SOutdoor Sportsman's Report Rays Making Change!s i'ii By Richard Muga In All the Wrong Places .. Ownershipof te DevilRays changes that are being made 9e L a o er n has stated that'2008 is ayear with this franchise don't mean. to look forward to. a hill of beans to the fans.If As we strive for progress it You mean the Rays are management wants to make is difficult to imagine all the going to spend more money these other changes, it should coniequences urban or sub- and try and make their team do so only after the team is urban expansion brings. As a playoff contender? Well, not competitive and more..people we know, Hillsborough County Sexactly. start coming to the ballpark. has been enjoying an unprec- SChanges of sone kind wil f The product the Rays have on dented, mostly unbridled, take place with the team that the field is now absolutely no growth eruption. Businesses may include new colors, new different under Stuart Stein- have flourished, individual uniforms, a new.logo, and berg than it was under Vince salaries are at an all time maybe a new- name. Hearing Naimoli, and we just aren't .high and construction of new this makes me almost as ex- seeing any major signs that the houses and commercial build- cited as I was upon hearing situation is going to change. ings are occurring so fast that that there -would be renova- Whatever happens with the the only ones that can keep tions to Tropicana Field After Rays, and the Marlins for that. count are the tax assessor and all; everything is in the look, matter, one thing is clear the collector. even if the team stinks. Florida baseball project has While reading an article been a major failure. People I imagine that progress has about the Rays':changes, I had were sure that all the great at- benefited the great majority to chuckle when I saw that the tendance down here for Spring of the residents of Hillsbor- W teamT might actually stop the Training games meant that ough County. If we measure A doe hangs out with a cow in a pasture near "Tampa Bay" part and replace fans would come out in droves the wealth and contentment llsbo gh o it with "Florida." So we'd have to support amajor league team of the masses by their girth Route 60 in Brandon. As Hillsborough CountS a team.called the Florida Rays. in theircity. The Marlins have it must be so. Also, if we de- grow, homes for the deer diminish. The thinking is that the Mar- won two world championships termine individual progress liris may change their name in avery brief history. This Very by the number and portion of times since I first spotted it. years have confirmed reports from "Flrida" to -the Miami year, the Marlins are compet- expendable income spent on Unalarmed, munching grass of a buckand a doe prowling Marlins in hopes of getting a ing for a wild card spot in the pets it must be so. along with the cows but unac- the area between Blooming- new ballpark built (how that's postseason and the attendance companied by any othersofher dale and 78th Street.. One going to help, I have no idea). in Miami has beefi dreadful. But, progress has its victims kind. Just this evening, during long time farmer a person Butit's also quite possible that The fact that the team plays too. Several weeks ago, on our one of our common thunder- whose dairy is lqcated near the Marlins might move out in a football stadium shouldn't way to visit' my sister-in-law, storms, wife and I drove past where my family's farm once of Miami pretty, soon;, which matter if it's a good team. we traveled north of highway the pasture again. And there was, told me he personally would leave the Devil Rays as People should want to. support 60 in Brandon. Buried among. she was, this time close to spotted the buck near Prog- the lone baseball representa- a team that might possibly be the apartment compounds and the. fence that separated her ress Village, That area still has tive of the surishine state. How in the playoffs. hoising developments there from the busy street, alone sufficient pastures and hard- well do you figure that will sit We've found that Miami still are some remnants of the in the pasture and soaked by woods to conceal a few deer. with Major League Baseball? is not a baseball market. We once lush and abundant pas- the rain. But the area north of Hwy. It is both frustrating and don't know for sure whether tures that once thrived in this Where did she come from? 60, between Kingsway and sad to think the Rays have new Tampa Bay is a baseball mar- part of the country. On one Were there any others before? Taylor Road has only specks of owners who seem to talk a good ket because the team has never particular smallish pasture I What is her future? Since I pasture land that are quickly ballgame to the fans yet aren't been a winner. Let's hope that estimated to be not more than first spotted the deer I have disappearing. doing a thing to make this team we at least have the opportu- eight acres, the owner still never seen any others around. When the new apartments competitive. Success starts on nity to find out if baseball can maintains four or five cows. Neither have any of those who or houses that will surely the field. The only way to make succeed down here. That would There, under one of the still have seen the deer ever sighted sprout in that pasture arrive, the Tampa Bay area embrace mean, Mr. Steinberg, you bet- lush oaks, was an adult doe others in the viciity, so I must where will the doe go? While major league baseball is to ter start paying more attention deer. She moved comfortably, assume that other than her bo- there are some creatures, get a winner out at Tropicana to wins and losses as opposed unafraid of my near proxim- vine company she is the last of people included, that thrive Field. All the other ridiculous to names and uniforms. ity or of the cars speeding by. her kind here. The answers to within growing .cities, others Part of her tail appears to be the other questions.will remain less adaptable will surely be missing but otherwise the doe unanswered. consumed and ultimately suc- seems to be healthy. Two well known farmers cumb to progress. I have seen the doe several whom I have known for many BE A GOOD SPORT! G E Sunshine State GARDEN " RESTAURANT Federal Savings AND LOAN ASSOCIATION NO TIENE POR-QUE PAGAR ALTOS YOU DO NOT HAVE TO PAY HIGH INTERESES PARA COMPRAR UN INTEREST RATES TO PURCHASE VEHCULO. iSi tiene buen crdito y A VEHICLE. lf you have good credit empleo estable podra ser elegible para and stable employment, you could un prstamo con intereses bajos! qualify for a low interest rate loan. Llmenos hoy para saber si pre-califica. Call us today to possibly pre-qualify. Qu tiene que perder? What do you have to lose? 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