Black sports Sunday in Tampa Bay

Ouch.

Tampa Bay teams registered a losing hat trick today.

The Tampa Bay Devil*Rays lost a game to the Chicago White Sox in the AL divisional series. I only caught bits of the game but I wasn't overconfident about a sweep with John Danks pitching for Chicago. The umpire did Tampa Bay no favors from what little I saw. A hat tip to the White Sox, though. They came to play.

The Tampa Bay Lightning lost to fall to 0-2 on the young season with new head coach Barry Melrose. Melrose revamped the roster so I'm not sure what to expect. Olaf Kolzig figures to be an upgrade in the crease. That certainly can't hurt. I think John Tortorella did himself in by not acquiring a solid goaltender the past few years.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers also lost in Denver to the Broncos. I would have predicted a close Bronco win heading into the game based on an expectation of offensive mistakes, but I thought the Bucs would run more effectively on the day--not that the Bucs' running game wasn't effective. Missed opportunities, like overthrowing tight end Jerramy Stevens on what would have been a sure touchdown, came back to haunt the Bucs. Special teams also figured big in the loss, as Dexter Jackson regressed to pathetic in the return game. If there's any silver lining there at all, at least the guy didn't lose a fumble.

All in all a black sports Sunday. Here's to a Rays victory tomorrow behind pitcher Andy Sonnanstine.