It’s the time of year that the little scoreboard ticker on my Yahoo homepage is full of matchups – baseball, college ball, NFL, hockey, with basketball coming quick.
↵Today, though, there are only two games featured. Both local. Both important.
↵The Rays host the Mariners in the Trop with a place in the playoffs within spitting distance. A Rays win puts the team within one game of getting the AL Wild Card spot. A Boston win over New York seals that deal and provides more distance in the race for the AL East.
↵No small stakes there. Play ball!
↵Over at Raymond James, the Bucs host the Pittsburgh Steelers. Armed with the confidence that a 2-0 season start brings, the young Buccaneer team faces its biggest test yet in the form of a razor-sharp Steeler defense led by the fabulously coiffed Troy Polamalu but an offense starting a third-string quarterback, Charlie Batch.
↵The air is rife with potential and a lot of “we will see.” Those of us not at RayJay will have to let Gene Deckerhoff and the Bucs radio crew give us the action, thanks to an area blackout (the play-out of which smells a little suspicious to me, but for the sake of the game, I’m going to let it go…) And for the record, my fantasy football team, The Ignorant Sluts, has Mike Williams starting at WR. Gotta dance with the one who brung you and show the faith in the burgeoning potential of the team.
↵Time to tee it up and kick it off.
↵It’s a big sports day in Tampa Bay.
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