{"id":135406,"date":"2026-01-28T20:41:19","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T20:41:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/135406\/"},"modified":"2026-01-28T20:41:19","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T20:41:19","slug":"tampa-bay-28s-kyle-burger-becomes-thunderbugs-honorary-bug-keeper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/135406\/","title":{"rendered":"Tampa Bay 28&#8217;s Kyle Burger becomes ThunderBug&#8217;s &#8216;Honorary Bug Keeper"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>TAMPA, Fla. \u2014 ThunderBug has served as the Tampa Bay Lightning\u2019s official mascot since 1992. But the energetic black and yellow insect is not alone.<\/p>\n<p>On game days, he gets help from the \u201cBug Keeper,\u201d Jack O\u2019Malley.<\/p>\n<p>O\u2019Malley has been ThunderBug\u2019s sidekick for about three years. As a \u201cBug Keeper,\u201d he ensures that T-Bug is prepared for all of his antics and appearances.<\/p>\n<p>He manages his props, including the signature yellow noodles, signs, costumes, and his bike, while also taking photos and helping with fan interactions during games.<\/p>\n<p>            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1769632875_380_.png\" alt=\"Jack O\u2019Malley with Kyle Burger\"  width=\"1129\" height=\"633\"\/><\/p>\n<p>WFTS<\/p>\n<p>But with the NHL Stadium Series inside the much bigger venue of Raymond James Stadium, Tampa Bay 28 sports anchor Kyle Burger thought maybe \u201cBug Keeper\u201d O\u2019Malley might need some help on Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>To get Kyle ready for the big game, O\u2019Malley put him to the test to be an official \u201cBug Keeper.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1769632876_279_.jpeg\" alt=\"Bug Keeper Kyle Burger\"  width=\"1280\" height=\"720\"\/><\/p>\n<p>WFTS<\/p>\n<p>The Tampa Bay Lightning also offers a <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nhl.com\/lightning\/fans\/thunderbug_ingame\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Bug Keeper Experience on game days.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Share Your Story with Kyle Burger<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/KyleBurger.png\"\/><br \/>For Tampa Bay 28 Sports Anchor Kyle Burger, pride in our local teams goes beyond college and the pros. Sports connect us as communities and families. You can connect with Kyle to share your passion for your local athletes below.<br \/>.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/ANNETTE.GUTIERREZ.png\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Protesters gather in Zephyrhills demanding justice after fatal ICE shooting in Minnesota<\/p>\n<p>More than 50 demonstrators lined the streets near Alice Park following the weekend death of Alex Pretti during an immigration enforcement operation.<\/p>\n<p>Protesters gather in Zephyrhills demanding justice after shooting in Minnesota<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TAMPA, Fla. \u2014 ThunderBug has served as the Tampa Bay Lightning\u2019s official mascot since 1992. But the energetic&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":135407,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[205,11150,66310,66311,9662,66312,135,9659,137,136,208,9661],"class_list":["post-135406","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-abc-action-news","tag-abc-action-news-sports","tag-bolts","tag-bug-keeper","tag-lightning","tag-stadium-series","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-bay-sports","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news","tag-wfts","tag-wfts-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135406","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=135406"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135406\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/135407"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=135406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=135406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=135406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}