I know how hard it is to live in the moment. There are always things everyone looks forward to, whether it be a weekend, a vacation, or the game you happen to own a ticket to for next week's game.
And there are also the memories you created, whether it be the birth of a child, a birthday milestone, your wedding day, or even that time when your friend tried to make it with the cow.
All fun aside, living in the moment can be especially difficult, in that you can't get those 20 seconds of your life back in reading up to this point. And there is no time better than right now, Tampa Bay, to embrace and enjoy what it is your Tampa sports teams have.
Photo: Getty Images
Not to throw a downer on things, Tampa sports fans, but the cover photo from this story? Not many people want to remember it, because it's the last time your Tampa Bay Lightning lost a playoff series: Game 4 against Columbus in the first round of the 2019 NHL playoffs.
Remember this moment from the photo above? That's the way your 2019 NFL season ended, Tampa Bay Buccaneers fans. The Atlanta Falcons celebrating in your stadium after Jameis Winston's 30th interception cost the Bucs yet another ballgame. Seems like it was forever ago, right?
And what about this moment below? This was after the final out of the Tampa Bay Rays' season in 2018, a 9-4 win over the Toronto Blue Jays that left the Rays in third place, 18 games behind the Boston Red Sox.
Photo: Getty Images
What am I getting at? These photos are from the last seasons the Tampa Bay professional teams either did not advance to postseason play or failed spectacularly in the playoffs.
As you all well know, there will be more of those negative sports memories throughout your lifetimes than positive ones. And in the long history of Tampa Bay professional sports, all you need to do is look at the teams' all-time records:
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 278-429-1; 11 playoff appearances in 46 seasons
Tampa Bay Lightning: 985-947-112-150; 12 playoff appearances in 28 seasons
Tampa Bay Rays: 1779-1932; Six playoff appearances in 24 seasons
Which is why all Tampa Bay sports fans need to take a step back, relax, and revel in the moments we have right now.
Fans are getting ready for a boat parade celebrating the 2021 Stanley Cup champion Lightning.
The defending Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers are starting training camp in less than two weeks!
The defending American League champion Tampa Bay Rays are in a pennant race, and as we all know, playoff runs can be a crap shoot.
The common thread in all three teams? The word "Champion."
At this very moment in Tampa Bay sports history, you're seeing the three Tampa Bay teams all competing for championships in the same window of time, something that you've never seen before, and rarely happens in any city, especially OURS.
And there's a very fine line between you being able to call your favorite team a champion, and looking at another city whose team(s) can lay claim to that word.
COVER PHOTO: Getty Images