Tampa Is…?

According to the print edition of this week’s Creative Loafing, they received over 3,000 ballots for the 2008 Best of the Bay readers’ poll.

We are proud to announce that Sticks of Fire has been named a finalist for Best Local Blog, along with two other great blogs, Seminole Heights and Creative Loafing.

We also want to congratulate the finalists in all other categories, including our friends, Bubba the Love Sponge, the Hogans (by the way, Bubba and Hulk are gonna be on TV together), Gasparilla, Rick Baker, the potential St. Pete Waterfront Stadium, Brian Blair, the Riverwalk, and Ronda Storms.

We’ll find out all the winners at The Loafies, CL’s BOTB award show to be held at the Tampa Theatre next Tuesday at 8pm (red carpet at 7):

The CL staff sort of went ’round the bend last year when one of us said “Hey, let’s do a Best of the Bay awards show!” and the rest of us didn’t duct tape his mouth shut. So we went ahead and did it. Called it The Loafies. And you know what? It worked. The show was fun and funny and lively and glamorous (if we do say so ourselves) and actually came off with nary a hitch. So we’re doing it again. This year’s Loafies show is held at the same venue, Tampa Theatre, with witty and urbane host Brendan McLaughlin, anchor man for ABC Action News. We’ll hand out lots of Best of the Bays, of course, and have guest presenters and all that good stuff. Local Americana act Have Gun, Will Travel plays a classic cover (a surprise), and Basic Rock Outfit, the Damon Fowler Group and Daylight District are also scheduled to perform. And it gets better still. We’ve set up an after-party at an unfinished space a couple of blocks down Franklin Street from Tampa Theatre. It’s free to anyone who attends The Loafies. And as if that weren’t enough, two magic words: drink tickets.

If you want to go, you can get your tickets at Tampa Theater for $10 or online for $12.

Congratulations to Citrus Park and Palma Ceia!

Not only are the Citrus Park Little Leaguers representing the Southeast US at the Little League World Series in Williamsport, PA, but their Big League Softball team is representing the South in the Big League World Series Softball in Kalamazoo, MI.

The softball team beat host St. Petersburg (District 12) to get to the World Series, and has already played the round robin games, going 1-3.  Their last consolation game (today at 11am) will determine final placement.

Congratulations also goes out to the Palma Ceia Little League Junior Softball team for getting to the Little League Junior Softball World Series in Kirkland, WA.  They will play in today’s consolation final at 5pm.

But the Little League Baseball gets the most attention.

Citrus Park’s little leaguers beat Alabama in the Southeast Regional Tournament finals to move on to the World Series with 15 other teams from around the world.  Citrus Park’s round robin schedule looks like this:

• GAME 1 against Midwest winner Canyon Lake (Rapid City, SD) Friday, Aug. 15, 2pm on ESPN
• GAME 14 against West winner Waipio (Waipahu, HI) Sunday, Aug. 17, 8pm on ESPN2
• GAME 19 against New England winner Shelton National (Shelton, CT) Monday, Aug. 18, 6pm on ESPN2

If they win all of those, they move on to the semifinals which begin Wednesday, Aug. 20.

We wish Citrus Park players, coaches, parents and neighbors the best of luck - have a great time!

Back in the early ’80s, civic leaders branded Tampa “America’s Next Great City”. Since then, we’ve been on a quest to gather as many sports franchises, high profile events, aquariums and streetcars as possible in an effort to legitimize that claim. Another brick in that wall was added this week when it was announced a big name was coming to Tampa. No, not quarterback Brett Favre who was traded to the New York Jets instead of the beloved hometown Buccaneers, but a much, much bigger fish. Or rather, someone who…allegedly…sends others to sleep with the fishes.

Naturally, we as a community could not possibly be more excited. Well, except maybe for Rays skipper Joe Maddon, who when he first heard Junior was coming to town thought a late waiver wire deal had been worked out to get Ken Griffey. But for the rest of us, while we love justice, we really love spectacle on a grand scale. And this has all the makings of an epic, just the way we like it. Word is that negotiations are already underway for either Joe Redner, Debra LaFave or a couple of Hogans to throw out the ceremonial first affidavit (I’m pulling for Redner; having been arrested over 140 times, the guy really knows his way around a courtroom).

