Spring forward with a great sports weekend

The Tampa Bay area is the hub of the sports universe as 3 major sports converge on the Gulf Coast

If there was a worse time to put the new & "improved" Daylight Savings Time plan in to effect I can't think of one.

What a weekend to lose an hour of sleep; there are so many events & games taking place in the wide world of sports that odds are a handful of marriages will not make it thru the NCAA Selection Special on Sunday evening.

And for those of lucky enough to be visiting Florida's Gulf Coast this weekend, there is an awesome array of events to attend in a variety of sports, all within driving distance of Tampa and the Gulf beaches.

Let's take a tour inside the sports universe, Tampa Bay edition.


ACC Tournament, Semi Finals & Finals
Ice Palace (i.e. the St. Pete Times Forum)
Downtown Tampa (take the Ashley St. exit off of I-275)

The arena on Channelside Drive has been hailed as an outstanding site for the tourney by everyone from commentators to league officials (well, everyone except Bomani Jones, that is), and the building has already seen some great action this week, namely three overtime games, including a 114-112 2 OT thriller won by Wake over Georgia Tech last night.

That kind of excitement will be tough to top, but the weekend could be even better.

In what could be called the de facto Championship game, #4 seed Boston College will face #1 seed North Carolina in one semifinal game Saturday at 1:30. BC held off a pesky 12th-seeded Miami squad today, 74-71 in OT, while the Heels easily dispatched the Seminoles, 73-58.

Plenty of good seats should be available, as scalpers are trying to unload scads of tix for well below face value now that the travelling parties of schools such as Duke and Maryland have decided to spend the rest of the weekend trolling for shells around Caladesi Island and the Noles & Canes contingents have high-tailed it back to Tally & Dade County.

The winner of that game will take on either the Wolfpack, which knocked off Virginia today, or the winner of tonight's Va Tech/Wake matchup. Either way it looks like there should be some more great hoops being played at the Forum this weekend.

(BTW, in reference to that Bomani Jones link, the reason the ACC Tourney is so much more important in Greensboro is because IT'S IN FREAKING GREENSBORO! What the hell else are people gonna do there besides get immersed in the tourney and go catfishing? Here the fans can enjoy the hoops while also enjoying spectacular sunsets on spectacular beaches drinking spectacular, watered down drinks. Get a clue, Bomani.)


PGA Tour PODS Championship
Innisbrook Golf Resort, Copperhead Course
Palm Harbor (take US 19 N just past Alderman Road on the left)

The event formerly known as the Chrysler Championship gets a new sponsor (local portable storage container company PODS), new date (the Chrysler was played in late October) and new found prestige as a jewel in the PGA's newfangled Fed Ex Cup.

Although the tour's main draw, Lord Tiger, has yet to grace the event in any of its incarnations (before the Chrysler the event was known as the Tampa Bay Classic), top pros such as Ernie Els, Vijay Singh, Retief Goosen and Phil Mickelson have made appearances on the famed Copperhead course.

This year Lefty, Big Easy and the Goose have decided to skip the notoriously tough Innisbrook rough, but big names such as Sergio Garcia, Vijay, Charles Howell III and local favorite Chris Gator DiMarco have made the cut and will be in the hunt this weekend.

The wife already scored some passes to this event so I will be checking out the action firsthand on Sunday as the leaders come down to 18. Not sure if I am going to try to bring my Canon because John Daly had to withdraw this weekend after suffering a camera-related injury last weekend. But if I do grow a pair and sneak it in you can look forward to some quality shots, like this one I took three years ago as Retief was on his way to accept the trophy.

If you go remember to change out of your flip flops, gob on the sunscreen, and bring enough cash to satisfy a healthy thirst for those $7.00 Michelobs in the frosty aluminum bottles.

Grapefruit League BaseballDunedin, Clearwater, Tampa, St. Pete and surrounding towns

If half price tickets to the ACC tourney are still too expensive for your liking and you're afraid that watching golf live might actually render you comatose then what better way to spend a lazy weekend afternoon than catching a spring training game? Well, other than checking for T-backs and sucking down cold ones on loosely-restricted Mad Beach?

The Bay area is home to four major league franchises in the spring, the Evil Empire (Tampa's Legend's Field); the Philles (Clearwater's Bright House Networks Field); Toronto Blue Jays (Dunedin's Knology Park); and of course the rays (St. Pete's Progress Energy Park at Al Lang Stadium.)

