow-pitch softball game, and knocking two home runs (Pena and Longoria) for a 3-0 lead.

I was sitting in my living room by myself, watching the 57-inch HD with surround sound, and I let out a major whoop, jumped out of my seat and pumped a fist. Startled my wife, who was in the other room at the computer.

I watched as the Rays piled on the runs, and pitcher Andy Sonnanstine stifled the Sox, for a 13-4 win. I continued to watch as the game became more and more of a blowout — every inning, every pitch. I let it wash over me. This game was no white-knuckler. Hey, I didn’t need any more anxiety. I wasn’t bored in the late innings. I was ecstatic. I even hung around, prostrate on the couch, and checked out some of the post-game commentary, reveling in the win, and my tonic, even more.

Last night, my retirement plan didn’t matter. Bankruptcies didn’t matter. The notion of soup lines didn’t matter.

Thank you, Rays. Thank you.

Keep playing like you don’t know any better, Rays. You just put the finishing touches on an 8-1 win over the Boston Red Sox, who had returned to their home park and put their recently-unhittable ace John Lester on the mound.

What do you do with a John Lester? You smack him around. The Rays looked completely unfazed about the gravity of the situation: a best-of-seven series against the defending champions, the winner of which moves on to the World Series. The Rays are now up 2-1 in the series.

What do you do if you’re Matt Garza? You pitch six innings of masterpiece ball.

What do you if you’re J.P. Howell? You come in and mow down the Sox by getting one of their studs, Dustin Pedroia, to hit into an inning-ending double play. Then you close ‘em out in the 8th.

What do you do if you’re Rocco Baldelli. You forget about your muscle disorder and smack a late-game, game-clinching home run.

I could go on.

Longoria and Upton homered — again.

It’s all lining up pretty well. The Rays really couldn’t ask to be in a better situation. Remember, though. Boston has made some impressive comebacks in the playoffs in recent years.

One small note about the broadcast crew. Unlike other play-by-play yahoos who refuse to do their homework and say that the Rays are based in Tampa, Chip Carey always says that the Rays play in “St. Pete.” Thank you, Chip, thankyouthankyouthankyou.

Fast fact: General Motors has spent $77.1 million on Super Bowl advertising in the last 15 years. The corporation announced in September that it will not purchase any commercial time during the 2009 game.

This and lots of other nuggets can be found in the Oct. 13 issue of Sports Illustrated in a story titled “Money Changes Everything,” which examines the impact the down economy is having on the sports market.

Just to underscore the whole rich-get-richer trope, the story reports that none of the luxury boxes — priced at $650,000 to $850,000 per season — in the new Yankee Stadium will be empty when it opens next season.

It was a wild weekend in the world of sports. I’ll go so far as to say it was a wild and woolly weekend in the world of sports.

• In all my decades of watching NFL football, I don’t recall another Sunday with so many crazy finishes and unlikely endings. In recent years, my M.O. has been to pretty much watch the Bucs, then check out the second game for a bit. I usually don’t last the entire game. The Sunday night game has to be really something I’m into for me to check it out.

But yesterday was a different story. I ate it up (except for the night game; by 9, I had switched to Dexter).

One of the network studio shows said that five games were decided in the last minute, and as far as their research department could determine, that had never happened on an NFL Sunday before.

My favorite finish was Arizona’s win over the much-loathed Cowboys. After the Cardinals pissed away what seemed like a sure win, and Tony Romo was going to come up the All-American Hero again, the Cards’ defense roughed up the ‘Boys offense on their first drive in OT, and then blocked a punt for the instant win. Loved it.

• Who would’ve expected the Bucs to stomp all over the Panthers yesterday? Really? Bet-the-house sure that Tampa Bay would win? Not me. And not too many of my sports-loving confederates.

But it was a lovely sight wasn’t it? I really thought the mid 90s heat was a big help for the Bucs. When Warrick Dunn was reeling off seven, 12, 16 yard runs in the fourth quarter, you knew that the Panther’s D was done.

• My performance of the day goes to a player who did not put up gawdy stats and game-changing plays. All he did was be the ultimate teammate.

Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve met Joe Maddon twice, briefly, and found him amiable, giving and an overall groovy dude. There’s a cool story on the Rays manager in the Oct. 6 issue of Sports Illustrated. Every Rays fan should read it, even if you’ve checked out all the local press on Joe.

Written by Stephen Cannella, it’s a full profile on the Tampa Bay skipper, to check it out, click here.

In case you can’t read the piece now, here’s a couple of tidbits. Let’s start with the best line in the story:

“With all due respect to the Republican presidential ticket, your best chance to see a maverick in action this fall may be to follow the Rays … “

Maddon’s eyeglasses are by Hugo Boss.

He bikes 5-10 miles most days.

He was way ahead of the pack on statistical analysis in baseball, carrying a laptop two decades ago when, Cannella writes, “computers were rarer in clubhouses than Pavarotti cassettes.”

As a minor league coach for the Angels, he came up with his own stats, one of them being “jug runs,” which are runs that go for the jugular, increasing a lead in the late innings to put a game out of reach.

Maddon’s father Joe changed the family name from Maddoninnni.

There’s a lot more in the SI piece. It’s a good read. I strongly urge you check it out.

Earlier this week, I edited Wade Tatangelo’s Bar Tab column — which I do every week, and try not to when I’m hung over — where he told the story of ending up at a sports bar in Seminole Heights at 4 p.m. last Sunday.

That’s when, you may remember, the Tampa Bay Rays were playing their third playoff game (ever) against the Chicago White Sox, and the Tampa Bay Bucs were squaring off with the Denver Broncos.

Before those games, I alleged small-market fan abuse. If the N.Y. Giants had a game, would Major League Baseball schedule a Yankees or Mets playoff game directly opposite it? No chance.

But I, as they say, digress.

When Wade and a buddy showed up at the Dugout Tavern in Seminole Heights, the two big screen TVs were showing the Bucs — even the one with “Rays” taped under it. Another set was showing a NASCAR race. The only place the baseball game was showing was on a small set above a booth in the back. And no one was watching it.

That got me really wondering.

Read the rest of this entry »

I was a bit under the weather yesterday, so missed my Monday sports post. But a Tuesday segment gives me a chance to talk Rays. In case you just got back from hiking in the Andes, or live in North Tampa, the Tampa Bay Rays eliminated the Chicago White Sox last night by beating them 6-2, and taking the playoff series 3-1. Merriment ensued.

• I’ve wrestled with the notion of whether all this spraying of champagne, chugging beers and pounding Patrón by the Rays after every milestone — making the playoffs, winning the American League East, winning their first playoff series — is a good or bad thing.

I’ve watched far more basketball than baseball in my day, and NBA playoff teams save the bubbly showers for winning the actual championship. That always made sense to me from a we’ve-got-more-work-to-do perspective.

But I have to admit there was something charming about how the Rays jumped around on the White Sox’s home field, then ran into a clubhouse covered in sheet plastic where they blasted each other with champagne.

At first I thought it might just be young kids and their exuberance, but I found out that the Red Sox did the same thing last night after ousting the Angels.

So these celebrations are part of baseball culture, and I’m for it, especially since I get the sense that it’s more of a ritual than an indication that a team has taken its eyes off the prize.

• I’m jazzed that it worked out this way: Tampa Bay vs. Boston in the American League Championship Series. For me, it doesn’t have as much to do with revenge or rivalry as pragmatism.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Rays and the Bucs are both on at 4 p.m. Adult men all around the Bay area are scrambling to set up the little TV next to the big TV. Picture-in-picture just won’t do. Then the decision: What game gets on the big TV. (For me, a no-brainer: Rays.)

Think if we lived in New York, and the Giants had a game and the Yankees had a playoff game, that the networks would schedule them for the same time? How ’bout the same scenario for the Red Sox and Patriots? Never, I tell ya, never!

The NFL had the Bucs/Broncos game on the schedule for a long time, but MLB apparently didn’t bother to look — more likely, they didn’t care. But let’s not let small-market fan abuse ruin the day. Here’s to watching two TVs at once, and two wins by local teams.

