Seventeen years ago today, Joe hit the power button on this website and never turned back. More than 60,000 Bucs posts have been published, the results of obsessing 24/7 about all things Buccaneers.
It all started with a laptop and a dream.
As the Chucky era marched on, Joe became painfully bored by the stale media in the Tampa Bay area. Bucs coverage was stuck in the 1990s. Boring!!!!
But some online coverage of sports teams was fun, you know, like sports are supposed to be. So Joe hatched a plan to cover the Bucs in a way that would entertain and interest Joe, something very different.
A defunct NBA site called JoeNetsFan.com was the inspiration for the name and the spirit, but Joe wanted to bring a different angle, the whole third-person “Joe” thing.
Joe pounded away for months here writing passionately for almost nobody — and no money. Traffic grew steadily while Joe endured endless personal attacks, the result of rattling the cages of Bucs fans, the Bucs franchise, and Joe’s media brethren.
Hell, Joe had an army of “haters” before anyone used the term “haters.”
But Joe pressed on out of love for the Bucs. Joe was having fun and fans were buying into Joe’s unique brand of journalism that continues to be like no other.
The Day 1 approach here has not changed; Joe writes about Bucs-related subjects that interest Joe. That’s it. If you don’t like it, then don’t read it. Joe doesn’t tell others how to express their Bucs passion, and Joe expects the same courtesy.
Thankfully, Bucs fans kept coming in droves and money started to land in Joe’s pocket. JoeBucsFan.com traffic exploded and the site is now the only destination for legions of Bucs fans. Anyone researching website traffic will conclude quickly that JoeBucsFan.com is the dominant force in the Tampa Bay market — by a mile.
The army of beloved Ira Kaufman Podcast listeners are in a category all their own. Joe would love to buy you all a coconut donut, a beet salad or a replica of one of Ira’s stolen beach chairs.
Joe added Ira, the mighty Sage of Tampa Bay Sports, to JoeBucsFan.com world headquarters in 2016. Smart move.
Joe appreciates the thousands of devoted daily readers here, along with the many thousands of occasional readers. And Joe has a special thank you to the statistically insignificant percentage of fans and haters that ever type a comment. You all have a place in Joe’s heart.
Seventeen years. Damn. A book could be written about the bizarre Bucs interactions Joe has experienced and can’t type on these pages without breaking confidences — or ending up with a broken bone.
Joe also wants to thank and congratulate the smart local business owners who support JoeBucsFan.com year-round. Unlike Team Glazer and other local media outlets, Joe does not price gouge and views advertisers as true partners and true friends.
As always, Joe’s birthday wish is for winning football to continue in Tampa. It’s great for Joe’s mental health. A fifth consecutive NFC South title would be a great start.
So how many more years of service to Bucs nation does Joe have? That’s a question swirling in Joe’s mind after Buccaneers Ring of Honor general manager Jason Licht talked recently about wanting to retire with Baker Mayfield.
Joe sure would love to spend Sundays tailgating and pounding beers in the stands with Bucs fans instead of working. And Joe would be happy to find a less stressful occupation. Perhaps air traffic control or intake in a hospital emergency room?
A final hearty thank you from JoeBucsFan.com world headquarters to all the Bucs fans who have allowed Joe to realize this dream — even the perennially bitter media types, avowed Joe haters and sour Bucs employees.
As a birthday treat, Joe will get back to work serving Bucs fans 24/7. It’s a privilege.
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