Buccaneers: There’s a new best sports city in America
By John Paul
The Buccaneers are just one piece of the puzzle in Tampa.
We all stood and bore witness to the dominance of Boston sports over the better part of this century. It appeared that they were having some sort of championship parade every other week, much to the emotional detriment of sports fans around the country that yearned for just one of those same parades in their lifetimes.
However, that dominance has ended, and as with all empty voids, someone has to come in and take Boston’s spot as the top sports city of America.
Fortunately for Tampa, all evidence points to it as the logical and clearly proven successor. Like all greatness though, it didn’t just happen overnight, and the growing reputation of the city itself is a direct byproduct of the hard work and on-field excellence of its major sports teams: The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tampa Bay Rays, and the Tampa Bay Lightning.
This all began back in 2008 with the historic turnaround season of the Rays, which took them from their reliable spot as the punching bag of the AL East division of the MLB to a World Series contender. As the Rays have continued to produce winning season after winning season, the Lightning have just won back-to-back Stanley cups, and the Buccaneers are the current reigning NFL champs.
Tampa Bay’s spot as the modern sports Mecca of America wasn’t solidified until the Bucs Super Bowl win this past year though, despite the consistent successes of the Lightning and Rays.
The reality is that football remains the most popular sport in America, so it goes without saying that for any city to be known for its sports achievements, it must have a successful football team.
After the success of the 2020 season behind the Buccaneers, there are very few cities who could even have a minutia of an argument for their city as opposed to Tampa.
All evidence seems to show that Tampa will continue to reign supreme for the next few years at least as the Bucs were able to sign back their whole starting squad from last year, the Lightning still haven’t lost any of their major players, and the Rays somehow continue to win despite having a new roster on a yearly basis.
It is indeed a great time to be from Tampa Bay.
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