I spent the few minutes I was awake this morning looking at my favorite sites to see what was going on and I came across two fantastic articles I wanted to share.

The first one is from Indy Cornrows, a Pacers blog. I know, if you're like us, you've been coping with the Pacers selection of Tyler Hansbrough. The article is entitled "The Five Stages Of Accepting Tyler Hansbrough." I love the accuracy of this post, as I have already gone through these five stages and have made peace with the Pacers selection.

The second article is from the Tampa Bay Rays blog Rays Index. Although this isn't a Rays Index original piece, without the link via their blog, I wouldn't have seen it otherwise. The article is from Tampa Bay Online, or as most people call it, TBO. It addresses St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker's reaction to the Rays considering new stadium sites in Tampa instead of St. Petersburg.

Here's some quick back story on St. Petersburg and Tampa.

Most people outside the region don't even know St. Petersburg exists. They think Tampa Bay IS the city name. I'm sure at least one person reading this did not realize that. Tampa Bay is a region and the area is composed of St. Petersburg and Tampa along with other smaller cities/towns.

Now, I can only speak of my time spent in Tampa Bay on and off since 2001, but here's how this relationship works:

Tampa gets all the recognition due to the fact their city name is in the regional name. St. Pete suffers from a bit of an inferiority complex. Here's a fictional conversation between the two cities that will help explain:

St. Pete: Don't take our team, you've taken everything else.
Tampa: We're not? Anyway we're a region, regardless of where the team is, it's good.
St. Pete: Bullshit, you just take everything! The region name, every sports franchise.
Tampa: We're a region, people visit both of us. Unity baby, unity!
St. Pete: Screw You.
Tampa: Go Bucs?
St. Pete: Finally, something we can agree on.

That's at least how I've interpreted the relationship. Enjoy the articles.