Champa Bay. That’s the new name that people have given to Tampa Bay after the city claimed yet another title. The 31-9 victory by Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers over the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl 55 not only rewarded Brady with his record seventh Super Bowl title, it provided Tampa Bay with another first during a year of record-setting milestones.
The Bucs were the first team to win the Super Bowl on their home field, Raymond James Stadium. Tampa Bay became only the second city to have teams play in the Stanley Cup final, World Series and Super Bowl in the same season. The Tampa Bay Lightning won the Stanley Cup. The American League champion Tampa Bay Rays lost the World Series to the Los Angeles Dodgers in seven games.
And the winning might not be done yet. Thanks to a COVID-19 caused quirk, the question of how to bet on NBA games when one team is never home is one that must be answered. The Toronto Raptors are required to play all of their 2020-21 NBA games in the USA, since the Canada-USA border remains closed. Due to this unusual circumstance, Tampa Bay is in with a shot at the NBA title for the first time ever. The Raptors, the 2018-19 NBA Finals champions, chose to play the home contests out of Tampa Bay’s Amalie Arena.
Titletown Contenders
Los Angeles also enjoyed a strong run in terms of titles during the current sporting cycle. Along with the World Series win by the Dodgers, the Los Angeles Lakers claimed the NBA Finals. The Los Angeles Rams, though, were eliminated in the NFL Divisional Round of the playoffs.
The only city to emulate Tampa Bay’s triple play of title shots in the same season was Boston in 2018-19. The Red Sox beat the Dodgers to win the World Series and Brady led the New England Patriots to a Super Bowl title over the Rams. The Boston Bruins came up a win shy of a championship, though. They lost Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final to the St. Louis Blues.
You have to go back to 1935-36 to find a city that claimed all three of these major crowns in the same sporting cycle. The Detroit Tigers beat the Chicago Cubs 4-2 to win the 1935 World Series. The Detroit Lions dropped the New York Giants 26-7 to capture the 1935 NFL Championship. And the Detroit Red Wings took the best-of-five Stanley Cup final in 1935-36 by a 3-1 count from the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Raptors Are Struggling
Thus far, Tampa Bay isn’t proving to be a home away from home for the Raptors. A team whose slogan is “We The North” is looking like Samson after his hair was cut. The Raps are much weaker in the south.
Toronto is clinging to the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The Raptors are 11-13 overall. That includes a 6-5 slate on their new home court at Amalie Arena and a disappointing 5-8 mark on the road.
“We are all creatures of habit. Familiarity is where we thrive,” Teresa Resch, the Raptors’ vice president of basketball operations and one of the guiding forces behind the team’s move to Tampa, explained to Associated Press. “And the more familiar you can make it, the more comfortable you are, the better you are able to perform and ultimately that’s what we’re trying to do here is we’re trying to grow as an organization and perform our best.”
The nomadic Raptors have made some team and NBA history this season, albeit while on the road. When Fred Van Vleet scored 54 points in a 123-108 win at the Orlando Magic, he shattered the club mark for points in a game. Previously, the standard was the 52 points scored by DeMar DeRozan. Van Vleet also surpassed Moses Malone’s NBA mark for points scored by an undrafted player. Malone’s record was 53 points.
There is some familiarity being provided for the Raptors in their temporary home. The floor they play on was shipped down from Toronto. They even hung Toronto’s 2018-19 NBA championship banner from the rafters.
They aren’t the first Canadian snowbirds to head south in winter to sunny Florida. Sadly, fans aren’t able to witness the action in person as a homeless team seeks shelter. The city of Tampa Bay isn’t permitting spectators at games so far during the NHL or NBA seasons.
Additional Resources:
Country Music Concerts Near Me
How To Watch NBA Live Streaming
