Tom Buehring's Blog

Rays Playoffs: Oct. 13
The road to a World Series can be tedious. After all, baseball's a slow game.Thank goodness postseason baseball has a side-car... a seat full of off-field storylines and on-field sub-plots!It brings a three-ring circus to the big-stage. And for a "young and inexperienced" team ... the sideshow can be a distraction.

The Rays seemed to weather the transition into the ALDS smoothly ... taking the initial routine in-stride.Matter of fact, national media commented in Chicago how poised and mature players handled the pre-game and post-game onslaughts.They've been impressed with how players handled losses in both series... answering tough questions rather than conveniently dodging them.

Ask Rays players about their approach to this postseason and two reoccurring themes follow!
One: "play to win" ... which comes as no surprise.
And two: "enjoy the moment" ... which can quickly be forgotten when trailing in a series as things tighten up.

They're playing loose- and that's playing smart! Playoff appearances don't come along easily.There's no sure thing for next season. The same rule of thumb can apply to the fan! Enjoy the moment!

In the case of the Rays dramatic turnaround this season, it won't ever happen again! Expectations are already raised for next year. They won't sneak up on anyone, anymore. And will likely play in a tougher division with off-season fixes.

So in the meantime ... take a cue from the guys playing ... take this in ... cheer hard and smile big! Send comments to Tom.Buehring@bhsn.com

Tampa Bay Teams: Aug. 28

The more I track a team of players... one value quietly and consistently rises over the length of a season - the focus to win today's battle before taking claim of the war!
It cuts across the lines of sport.
But it also cuts against the grain for immediacy when cultural demand expects us to cut right to the chase!

With fall kickoffs nearly here, notice the annual spike in pre-season previews and predictions!We can't enjoy the journey ... because of our obsession with the end result!
Our loss!

Anything short of who's first to break the tape ... gives the illusion of distraction and failure. However, being fixated only on the finish gives too little to show for!

The finish line has room for only one. For everyone else - it's ultimately all about the view while getting in line for the prize. So seize it!

Players know the drill in expanding and explaining the pursuit of a championship!Here's how we hear it: "We're taking it one game at a time", "we can't look ahead", there's still a lot of season left". A reminder of first things first!

The Rays may be closing in on their first-ever post-season.

The Bulls have expectations of winning the Big East.

The Bucs begin the season as defending divisional champs.

And the Lightning has a new roster of hope to take a shot at a second Cup.

The difference between now and then is everything.

Joe Maddon tells me- heading into a heated pennant race- he hasn't lost sight of what the daily journey provides him during what's certain to be remembered as a franchise's turning point!

If you lose treasuring those things along the way- you've lost in all!Keep aim in the pursuit, but take in the journey!

If it works for them, it works for us- while we approach our own game in this season of life!

Post Game Bucs vs. Patriots: Aug. 21
A 27-10 win looks more encouraging than a loss where holes are exposed.You're right it's only pre-season.
But Bucs fans had to be encouraged by what they saw in the first quarter playing against the Patriots first-unit defense.The opening 17-play, 80-yard drive took up almost 10 minutes off the clock. Eight of which were running plays for 40 yards in a nice balance of run /pass.
The offensive line controlled the Pats defensive front, opening-up running lanes ... without getting flagged. Two of the Bucs three penalties were on special teams - the third was TE John Gilmore, caught holding.
Brian Griese was efficient - working the field with short gains, high percentage plays and ball control.
The Bucs offense didn't turnover the ball ... while the defense forced three turnovers -- each followed by a score -- two field goals and a Sabby Piscitelli touchdown return.
Sabby looks like a playmaker, doesn't he?
And some big, electric plays from Michael Bennett and Antonio Bryant! Both flash breakaway speed! Antonio tells me after the game, he's not taking anything for granted and is just going to keep working hard!
So, what's left to see this Saturday Night against Jacksonville?
How about some reassurance from a Jeff Garcia performance showing he's returned from his calf strain? And what about answering those questions about a lack of consistent pressure coming from the defensive ends??
They're getting closer to getting game-ready!

