ORANGE PRIDE

By CalicoJack

When I was asked to write these articles for "WTB?", I was a bit reluctant. When I thought about it, given the appreciation I have for the efforts that go into the whole "WTB?" show, I couldn't refuse. I settled on the idea that I could contribute by bringing some of the history of the Buccaneer franchise to you. In the not-to-distant future, the team will be honoring players and motifs from past times.

So, I bring you back to the 1992 season. The cheerleaders were known as the "Swash-Buc-lers" back then. We had a winking pirate known as "Bucco Bruce" adorning the sides of the player's helmets. "Bad Buc" was our mascot. The "Ol' Sombrero" (...ahhh, the Ol' Sombrero) was awash in the color orange on gameday. Hugh Culverhouse could still be seen strutting around during the pre-game warmups in his orange jacket and white pants. "Heeeeere come the Vacuums!", the long-running ad reminded us of long-term suckage as it blared out on the public address system. At least, I think that ad was still running in '92...

Times were changing for the Bucs, and the NFL. That was the last season of "Plan B" free agency. A court ruling forced the league to a more fair "Plan A" free agency. "Plan B", which began in 1989, allowed teams to protect 37 of their players with the remaining players being eligible to negotiate with other teams. "Plan A", with the exceptions of "franchise" players, allows for players to negotiate with other teams when their contract expires. The Buc's second-year head coach was Sam Wyche in 1993. He took advantage of the new free agent system by bringing in Hardy Nickerson. The "Dragon" would soon become a mentor for the core defensive players named Lynch, Sapp, and Brooks. These were building blocks for a team that had escaped a possible move. One particular game had the blimp, "Bud One" from St. Louis, hovering above Tampa Stadium over the team they eventually poach. But it was the Los Angeles Rams, not our Bucs, who fell prey to the city offering a new stadium to any team willing to listen.

I'm not really all that much into the color scheme thing. I never bought into a need for a change from the original uniforms. To me, it has no bearing on the game of football. I mean look... If the Powder Puff Blue team from the Queen City could kick our defense's ass on Monday Night Football, the sissy look that OldSchool has to wear on his head makes the sting even worse.

But, sometime during his tenure as our head coach, Sam Wyche introduced an initiative known as "Orange Pride". It's intent was to instill a passion for teamwork to overcome some deep problems the franchise was going through. I wish I could say that the great innovator brought glory to the team. He didn't get that job done, but I hope you think about Sam Wyche on the day when the Bucs wear the creamsickle uniforms again. I'm glad he was at the helm for the passage of ownership from the Culverhouse family to the Glazers. If you visit Sam's website, scroll down and give the last clip a click! That's when it all started to turn around.

A tip of the cap to Bryan Wilson for the video he was so lucky to have shot. Another to samwyche.com... As Sam would say, "Have a good life!"

WELCOME BACK, CADDY

Now we have seen the return of Carnell "Cadillac" Williams to the Buc's active roster. If he is able to return and produce for the team, it will complete a comeback from a devastating injury. I thought it would be interesting to see how Williams ranks among some of the best running backs in franchise history.

	Game Average		Play Average
Player	Tot Yds	TDs	Run Yds	Rec Yds
Carnell Williams	77.44 (3)	0.313 (6)	3.8 (2)	5.6 (6)
Ricky Bell	64.98 (4)	0.317 (5)	3.7 (4)	8.7 (2)
Mike Alstott	46.66 (6)	0.449 (2)	3.7 (4)	7.5 (4)
Errict Rhett	59.48 (5)	0.481 (1)	3.5 (6)	6.0 (5)
Warrick Dunn	86.50 (1)	0.342 (4)	3.9 (1)	9.2 (1)
James Wilder	83.62 (2)	0.407 (3)	3.8 (2)	8.1 (3)

I started looking at the data in this table as a result of a thread on one of the finer message boards. That thread was posted when Williams return seemed doubtful. It posed the question in the form of a poll: "Caddy and his legacy - 10 years later how do fans remember Carnell?"... Nobody saw him as a villain. Twenty-three percent saw him as a bum. Thirty-six percent saw him as a Star. Forty-three percent saw him as a journeyman.

