BUCCANEERS WEEKEND 2012

Myself, my wife Karen, my son Callum and daughter Olivia attended training camp on Wednesday 8th August.  This session was in the evening and there were a lot of fans taking advantage of the late start so the practice was fairly crowded.  We were allowed to sit with the family and friends as members of the Dolfan UK fan club and Jeff Ireland noticed my Dolfan UK shirt and came to speak to us.  He thanked us for coming to practice and said to pass on his thanks to the UK club for their support.  Practice was high tempo and from the start Ryan Tannehill looked impressive, his throwing was sharp and accurate for the most part.  Chad Johnson fooled around a lot but made some impressive catches, shame he couldn’t do it in the Bucs game two days later, but he was a bit disruptive so I assume that had something to do with the ultimate decision made on Sunday.  After the practice the players seemed to be on a bit of a high and hung around for maybe an hour and a half in the night time heat.  We got the chance to chat to Les Brown who, like all the players, was friendly and appreciative of the UK support.  We met Cameron Wake, Les Brown, Anthony Fasano and Jake Long (see photos) and a certain Mrs Tannehill, and all appreciated the support from the UK and sent their regards.

My first impression of the outside activities (although I have not been to a game for some years) was that there was less activity outside e.g. things to do, throw footballs, win things etc. but then this was a preseason game so maybe that had something to do with it.  My estimate was the stadium was about a third full and we sat in the family section (my thanks to Dave Wilson for organising the tickets).  We did not know that Garrard was injured at this point so it was a surprise when Moore started.  The offense did not click and struggled to move the ball effectively and there was a tremendous groan when Chad dropped that slant pass to keep the drive alive.  The crowd livened up when Tannehill came in to the game and the offense looked different immediately.  He was sharp as in the practice we saw earlier in the week and the crowd when crazy when he got the initial call for the TD which was later overturned.  When he got the second again the crowd went wild.  The defense was very disappointing, poor tackling and the line getting pushed around let the Bucs march up and down the field at will, lots of improvement needed here.  All in all a defeat so it was a bit disappointing but Tannehill and Bush will be great for us I feel.

We had a great night with Bill, Joanne, George and Georgia in Boca Raton on the Saturday night, it is great to hear the insights and thoughts on football and the Dolphins from the Bazos family.  They are fantastically enthusiastic and supportive of us here in the UK and great friends.  That night was a particular highlight of our holiday and thoroughly enjoyable.

Here’s to a great season, hopefully.

Rob G