Tampa Bay Buccaneers owners sent a reassuring message to fans when they fired Jon Gruden: They care about winning. No coach deserves a lifetime pass for capturing a Super Bowl title, as Gruden did in his first season with the Bucs in 2002. ...more

January 20, 2009

President-elect Barack Obama may be making the rounds in Washington, but his face lined the route of Tampa's annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Parade on Monday in College Hill. Standing along the street in a new Obama T-shirt, Arthur Chester was in a good place in more ways than one. He had a good view of the festivities and of the future. "I never thought I'd ever see it," he said. "This is a dream. This is a dream that is happening for all the right reasons." All along the route, thousands stood, in some places seven or eight deep, cheering every float, every marching band and every elected official. "Everyone's excited. Everyone has come together," Anita Sturks said. ...more

January 20, 2009

Mark Dominik came to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 14 years ago for what was basically a tryout. At least that's how Rich McKay, the general manager at the time, remembers things. ...more

January 18, 2009

Raheem Morris is one of those guys people want to be around. He is smart, thoughtful, accomplished and energetic, and he is the new head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. You like him the moment you meet him. ...more

January 17, 2009

From dogs and cats in holiday garb to youngsters sitting with Santa, there were lots of great holiday photos in South and Central Tampa's 2008 Holiday Photo Contest. It was not easy to pick a winner, but our judges at southtampa .tbo.com and centraltampa.tbo.com finally chose David and Jennifer Mortensen's photograph of their baby taking a nap in a Christmas stocking. The Mortensens, of Citrus Park, won $50 for the picture. Second place, and $25, went to Ted and Priscilla Porter of South Tampa for a photo of their son, Thomas Porter, with the Grinch. Kathleen Boyle, a kindergarten teacher at Mabry Elementary, donned the Grinch suit in the photo. Caren Harvey of Valrico took third place and $25 for a photo of her daughter Brianna's first Christmas with her "reindog," Tonka. ...more

January 7, 2009

One wasn't ready for prime time. The other might be past it. ...more

January 2, 2009

Tampa Bay's most beloved football coach? Surely Tony Dungy would get a lot of votes. But it would be hard to find anybody who goes back to the mid-1980s who wouldn't put Steve Spurrier in the top two. ...more

December 31, 2008

If you've spent much time in this town, you've seen some pretty bad football. From the 0-26 beginning to the Lost Years of Leeman Bennett, Ray Perkins, Richard Williamson and Sam Wyche, folks in these parts know about being force-fed a lousy product. ...more

December 30, 2008

Wherever the Glazer family gathered Sunday night, we have to hope someone piped up somewhere between the appetizers and the main course, "You know, we might just have to fire Jon." ...more

December 29, 2008

The Bucs play the Raiders today in what could be the final game of the season. They played the Raiders in what was absolutely the final game of the 2002 season. As we recall, the Bucs won. ...more

December 28, 2008