12:25: It was a good plan. Set up the laptop at Ferg’s, do some blog updates, see if I could score a ticket. If not, keep live blogging from the bar with updates and comment.

It was a bad plan. My computer was configured wrong, and I couldn’t get a wireless signal. By the time I found a radio station tech guy cool enough to set me up (thanks Kimo), I couldn’t find a power outlet or a seat. Well, I did find a seat, but it was outside of eye-range of a TV. Kind of defeats the purpose.

So I bagged it. I’m back at Casa Snider. My pal Scottie is going to work the area around the Trop in a bit to see if he can score us a couple tix. If so, I’m dashing out of NE St. Pete and down to the stadium. If not, I’ll hang here, Scottie’ll come over, we’ll pop some brews, and I’ll blog from the comforts of home.

Catch up with you a bit. Any further posts will be here.

Just got back. One out left.  Flyball right center. Out.

Rays have won their first post-season game ever. That’s a quote from the play-by-play guy on TBS

NIce.

At about 2:15, I met Scottie outside of Savannah’s, and we hustled over to the Trop and got there just before the first pitch. We decided to hit the Power Alley Pub, our usual haunt. The old dude at the escalator told it wasn’t open. It was reserved by MLB for a party.

He said we could go to the cigar bar. We rode up and walked right into the Power Alley with no one at the door, grabbed a seat looking out on left-centerfield. We’ve done this during the regular season. Seats are sweet.

We just strolled in like we owned the place, and there were probably 100 other folks who did the same thing.

I’ve been to sell-outs at the Trop before, this year in particular. But there were always blocks of empty blue seats. Sell-out maybe, but the place wasn’t maxed. Today it was. There wasn’t any patches of empty seats to be seen.

Do I need to tell you it was loud?

Perhaps you’ve heard about Longoria’s day. Two pitches, two swings, two home runs. The first one landed in the stands about 50 feet away from us. There’s something so absolutely cool about screaming and high-fiving people you have never met. Everyone’s your friend.

The Chisox came back and put three on the board with a home run. Man, the place was deflated. But I just had a hunch the Rays could hit today, and they did.

The centerfielder was in shouting range of us on the deck, and this guy decided he was going to heckle Ken Griffey Jr. “You’re old, time to hang it up!.” Shit like that. Stupid but funny.

Scottie’s neighbor William “Bre” Breland turned up.

Longoria hit a single to drive in another run. Things were going our way.

In the 7th, relief pitcher Grant Balfour came to the mound with the bases loaded (I’m pretty sure.) He struck out two batters in a row with hard fastballs. Bre had the quote of the day, something he heard from way back when. “He musta breezed him.”

Then, some unpleasantness. A bunch of cops came through and started clearing people out of the Power Alley, apparently to make room for the private party. One officer wasn’t particularly nice about it. Scottie cracked wise, I didn’t heard what he said. We headed toward the door. The cop followed us! Talking in Scottie’s ear, “What’d you say?” C’mon, cop. Chill.

Scottie can have a hair-trigger temper, and he started to turn around and have some words with the cop. I grabbed him by his elbow, looked over my shoulder at the cop (who was still talking) and said, “We’re out, man, forget about it.”

The cops kept at it: “You wanna go for a ride?” Something like that. Clearly talking about jail.

Very unprofessional. If you’re a cop, and you’re clearing out a room, and a guy cracks wise but keeps on moving, you walk away.

Scottie was pissed, but Bre — a 65-year-old African-American man — said, “that’s a lose-lose” to Scottie. My boy was fuming, but he walked away with us. Last thing you need is to have to post bail after the Rays win their first ever playoff game.

Still, I wish I’d had the wherewithal to get check out the cop’s nametag. I’d would’ve liked to have named him in this post.

It’s all good. Rays up 1-0.

1:44: Scottie just scored tix. Gotta hustle to see the first pitch. Catch up w/ya after the game.

