MARCH/APRIL 2021 | TAMPA BAY MAGAZINE 55
W h e n
Super
B o w l
LV was
awarded to Tampa Bay,
no one ever expected
that the Tampa Bay
Buccaneers would be
the first team to play in
a Super Bowl in its home
venue. But there they were,
and we are proud of them.
The Glazer family, Jeff
Vinik and Stu Steinberg have
each worked in their own way
to convert previously struggling sports
franchises in our area into the champions
they have become. We owe each of these
businessmen a debt of gratitude. We must
never forget that leadership starts at the
top, and kudos should also go to those who
make it possible for us to cheer for Tampa
Bay in addition to the players on the teams.
Professional sports teams in Tampa Bay
mostly started off on rocky paths that had
them stumbling and off balance in their
early years. Most fans were hoping that
2020 was going to be a better year for the
football, hockey, baseball and soccer teams.
But then the coronavirus pandemic hit, and
no one knew if there would even be sports
seasons. However, the leagues found ways
to carry on, and Tampa Bay’s top-level
professional teams turned into finalists.
In February, Tom Brady led the Tampa
Bay Buccaneers to Super Bowl glory. In
Fall 2020, the Tampa Bay Rays won the
American League Championship and
almost won the World Series, while the
Tampa Bay Lightning skated away to earn
the 2020 Stanley Cup. While coronavirus
canceled the United Soccer League
Championship Final in November, the
Tampa Bay Rowdies and Phoenix Rising
FC were declared the Eastern and Western
Conference title winners.
These successes make Tampa Bay stand
out as a professional sports fan’s paradise.
Add to those accomplishments the fact
that the Toronto Raptors of the NBA will
play their home games in Tampa Bay
during the 2020-2021 season, and that
the New York Yankees, the Philadelphia
Phillies and the Toronto Blue Jays also
hold their spring trainings in Tampa Bay,
it is hard to imagine a better professional
sports region in the country.
The rise to excellence began in despair.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers football team
lost its first 26 games and had three (2-14)
seasons in the
1 9 8 0 s ( 1 9 8 3 ,
1985, 1986). This
season was the
11th time the team
made the playoffs,
which came after
12 consecutive years
of not making the
playoffs. In baseball,
the Tampa Bay Rays
had 70 or fewer wins
for each season of their
first 10 years, and even in
this winning season, had
one of the lowest payrolls
with few stars. Much like those two
franchises, the Tampa Bay Lightning
hockey team barely won 25 percent of
its games between 1997 and the 2000
season. But by 2004, the Lightning won
the Stanley Cup and nearly did it again
in 2015, losing in the final to the Chicago
Blackhawks.
Who would ever have thought that a sports
fan living in Tampa Bay would be able to
brag about any of our sports teams, much
less all of them? More than a decade ago,
the only successful Tampa Bay sport was
professional wrestling, and our own Hulk
Hogan, whose last match was in 2006,
was our claim to fame in the world of
professional sports. Ultimately, the credit
for current successful sports seasons should
go to the team owners, who supported their
area teams financially from the beginning
and supported them with their hearts until
our teams became the champions we had
prayed for them to become. 9
SPORTS
TAMPA BAY
Sportstown USA
By Aaron R. Fodiman
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, led by quarterback
Tom Brady, were the winners of Super Bowl LV.