Tampa Bay Times from St. Petersburg, Florida • 24

2 Thursday, November 24, 2011 St. Petersburg Times HER Her do Times OPINION tampabay.comopinion DEWITT continued from 1 Making our world a better place NFL blackouts hurt the underdoes: fans out reservation that Brown met Gilbert this summer at a book signing. That's because, together, they are a confident, energetic maybe even unstoppable team. A month ago, for example, Sunday afternoon basketball at the Jerome Brown Community Center in Brooksville was about to come to an end due to a lack of volunteers. Brown and Gilbert heard about it, wouldn't let it happen, and now it's Sunday afternoon basketball, dodgeball, foosball, checkers, chess, step businesses and churches that donated enough labor, food and kitchen space that Brown and Gilbert expect to feed more than 300 people.

Though you don't want to wish it on anybody, it worked out for us that Brown separated from her husband eight years ago, That's what brought her to live with family in Florida, where she now works as a patient care technician at Citrus Memorial Hospital in Inverness. So in a way, we can be thankful for that, too. And we can be thankful with Goodwill Opens diincing and rap sessions. Gilbert, a veteran of decades of community activism in her hometown of Pittsburgh, is smooth and charming. She makes connections, finds businesses that might have interests in common and enlists volunteers.

Brown is the expert at talking to kids, or, really, listening to them in her rap sessions at Jerome Brown and Hillside Estates, especially when they need to talk about that "thing that makes you toss and turn all night, that certain thing that you got inside that you need to say out loud and get out." So give thanks that someone in our county has decided to listen to children who might otherwise get their message across by hurting others or hurting themselves. The woman who found herself in that bathtub, in other words, is doing all she can to keep others from winding up there. And don't you feel thankful for that? 1 and her Social Security-based income keeps her from buying tickets to see games in person. Friends took her to the New Orleans Saints game to celebrate her birthday earlier this season, otherwise she is a fan by television. The blackouts put a damper on that for most of the regular season home games.

"It's just not right," says Tuck. "The people paid for that stadium. Why are the Buccaneers being blacked out when the Rays games are on TV when there's like 20 people there." So on the Sundays the Buccaneers play at home she turns on the radio. Loudly. A neighbor once threatened to call the police.

Go ahead, Tuck said, but I'm not answering the door until the game is over. Another time people heard her screaming so loudly for a Ronde Barber interception they thought she was being harmed. Barber is her favorite because of his own ties to Virginia. She'd like to meet him. As it is, the Bucs have shown her hospitality.

She got a tour of the team headquarters at One Buc Place because of her frequent phone calls. She is grateful for that, but still she frets about not being able to see her team every Sunday. Why is she such a fan? "I have nothing else in my life, but the Buccaneers. Does that sound horrible? I guess it does." She said she will spend today watching television. The is fine, but it would be better if one of the games featured the Bucs playing at Raymond James Stadium.

If Fasano can get the Florida teams to circumvent the NFL's blackout rule, she would be forever thankful. 8 a.m. 1 vv 1 on sale items. Mike Fasano is looking to roast something besides a turkey. On this day set aside for giving thanks, consuming poultry and watching football, Fasano wants to ensure NFL fans aren't denied the opportunity to actually see their hometown teams on television.

In other words, the state senator from New Port Richey wants to turn up the heat on National Football League team owners. Fasano usually battles utilities, insurance companies or their regulators. His pro-consumer stance is piqued now by the NFL's policy to black out football broadcasts to markets that fail to sell out their stadiums 72 hours in advance of kick-off. Earlier this month, Fasano filed legislation in Tallahassee requiring the owners of the NFL franchises in Miami, Tampa and Jacksonville to lift their blackouts or else forfeit the public subsidies that helped to build their stadiums. While the NFL blackout rule has been around for five decades, team owners or sponsors can sidestep the action by buying up the unsold tickets.