(Cross posted at Ridiculously inconsistent trickle of consciousness)

Disney’s Wide World of Sports complex is undergoing a change, and will soon bear the name of ESPN.  Makes sense since most kids these days have never heard of the long running “Wide World of Sports” brand and television show on ABC.

But anyway, in regards to that subject, Orlando Sentinel Staff Writer Scott Powers interviewed the senior vice president of global sports enterprises for Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, Ken Potrock.  The Q&A is mostly uninteresting drivel about how ESPN and Disney are going to take over the amateur sporting tournaments away from the rest of the country, and blah, blah, blah.  But there was one exchange that caught our eye:

Q: Any possibility that the Tampa Bay Rays’ schedule might be expanded at Champion Stadium?

A: We love having the Tampa Bay Rays play here. I would love to have them make a longer-term commitment to play here, and to play as many games here as they would like to play.

That sure is an interesting comment, given that the Rays are in the midst of trying to get St. Pete to build a new stadium.

Then again, I may be reading too much into it.  Champion Stadium holds less than 10,000 spectators.

Thanks to Mr. Media Bob Andelman, who originally found the quote at Mickey News, and passed it on to us.

PS:  Don’t look now, but exactly half way through the season, the Rays once again wake up this morning with the best record in baseball.

Dr. Beach came out with his top beaches for this year, and the Tampa Bay area can once again claim the best beach in the United States.  Fort DeSoto was named the top beach in the US for 2005, and this year Caladesi Island ranks as America’s Best Beach.  Caladesi Island is just off the coast of Dunedin.

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Not only that, but Sarasota’s Siesta Public Beach ranked number three in the nation for 2008.  You can find that beach on Siesta Key, just an hour south of Tampa or St. Pete.

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They both look pretty good, huh?

Past Florida winners of Dr. Beach’s list include:

• 2005 Fort DeSoto Park - North Beach, St Petersburg, Florida
• 2002 St. Joseph Peninsula State Park, Florida
• 1995 St. Andrews SRA, Florida
• 1994 Grayton Beach SRA, Florida
• 1992 Bahia Honda SRA, Florida

I can’t lie, it’s somewhat comforting to see injuries working in the Bucs favor for once as the Jags are forced to start a former receiver at quarterback. Tampa Bay’s roster has resembled a triage unit lately with injuries to half the offense, the latest to receivers Michael Clayton and Mark Jones. Hopefully, Garrad’s absence will swing the pendulum in Tampa Bay’s favor.

BY THE NUMBERS (DVOA and DAVE explained here)
Buccaneers
Offense: ppg, 17.7 - DVOA, 19.0% (#4) - DAVE, 18.2% (#4)
Defense: ppg, 15.7 - DVOA, -1.8% (#15) - DAVE, -1.5% (#14)
Jaguars
Offense: ppg, 17.8 - DVOA, 11.7% (#6) - DAVE, 11.7% (#6)
Defense: ppg, 14.5 - DVOA, -1.7% (#14) - DAVE, -4.9% (#12)

I wrote earlier this week how the Bucs offense has been surprisingly efficient but has not been anything special. The numbers bear this out as the Bucs have the fourth most efficient offense but are ranked 19th in scoring. They have been moving the ball just fine but have had trouble converting those drives into points, mostly because outside of the constantly double-teamed Joey Galloway the Bucs don’t have any play makers left on the offense.

On the other side of the ball for the Bucs the defense’s stats have decreased the last few weeks as they have played competent offenses. Even without their starting quarterback the Bucs will have a tough test against the double headed monster that is Maurice Jones-Drew/Fred Taylor. Jones-Drew especially has been getting his mojo back as of late, gaining 259 of 359 yards in the last three games (plus all 4 of his touchdowns on the season).

BY THE PLAYERS
Bucs o-line versus Jags d-line
Conventional wisdom says you have to establish the run to pass the ball but this Jags d-line turns that conventional wisdom on it’s head. As the Colts showed Monday an offense needs to establish the pass first to open up run lanes on this defense.