I know, I know, the first thing you're thinking is "what quaint ballpark names, especially the dueling cable company ones." But despite the tacky monikers these intimate fields of dreams are among THE best places to catch open-air hardball. Cheap prices, scenic settings, autograph-friendly environments and players close enough to hear you scream "Ann Coulter thinks you're a faggot, A-Rod" all make for terrific springtime fun.

Only the Rays are home on Saturday, facing the Phils in a split squad game. But Sunday, all four local teams are in action on their home fields. If you head to any of these venues, keep these things in mind:

• In Dunedin they only serve Canadian beer, so don't get all pissy because they don't have a Sam Adams or even a Bud- it's strictly LaBatt's or Molson, take it or leave it (of course in 80 degree weather everyone learns to love Canadian beer for 3 hours)
• The Phillies stadium presents the best option for families; the kids can play either in the nice playground area or on the large outfield berm, and the parents can keep an eye on the little ones while chugging rum runners at the Tiki Bar in leftfield. Good times.
• Al Lang is one of the best places anywhere to watch a baseball game. The leftfield berm of the historic stadium offers a spectacular view of the Pier, tiny Albert Whitted Airport and numerous sailing vessels dotting the Bay, while players routinely launch homers over the scoreboard in left center, sometimes landing on the roof of the Mahaffey Theater next door.
• Despite my distaste for anything & everything Stankee, I have to admit their friggin' park is sweet. It looks more like a major league stadium than Tropicana Field (not tough) and is nicer than most every other park in the Grapefruit League. But the view sucks (oh boy, Dale Mabry Highway!) and the clientele is even worse. I try to avoid this stadium at all costs, unless the wife gets freebies like she did for a game in 2 weeks.

There are other teams that train nearby, like the Tigers (Lakeland), Reds (Sarasota), Braves (Orlando) and Pirates (Bradenton), but with all this action going on here, why leave the area? Just do what I do: go to whatever events you can, watch the other stuff on TV, and try to mix in some beach time or hit Ybor City.

Your tour of the weekend sports scene in the Tampa Bay area is now officially over. Please exit the vehilcle to the right and watch your step disembarking.

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Bill Murray: Actor, Comedian, Golf God

This tournament organizer is swept off her feet by Wild Bill

Evidently I missed a lot of things this weekend while I was spending all day Saturday at the Little League field and all day Sunday at the Outback Champions Pro Am: five people died in avalanches out west; 3 more hikers went missing on Mount Hood (which could bump Anna off the news for a couple of days); and Britney Spears finally went insane.

But pardon me if I let all that stuff slip my attention, for I was busy being entertained by one of the greatest actors of our generation, a man known just as well as Carl Spackler, John Winger, Dr. Peter Venkman and Steve Zissou (true Billophiles will know in which movies he played these characters)as his by real name.

Of course I'm speaking of Mr. William James Murray.

But his millions of friends just call him Bill.

Murray entertained thousands of spectators at the TPC of Tampa Bay course in Lutz this weekend, and I'm not just talking about his stellar golf game. The Oscar nominee (Lost in Translation), Emmy & Golden Globe winner not only won the Pro Am event with partner (and incredibly good sport) Scott Simpson, but he signed about 450,000 autographs (some even for free-more on that in a minute), mugged and played for the cameras, and joked with everyone from his playing partner to the fans to the beefy sheriff's deputies assigned to protect the silly star.

I've been to quite a few major golf tournaments and plenty of baseball games, spring training and regular season, and I can honestly say I have never seen anyone, celebrity or athlete, sign more autographs and interact with the public more than Murray. Minutes after my buddy Butch and I got there (BTW-thanks for the tix, Butch and FedEx) Murray and Simpson were coming up to 18, where our FedEx suite was located, because they teed off early at the 10. Of well, we thought, we missed him tee off but we'll be right here when he comes up the fairway to 18. About 10 minutes (and two free beers later) Murray and his group start approaching the 18th tee box. How could we tell? By the Tiger-esque gallery that raced to the box minutes before any golfers were sighted. "Must be Murray" we brilliantly surmised.