Fasano thinks they should do just that and give them away to people who can't afford the cost of game tickets, parking, and a snack at the stadium. There will be no television blackouts of NFL games today in the Tampa Bay region. Mostly because the Buccaneers aren't playing. Today's slate features Green Bay at Detroit, Miami at Dallas (Leon Lett memories anyone?) and San Francisco at Baltimore in a broadcast that is sure to focus on the Harbaugh broth-ers'Thanksgiving. The Bucs don't play at Raymond James Stadium again until Dec 4, but if past crowds are any Guest column I Dr.

I C.T.BOWEN Editor of Editorials indication, there will be no local television broadcast of the game. Attendance at the Bucs' home games in Tampa averages less than 55,000 people in a stadium that holds nearly 66,000. A cynic might suggest that playing to 83 percent capacity matches the team's effort in the last home game, Nov. 13 when the team lost 37-9. No, that was just a little bit of bad luck, says Carol Tuck, 71, of Spring Hill.

The team knows how she feels. She calls One Buc Place every Monday to critique their game performance. Tuck cheers for the Bucs, but she also is pulling for Fasano on the blackout bill. She moved to Florida 11 years ago from Richmond, Va. She had been a Dallas Cowboys fan, but pledged her loyalty to the Bucs when she arrived in Tampa Bay.

Look around her Timber Pines villa for evidence. The home is adorned with a pristine Buccaneers wastebasket (nobody is allowed to actually put trash in it), Bucs glasses, shot glasses, hats, shirts, miniature helmets (both the original orange and white and the current pewter) and toy footballs, one of which commemorates the Super Bowl victory after the 2002 season. But, Tuck does not drive and Spring Hill to Tampa is not an easy commute. A bum left knee keeps her from climbing stairs, Li i i i i 25 off one item with this coupon. rVt it Not Not valid UK Goodwill For 15 store locations: or toll-free MORE Deals Make Your One coupon per in-store specials all weekend! valid thru 1127, while supplies lastl Own Deal valid 1126 thru 1224.

customer Goodwill-Suncoast retail stores only. ii HT www.goodwill-suncoast.org 1-888-279-1988 t- V. I -If Give thanks freely to Mew opportunities. atieiits. Newp BROOKSVILLE Mark calendar for 'Messiah Sing-along' The Nature Coast Festival Singers will join forces with Faith Presbyterian Church to present a "Messiah Sing-along" at 3 p.m.

Dec. 11 at the church, 200 Mount Fair Ave. Choir members throughout the area are invited to participate. There will be two mandatory rehearsals: from 7 to 9 p.m. Dec.

8 and from 2 to 4 p.m. Dec. 10. The group will sing the Christmas portion of Handel's Messiah, along with soloists from the University of South Florida. The director is Jim Urbanski.

The event will be free to the public. An offering will be collected to benefit the Wounded Warrior Project For information, call Stephanie Barnett-Sager at (813) 394-8671 or Shirley Chaisson at (352) 597-2235. i( Pasco rfaraiidi M' Medical Guide St Petersburg In the know In the Times." tampabay.com Dentute MDI Implant Housing Be a part of the Pasco Hernando Medical Guide publishing soon as a magazine and online with a searchable directory of physicians at tampabay.comfind-a-doctor. Reserve your ad space now to take advantage of our early bird rates! Deadline: Friday, Dec. 2 Publishes: Sunday, Jan.

22. 2012 Nobody does a good deed just to hear "thank you" in return. But, that is why people deserve to be thanked. Chances are people are seldom acknowledged for the deeds they have done. This irony of human behav ior becomes so viviHlv nhvinna -vm at funerals.

As soon as a person dies, everybody gets in line to praise that person to no end. You Musunuru hear the most articulated, beautiful, brilliant and well-deserving eulogies. But, I always wonder, how many of these people bothered to say anything good about that person, especially to that person, while he or she was alive. A person of that character, caliber, charisma and kindness should have been able to draw some praise and some expression of appreciation from many people while alive. But we all know it happens so rarely.

