TampaBLAB

The campaign Buzzed Driving Is Drunk Driving is important but even more so on New Years Eve. New Years Eve is often associated with parties and drinking. I have no issue with that, but getting behind the wheel and driving while buzzed is serious and can be deadly. Can you tell the difference between being buzzed and being drunk? There is none! If you are impaired, you are drunk.

Watch Emily’s Story, a video about how believing that you are “just buzzed” can completely change your life.

So what can we do to help stop Buzzed Driving?

• Join the Facebook page Buzzed Driving Is Drunk Driving and follow Buzzed Driving on Twitter to get updates and facts about the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHSTA) and the Ad Council’s campaign to end Buzzed Driving.
• Take the Pledge to not drive while buzzed.
• If you are serving drinks at your party, provide rides for your guests or a place for them to spend the night.
• If you are going out and drinking, have a designated driver or hire a taxi or other form of transportation.
• Check “Free Rides New Years Eve” with your city or town to learn if there is free transportation available on that night.
• Don’t say, “should have”.

Be safe this New Years Eve and the years to come. Remember that Buzzed Driving Is Drunk Driving.

Tampa Daily Photo

Colgate Wisp is the sponsor of a Simultaneous Kiss event for New Years Eve. Steal a kiss and help set the Guinesss World Record for the most couples kissing simultaneously by attending one of the live events put on by New Years Nation, or watch it live on Livestream. You can even take part on Twitter by following the hashtag #WispKiss. Just don’t forget to kiss that someone special at midnight central time!

Colgate Wisp will keep your breath fresh if you’re kissing someone you just met, your boyfriend or your husband of 30 years. We all want that special midnight kiss to last a long time! I do and I’ve been married 13 years.

The New Years Nation parties will be held in 10 cities around the country including Philadelphia, Seattle and Austin. And you can win a ticket to the New York City party – Katja Presnal will be live on Twitter @katjapresnal and on Whrrl (Katja Presnal) on December 31st, 2009 after 6PM. Follow her and the hashtag #WispKiss to learn her specific location at the New Year’s Nation Party at the Doubletree Suites at Times Square. Be the first to find her and win One (1) ticket to New Year’s Nation Party at the Doubletree Suites at Times Square, New York City on December 31st, 2009 at 8PM. Worth $225, no substitutes. The winner will have to physically redeem the ticket from Katja Presnal between 6PM and 8PM.

I’ll be holding a small family party and will be sure to have Colgate Wisp on hand. I may not be at one of the parties in person, but my husband and I will take part in the Simultaneous Kiss on New Years Eve because we’ll get to kiss twice. We live in the Eastern time zone.

Of Pasco County will spend three months in the West Bank early next year to build bridges between Tampa Bay and Palestine. BetteJo Indelicato, from Hudson, is with the group Rise Up Tampa Bay........here

In Tampa

It is amazing to think that 2009 will be gone in merely 2 days!  Although many are ready to put 2009 away in their filing system, I want to be thankful for all that has occurred in 2009. This year was a wonderful year for me with many friendships and partnerships made.  As well as many [...]

They don't require you to sign a contract; you can turn on service as easy as you can turn it off.  If you move, they will move you, usually for free. Add more computers? They will send you out a wireless router.  Their Customer Service is rated tops in any tech business, you call up, you talk to someone right away, and they speak english.

But make no mistake about it. BrightHouse is the bad guy.

They tried to put that designation on NFL Network. Remember a few years ago, when no one could watch the fledgling  network, and BrightHouse refused to carry it because the Big Bad people at the NFL were trying to push an outrageous cost onto the average cable consumer, and wanted to force cable companies to carry it as a sports regular programing, not a premium pay only channel? 

 

Some of us bought it. Why would the NFL do that to us? What if I dont want Satellite for my cable provider? Then it started spreading. Knology offered up the NFL network at first without the game, of which they added later. Now, even the Sprint Palm Pre I had came with NFL Network on it. Only Brighthouse refuses to carry it.

And now there is Fox. Coming up soon, Brighthouse customers are not going to be able to watch any FOX programming because Brighthouse cannot come to terms.