1:33: I’m glad the Rays kept Fernando Perez on the roster. Good to have Crawford back, but what if he’s rusty, or hurts his hand again? Also, good move to leave the Fat Man, Troy Percival, off. The geezer’s a gamer, but he hasn’t pitched well in a couple of months

12:56: Lineups just posted. As follows:

White Sox

SS Cabrera

RF Dye

DH Thome

1B Konerko

CF Griffey Jr.

2B Ramirez

C Pierzynski

3B Uribe

SP Vasquez

RAYS

2B Iwamura

CF Upton

1B Pena

3B Longoria

LF Crawford

DH Floyd

C Navarro

RF Gross

SS Bartlett

SP Shields

12:25: It was a good plan. Set up the laptop at Ferg’s, do some blog updates, see if I could score a ticket. If not, keep live blogging from the bar with updates and comment.

It was a bad plan. My computer was configured wrong, and I couldn’t get a wireless signal. By the time I found a radio station tech guy cool enough to set me up (thanks Kimo), I couldn’t find a power outlet or a seat. Well, I did find a seat, but it was outside of eye-range of a TV. Kind of defeats the purpose.

So I bagged it. I’m back at Casa Snider. My pal Scottie is going to work the area around the Trop in a bit to see if he can score us a couple tix. If so, I’m dashing out of NE St. Pete and down to the stadium. If not, I’ll hang here, Scottie’ll come over, we’ll pop some brews, and I’ll blog from the comforts of home.

Catch up with you a bit.

Good morning, sports fans! It’s been a long wait, but for the first time in the history, the Rays are playing October baseball, led by the 2008 readers pick for Best Coach in the Bay, Joe Maddon.

Here’s our coverage of the Rays’ first playoff game. Stay tuned for updates as we get closer to first pitch (2:37 p.m.). Feel free to join in and comment if you can’t get near a TV set.

Tomorrow around 2, I’ll be ensconced in a saloon with wi-fi, laptop at the ready for the Tampa Bay Rays opening playoff game against the Chicago White Sox at 2:30. I’ll be doing a real-time blog, with inning-by-inning updates, observations and snarkisms when called for.

Join me. CL’s done political live blogs before, but this our first sporting event. If you’re stuck in front of a computer screen at the office, the CL blog will keep you updated. Feel free to shower me with comments. Let’s get a lively exchange going.

Oh, almost forgot

GO RAYS!

Eight minutes.

That’s how long my workout lasted on Saturday. That’s right, 8 minutes. It was my first in the Crossfit 9 program, and it took about everything I had to finish the routine.

I had rotator cuff surgery on my right shoulder in March, and just recently passed my six-month rehab mark and was cleared for full activity — which is not to say that my shoulder’s a hundred percent. I’ve been back playing basketball for about six weeks, but wanted to add a new component to my exercise regimen, wanted to move away from the standard isolation-style lifting I’ve done for years: bench presses, curls, etc.

Crossfit is a program geared toward overall strength building that comes through multiple-movement exercises. It uses short, high-intensity workouts that build strength, endurance and balance all at once.

My instructor is Steve Ashton, owner of Anytime Fitness at 900 Central Ave. in St. Pete. A former Green Beret, he’s easily the fittest 47-year-old I know. I walked into his exercise room/torture chamber at 10 a.m. with a combination of excitement and fear.

I knew Crossfit was not for the faint of heart. I’m a competitive geezer, but wasn’t sure if I was quite up to this sort of thing. I’d tuned up for my first workout by doing a kettlebell class with Steve, which entails swinging and lugging these large cast iron balls with handles on them. My legs and shoulders were already sore.

Steve outlined my workout, a baseline for Crossfit. It included just two exercises:

• Thrusters: You prop a weighted barbell below your chin, drop into a squat, then push upward and thrust the bar over your head. It’s basically two exercises in one — a squat and an overhead press. Taking a conservative approach, Steve set me up with 65 pounds.

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I just researched the ticket prices for the Counting Crows/Maroon 5 show at the Ford Amphitheatre on Fri., Oct 3 — info I needed for my blurb in next Wednesday’s MusicWeek section — and I’m ready for a nap. Exhausted, I tell ya.

