Same Old Story With A Different Name

ESPN.com has the Bucs on their home page linked to a couple stories about the team. They take a look at woefully underreported storylines like Jon Gruden's career being in danger, the large number of quarterbacks on the roster, and Jeff Garcia's age. He's 37, you know.

I'm being kind of harsh, of course. As I stated in a comment to a previous entry, national reporters don't spend nearly as much time on the Buccaneers as we do, so their work is at a much higher level. And since 97% of ESPN's readers aren't Bucs fans, a high level is all that's necessary. But please at least get the facts right.

When the popular tight end Dave Moore retired, Gruden claimed the troubled Jerramy Stevens, who was shown the door in Seattle.

Dave Moore was a tight end in name only; he was the long snapper. Stevens was not signed to replace him since Moore rarely took snaps at tight end. Additionally, Stevens was signed long before Moore retired.

I do like the way some of these national guys get players to open up a little more. Sal Paolantonio spoke to an anonymous defensive player who commented on Gruden's sticking with Bruce Gradkowski despite the fact that he was getting worse every game.

"There wasn't the open sniping like when Keyshawn [Johnson] was here," said one defensive player, "but there were whispers like 'What the hell is this guy trying to prove?' I think Jon knows he screwed up."

So, anyway, there you go. If you are reading this, chances are you already know more than the authors of these articles, but at least they gave the Bucs a little more coverage today.