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The continued Cinerella story that is the Tampa Bay Rays has been wonderful for the faithful fans of the area. But subtle changes have made me question if I’d trade the AL East to get the ‘devil’ back in the name.
The sign was the change of real estate for the manta ray logo. Sure, a small patch move is no reason to sound the alarms, but there’s more.
Replacing where the ray once was is now a yellow ameba. The new graphic is so nonchalant that I would have never given it a second thought had I not connected it to something else.
The same symbol, of course, lies in the center of Tropicana Field. While not yellow like it’s jersey counterpart, the emblem certainly is a red flag.
It dawned on me the name change was intended to mean the Tampa Bay Rays of sunshine.
Now I was born and raised in Florida so I can appreciate the sun as much as anyone but I do not want my beloved sports team to be represented by some shining rays.
I want a mascot who can sting things like prey and toursits. I want my team name to be so fierce that people think twice about going in the water. I will not be satisfied by a symbol of tourist entrapment.
The only way to make sunshine intimidating would be to change it to the ‘Harbinger of Melanoma.’
So unless I get my devil back or I see people start where hats that have the acronym TBHM, the Tampa Bay Rays can enjoy they’re success without me. I’ll be scaring opposing fans as a Pittsburg Pirate.
- Bobby Winsler
Progress is being made. Already in less than 24 hours from The Minaret’s release with Overtime advertized, the blog has received over 100 more hits. While this may not seem like much, think of how opinionated sports fans are.
It only takes one person to ignite a heated debate, much less 100 and counting! So let’s get crackin’, feel free to leave comments knowing that other people will comment back and remember, check back for the latest and greatest in current sports news.
- Bobby Winsler
Read the original article on The Minaret, with photos.
Two weeks before graduation, teammates dressed five out of the six University of Tampa women’s soccer freshmen in bright, colorful clothes and covered them in make-up, fingernail polish and marker.
Pictures from the party in an off-campus apartment showed the five freshmen women in Halloween-style makeup with fingernail polish around their eyes. At least two had hair painted on their chests and arms, and Haley LeMond wore a shirt that read “Property of Stack,” an older teammate.
The women remained in their new attire when the team went to The Hut, a local 18-and-up nightclub that is popular with UT students.
The event, known as “Freshmen Fun Night,” reportedly has been going on for years. As the pictures depict the senior members of the team dressed normally, questions about hazing arose.
UT’s regulations state, “Hazing includes, but is not limited to … forced consumption of any food, liquor, drug, or other substance, or other forced physical activity that could adversely affect the physical health or safety of the student and also includes any activity that would subject the student to extreme mental stress, such as sleep deprivation, forced exclusion from social contact, forced conduct that could result in extreme embarrassment, or other forced activity that could adversely affect the mental health or dignity of the student.”
The NCAA has a slightly more detailed definition, including, “any activity expected of someone joining a group that humiliates, degrades, abuses or endangers, regardless of the person’s willingness to participate. This does not include activities such as rookies carrying the balls, team parties with community games, or going out with your teammates, unless an atmosphere of humiliation, degradation, abuse or danger arises.”
Taking the players out to The Hut while still dressed up in such a fashion could appear to violate NCAA policy, but one freshman denied that the behavior was insulting or derogatory.
“I don’t see that [the activities of Freshmen Fun Night] as demeaning to my character at all,” she said, wishing to remain anonymous. “I would do it again, and I want to do it again.”
Athletic Director Larry Marfise said the department investigated the event.
“We looked into it, and found nothing wrong,” he said. “It was not an initiation. It was only freshmen because only the freshmen chose to participate.”
Marfise went on to say that the athletic department follows their own set of hazing regulations, which are different that UT’s general campus policy. He was unwilling to give The Minaret a copy of these rules, however, claiming that only those inside the athletic department, including student-athletes, have access to them.
Team captain Alicia Wyman thought the event was harmless.
“No one is any higher or lower than anyone else,” said Wyman, one of the veterans participating in the event. “Everyone was in there together, and everyone was watching out for each other.”
Freshman Amy Triano recalled a story last semester when she and a teammate had dressed up similarly to Saturday’s outfit for fun.
“I do it all the time, but no one is there to do it with me,” Triano said.
However, even if the activities were not fully forced, according to Tampa’s Student Rights and Responsibilities Handbook, “Apathy or acquiescence in the presence of hazing is not a neutral act; it is a violation of this article.”
Even if all the girls consented to the events of freshmen fun night, the act could still be considered hazing at UT.
The Rights and Responsibilities also state, “Any activity . . . upon which the initiation or admission into or affiliation with a university organization is directly or indirectly conditioned shall be presumed to be ‘forced’ activity, the willingness of an individual to participate in such activity notwithstanding.”