Everybody tries to come to pay respect to the dead. Since when r- 'jr. J' 7 Lower Jaw Be sure your patients see you with an ad in this year's Pasco Hernando Medical Guide. Hernando 352-848-1444 Pasco 727-869-6219 St. Petersburg 727-893-8309 Tampa 813-226-3318 Clearwater 727-445-4188 Brandon 813-661-2428 Rao Musunuru did it become a crime to respect people while they are still alive? Why are we so shy about acknowledging a good deed and so timid about appreciating a good person? Are we afraid that he or she may get a big head and stop being good? Are we worried that acknowledging another person's greatness may somehow diminish our own? Are we worried that the sincere expression of appreciation will lose its value, if done frequently? Do we take people including parents, spouses, children and faithful friends so much for granted that we don't even think of the need to say thanks? As a society, are we becoming so numb to the need of expressing gratitude in any meaningful form? Do people who mechanically and automatically say "I love you" after each sentence or conversation to a girlfriend, boyfriend or spouse until the day of separation or divorce, really think that it is a waste of time to thank somebody in return for a real favor, at least once in a while? Thanks! Just a simple word.

Once we Hernando County Women's Soccer. Games will be played at Ernie Wever Park For information, call Alyson Kraft at (352) 442-1540 or visit hernandoadultsoccer.com. Rotary golf tourney scheduled for Dec. 7 The Rotary Club of Brooksville will host its 34th annual golf tournament at 1 p.m. Dec.

7 at Brooksville Country Club at Majestic Oaks, 23446 Links Drive. Golfers and sponsors are welcome. The cost to play is $75, which includes dinner. Sponsorships start at $150. For information, call Rob Rogoski or Billy Healis at (352) 799-6974.

Brooksville Christmas Parade will be Dec. 10 The Brooksville Kiwanis Club will present the 37th annual each other say it, we will realize we actually mean it and we need to say it more often. Even though it didn't cost us anything, it will mean a lot to the other person, even if that person isn't expecting or wanting it For all the times people didn't thank you for what you have done, I give thanks to you on their behalf. (I have to do some for myself). There is a lot of good in all people that they may not even realize fully.

People have plenty of innate potential to do a lot more good, only if given the right chance, choice and encour- agement. There is more to Thanksgiving than family dinner and formal prayer. Thanking the creator and provider is very important, but 'i thanking each other, whenever called for, is even more important Giving thanks should be a daily affair and a sincere effort. Break that silence and speak your mind. You'll be thankful that you did.

Dr. Rao Musunuru is a practicing cardiologist, serving the residents of Pasco and Hernando counties since 1981 tampabay.com for more news I Brooksville Christmas Parade on Dec. 10 in downtown Brooksville. The parade starts at 10 a.m. and is expected to conclude about 12:30 p.m.

This year's parade theme is "Treasures Under the Tree." There will be marching bands, floats, clowns, fire engines, horses, Shri-ners and Santa. The parade route begins at Oakwood near Hernando High School, then proceeds down Howell Avenue to Main Street, crosses Jefferson and Broad streets, then heads north on Broad to Bell Avenue, ending at Jefferson and Bell. The parade lineup will be from 7:30 to 9 a.m.; the final lineup for horses is at 10:30 a.m. All parade entries must be received by 5 p.m. Dec.

1. Fees vary from $25 to $60. For details, visit kiwanisclubofbrooksville. org or call Shirl Hammatt at (352)799-6573. Loose dentures? Mini implants can help.

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DENTURE CARE CENTER LLC BROOKSVILLE Museum association to meet Dec. 5 The Hernando Historical Museum Association invites the public to its Christmas board meeting at 6 p.m. Dec. 5 at John's Corner Restaurant, 71 Broad St Association president Ron Daniels will give a report on the year's activities. For information, call Virginia Rusk at (352) 796-5398 or Ron Daniels at (352) 678-9889.

Registration is Dec. 4 for women's soccer Hernando County Women's Soccer will have registration for the 2012 season from 9 a.m. to noon Dec. 4 at Ernie Wever Youth Park, 19445 Youth Drive, off Ponce de Leon Boulevard. The cost is $90, payable to 1 REPLACEMENT DENTURES Starting at $695 per set (ADA 5110 5120, Minimum ten only.

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