HOME-CIRCUS EDGE TO BUCS.Byline: NORMAN CHAD The NFL NFL abbr. National Football League NFL (US) n abbr (= National Football League) → Fußball-Nationalliga Tampa Bay unveils its new Raymond James Stadium Tampa Bay Buccaneers • • [ on Sunday, featuring - just beyond the north end zone - a 103-foot-long pirate ship and an 18th-century-style seaport village. The ship will have a working crew. The village will have a real boardwalk. And, oh yes, the field will have a football game. This place isn't state-of-the-art, it's state-of-the-business-of-making-beaucoup-bucks. James Stadium makes Lambeau Field look like Death Valley. It's part of America's stadium craze. Every 15 minutes or so in this country, either a politician is going down or a stadium is going up. Eventually, all NFL teams will have new facilities, except, of course, the Jets, who will play in Giants Stadium even after the Giants leave. Who's paying for all these shiny pigskin palaces? Who else? Heck, last year in Seattle, Seahawks owner Paul Allen wanted the state to build him a new stadium. So he literally paid for the election so that the electorate could choose to lay out $300 million for his team's stadium. That's the equivalent to a casino comping a customer a buffet so he'll stick around to lose $500 at blackjack. The 49ers also won a bond-issue vote last year to finance a new stadium. But the stadium project appears to be crumbling. The Man has a suggestion to save the day, playing equally on the strengths of Eddie DeBartolo and San Francisco: Why not a combination riverboat riv·er·boat n. A boat suitable for use on a river. casino/football stadium right there in the Bay? A floating Candlestick Candlestick A price chart that displays the high, low, open, and close for a security each day over a specified period of time. ! What a home-field advantage - visiting teams will get seasick! (Apocryphal a·poc·ry·phal adj. 1. Of questionable authorship or authenticity. 2. Erroneous; fictitious: "Wildly apocryphal rumors about starvation in Petrograd . . . Stadium Note: Al Davis overheard talk the other day about ``South Park'' and immediately ordered a feasibility study "A Feasibility Study" is an episode of the original The Outer Limits television show. It first aired on 13 April, 1964, during the first season. It was remade in 1997 as part of the revived The Outer Limits series with a minor title change. on the Raiders moving there.) As always, the following point-spread picks should not be used as the basis for any actual cash wager: Lions at Vikings (-6): Courtesy of benched Lions QB Scott Mitchell, Webster's New World Dictionary Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language is an American dictionary first published in 1951 and presently published by John Wiley & Sons. The first edition was published by the World Publishing Company of Cleveland, Ohio in two volumes or one large now recognizes ``mitchell'' as a noun or verb meaning ``to bring on calamity'' or ``of the nature of a disaster, causing great harm, damage, grief, etc.'' as in ``He mitchelled it,'' or ``That's a mitchell!'' Pick: Vikings. Colts at Jets (-8-1/2): With Bill Parcells now 9-9 overall in Jets tenure, consider this true Jets fact: No coach has ever finished his Jets career with a winning record. Of Parcells' 12 predecessors, the closest were Sammy Baugh (14-14) and Mike Holovak (0-1). Pick: Jets. Broncos (-6-1/2) at Raiders: Tucked into front of his pants during game, kid coach Jon Gruden keeps Raiders play chart, directions to stadium and lunch money. . . . Raiders penalties now posted on the Internet 15 minutes before kickoff. Pick: Raiders. Packers (-7-1/2) at Bengals: Just saw ``There's Something About Mary.'' Aside to Brett Favre: If Scorsese calls, let your service pick it up. . . . Oddly enough, mastermind Bruce Coslet designs most Bengals plays using LEGO pieces. Pick: Bengals. Oilers at Patriots (-7): How can a team that has that Super Bowl look - the Oilers - lose at home to San Diego? Ah, even Stalin endured Siberian exile before climbing to the top, my friends. Pick: Oilers. Cowboys at Giants (-4): When asked how a broken clavicle clavicle /clav·i·cle/ (klav´i-k'l) collar bone; a bone, curved like the letter f, that articulates with the sternum and scapula, forming the anterior portion of the shoulder girdle on either side. felt, Cowboys QB Troy Aikman responded, ``From what I understand, sort of like scissors scissors Cutting instrument or tool consisting of a pair of opposed metal blades that meet and cut when the handles at their ends are brought together. Modern scissors are of two types: the more usual pivoted blades have a rivet or screw connection between the cutting ends in the neck.'' Pick: Cowboys. Redskins Redskins can refer to:
Eagles at Cardinals (-5): Although favored ``Frasier'' won Emmy for best comedy, ``The Vince Tobin Show'' received honorable mention. Pick: Cardinals. Ravens at Jaguars (-7): Maybe it's just me, but every time I see Jaguars coach Tom Coughlin I expect him to shout out, ``Book 'em, Danno!'' Pick: Ravens. Chargers at Chiefs (-10): Chargers going 3-0 seems about as likely as Lily Tomlin doing commercials for Fidelity Investments. Pick: Chiefs. Rams at Bills (-4-1/2): Rams coach Dick Vermeil's practices are so long, team's day care center now offers overnight rates. Pick: Rams. Steelers at Dolphins (-2): When's the last time Dan Marino had some wide receivers? Geez geez interj. Used to express mild surprise, delight, dissatisfaction, or annoyance. [Shortening and alteration of Jesus1.] . He's a gardener with no garden. Pick: Steelers. Bears at Buccaneers Buccaneers can refer to:
Last week: 8-5-2. Season record: 16-11-3. CAPTION(S): Photo PHOTO You wanna piece of Tampa Bay's Mike Alstott? You'll have to find him in the Bucs' new stadium. Todd Plitt/Associated Press |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion