Show Your Tampa Bay Pride Monday!
By Josh Hill
TAMPA — I know this is a Tampa Bay Buccaneers site, but we got to rep out Tampa Pride in this particular instance.
If you were free this coming Monday, you schedule just filled up. If you’re busy on Monday you’d better cancel and reschedule because it’s going to be a party in Tampa with two teams everyone counted out roaring with a furious passion for winning.
The Tampa Bay Rays of baseball fame just won the American League Wild Card in dramatic fashion, taking a page out of Josh Freeman’s comeback book erasing a 7-run deficit to beat the New York Yankees. The Boston Red Sox must have been playing the Bucs because they blew a lead in Baltimore which would have forced, at the very least, a 163rd sudden death game.
Now where do the Tampa Bay Buccaneers come into this? I’m so glad you asked, let me tell you.
The Rays are the Wild Card team meaning they will play the Texas Rangers in a Best-of-5 series. Being the lower seeded team, the first two game will be in Texas on Friday and Saturday. The third game of the series will be in Tampa — in the Trop — On Monday.
Hmmm, whatelse is going in Tampa on Monday?
Oh, that’s right the Buccaneers are playing in their first Monday Night Football game of the Josh Freeman-Raheem Morris era in Tampa. So what we have here is two teams, playing in big-time big-spot nationally televised games and they’re both not only from Tampa but playing in the same city on the same night.
It’s hard to not see that these two teams are connected. The back-and-forth banter between Raheem Morris and Rays manager Joe Maddon all month has been news and proof that this sports community is connected.
Even if you’re not a Rays fan or a Bucs fan, you have to be hard pressed not to feel an immense feeling of pride in your hometown and I highly engourage you to get out there this Monday and rep Tampa!
Go to the Ray J and see Free and the Bucs take flight on Monday Night. Head over to The Trop and rally behind the Rays. Or just get out to a bar or a restaurant or a friends house and rep Tampa on Monday. Wear the Bucs tie to work, put on your Rays boxers (or briefs, or lady undergarments) and let the sports world know that Tampa is where the sports party is at!
The Rays are in the playoffs and the Bucs are on their way to potentially getting there too. What a weekend to show your Tampa Pride.