Minutes later Murray, clad in black jacket (it was 50 degrees with 30 mph winds on a blustery day in Tampa Bay), black pants and black shoes with neon purple soles (I kid you not) sauntered up to the hole and unleashed a wicked drive that landed right in the middle of the fairway. Everyone was saying that Murray, a Pebble Beach Pro Am regular who had never won, was playing the best golf of his life, and that drive seemed to solidify that fact.

Although he three-putted the hole when he came off the green was when the true Bill Murray showed up. A large throng of fans had gathered along the ropes lining the exit to 18, right along side the giant Outback Steakhouse Party Tent, and I assumed Murray would have quickly signed a few autographs and hurried off, like many others do (such as Buccaneer Derrick Brooks.)

Instead Murray stood in front of the masses and signed for at least a dozen people, starting with a young boy who handed him a T-shirt with a picture of Murray on it. "And where did you get this shirt, son?"

"Target" the boy replies.

"So you went to Target and bought this shirt just to bring it here to have me sign it?"

"Yes" the boy says without hesitation.

"Well I'm gonna have to charge you for that" Murray responds as the crowd roars in laughter.

"How Much?" the boy asks.

"Five bucks" Murray tells him.

The boy turns around and says "Dad, can I have $5.00" as the crowd erupts again.

While the boy's back is turned a man alongside him says "I'll pay his $5.00 if you sign my picture,too", to which an apparently appalled Murray briskly turned and walked to his awaiting cart and partner. The crowd expressed its displeasure with the greedy gentleman, but Murray sauntered back and tossed the shirt back to the kid, stared down the guy who made the offer, and kept the boy's money. As he signed for a few more people he bantered with everyone the whole time. A couple of older ladies from a local charity in front of me asked to borrow a pen, and just as I obliged Bill came over and signed her paper. After scratching a few more John Hancock's he said "whose pen is this?" I told him it was mine and he said "I suppose you want something signed?" I removed my visor and he auto'd it, but I didn't have the balls to ask him if he was going to charge me.

Thankfully he didn't. But when a guy next to me handed a DVD of "Ghostbusters" towards him, Murray told him "$25.00 and meet me at the next hole." Then he (finally) got in his cart and sped off.

I later learned that Murray was taking "charitable donations" in order to sign certain items, i.e. "shit that would wind up on eBay 60 minutes later." Those items included shirts, DVD's, 8x10 glossies, dancing gophers (no lie), posters, etc... One guy said he was charging $35.00 to take a picture with him, although I never witnessed that therefore cannot verify it as fact. But I believe it. My guess is that his charity was the Bloomin' Onion girls at the Outback tent later. For people he thought were just wanting his signature for the thrill of it, on personal items like hats, programs, and tickets, he signed his arm off. He literally walked over to the ropes after driving on #9, his final hole, signed for about 12-15 people, then sprinted to catch up to his foursome who were waiting for him to hit his second shot. It was amazing.

As the gallery grew to witness his final hole he narrowly missed a 20-ft putt from the right of the hole and the crowd groaned audibly; when Simpson stepped up to attempt his short putt Murray said "these guys are really gonna go nuts when you make this putt". Simpson short-putted it to the mock delight of the crowd and angst of Murray, who put his hands in his head as if to say "how could you let me down like that, Scotty?" After making his final putt to finish at -20 Murray threw his ball into the crowd and entered the scoring cabin. Again a huge crowd amassed, awaiting the master showman's final performance. Minutes later he emerged, joking with the cops and chatting with a couple of "important" fans behind the ropes.

Then the man who launched a thousand memorable lines came over to the public and once again began his long signing ritual, joking, posing and collecting money for "charity" all the while.

"Bill, you are The Man!"

NOTE: I did not bring my camera, due to the large "no cameras permitted" warning on the back of the ticket, yet everyone & their brother had one. My mistake. These photos are from the website TBO.com

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Golf legend Byron Nelson dead

Lord Byron Nelson, one of the greatest professional golfers who ever lived passed away today at the age of 94.
Nelson will always be remembered for his 11 consecutive PGA Tour wins, a mark that only Tiger Woods, currently with 5 straight, has approached since he set it in 1945. He also won 5 majors, made 113 consecutive cuts (second to Tiger's 142), and is the only golfer to have a tournament named after him, The Byron Nelson Classic.

His wife found him slumped in his chair and the medical examiner has cited natural causes, thereby fueling rampant rumours that he died after viewing the controversial pictures of Tiger's wife Elin.

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