Jit Camp

With the looming rumors of a split season in Montreal. Rays faithful came out in full force, selling out the initial 1,000 run of the new standing room only Ball Park Pass. The new Ball Park Pass is one of the three new packages the Rays are using to bring more fans to the trop. This Ball Park Pass allows fans to go to any game all season for only $36 dollars a month. The best perks included in the pass are tickets for Opening Day and all of the Yankees and Red Sox’s games. After the success on the initial run of the pass, the team has set up a waiting list for hopeful fans.

I am definitely sold on the Flex Pack plan, allowing fans to go to 5 games in a selected month. I will definitely be going to the Trop like it’s church during baseball season. Between the giveaways, which I am a sucker for, and the always fun throwback nights, the flex pack was a no brainer. It kinda sucks that Yankees and Red Sox’s games aren’t included in the pack, but with single game tickets at a decent price I would pay for a solo game.

The final plan available is the “Rays Win Pack” allowing fans the chance to get a free game if the team wins all four of the games you attend as a part of the package. The seat choices on this package are pretty nice, but I rather just know I am going to a 5th game rather than bet they will win four straight. With that being said the team is on pace to have a great season so if your feeling lucky this is the package for you.

I had no better feeling last year than watching the Rays fill Tropicana Field during their playoff run. It is important for fans to support the team now so that Major League Baseball has no choice but to end the rumors of a split schedule or relocation. It would really sadden me if a team I’ve followed since childhood would leave. If we can fill the stadium for a playoff game on a Tuesday. There is no reason why us as fans can’t do our part and just show up for games, especially with the team doing their part on the field.

This season for the “Son’s of Pirates” and Rowdies faithful might be different, per St.Petersburg Fire Marshal Michael Domante smoke is now banned from all Rowdies games.

A long time tradition in European soccer, the setting off of smoke bombs representing your clubs colors is the best way to send home the supporters and the team after a victory. Seeing the teams Yellow and Green smoke fill up Al Lang Stadium sends chills down your spine. It not only signals a club victory, but also brings us together.

I feel there is an easy solution to the smoke issue at Al Lang Stadium. Possibly a chosen member of the club could be designated as “the smoker” or the one in charge of releasing the smoke.

Another solution could be that one firefighter could be in charge of releasing the smoke bombs thus being able to contain the smoke.

For now I feel it is best for supporters to lay low and cooperate with the Fire Dept until a solution is made. Whatever the outcome is I hope the Fire Dept and supporters can find some middle ground, keeping everyone safe but still allowing a Ralph’s Mob and Rowdies soccer tradition to continue.

Once the XFL announced Tampa would be one of the inaugural franchises in the revival league, fans from all across the Bay Area jumped on board hisssing and putting on for Viper Life and Fang Gang.

Around the league and message boards, the fan turn of the home opener was sort of up in the air. Despite the 0-3 start for the team, the Fang Gang seems optimistic on the future of the season with 7 games remaining the team still has a lot to prove. The gang came out for the team filling the pit with about 18,000 fans, 3rd in league attendance just behind the Seattle Dragons and our Eastern Conference rival those damn St.Louis Battlehawks who sold out the lower bowl level of the “Battle Dome”.

The Fang Gang comes in all shapes and sizes all for the love of our Tampa Bay Vipers. Some fans pay homage to Dwight Goodman’s “Globo Gym Cobras”, while others like the Vipers Gorilla and Skully rep the gang in their own way. This cast of characters has definitely set the Fang Gang aside from other fan bases in the league.

As the season continues I a tradition I would like the Fang Gang adopt is the “Swinging Of The Snake”. In soccer fans, traditionally wave scarves to show their love and support for their teams. I was thinking everyone should bring a plushie snake to swing whenever the time to strike is right. Just imagine a sea of swinging snakes throughout Ray Jay. Starting next week I know the Jit Camp Chapter of the Fang Gang in Section 135 will definitely be #swingyoursnake and putting on for the #fanggang.

The announcement of the new Green Light Cinema Art house theater located at 221 2nd Ave. N, Saint Petersburg, finally gives St.Petersburg Cinephiles a place to call their own.

