This is a thought that's been nagging at me ever since Week 2, when it became unshakably clear the Bucs were going to have one of the lousiest seasons in team history.  It wasn't a sudden realization, but it dawned on me that for all the fan talk about this being a 'rebuilding' year (even though the organization was clearly trying to avoid that word), it really had been a long time since the Bucs went through a rebuilding process...

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Okay, krewe.  For those of us who can't spend $2000 for stadium seats, I gotta ask, which sports bars in the Tampa Bay area (Tampa, Clearwater, St. Pete, Bradenton, that hidden pirate cove off the coast of Gulfport, etc.) are the best for hanging out with fellow Bucs fans?

I'm thinking in terms of:

1) Fan positivity: people who are there to enjoy the game and enjoy the crowd;

2) Food: Best Cheesesteak!  Best Wings!  Best Appetizer plate!  Unique Yet Tasty menu!;

3) Waitresses: preferably cute;

4) Best Line-of-Sight to viewscreens/ big TVs;

5) Best mix of other teams' fans who aren't going to act like total jerks when they're up by 50 points.  You know, anyone other than Cowboys fans.  >:-)

Bonus points if the sports bar(s) in question have decent billiards.

"I know the majority of Bucs Fans absolutely hate this pick, but at the very least support the guy. It’s not his fault the Bucs traded up to get him, that McCown has never stepped up to the fore front, or that Josh Johnson has yet to either." - Quote via JScott

I'm not blaming Freeman.  You're right it's not his fault.  But it still doesn't mean we gotta eat this bleepburger and proclaim it filet mignon.

This is more out of frustration with a team's ownership, the team's management, the coaches.  This is more out of anger that the Bucs used their top overall draft pick unwisely: not to fix glaring needs at other positions on the team but to indulge in some kind of 'We've got a Franchise QB neener neener' ego boost.

Here's the Bucs current roster for DT:

• Bradwell, Chris
• Moore, Dre
• Sims, Ryan
• Hovan, Chris

Other than Hovan, which other guy strikes fear into the hearts of Centers and Guards and QBs and RBs?

Here's the Bucs roster for WR:

• Bryant, Antonio
• Seven dwarfs draft busts and walk-ons
  

Here's the Bucs roster for OLB:

• Not Brooks, Derrick.  Multiply by 4.  Throw in a starting SAFETY

I exaggerate.  But not by much.

We're looking at a Tampa Bay Bucs team that last December went through one of the team's most horrific collapses ever.  And this is coming from an organization that has the entire 1983-1996 era of disaster to compare with.  And where did that collapse take place?  The defense.  A defense that suddenly went porous against running attacks.  A defense that gave up HOW MANY YARDS AND RUSHING TDs to the likes of THE RAIDERS?!?!

And where has the Bucs organization focused nearly ninety percent of their rebuilding efforts?  On offense.  The only major acquisition to defense was getting LB Angelo Crowell, and he's coming off an IR year.

This isn't about Freeman.  This is about the Glazers, who are acting more like the Culverhouse era than ever before.  Yes, getting rid of Gruden had to be done: Chucky lost that team, proved over seven years his 'offensive genius' was merely sheer luck of facing a team in the Super Bowl he knew backward and forward.  But the Glazers went into INSANE mode, putting a rookie coach (Morris) who hadn't even been an assistant head coach/coordinator with major responsibilities yet.  The owners seemed obsessed with the idea the Bucs should have drafted a Franchise QB this past decade, when previous experience showed (Doug, Vinny, Steve Young, Trent "I Am Trent Dilfer!" Dilfer, even Shaun King) that the Bucs really don't do so well with drafted QBs... ever...  And now we've got this.

A raw QB the scouts universally say needs years to develop, a QB gotten with a top draft pick that could have easily been taken with a second rounder pick.  The team could have traded down, didn't even matter to try for a Second rounder we could have taken an extra Fifth or Sixth if offered, and still gotten this guy.  And I ask, if Freeman was such a certainty for the Bucs, if our coach and our front office guys knew they wanted him from Day One, why did they trade away the second rounder pick where they could have still gotten him?  Didn't they think this whole thing through?

Look, Freeman could come up with a cure for cancer, and go out and save the endangered Florida Panther on his days off.  It still doesn't excuse the fact the Bucs organization is not impressing us fans with their decision-making skills: it doesn't excuse the team from not giving us fans a lot of things in which to have faith.

Right now, not a lot of faith at all.

I got a question fer ye all: which First Round of an NFL draft was the most successful in the last 10 years?

By successful, I mean:

1) Most players taken remained on their team as starters for at least 3-5 years (meaning the team got value for their pick up until Free Agency lets the guy move elsewhere) ;

2) Most players that have stayed in the NFL the last 10 years (meaning player of longevity, covering both the original team and any subsequent teams via FA) ;

3) Any trade move out of the First Round that provided great value in a future draft to the team that moved down (for example, while 2000 might not have been a great year for Team A, that high draft pick they got from Team B in 2001 led to getting a Pro Bowl QB).

I'm trying to figure out how much of a boom/bust a First Round draft day could be: is it roughly half and half that First Rounders are booms and busts?  Or are the numbers better for booms?  Should we be totally optimistic about Draft Day or wary?

Basically, as long as the Bucs don't make any more trades, this is how I picture the draft to go down:

1. 19th pick - WR Percy Harvin.  The need for a home-run type of player, someone who can force the double teams away from WR Bryant, is higher than the need for D-line upgrades.  Although I would not be surprised if we go after DT Peria Jerry if he slides down to this spot.
2. Second round pick sent to Cleveland for TE Kellen Winslow.  This is a good value trade: Winslow immediately improves the front lines and the passing attack.  As long as he stops yelling at the Cleveland Browns organization, that is.
3. 81st pick - DT John Gill.  He may not be the bulkiest DT left on the boards, but he's got room to grow and he's the most consistent player at the position the Bucs could get that could contribute as soon as possible.  If the Bucs take DT Jerry in the First Round, expect this pick to go for the best available WR (hopefully Louis Murphy).
   
4. 120th pick - DE Will Davis.  Takes care of the D-line for possible starter talent.  From here on any D-line pick is depth/developmental only.
5. 155th pick - S Reshard Langford.  Takes care of the Safety depth with Phillips being shifted to OLB spot.
6. 191st pick - CB Kevin Barnes.  Depth and developmental purposes only.
7. 217th pick - WR Taurus Johnson.  I'm a Bulls alum, dangit.
8. 229th pick - C Brett Helms.  Team needs a guy as a back-up Center who's actually played the job, rather than their recent habits of re-training Guards for the assignment.
9. 233rd pick - DT Adrian Grady.  D-line depth needs.

As draft day is a big day for me, I plan ahead about going somewhere and hanging out (usually a sports bar, maybe even a Hooters if need be) during the First Round of the NFL Draft.  As the times I've gone to a Hooters usually ended up creating a crazy-ass draft day, I try to avoid that and aim for a regular sports bar first.

Anyone know where in Tampa, other than the Ray Jay which gets too crowded and too... staged for my tastes, that a good number of Bucs fans will go to hang out during Draft Day?  It'll be Apr. 25th by the by, starting at 3 pm, although the partying part of it can start earlier... :)

One thing I'd also like to do is liveblog during the day, so a place with WiFi and a power outlet would be a bonus.