Head coach Gerry Lucey said he heard about some of the night.
“It was not a team event,” he said. “There is nothing to suggest that anything wrong took place.”
His players agreed.
“It was definitely not a team event,” said one of the players. “Our entire team was not there. Anyone who wanted to go went. It was not mandatory.”
Facebook pictures showed empty beer bottles on tables along with what appeared to be a bottle of Malibu Coconut Rum. All of the players vehemently denied that any alcohol was consumed at the event, however.
While at least a dozen women’s soccer players were involved, pictures show that some of those involved Saturday were women athletes from other sports. Some were not affiliated with any Tampa sports at all. Thus, the night was not affiliated specifically with women’s soccer, players said.
Though freshmen Megan Tobin was sick with food poisoning, all of the other freshmen were dressed up for the event. It also appears that only freshmen wore the outfits, but team members say the event wasn’t a hazing ritual.
“There’s no initiation if you’re already in the group,” Wyman said.
Admission to the team follows the same standard. Christy O’Connor was on the team as a freshman and left the squad at the start of spring semester.
“I knew that there was a night we all got together and dressed up silly,” O’Connor said. “It wasn’t a scare tactic at all.”
She said the idea of such a night had no influence in her decision to leave the team. If O’Connor were to rejoin in the fall, she would need only to meet the physical requirements and not undergo any tasks performed on Freshmen Fun Night, she said.
The Facebook pictures have been taken down since they were first posted.
- Bobby Winsler
This university needs to schoolhouse bully Division I schools. Challenge Miami to a baseball game, or extend open arms to the Gators basketball program. The Tampa teams aren’t drawing any crowds, and it is not for lack of our talent.
Let us challenge schools that will bring the fans and then prove that we can beat them. Like the welterweight challenging the heavyweight, nobody holds the underdog responsible for losing while at the same time cheering for the upset.
This spirit is exactly what Tampa is missing and if it requires incessantly emailing, calling or carrier pigeon messaging large D-I schools that are the real allure then so be it.
The logical opposition to this would be not to hope a higher Division school condescends to our tier but rather to raise our level to theirs. While not a bad idea from the competition aspect, financially this decision is irrational.
Right now our athletic department is already under- funded in scholarships. Men’s soccer head coach Adrian Bush commented during his season that Lynn University budgets around three times as much as Tampa in his sport. Yet even with this discrepancy, UT won the Sunshine State Conference tournament and handed Lynn their only three losses of the season.
Tampa held the Fighting Knights, who averaged 3.2 goals a game, to two or fewer in every contest. Unbelievable play that surpasses what the statistics show is not uncommon at Tampa, made largely possible by the school’s location and small size.
Moving into the Division I realm would make us more appealing to incoming freshmen and transfers, causing undergraduate numbers to soar past the small school attraction of athletes. To compensate for the loss of one subtle recruiting tool, the athletic department would be forced to charge admission into games to boost the scholarship fund to keep us competitive.
The last event UT charged entry was the men’s and women’s basketball postseason in March. Five dollars was enough for admission to a full day of basketball and access to the Fan Fest presented by the athletic marketing program and Wendy’s seeking another advertising edge.
Unfortunately for Tampa, five dollars is also the cover amount The Hut charges on Saturdays for nickel beer night and I would be willing to bet a beer (or a nickel) that there were more UT kids at The Hut than supporting their home team.
Ruling out the D-I promotion, I noted the Bumstead article suggests that we lose participation to the local sports teams. It also accuses Tampa’s lack in the football department. The latter I have no doubt hurts us but of the first claim I am still skeptical.
After soccer season next year, when the field is no longer spitting sulfur water on kids walking to Straz, Tampa should make more of an effort to draw that outside action here. Bringing the WNBA teams to play in Martinez is a step in the right direction but the improper execution of this plan is self-evident: it’s the WNBA.
The once successful (now has-been) Tampa Bay Storm hosting practices on the intramural field is close, but if the squad played a real inter-team skirmish in the spring when the soccer field isn’t being used, then the Spartan stands may be filled for the first time in a while. A show such as this may even allow the school to charge a five dollar entry fee, making these tickets exactly five dollars more than those currently provided by the university.
Higher ambitions such as that may be further down the road if it lies in the distance at all. Instead UT should not move to Division I sports, but rather test the waters.
Pestering bigger name schools to challenge our 12 national championships will either arouse suspicion that they are afraid of us or bring them to our campus with free admission to the games.
Fan participation, even for the wrong reason, still fills the stands. Since the natural skill of our athletes and the success of our teams as a whole clearly isn’t enough, this may be one of the few remaining options.
Worst that happens is students learn how talented our teams are.
- Bobby Winsler
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