From my early days of being a cinephile I dreamed of a sanctuary that would play foreign and indie films for a local audience to see on the big screen. It seemed the only way to catch more obscure flicks was the limited Gallery section of AMC Sundial and the beloved Tampa Theatre. Films like recent OSCAR and Palm D’or winner Parasite are left to the waste side for big blockbusters and that “Cats” films we all wanted. Green Light Cinema is the perfect landing spot for these films still giving locals a chance to see them on the big screen in a lush 100 seat digital theater surrounded by fellow cinephiles.

The curation process is essential to a great art house theater. I could see Green Light possibly working in smaller monthly curated festivals featuring films similar in theme or director. The possibility of trilogies getting full big screen runs locally is a dream come true. Never did I think it would be possible for me to see Abbas Kiarostami’s “Koker Trilogy” or the entire “ Apu Trilogy” from Satyajit Ray. My most wanted showings would be an Fellini film for his Centennial birth day, or that late Fassbinder retrospective everyone is waiting for.

My favorite part about the community getting a new art house theater is it will finally put the St.Pete Cinephile community front and center. Yes we all know about the art, glass, and brewery communities popping up in St.Pete, but now is the time for cinephiles to get their due. I cannot wait to become a member of the theater and watch it as well as the cinephile community grown for years to come.

S.J. Green might be the spark the Vipers offense needs to claim its first win in team history. Did not play last week in the home opener loss, due to being traded from the Seattle Dragons for linebacker Korey Toomer a few days before the home opener. Coach Marc Trestman had Green on his 2017 CFL Grey Cup winning Toronto Argonauts, giving him a familiar face in a so far clunky offense.

Viper fans should welcome Green with open arms due to his USF ties. Green is a 3 time Grey Cup champion and a 10x CFL All Star. I know CFL isn’t like the cream of the crop but since Trestman is familiar with his play I am hopeful he can fit into our already stacked receiving core. Between Dan “Tha Threat” Williams, Reece Horn, Jalen Tolliver, there should be no reason why we can’t keep the points coming, attacking the other teams defense like a 5 headed snake.

If Aaron Murray isn’t healthy enough to get the start I feel it is best for fan and team moral for Quinton Flowers to get the start. With Nick Truesdell acting as his big security blanket and Horn acting as sort of a bail out slot receiver, Flowers can stay in the pocket without fear allowing him to make a play with his legs or throwing a 30 yard bomb to Williams or Green. Flowers ability to shake defenses allows our power backs Jacques Patrick and fan favorite De’Veon Smith to make big plays in the run game.

With a week of practice under his belt I am sure S.J. Green will fit smoothly into the offense regardless of which QB is at the helm. His accomplishments in other leagues and relationship with Trestman should be that final spark the Vipers are looking for on offense to finally sink their teeth into victory.

Monte Kiffin has been selected has the newest member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Ring Of Honor. He will be joining coaches John McKay, Jon Gruden, and Tony Dungy as well has some of his former defensive standout players that executed his innovative “Tampa Cover 2” defense.

In 1996 Monte Kiffin became the Buccaneers defensive coordinator along side Tony Dungy. The “Tampa Cover 2” defense is a 4-3 defensive alignment except the middle linebacker reads the QB with the hopes of an interception. With hall of fame players like Ronde Barber, Derrick Brooks, John Lynch, and Warren Sapp, this scheme was picture perfecting making the Buccaneers one of the most successful defenses during his tenure capturing a Super Bowl championship with Jon Gruden running the offense.

When you think Tampa Bay Buccaneers you instantly think of our great defense during the super bowl run which is mainly due to coach Kiffin and his scheme. Despite coming up short all those years with Dungy at the helm the one constant was Kiffin and the defense and Bucs fans can’t wait to immortalize him in Raymond James.

Although the Vipers where not able to pull out the win against the Houston Roughnecks at home, the team finally broke their red zone curse.

From the start the over 17,000 Vipers Pit fan base that came out to support the team in the home opener. After the 0-2 start fans seemed energized and ready to strike. Taylor Cornelius felt the “We want Flowers” chants instantly and was switched out by the 3rd drive in favor of the former USF QB. Flowers isn’t the greatest passer in the world but he still has enough play making ability to stay in the pocket. His running ability keeps the defense on their toes, opposed to Cornelius who they don’t take seriously as a passer. Flowers scored the first offensive touchdown in team history with a seven yard run. However Cornelius was able to throw a touchdown pass to one of my favs Dan “The Threat” Williams one of the league leaders in receiving.