IS anyone buying it this time? If you are, you shouldn't; any more than you should their services. Because we are outsiders, we don't know for sure who is at fault in this situation. But I have Fios, and I'm not losing anything, so are we wrong to look at the guys who still refuse to back down to the football network?

In the meantime, there are phone numbers to call to speak your mind...but there is only one number I would call. I would be calling Brighthouse and telling them you have no intention of paying for any Cable bill that does not include Fox which isn't it by law they are required to give you? IF enough people do that, I wonder how long it will take for Brighthouse to realize the games have gotten old.

Much like their antiquated services.

NOTE: This is an opinion based article, and does not necessarily represent the opinions of the staff or management of anyone with Bucem or SB Nation.

"Like people, a wine is only as good as the foundation by which it's roots have grown."




(This message brought to you by The Wine Whore)

r saw this on teevee, so i had to point you to it: stroke me

take care of those problem arms! faster faster harder harder.

Versus

Full game coverage on SB Nation

When I was a full-time reporter and moving around the country for newspaper jobs, the first thing I did when I got into a new town would be to break out my bicycle and troll the new city by bike.

It was a beautiful away to connect to my new hometown. I'd bike down to main street, and slowly pedal up and down the side streets, then set off on roads that led to neoghborhoood to neighborhood, and even the commercial strips.

There was no better vehicle to use to explore my new city. I could slowly soak up so much yet the bicycle would allow me to cover so much ground.

Even here in Tampa, where I have lived for the past six years, a 20-mile bike ride around this place always shows me a side of Tampa.

Like these two anecdotes today.

I was cycling on Swann Avenue heading toward Howard Avenue near the Panera Bread intersection in south Tampa when a yuppie south Tampa guy in a BMW buzzes me and passes me by less than a foot of space. He is texting and playing with his electronic gadget while driving and passing me way too close and in violation of the three-foot buffer law.

He was in the left-turn lane on Swann ready to turn onto Armenia when I pulled up on Swann on the far right side of the road. His passenger-side window rolls down and I figure he might apologize for nearly hitting me. But this is Tampa, where drivers believe they own the road and a bicyclist is guilty, I guess, for just being there.

He shouts that I should be biking on Bayshore or the sidewalk and that it's dangerous to bike in traffic. I explain to yuppie south Tampa BMW man that he's the one who is dangerous when driving and texting at the same time and that, as a bicyclist, I am part of the "traffic."

I wave good-bye.

And here's my other slice of Tampa. I saw this guy at Boulevard and Kennedy about 10 minutes later.


That's one juicy taco, my friends. Look at that filling!


Like I said, get a good taste of a town by biking around it.

Here's a fun feature story for either one of the two daily newspapers in town, but I doubt they'd write about it -- Seminole Heights is Ground Zero for ALL types of bicyclists in Tampa. Seminole Heights is home to one of the fastest cyclists in the region -- Alan Badia. Then, there's the famed Ghost Rider -- Jack Sweeney, a bike-commuting maven. How about bicycle-builder Steve Swiger, who helped me bike 170 miles across Florida in one day.

Living near me is bicycle advocate Chip Thomas and even Gena Torres, the former MPO staffer who used to oversee the Tampa/Hillsborough Bicycle-Pedestrian Advisory Committee, counts Seminole Heights as her home. Gena has been known to ride her bike now and then. And road and bicycle planners Angelo Rao and Beth Alden are in the 'hood, too.

Lots of people bike-commute from Seminole Heights, like speedy bicyclist Lisa who works at the local Starbucks. And my pal Picot Floyd, who loves bicycles, used to bike 10 miles to the Telecom corporate area off Fletcher Avenue.

And how about Chris the firefighter who has a bike shop at his SH home? And let's not forget the hometown Seminole Heights Bicycle Club, which was featured in the November edition of Bicycling Magazine. Even St. Pete Times writers Ben Montgomery and Bill Varrian live in SH and ride bikes.

My point is that Seminole Heights is fertile ground -- and pavement -- for an amazingly diverse group of folks who love to ride all types of bicycles.

Which brings me to this fella this morning who I saw on a Hillsborough Avenue sidewalk crossing Florida Avenue.