Sports and business! Aug. 14
Like it or not the pair has long replaced fun and games.
Too bad! The former was once an escape from the latter!Not any more. Instead, business has become the easy escape from everything good about sports - loyalty, effort, sacrifice, teamwork and trust.

Teams are influenced by payroll, not development ... championships are bought, not built ... and talent is measured by contract, not heart.

Players have been reduced to a commodity - whose worth is based on a franchise's investment. It pays well, but also buys the license to conveniently excuse how people are treated. At least players are betrayed, disappointed and/or undercut at a price.

But what about fans?! How are they -we- benefiting from the business? In most cases, "its just business" doesn't make the product any better, the value any greater and its availability any more affordable!As fans, we are fanatic! Who else buys overpriced tickets while purchasing overpriced merchandise to advertise someone else's goods!
But fans are also customers -- paying for salaries, concessions, and more often than not -- their venues.
So where's the customer service? Paying full-price for a pre-season ticket and getting just 25 percent of the product doesn't add up!

Howard Schultz is the CEO of Starbucks. Until recently he was owner of the Seattle SuperSonics. He bought the team because he loved basketball. He made a couple appearances on a nightly show I anchored while in Seattle. We would talk business and sports. He made for a fascinating discussion! He wanted to restore customer service to the NBA. It wasn't uncommon for him to personally meet you at the door of Key Arena and ask how the product and game experience could improve. He believed fans were paying customers and the foundation of all sports. A perspective his fellow owners had long forgotten. His maverick approach didn't get league support and was eventually beaten down because the customer was upstaging the goods. Among his business principles: "If you do what's expected of you, you'll never accomplish more than others expect."
Sadly, he was reduced to do what was expected of him, falling in line, and slowly prioritizing the company instead of the customer. It didn't work. Business couldn't serve the sport, because the sport was enslaved to the business.

Maybe paying fans would be smart to think more like paying customers ... and withhold their business with the businessmen who've changed the games! Send comments to Tom.Buehring@bhsn.com

Brett Favre: July 30
So what value does Brett Favre bring to the Bucs?

A) A proven playmaker for a play-making deficit offense!
B) A convenient thorn in the side of Jeff Garcia to quietly reduce his demands for a new deal - back down to last year's simple tune of gratitude for just being a Buc!
C) A needed attention-draw to counter the Rays growing success with spectator's dollars during this economic sag.

I'd like to believe A!
Can't help but suspiciously buy into B.
While wondering if C has now become an issue!
We'll have to wait see ... but not for long!

Sitting in first-place, with baseball's second best-record during the last part of July is new territory. Not just for the Rays. But for the Bucs, too!

The assumed "top-team" in town is no longer a safe assumption. The title may soon be shared!
Winning does that.

Fortunately for the Bucs, the last local world champion raised it's trophy during the football off-season in June of 2004. Four months after a Super Bowl is enough distance for the NFL's liking ... with still enough limelight to go around! But what happens when the Bay Area's hit with
pennant fever while the NFL begins the regular season? And what happens if the Rays show enough staying power late in September while the Bucs stumble out to a slow start? Where will attention (and dollars) turn first when October begins and a baseball post-season makes its debut? Suddenly, success has competition!
Winning does that.

The Rays have earned a growing, paying fan base, framed around Evan Longoria, the face of their franchise. The Lightning has re-energized their fans with a roster face-lift that also secured Vinny Lecavalier as a Lightning for life. But the Bucs seem stalled on the fast track ... relying on a memory that brought them their last great success.
Winning does that too!
And who, by the way, is the face of the Bucs franchise?

It could be: (A) a proven playmaker for a play-making deficit offense ... that stimulates.
(B) a convenient thorn in the side of Jeff Garcia to quietly reduce his demands to simple gratitude ... that generates.
(C) a needed attention-draw to counter the Rays growing success with spectator's dollars.

Favre in Pewter and Red? ... A decision that's not as easy as A,B,C ... but still might spell a potential answer for the organization on multiple fronts.