Despite the 34-27 loss this team looks better each week and are on the cusp of a win. Getting over their red zone curse took a weight off the team and fans. Other than a few plays the defense played well and was able to contain two of the leagues top players Houston QB P.J. Walker and WR Cam Philips for most of the game. I feel it would be best to start Flowers this week keeping the offense more, even if Murray is able to start. With the addition of CFL All Star S.J. Green and the return of No.1 pick Nick Truesdell hopefully we can pick up our first win at home against the DC Defenders this Sunday.

From a fan aspect it was a successful home opener. The team did little to hype up the event, at least not as much as teams like Seattle and St.Louis, but one of the highlights of my year was taking a picture in the giant snake mouth. Instantly I knew it was profile pic worthy. The amount of snake rattlers and hssssing sounds that filled Raymond James maybe next proud to be a Vipers fan. Win or lose I will always love and support the team, even though it’s week 4 and we still don’t have a solid QB. It wouldn’t be a Tampa Bay sports team without a few bonehead plays and an 0-3 record to start the inaugural season.

Well not the start I wanted to see for the inaugural season of the Tampa Bay Vipers but with the teams home opener Saturday at Raymond James the team looks to turn the season around against the run and shoot offense Houston Roughnecks.

Although things are looking grim for the Vipers sitting at 0-2, Saturday’s loss 17-9 to the Dragons in the first ever “Reptile Bowl” was not a total loss. Besides terrible QB play and boneheaded penalties, the team looked much better even scoring the first touchdown in team history off a 78 yard int return by Taravus McFadden. Nikita Whitlock on the defensive line also made some big plays even hitting the snake pose. Coach Jerry Granville is definitely holding up his end of the team.

Coach Trestman needs to focus on finishing drives.The team so far has not been able to score one touchdown on offense with nine trips to the end zone. Trestman’s indecisiveness at the QB position is killing this team. Although Flowers threw a costly int back upped into his own end zone I still feel the offense runs better with him at the helm. Taylor Cornelius had a nice drive at the end but he constantly over threw his receivers missing out on big plays.

Not having one singular person running the offense is messing up the chemistry between QB and WR. We have studs like Reece Horn, Nick Truesdell, and Daniel “The Threat” Williams all three of which can make a big play at any time. If Murray can’t get the job done next week Flowers should get the 1st team reps this week. Truesdell should be used has his security blanket allowing Williams and Horn to make big plays. An increase in the passing game will open up more holes for not only RB De’Veon Smith, but also Quinton Flowers to make a big play.

Hopefully being in front of the home crowd can hype the team up. Getting a win against Houston would be big, giving us moment to make a run for one of two East playoff spots. Can the Vipers shed their skin at home, this die hard fan can only hope.

Today the Buccaneers released a video hyping up the 2020 season. Images sprinkled throughout the video might be hinting at new uniforms coming soon, hopefully before the upcoming draft so our No.14 pick can show it off.

Since the 2009 season the team rocks the creamsicle unis with the Bucco Bruce helmets during at least one home game a year, usually during the “Ring Of Honor” game. But unfortunately over the past few seasons the throwbacks haven’t been seen. In the past the jerseys gained a lot of hate but with throwback culture at its height fans of all teams have come to appreciate the creamsicles. With that being said I feel the Bucs should take advantage and give the fans what they want, creamsicles!!!

I feel the right move would be to basically mash up the current uniforms with the throwbacks, using the orange and white color scheme while modernizing the look. Maybe keep Bucco Bruce in the past keeping the skull and flag design.

If the team does not go the throwback root, I would be down for maybe a Tampa Bay Bandits esque Red,Silver, and black color way. Although the team uses these colors now, I feel they have never executed them in what could potentially be a dope looking jersey.

The all red out jerseys the team currently uses twice a year are probably the best jerseys we have now, rather than the poorly designed home and always, however I do dig the hits of orange sprinkled throughout the home jerseys and the red ship.

Which ever way the Bucs go I am super excited for this upcoming season. The jersey announcement is just what the team and fans needed to spark what should be a playoff bound season for the team. I’d probably be sold on season tickets if they went with the creamsicles though, just saying.