Like I said, it takes all types to ride in Seminole Heights.

Today, something special arrived at my front door... And well, let's just say that today, The Wine Whore Gets Lucky!

Here's what showed up:






(This message brought to you by The Wine Whore)

There’s a bounce in their step. There’s a swagger that hasn’t been there since Week 13 of last season. There’s an optimism radiating from One Buc Place that can be seen for miles.

These guys might be on to something.

Do they have this game figured out? No. Will this cute little two-game win streak turn into a decade of dominance? Probably not. They are, however on the right track to settling Tampa Bay’s identity crisis that started when Monte Kiffin left for Tennessee. Since he and Derrick Brooks walked out the door, the defense, the franchise and the city haven’t been the same. Now, it looks like we’re getting a glimpse of what the Buccaneers will look like in the coming years.

"I think it’s a different team now," head coach Raheem Morris said. "I think it’s a different bunch of guys. I think it’s guys that have grown up a little bit. This season will mature you pretty fast, both coaches and players."

By maturing, I’m sure he’s referring to the fact that they went into New Orleans last Sunday with a gameplan and stuck with it: Keep them out of the end zone and run the football. There were clutch catches by receivers. A big play on special teams. A well-timed scramble by a young quarterback for a key first down. And for one day, it all came together. Now, they just have to figure out the formula so they can make it happen every Sunday.

"I’m liking the way we’re going," Morris said. "I’m liking the direction we’re headed. I am. This is the formula that’s worked since the beginning. Run the football, play action pass, easy completions, play good defense, play solid, keep them out of the end zone. That’s what we’ve done the last two weeks."

That’s not all they’ve done the past two weeks. They went into arguably the most difficult place for an opposing team to play, Qwest Field in Seattle, and owned the Seahawks. They went into New Orleans, where the Saints needed a win to clinch home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, and came back from the dead, scoring 20 unanswered points. And that’s created a buzz in the locker room.

"It feels great to win two in a row," running back Cadillac Williams said. "I think this organization learned something today: That no matter how far down you are you can still get back up."

And with their two straight wins, the Bucs have turned the topic of conversation from the upcoming draft to the upcoming season, with an optimism that has been scarce most of the year.

"Our season is not over even with our record," quarterback Josh Freeman said after defeating the Saints. "No one is out there hanging their heads. This team never gives up. It’s a great victory and something we can build upon for us next year."

Before they get to next year, they host the Falcons in the season finale on Sunday. The Falcons, who have never had consecutive winning seasons in their 43-year history, still have something to play for despite being out of the playoff hunt. It’s a division game, and another losing season looms if the Falcons leave Tampa without a victory.

But they face the swagger and confidence of a team with nothing to lose, and that’s a dangerous place for a team looking for a big win for their franchise.

"We are playing good football right now" Freeman said. "We are running the ball. The defense is just standing up and shutting people down. I think that this is the type of football that we are capable of playing. Our record is what it is but we have a chance to go out and get another win on Sunday and end the season on a high note. I don’t think anybody is going to take this game for granted."

It was the wildest game ending ever. 

Both times!

According to Bucem's own Buc Wild, the Stadium was never louder!

The Atlanta Falcons had come to Raymond James to take on the Bucs, with both teams alive in the playoff race. A loss would have eliminated the Falcons. The Bucs were down by 7 and Chris Simms was leading a 4th quarter drive.

A short gain gave the Bucs 4th down and an inch to go from the Atlanta 5 yard line, and only :31 seconds left. 

Enjoy 9 minutes of the rest of the game highlighted for you
!

 

Team Canada Olympic Roster Announced - SB Nation

Special start time tonight at 7pm tonight for the Canadiens as this game is being broadcast on RDS en francais tonight. Prepare for attendance numbers to swell temporarily and songs of Ole to errupt. Please try to suspend your hate on all Canadians, as we are not all Habs fans.

No local tv for local fans...and I hear that there might not be any local games broadcasted soon if some deal or something isn't made by tomorrow night....I'll have more to say on that after I look into the issue but you can read about it here if you are interested

Enemy Blog: Check out the Four Habs Fans for your Habs centric perspective

Not much to say about the game, most of my morning has been devoted to the Team Canada roster announcement.

Are you surprised that no Tampa players were on the roster? Because I am not. I am Canadian and I trust in Stevie Y's decisions. I'll take Mike Richards or whoever else over Stamkos or Lecavalier right now. St. Louis was the only one with an outside shot really. Former Bolt Brad Richards would have been nice since he's had a great season, but he wasn't invited to camp, so he had that already going against him.

I read this quote earlier: "The Lightning enter tonight's game riding a two-game winning streak, tied for the longest of the season"-Lightning Insider. Puke. Don't fret, we have won 4 of our last 5 games and we're still in the playoff race bobbing around 8th spot. Last time we played the Canadiens it was in Montreal, and we walked away with the win.

This is the last game of 2009, would be nice to end it with a win, non?

Line-up Notes:

• Mike Smith is in net
• Walker, Halpern and Fedoruk are still on the IR

Game time: 7:00pm ET on RDS

Got this letter the other day...

Dear Wine Whore,

Me and a couple of girlfriends would like to take a wine-related overnighter in the Illinois/Wisconsin/Michigan area this February (we hail from Chicago and South Bend IN). Wondering if there are any inexpensive yet fun places we could visit.

I realize that most tours are in the summertime, but we'd love to do a wine tasting and have somewhere nice to stay the night.

Appreciate any input.

Cheers!

Any suggestions?





(This message brought to you by The Wine Whore)

Okay, so maybe I exaggerated with that headline, but bear with me. Ever have trouble finding a password that you’ll remember -- and one that the Web site will accept? (Rule #104: “It must be eight letters, include two numerals, three Sanskrit characters and be stated in limerick form.” Whaaa?)

Imagine the grief '80s sci-fi fans have when they sign up for Twitter. The popular social networking site has a huge list of forbidden passwords, says PC Magazine. Among the no-no’s: batman, ncc1701, startrek, starwars and superman.

Excalibur nerds, beware! You can’t use dragon or merlin either. Action and horror flick fans, sorry but topgun and freddy are verboten too. (Jason is allowed tough. Clearly, there's a bias in favor of Friday the 13th movies.)

All told, there are more than 350 banned passwords. Thankfully, my two most common passwords -- banthafodder and scruffynerfherder -- are still acceptable.

Lest you think it’s a conspiracy, there are a ton of boring words on the list too -- sorry amanda and ashley. But why the war on sci-fi terms in particular? According to PC Mag, it’s because those passwords are popular with hackers.

Click here to find the full list on PC Mag's website. Some are definitely NSFW, so beware.

Let’s all blame Obama for everything bad that has ever happened to any American, anywhere in the world. Now that we’ve got that out of the way, can we please pull together and try to solve this country’s problems? Thank you, - Robin

WHERE St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa, Florida
WHEN 7 PM EST
MEDIA 620 WDAE (radio)

The Lightning are streaking, having won four of their past five, and there is no TV for this game in the Tampa/St. Pete Market (unless you have Center Ice, that is).  All the more reason for people to get out of the house and get down to Times Palace to see Les Habs and Les Bolts in tonight's matchup in person.

Speaking of television, the Tampa/St. Pete Market (and much more broadly) is being held hostage by News Corp. ongoing demands over a re-transmission payments.  I won't get into this because personal opinion of News Corp (the parent company of Fox film and television) would cloud the entire point...  But the important thing to say is that Lightning games will possibly be blacked-out (along with other Fox stations) if an agreement is not reached by the end of the year (Thursday at 11:59:59 PM).

Ah, but this is television we're talking about here.  What about the thing that matters -- hockey?

I could (and should) be making a big deal about Olympic team selections (or the lack there of), but that isn't the matter at hand right now.  The matter at hand is the next game of thsi 82 game NHL season.  Olympic talk is for another post at another time.

The Lightning have not won three games in a row all season and are actually on one of the best five game stretches of the season as well...  When you look at the way this team has won -- regulation victories, not stealing points through overtime or the shootout -- this may be the best five game streak of the season.  The one-goal wins against the Thrashers and the Bruins weren't as close as the final scores showed.

