RIP Tom McEwen

[Maverick9911]

http://www.tampabay.com/sports/human...n-dies/1173777

Even if you didn't read the Tribune or didn't care for his Morning After (aka, what I'm having for breakfast) columns, this guy was instrumental in putting Tampa on the sports map.

http://heytommcewen.com/articles/index.php?article=280

[Hoek]

Didn't care for his writing style but he sure did a lot for the sports scene. RIP.

[Donnie D]

I didn't mind his writing. But, if I remember correctly, he is the guy who had our teams named for a body of water instead of a community. I believe we are the only area with teams named for a place where no one in their fan base lives. I think it did permanent harm to the team attempts to build a fan base.

[Hoek]

Really? Permanent harm? Can you expand on that? The only complaints I ever hear about it is from St. Pete folk who want to narrow the Rays fan base even further in order to extract some civic pride.

[Donnie D]

I'll try. One of the reasons people support local teams is because of pride in their community. Growing up in Chicago, I can name you dozens of things that made Chicago unique, pizza, the symphony, second city, etc. Every business tries to tie their business to Chicago. Chicagoland, Chicago's very own, etc. I remember watching a soccer match (and you know how much I "love" soccer) and there was a Chicago team playing. Who was I rooting for?

When you are watching the olympics most people don't cheer for the USA curling or archery team because they are fans of the players, its the national pride.

Tampa just doesn't have that. I've been here for 21 years. Other than Ybor, I have a hard time naming anything really distinctive about Tampa. The local media doesn't have Tampa in their tag lines. They run from Tampa. It's Fox 13, News channel 8. And the telecasts themselves rarely have any news of local government. Car crashes, national stories and crime. You could show that newscast anywhere in the country and, other than palm trees, you would have no idea where that newscast came from.

When the Bucs came to the area, they had the chance to try and build that sense of community. Instead, they named them for a body of water where no one lives.

Community pride is what makes all those Buffalo, Philadelphia, Boston fans 20 years after they moved out of there to still be cheering for the "local" teams. When I lived in Cleveland, as bad as the Indians and Browns were, you didn't see anyone that wasn't wearing local team gear. You didn't see people who moved to Cleveland still cheering for their old teams. You now lived in Cleveland. There was a pride in the community that was obvious. And if you wanted to be part of the community in Cleveland, one of the things you are expected to do is cheer for the local teams.

Until Tampa comes up with reasons to be proud that you live in Tampa, the teams are going to be dependent upon how well the team plays, not the team itself. That's why I say the team should have been named for the community - even the Florida Bucs would have been better than a bay.

[Flycoon]

Regional naming is a hot or miss prop. Patriots and Nets are on opposite ends of the spectrum. Hasn't been turrible (Barkleyism) for the Devils.

[RSchmitz]

Originally Posted by Donnie D

I'll try. One of the reasons people support local teams is because of pride in their community. Growing up in Chicago, I can name you dozens of things that made Chicago unique, pizza, the symphony, second city, etc. Every business tries to tie their business to Chicago. Chicagoland, Chicago's very own, etc. I remember watching a soccer match (and you know how much I "love" soccer) and there was a Chicago team playing. Who was I rooting for?

When you are watching the olympics most people don't cheer for the USA curling or archery team because they are fans of the players, its the national pride.

Tampa just doesn't have that. I've been here for 21 years. Other than Ybor, I have a hard time naming anything really distinctive about Tampa. The local media doesn't have Tampa in their tag lines. They run from Tampa. It's Fox 13, News channel 8. And the telecasts themselves rarely have any news of local government. Car crashes, national stories and crime. You could show that newscast anywhere in the country and, other than palm trees, you would have no idea where that newscast came from.

When the Bucs came to the area, they had the chance to try and build that sense of community. Instead, they named them for a body of water where no one lives.

Community pride is what makes all those Buffalo, Philadelphia, Boston fans 20 years after they moved out of there to still be cheering for the "local" teams. When I lived in Cleveland, as bad as the Indians and Browns were, you didn't see anyone that wasn't wearing local team gear. You didn't see people who moved to Cleveland still cheering for their old teams. You now lived in Cleveland. There was a pride in the community that was obvious. And if you wanted to be part of the community in Cleveland, one of the things you are expected to do is cheer for the local teams.

Until Tampa comes up with reasons to be proud that you live in Tampa, the teams are going to be dependent upon how well the team plays, not the team itself. That's why I say the team should have been named for the community - even the Florida Bucs would have been better than a bay.

I think like you said, people identify with their region and have pride in their community, which is why they will cheer on their local team. But I think adding bay in the naming process has had very little impact. The key element that you did not mention is heritage, and the region has very little of it, from both the teams themselves and from the length of time that your average fan has lived in the area.

[Maverick9911]

I'm kinda in the middle. I don't believe the actual naming had a lot to do with any harmful effects because it seems to have been around for a lot longer, or at least it began to fester by the time the area franchises expanded. Tampa and St. Petersburg seem to have this love/hate relationship and it bugs the hell out of me. I've lived in Tampa all my life and even though I've spent the last 2 1/2 years just on the other side of the bridge (literally - I'm right on Gandy and MLK), I still identify myself as such. It seems Tampa was once Hillsborough County and Pinellas was home to St. Petersburg. Now you have "Tampa Bay" which depending on whom you ask includes everything from Brandon, Lutz, Sarasota, Bradenton, Clearwater, Tarpon Springs, Odessa, etc.

Where the naming really irks me is when St. Petersburg residents decide to flip out over how teams are addressed by out of towners. I know the Rays fans are irked whenever an announcer says Tampa because, by their logic, the team doesn't play in Tampa and should not be addressed as such. However, this doesn't stop a lot of them from correcting those who say "Tampa" in regards to the Lightning/Buccaneers. When the Bolts moved to the Ice Palace, there were complaints. When the Bucs and Bolts had their victory parades in Tampa, Mayor Baker and many of his constituents complained. Now you have St. Pete residents blaming Tampa residents for the attendance woes of the Rays and Tampa residents claiming St. Pete residents don't care about the long-term viability of the franchise.

As already mentioned, heritage and how well the team is playing at the given moment are the two biggest factors aside from this odd little "civil dispute" the two areas have. Long-term excellence may someday drown out the allegiances to other teams but that's one thing this area has never seen. The hiccups of 2003-2009* for the Bucs and 2005-2010 for the Lightning, respectively, were absolutely detrimental to the development of the fanbase here, immediately after what should have been galvanizing moments for the community.

[the_narrow_way]

R.i.p.

[Sotnos]

I can't see how the naming of sports franchises caused people to not be attached to the area. People are not attached to the area because they choose not to be. I like the "heritage" explanation, very very true.

Those of us from the far suburbs LIKE the inclusiveness of "Tampa Bay", and also don't care about/don't understand that whole ridiculous Tampa vs. St Pete thing.

Anyway, RIP to Mr McEwen