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Wake-Up Call: Bolts' Stamkos showing presence beyond his years

Staff file photo by JASON BEHNKEN

The precocious Steven Stamkos is impressing his peers both on and off the ice.

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By JOEY JOHNSTON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 2, 2009

Updated: 11/02/2009 10:34 am

The Wake-Up Call greets you each weekday with news, views and a few Tampa Bay area sports offerings to anticipate for the day and night. We encourage suggestions and contributions.

Good morning!

At first glance, Lightning center Steven Stamkos seemed out of his element.

He was on a panel with four Tampa Bay area sports executives - the program was entitled "The Arrival of the Young Professional" - and a crowd of about 200 business professionals had gathered to hear breakfast-hour viewpoints at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center on Friday morning.

The previous night, Stamkos had scored a pair of power-play goals and collected an assist in the Lightning's 5-2 victory against the Ottawa Senators.

Anybody else? Perhaps there would've been a late-night celebration. Certainly, a chance to sleep in. Maybe even a call to send regrets.

But there was Stamkos, 19, on a question-and-answer panel with Bucs general manager Mark Dominik, Rays president Matt Silverman, Rowdies owner Andrew Nestor and Tampa Bay Sports Commission executive director Rob Higgins.

Young men all, given their leadership positions.

It was 7:30 a.m.

Stamkos, the panel's youngest member, was on time, on point and very much in place.

"That," Dominik observed, "is an impressive young man."

Not that anyone in the Lightning organization ever doubted that.

After all, weeks before making Stamkos the No. 1 overall pick in the 2008 NHL draft, the player was the centerpiece of an advertising campaign - Seen Stamkos?

"There's always a lot of pressure on you and a lot of it is created by the media," said Stamkos, who has scored a goal in each of his last five games this season. "There was that big campaign last year, but truthfully, it was kind of reassuring they thought so highly of me. It was a compliment.

"In regards to the pressure, I put the most amount of pressure on myself. I know what I can do. When things aren't going well, there's no one you can blame other than yourself. As a player and professional, you put the most amount of pressure on yourself."

There was a common theme in the presentation, co-presented by the Tampa Bay Sports Commission and the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce's Emerge Tampa Bay.

How do you overcome the age disparity with your peers?

Is it difficult to earn respect?

Initially, is it difficult to be taken seriously?

"To be honest, you'd think that," Stamkos said. "Not only on our team, but in the entire sports world. But you put a bunch of athletes together and they're best friends in 15 minutes. Last season, I was 18, and I think the oldest guy on the team was 42. That's a pretty big age gap there.

"They (older teammates) were all my age at one point, so they understand what I'm going through on a daily basis. Being one of the young guys, I'm not going to stand up and call guys out or question authority of the coach. But there are players I can go to if I need to voice my opinion. I'll share my opinion and my thoughts and they'll express it in the appropriate way. As young as I am, it's pretty easy to get along with everyone."

Even so, as Stamkos acknowledged, there are ups and downs to a young career.

There are slumps.

In sports and the business world, Stamkos said he believes there are parallels.

"I can speak from experience because last season there were a lot of expectations on myself and the team, then things didn't really go to plans," Stamkos said. "As a young guy, it was tough. We had a coaching change (from Barry Melrose and Rick Tocchet) pretty early into the season and things weren't going quite as smoothly as I envisioned.

"One thing I learned - and I learned it quick - was the best players in the game are the ones who work the hardest. That's probably the same in the business world. That's something that really hit me. I realized if I kept working hard, especially when things weren't going well, it would just help me down the line. You can't just sit back and blame other people. You've got to get it in your hands, work hard and you get rewarded."

UT volleyball on major streak

The No. 7-ranked University of Tampa volleyball team (24-2, 11-1 Sunshine State Conference) has 10 straight victories - all in a sweep, meaning the Spartans have captured 30 consecutive games.

The latest win was Friday night's 26-24, 28-26, 25-19 triumph against Rollins College.