Here’s my saga:

First I went to the Ford Amphitheatre website and clicked on the concert. Easy enough. Once there, I scrolled down to several icons that said “Buy Tickets.” Each of these required me to join the Live Nation Ticket Club and fill out some info. Pass. I scrolled down a little farther to an icon that said “Ticket Info,” but it was just general stuff about the box office and such.

I tried a few other clicks. My only conclusion was that you cannot find out ticket prices on the FordAmp website without joining a club.

So I called the general phone number. After waiting awhile, I got a woman in the box office who wasn’t sure why I could not get ticket info on the website. She quoted me ticket prices over the phone, adding that buying them at the box office window was the cheapest way.

In descending order, the prices went:

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Until Dexter Filkins’ riveting The Forever War, I hadn’t been predisposed to reading much about the War in Iraq, and I’m not sure why. Maybe because it’s still going on, and the whole thing’s so raw and in the news that I didn’t feel the need to wallow any further.

I am very glad, however, that I gave this New York Times foreign correspondent’s memoir a shot. I was hooked after five pages. I can’t recommend the book enough.

The Forever War is not an anti-war screed. Filkins allows you to draw your own conclusions, although it’s clear that his experiences were so fucked that he was lucky to get out of there with his head screwed on halfway straight. Fact is, he was lucky to get out at all, but I won’t give details away.

Above all, this fast-moving narrative captures the madness and dysfunction that resulted from the American invasion. It ends before the surge, at a time when sectarian rivalries made it nigh impossible to sort out who was fighting who.

Filkins puts the lie to the notion that Iraqis were grateful for their freedom. But his vignettes illustrate a much more nuanced situation than mere love-us-or-hate-us.

He recounts an interview with a record keeper, Hassan Naji, at a decimated hospital where infant mortality rates had risen dramatically:

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The Rays had no choice but to deny it — that the reason they lost yesterday’s game was because of a collective hangover; and I don’t mean emotional hangover, but the kind of hangover you get from drinking way too much on a Saturday night.

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.
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OK, last night it looked as if locals finally got tired of Red Sox fans having a party at the Trop — especially during Monday night’s series opener — and came out in force. The sellout crowd was a strongly pro-Rays — as it should be (as if that needs to be said).

I’ll be interested in what happens attendance-wise in the next four home games against the Twins. If any of them draw in the sub-20,000 range, that’ll be an abject disappointment. As far as I’m concerned, anything under 30,000 will basically suck.

The Twins do not have a strong fanbase in Tampa Bay, and unlike the Red Sox and the Yankees, the Trop won’t have a strong contingent of road-team rooters. The Twins are not in the same division as the Rays, so are not natural rivals.

But, a big BUT, the Twins are the team that can challenge the Rays for a playoff berth. So they are indeed rivals over the next four days. The Rays can clinch a playoff spot by conquering the Twins in the coming series.

Not to mention that the next four home games — the last of the season — play a major role in the race with Boston for the AL East title.

That should be more than enough reasons to show up and support the home squad.

I’ve stayed on the fence regarding the question of whether Tampa Bay is a viable baseball market, but if the Trop is anything but rocking over the next four days, I’m going to side with the naysayers.

The Rays need to win these next four games, or at least the majority of them. It’s another major test in a historic season. And, at risk of shilling for the club, the fans need to show. That’s yet another major test.

• David Price, the highly touted Rays rookie pitcher, made his Major League debut yesterday against the Yankees. He pitched as advertised, and Rays fans can only anticipate an already strong staff getting even better.

Price gave up one run in 5-1/2 innings — a homerun to Derek Jeter, and there’s not much shame in that. If I’m Joe Maddon, I start Price at least one game in the regular season — especially if Edwin Jackson continues to look shaky.

• I’m both pleased and disappointed at the play of Bucs second-year defensive end Gaines Adams. After the being invisible last week, the fourth overall pick in the 2007 draft showed up against the Falcons with two sacks and four quarterback hits — one of which looked like it came late and should’ve drawn a penalty.

That’s OK, though — I was waiting for Adams to show a mean streak. I’m a little disappointed ’cause I was all set to blast the kid, and he stole my thunder by playing pretty damn well.

