BOSTON - The late, great Tim Russert (above), the pride of Buffalo, John Carroll University (Ohio) and the biggest and most loyal St. Bonaventure (and Bob Lanier) fan to ever walk the earth, uttered the forecast of “Florida, Florida, Florida” when he was anchoring the NBC News coverage of the razor close 2000 Presidential election, determined only after re-counts and legal battles awarded George W. Bush the presidency over Al Gore.
As Election Day 2020 fast approaches, sports fans might utter the same phrase as they see the State of Florida as the current center of sports in the USA.
The Tampa Bay Lightning started the winning trend by hoisting the NHL’s coveted Stanley Cup on Monday, September 28, defeating the Dallas Stars (4-games-to-2) to close-out a most challenging feat accomplished in the dual COVID-free bubbles of Toronto and Edmonton. It marked the NHL’s first “All-Sun Belt” Cup final.
Both the Tampa Bay Rays and the Miami Marlins qualified for Major League baseball’s expanded postseason playoffs. While Tampa and their excellent pitching staff were considered amongst the playoff favorites, not-a-one expert predicted the Marlins’ success in 2020, especially after a Coronavirus breakout plagued the club in-season. Miami bowed out when the Atlanta Braves swept their NLDS series (3-0). As MLB’s playoffs continue through October, quite a few eye-balls could be on the formidable Rays. They are currently tied (2-2) in their ALDS series against the NY Yankees and the decisive Game 5 is tonight.
Meanwhile, the Miami Heat surprised everyone still watching the 2020 NBA Playoffs, which are being played in - YOU GUESSED IT - Florida.
The HEAT broke from the fifth-seed gate and upset the fourth-seeded Indiana Pacers (4-0 sweep) before knocking off the NBA’s best regular season team, the Milwaukee Bucks in five games. The HEAT contained league MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo as Edrice Femi "Bam" Adebayo emerged as the true NBA All-Star he’s become since his 2017 first-round draft selection by the astute Miami Heat front office.
Miami advanced to the NBA Finals by dominating the favored Boston Celtics in six games before running into the buzz-saw-like Los Angeles Lakers. It was a worthy showing by the young HEAT team, accomplished over 90+ days in the NBA’s $180 million bubble at Walt Disney World in Orlando.
Game 5 of the NBA Finals is tonight with the Lakers quite likely to close it out as they lead Miami 3-games-to-1. At least, it’s a short flight home from McCoy to Miami.
That brings us to the NFL’s threesome of Florida-based franchises, namely the Tampa Bay Bucaneers, the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Miami Dolphins. For the sake of this missive, we’ll discard the (1-and-3) Jags and Fins while concentrating on the Tom Brady-led Bucs, currently (3-2) and the leaders of the NFL’s NFC South division.
Brady, along with a talented, but currently banged-up group of receivers, in wide-receivers Mike Evans (ankle), Chris Godwin (hamstring), upstart Scotty Miller (groin) and Brady’s longtime teammate in tight end Rob Gronkowski, all combine with a powerful backfield of Ronald Jones and Leonard Fournette (ankle). That core offensive unit is just getting to know each other but looked promising early in the NFL’s season until the Chicago Bears defense pressured Brady non-stop and the Bucs fell (20-19) last night on a short turn-around week.
The story might need a Disney-like Fantasyland finish if Brady can guide the Bucs to the Super Bowl which is scheduled for Sunday, February 7, 2021 at Tampa Bay’s Raymond James Stadium.
The good news is the horrendous year of 2020 will be over when that game kicks-off.
The bad news is the fact no NFL team has ever maneuvered its way through postseason play to perform on their home field at the annual Super Bowl.