Race factors into evaluation of Gerhart - NFL Draft

Toby Gerhart has a problem. He is one the highest rated running backs in the NFL Draft this year. He has power, strength, speed, durablity, everything you would want in a feature back. The problem is he is white. Thats right - a white guy. The fact that he was runner up in the Heisman Trophy contest means little to the NFL talent scouts. It still means enough that he may go in the second round, just like Mike Allstot did. I know John Gruden would not like this kid. Gruden disliked any white athlete. Would you call this reverse racism?

"When NFL scouts look at Gerhart, they see a 6-foot, 231-pound power back who ran for 1,871 yards and 27 touchdowns last season, getting edged out by Alabama’s Mark Ingram in the closest Heisman vote in history. When they look at Gerhart’s numbers from the NFL scouting combine, they see that he ran a 4.50-second 40-yard dash and registered a 38-inch vertical leap, both impressive numbers for a player his size." Yahoo Sports

Gerhart says that when many scouts came over to watch him work out at the combine, they were not aware that he was white. After seeing his skin color, they lost interest. What? Have any of them ever heard of John Riggins? He was one of the best feature backs ever and I believe he was a pale face. He was fast, strong, durable and aggressive just like this kid. To many disciples of Gruden out there if you ask me.

I know some team will give this kid a chance...I hope its the Bucs. Then we will have our Warren Sapp and Mike Allstot back. Now how cool is that!

Flooding In Tampa Bay

I sort of had a strange 'accident' Sunday afternoon. It was raining cats and dogs and if you drive in Tampa you know that the roads flood like Noah's Ark. ( It is a problem I thought they had fixed with all the pipe they had been putting in for years). I had a call on north B street just north of Kennedy.

I picked up Orlando (my fathers name) he is a regular and goes to a restaurant on south Howard. In front of his house was a puddle of water. It did not look that deep. "Turn around don't drown" is the saying. It really did not look that deep. I drove through it and my car sank hard. I did not see the pot holes that lurked below. I was almost underwater!

The problem with that is that if you taxi cab takes water into its engine - you just bought it. United Cab has a 'no tolerance' policy on this matter. I also heard a very load bang sound. When I got to the stop sign at the end of the block, the car was knocking. I must have taken in some water. I have never don that is all these years of driving cab.

Later, when I was at the gas station, I filled up on premium thinking that would get rid of the knocking - no such luck. It was running rough man...very rough.

This morning it was a little better and by the end of the day, my taxi was running just fine. I think I burned the water out of it. It must have been just a little bit.

Tampa Bay Must Draft Ndamukong Suh

Ndamukong Suh was tested scientifically by ESPN in all the important measures of speed, power and agility. The most important measure was the impact he had on crash test dummies that had more impact than an automobile accident...more like a freight train. If the Buccaneers don't draft this kid in the third spot, it will spell the doom for Raheem Morris as the head coach here. He should just resign or be fired on draft night.

Homeless Panhandling Is Now Widespread In Tampa

I drive all over Tampa and see first hand the number of people that are at almost every major intersection in Tampa - Dale Mabry and Kennedy is very popular, along with Kennedy and Westshore and Columbus and Dale Mabry. This homeless guy lives out of his van with his Jack Russel dog and uses the dog as a marketing tool to get hits.