• Brian Griese got a win, which is the bottom line, but I still think Gruden pulled the plug too quickly on Jeff Garcia.

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After a successful road stint that ended with a blown opportunity (exacerbated by a bad umpiring call) to sweep the Chicago White Sox, the Rays went down last night to the Toronto Blue Jays.

That in itself is not all that bad, considering that they faced pitcher Roy Halladay, one of baseball’s best. The Rays had beaten Halladay three times this season, and no team has ever beaten him four times in one campaign.

But tonight is big. The Rays’ Matt Garza faces off against Toronto’s David Purcey, who is 2-4 with a 6.55 ERA. It’s the type of scenario that should dial up a Rays win. If they lose, however, that would be a three-game swoon to start a stretch that includes three home games with the Orioles and three with the Yankees.

The Rays need to win these home games, because after that they go back on the road to play Toronto, Boston and New York.

Tonight’s is one of those pivotal contests. The St. Petersburg team needs to right the ship and restore momentum.

Country by country medal counts in the Olympics don’t matter.

What? Hell yes, they do!

I can’t dream of an American sports fan who wouldn’t at least prefer the U.S. get more medals than the Chinese. The two countries were the runaway 1-2 in medal total.

In case you didn’t know, the U.S. won the medal total with 108: 36 gold, 38 silver, 36 bronze. China was second in total medals, but led in golds with 51, followed by 21 silvers and 28 golds.

So let’s settle this. It’s simple, as far as I’m concerned. We’ll use a weighted system: 3 points for gold, 2 for silver, 1 for bronze. By that measure, the results are:

U.S.A., 220

China, 223

Uh, check that – let’s go back to the original medal count totals.

The U.S.A Basketball men’s team – the Redeem Team, as it’s been dubbed – took another step in the proverbial road today, beating Argentina 101-81 in a game that ended a few minutes ago. The Americans play Spain in the gold medal game.

It looked like a blowout early, with the U.S. holding at one point a 21-4 lead, but Argentina fought back in the second quarter, despite losing Manu Ginobili to a foot injury. The Americans clearly went slack and relaxed, anticipating a runaway win that didn’t happen.

After that, it was more or less a war of attrition. The U.S. played a faltering game – there was very little in the way of highlight-reel fastbreak baskets – and at times took too many il-advised three-pointers, but in the end, their superior manpower wore down the opponent.

This team is easy to like, especially after the character-flawed group that repped the U.S.A. in the ’04 Games. Hell, I find myself in the uncomfortable position of rooting for the dreaded Kobe Bryant.

I’m in full pennant-watch mode with the first-place Rays now. (At 77-48, they’re tied with the Chicago Cubs for the best record in baseball.) Of course, you want the St. Pete team to win the Eastern Division and automatically make the playoffs. But what if Boston (they’re 4 1/2 games behind) surpasses the Rays with 37 games left?

Then it gets down to a wildcard spot — the fourth American League playoff position to go along with the three Division winners.

How does the wildcard scenario look?

The closest team to the Rays in is Minnesota, currently six games behind (in the loss column). The Rays have four games at home against the Twins, Sept. 18-21.

The next closest wildcard contender — and this is very gratifying to write — is the New York Yankees. They are 11 games behind the Rays.

The Rays have a tough remaining schedule, but I certainly feel that they’re chances of at least nabbing a wildcard bid are very strong. Rays games in October. Imagine that.

If the Rays make the postseason, they can point to last night’s 4-2 win over the Angels as emblematic of how and why.

They endured:

• An opposing pitcher, Ervin Santana, who was ablaze, and took a no-hitter into the sixth inning.

• A shaky start by starter James Shields; the Angels lineup smacked him around early.

• An absolutely unconscionable call by umpire Jerry Meals at first base that killed a rally. B.J. Upton, who’s had a tough couple of weeks, was the victim.

• The ejection of manager Joe Maddon (after arguing that abysmal call).

• And some other stuff that doesn’t readily come to mind.

For more than two-thirds of the game, it looked as if the Rays would end up putting this one in the loss column — not the end of the world, because the Angels are one of the best teams in baseball — but they kept their composure and gritted out a win. Because:

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