What’s in an announcement?

So it has been widely circulated that the Bucs Front Office “Announced” that the Saints game this weekend would be blacked out already. The deadline for such an announcement is not until Thursday and even then, extensions can be granted. This activity did not make any sense to me so I decided to do something I rarely do. I asked the Bucs.

Imagine my surprise when I received a call from Jonathan Grella (Thank you sir, I appreciate the clarification and time!), Director of Communications who clarified that no unprompted/unprovoked announcement had been made. Now this is the important part. The Bucs were asked if the game looked like it would be blacked out and they said yes. Years of sales data tells them that the multi-thousand seat hurdle was insurmountable by Thursday afternoon’s deadline. So instead of dodging the question, they answered it. Now I know it is not popular right now to be upfront and clear, but that is where we are at.

So in review, the evil greedy owners did not go have a press conference to step on the throats of the poor, impoverished people of Tampa Bay. The Bucs were asked a question and they answered. Given the piss poor purchasing trends (my words, not theirs. They cannot comment on the purchasing decisions of the people in the area but I sure as hell can as I watch the Hard Rock bursting at the seams) that are going on in this area, if you do not go to the game or spend your afternoon driving out of the region to watch it on TV, you will have to do it the old fashioned way.

Listen to the radio.