I’m on my way back to Costa Rica after watching 3 Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ games in 11 days.
When I planned this vacation in May, I had no idea what the Bucs record would be or who was going to be playing. Watching a football game is not like buying a ticket to a concert or Broadway show. Football is unpredictable which is why I get emotionally invested. At the same time, the Bucs, coming off a strong 2024 season, we’re poised to have a great season in 2025. As I was about to find out, though, expectations and reality are two different things.
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After watching the Bucs squeek out a win against Arizona I then sat through 2 of the worst games I’ve ever attended. A 4 point loss in the pouring rain to the Saints, and a loss to the Falcons where they blew a 14 point 4th quarter lead.
Both the Saints and Falcons had losing records with nothing but pride to play for but the Bucs couldn’t beat either of them and now sit at 7-7 after starting out 6-2. It’s the kind of collapse which hasn’t been seen since Jon Gruden was the HC. He needed just 1 win out of his final 4 but lost all of them to miss the playoffs. He was subsequently fired a few weeks later.
Coaches have an expiry date and it feels like Bowles has reached his. I’ll leave that discussion though, for a later date.
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Despite only seeing 1 win out of 3, I still had a great time hanging out with friends and family. I had 3 different experiences and each was unique.
I was also able to get a tour of the Advent Health Facility (still One Buc place to me) met Rock Riley and the voice of the Bucs Gene Deckerhoff.
In my younger days I would have let the disappointment of these last two losses linger and become bitter and angry but now I’m slowly letting these games have less of an impact on me. When you have expectations it leads to disappointment. The nature of sports is that it’s unpredictable and I have no control over the outcome.
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So thank you Tampa and I’ll hopefully see you soon. As a fan since 79 i don’t control the outcome but I do control how the outcome affects me.
A special thanks to Teresa, Ed, Dean, Paul, Steve, Jason, Phyllis, Niki and Robert for making my time in Tampa so special!
Greg D’Cruz with Tampa Bay sports media legend Rock Riley at Raymond James Stadium, home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Greg D’Cruz with the voice of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Gene Deckerhoff
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