The Bucs o-line looks much improved from last year’s version but the six penalty performance last week is a cause for concern. Detroit has a very good d-line but not as good as Jacksonville’s, which creates the question if the Bucs struggled against the Lions how bad could things get against the Jags? Sunday’s game will be ugly but assuming the Bucs don’t repeat their mistakes from last weekend they should win this game.

The Sticks of Fire community was the first to read about the $500 million debate between Ed Turanchik and Bob Abberger, which was subsequently printed in Sunday’s Tribune (but without Ed’s follow-up comments). The entire unedited exchange published here five days earlier.

In addition, Sticks readers have engaged in a lively commentary including remarks from Pierre Mathurin who has been speaking to the Transportation Task Force as a concerned citizen. The Tribune printed a letter sent by Pierre, after he spoke his mind at the public meeting and here in the Sticks.

The debate was kicked off by an earlier article published here, with links to background on the issue, and details about how you can provide input.

We want you to continue to use this forum and all others to not only learn about the stake you have in this community, but to tell us what you think about all of it. The comments here are open.

After months of anticipation, I finally had a chance to see the local documentary Ten at the Top in Tampa Bay last night. It was worth the wait. Tampa native Renee Warmack noticed that the Tampa Bay area has ten women currently heading governmental institutions:

• Pat Bean, County Administrator, Hillsborough County
• MaryEllen Elia, Superintendent, School District of Hillsborough County
• Pat Frank, Clerk of the Circuit Court, 13th Judicial Circuit
• Nancy Fryrear, Postmaster, Tampa — United States Postal Service
• Julianne Holt, Public Defender, 13th Judicial Circuit
• Pam Iorio, Mayor, City of Tampa
• Dr. Luanne Panacek, Chief Executive Officer, Children’s Board of Hillsborough County
• Dr. Gwendolyn Stephenson, President, Hillsborough Community College
• Dr. Judy Genshaft, President, University of South Florida
• Colonel Margaret Woodward, Commander, MacDill Air Force Base

Warmack did more than merely notice; she decided to become a documentary filmmaker, to interview these remarkable women, to embody the spirit of the Ophelia Project, to encourage children to dream big and to inspire everyone, especially women. Warmack was able to interview eight of the ten women (Dr. Genshaft and Col. Woodward weren’t available) and get them to open up about their education, childhoods, dreams, goals, challenges and mentors. Dr. Stephenson spoke about her original goal of becoming a doctor, the career challenges she has faced as an African-American woman and the advice her mother gave her (”read everything”). Ms. Frank quoted her father’s advice (”go to college, take care of your teeth and buy expensive shoes”) and talked about the hideous bow-tie fashions that career women adopted in the 80s to try to fit into the male suit-and-tie world. All of the women shared funny, touching, poignant stories from their own lives.

I found Ten at the Top in Tampa Bay not only inspirational, but honest. The interviewees were very open in discussing the ups and downs of their careers: the prejudice and sexism, and the mentoring, encouragement and support. I was glad to see the women identified almost every time they were on screen, which kept the viewer from getting confused about who was speaking. Also, I enjoyed the photos of the women as children, teenagers and young women at the beginning of their careers. However, I wish that Warmack had mentioned Dr. Genshaft and Col. Woodward more than just the one time at the very beginning of the film. Very brief bios and a mention that those two were unavailable for interviews would have filled in the very small gap (for me, anyway) of featuring only eight women in a film called Ten at the Top in Tampa Bay.

Before filming, Warmack made a commitment not to sell DVDs of her film. She said last night that she plans to honor this promise, but is sharing her film with schools and other organizations since her motto is “go forth and mentor.” I hope others discover this remarkable and inspirational mentoring tool that Warmack has given the Bay area.

Visit www.tenatthetop.com for more info or to view a trailer of this film. Ten at the Top in Tampa Bay will make its broadcast premiere on March 25 at 4 p.m. on WEDU. The film will also screen at the Ybor Festival of the Moving Image on April 22.

(cross-posted at www.tampafilmfan.com)