And with the mediocrity of the Eastern Conference this season, the Bolts have brought themselves back into contention for a playoff spot.  They're currently tied with the Panthers for third place in the Southeast division, one point behind Atlanta for second...

...and two points behind the Montréal Canadiens for the 7th seed in the Eastern Conference.

The Habs have won seven this month, including a four game win streak that was snapped by the Senators on Monday night.  But like was pointed out above - the Habs are only two points in front of the Lightning in the standings and four in front of division-rival, the resurgent Toronto Maple Leafs. 

Montreal is being helped along greatly by their power play unit at current.  They're converting on 25% of their opportunities - best in the NHL.  Their Penalty Kill unit is equally formidable, with a 84.2 kill ratio, that's good for eight in the league. 

The Lightning have not had a three game winning streak this season, what a way to close out the year on a high note if they were to accomplish that tonight.

We'll try to have line combos up a little later on.

Other Previews

Tampa Bay Lightning official team preview

Full Canadiens coverage on Habs Eyes On The Prize

It's on ESPN, 620 AM, St. Pete Times and TBO.com, so it must be true. We're getting Bill Cowher.

Well, not so fast. Of couse as the regular Bucem reader knows I stand fully behind Raheem Morris returning for another season to finish what he started. To me, the whole rumor of his firing makes no sense. The Glazers fired Gruden and knew Morris was going a) remove the veteran presence on the team b) draft a franchise QB and grow with him.

Granted no owner wants to see a losing season, but if you hire a coach to rebuild, you know your going to lose more games than you win. If anything, the team has given the Glazers the best they could hope for, experience for their franchise QB, and the team playing much better and winning games at the end.

I dont buy the Glazers are panicking over a lack of season tickets sales if they stick with Morris. They were the owners that benefited from the last time an empty Bucs stadium started filling up, and no big name players or coaches were added to solve the problem. They simply won games, going 5-0 to start 1997. WIthin 5 games, the Stadium was sold out.

So lets get to the title of this piece....what are the facts, and what is the fiction, or lack of facts in this case;                                                                                                                                                                                           

Fact: Jason La Canfora is the only person to have come out with the story. He does not list his source, who says the Glazers have reached out to the Cowher camp to ask if he would be interested. He claimes the Bucs are looking for an A-list coaching candidate, and that the Bucs are willing to pay the money to make it happen. In his story, he states the Bucs response was if they cannot find an A-list head coach to take over their team, they are just as happy to keep Raheem Morris as Head Coach.

Now no one believes that the Glazers are going to spend money on free agents, but will drop a hat at the story that they will drop fast cash on a new Coach?

Fact: Any other story you have read about this, springs from the La Canfora story. No one else has said anything. So when you hear " We're continuing to hear from national sources...." you are hearing national sources TALK about the La Canfora story. When you hear about John Czarnecki, Adam Scheftner, Chris Mortensen, they are all talking about the La Canfaro story.

Fact: Roy Cummings of the Tampa Tribune has reported the rumors are not true, and he sites an anonymous source who is close to the Glazers. The source said "That is not true, it is just people speculating".  The La Canfora story sites a " Source with knowledge of the situation". 

Fact: John Clayton from ESPN's video on JoeBucsfan.com? Mr. Clayton says no news, no updates, he simply gives his opinion on what is going to happen, based on absolutely nothing. He quotes no source. Be prepared to FF through many minutes of video to get to the good part. How JBF.com can write a headline saying " Cowher to Tampa very very possible" is beyond me. Maybe thats why Bucem's readership is increasing.

Fact: Mike Florio gives his impression; he feels "this is a spin from Coach Cowher's camp directed at the Carolina Panthers", and that they are trying to send the message to Carolina ownership "that if you dont make a move on Cowher now, you may risk having to face him twice a year".  That is one way of getting that point across huh?

Fact: John Fox was not given a contract extension. He is under contract for next season, and his owner simply has said he is welcome to come back to coach his last year. NO COACH ever works the last year of their contract. Its always redone before that year, you never see a lame duck head coach in the NFL. Yet there is not extension. 

Thats it. The other fact is simple, there are no other principals in this story.