I chose the "Star" option and followed up with a post that compared Caddy to Ricky Bell. Two responses came back that Ricky Bell was a tough runner. I'm assuming the implication was that Williams wasn't tough. While it's alright to have fond memories of Ricky, I can remember the fat, cackling, snaggle-toothed woman who sat nearby. She spat all over her Walter Payton jersey as she dubbed our guy "Tinker Bell". You really have to loathe a Bear fan, especially when she was right. Bell did a lot of dancing in the backfield, much like Cadillac did in his second season. As for Carnell's toughness, a review may be in order, as he seems to run well here! One of the responses claimed that Bell played on horrible teams, so the implication seemed to be that Caddy played on some great teams. Well, there are similarities there, too! Both backs played on two division championship teams. Both players missed their second shot at the playoffs with shortened seasons. Both ran from behind fair-to-good offensive lines. Both scored at nearly the same rate. Where Bell excelled in the passing stats, Williams gained significantly more yardage per game, despite rule changes that sped the game for television. Can you say, "Check Down"?

Nobody should doubt Carnell's toughness with regards to how he has pursued his rehabilitation from the torn patellar tendon. The question that remains is how tough will it be for him to play professional football again. Obviously, there is enough confidence from the coaches, trainers and doctors to use a roster spot for his return. Nobody should doubt Ricky Bell's toughness as he tried to play through the mysterious disease that claimed his life all too soon.

I'm usually the last person to turn to statistics when it comes to football. Anyone can choose stats that suit there argument, but I chose what I think are the most important stats before I plugged in the numbers. I wanted to see what each back, Bell vs. Williams, got on a per game basis and per play basis. It turned out that Bell and Williams are very close in their production. I added more of the elite backs to the table for perspective. Perhaps the only surprise to me was that Warrick Dunn edges out James Wilder as the top producing running back. The data in the table doesn't include the current season.

So, if you are like me and you are hoping for another playmaker in our offense... Welcome back Cadillac!

A tip of the Ball Cap to BUCPOWER for their great historical references.

JUST GIVE US SEVEN POINTS!

by CalicoJack

The season started so well for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Previous futility was washed away in 1979, when the upstart team became contenders. They won their first five games that year, including a 17 point come-from-behind victory over the Baltimore Colts. But, after that 5-0 start, the Bucs dropped a tough 3 point loss on the road to the New York Giants. Then came one of the most bizarre game in Buccaneer history. It still angers me as I type these words...

The New Orleans Saints came to town as a team the 5-1 Tampa squad should have easily beaten. As the game reached halftime, both offenses were so inept that the score was 0-0 as the players walked off the field. When they returned, the Bucs got the ball and made quick work of scoring the game's first points on a 3 play drive. Isaac Hagins caught a 22 yard touchdown pass from Doug Williams just one minute and four seconds into the third quarter. Good halftime adjustments? Maybe... But this was the last good play the home fans would see from their offense, or defense for that matter, on that day. The Saints would score touchdowns on their next six possession, while the Bucs only managed a late score by Jimmie Giles on a 21 yard pass with 1:22 left in the game. The Saints ran the clock out on their seventh possession of the second half.

For years, that game stood out to me as the most frustrating game I have ever watched. How could a defense, as staunch as that '79 unit was, give up six scores in one half when they only gave up a maximum of three touchdowns in any of their other games that season? Was Archie Manning that good?

For those of you who didn't experience that "Worst to First" season, the defense was every bit as good as some of the recent Bucs teams. Players like the Selmon brothers, Batman Wood, David Lewis, Cecil "the Diesel" Johnson, Mark Cotney, Cedric Brown, Jeris White, Mike Washington... These were great players on that defense that ranked at the top of the league. Coach John McKay decided to build the new franchise team starting with the defense. He did a great job of that, and despite not having free agency, he also started to assemble a few good players on the offense, too. Ricky Bell, Jimmie Giles, Doug Williams and some linemen mixed in with some veterans like Isaac Hagins, Morris Owens and Jim O'Bradovich. Obviously, there were growing pains for the young imbalanced team. Nearly a decade later, a co-worker told me of a rumored scenario that entirely fits the results on that maddening day...

We all know of the 17 point challenge that Warren Sapp made where, given that many points, the defense was strong enough to win any game. Rumor has it there was a much more drastic challenge during halftime of that Saints game in '79! A leader of the defense told a leader of the offense that seven points would be enough to win the game. When the offense struck quickly to start the second half, the offensive leader told the defensive leader that was all the scoring they were going to get. The defensive leader wasn't happy with the way the offensive leader delivered that message, so he issued a "lay down" order to his team. The Saints took advantage to score 42 points. I'm not going to name any Batman here... But, with the offensive leader on the bench, quarterback Mike Rae threw that late touchdown to Giles.

The team went on a see-saw ride from there and needed a field goal in a monsoon to clinch a playoff spot in the final game of the regular season. They fell one game short of a Super Bowl berth, losing to one of their early victims in the 5-0 start, the Los Angeles Rams.

Tip of the Cap to my friend, Leo James for the rumor, and BUCPOWER.com http://www.bucpower.com/1979game7.html for historical references...

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