UT travels to Saint Leo (25-2, 12-0) - the last team to beat the Spartans - on Wednesday night.

UF's Jones grabs two interceptions

University of Florida junior linebacker A.J. Jones (Middleton) had the best game of his college career on Saturday. He had two interceptions in a 41-17 victory against the Georgia Bulldogs.

That gives him three interceptions in the past two games.

Jones has been hampered by injuries - missing all of 2006 with an ankle injury, then seeing last season's time limited by a knee injury.

"Two years ago (in 2007), he played because he had to, because no one else was behind him," Gators coach Urban Meyer said. "Now he's a grown man that's really taking care of his business. He's a program guy.

"He's a much different player than he was. He has earned that. I'm really proud to have a guy like that."

Changes at Georgia?

The Georgia Bulldogs (4-4, 3-3 SEC) are fighting for a bowl game. Bulldogs quarterback Joe Cox threw three interceptions against Florida. So naturally, during Mark Richt's Sunday teleconference, he was asked about potential changes at the position.

"I know what everybody is going at, but you're not going to get anything," Richt said. "If there are going to be changes anywhere, it'd be Tuesday before we'd have an idea where we'd line them up."

Georgia also has redshirt sophomore Logan Gray, who played against Florida, and true freshman Aaron Murray (Plant) at quarterback. Murray missed some practice earlier this season with triceps tendinitis, but Richt said the player is now healthy.

Murray, who hasn't played this season, figured to be on track for a redshirt year, giving him four seasons of eligibility beginning in 2010.

But Richt said any personnel decisions will be based on what gives Georgia the best chance of winning its final four regular-season games.

"We owe that to our seniors," Richt said. "We owe that to our fans. We owe that to everybody who busts their tail every day."

McCluster back in a big way

Ole Miss versatile senior Dexter McCluster (Largo) is seeing more action in the backfield - and his statistics have skyrocketed.

McCluster rushed 22 times for a career-high 186 yards, including a 79-yard touchdown run, but the Rebels fell at Auburn 33-20 on Saturday. McCluster accounted 203 all-purpose yards, the second straight week he has surpassed the 200-yard all-purpose mark.

On Oct. 24, McCluster rushed for 123 yards (and had 137 receiving yards) against Arkansas.

"I'm happy to be getting the ball this much, and I want it as much as I can get it," McCluster told the Jackson (Miss.) Clarion-Ledger.

One sticky situation: McCluster is playing more at running back and that weakens the depth and speed at receiver.

"Anytime you take Dexter out of the receiving corps, you lose a step," Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt said on Sunday. "But we need him in the backfield to give us the best chance to win."

Remember Terrell Hudgins?

Elon University senior wide receiver Terrell Hudgins had 11 receptions for 153 yards in Saturday's 34-6 win against Wofford for his 24th career 100-yard receiving game, breaking the Football Championship Subdivision record of Pro Football Hall of Famer Jerry Rice, who played at Mississippi Valley State from 1981-84.

Two years ago, as a sophomore, Hudgins was limited to 92 receiving yards (on 14 catches) as Elon gave the University of South Florida Bulls quite a game, but fell 28-13 at Raymond James Stadium. Hudgins personally made it a tight game by catching a 26-yard touchdown pass, then recovering an onside kick in the final moments.

And afterward, when comparing Elon to USF, Hudgins offered this classic quote: "Hopefully, they put on their underwear the same way we do."

That's a variation on the old standard: "They put their pants on one leg at a time, just like we do."

Birthday wishes

Happy belated birthday to former USF men's basketball player Gary Alexander, a first-team All-Metro Conference selection and a catalyst behind the Bulls' last NCAA Tournament team (1991-92). Alexander went head-to-head against Georgetown's Alonzo Mourning in USF's first-round 75-60 loss at Boise, Idaho. Sunday, Alexander turned 40.

The Answer Man

Here's the answer to Friday's trivia question:

The USF men's basketball team from 1978-79, which reached the Sun Belt Conference Tournament championship game, was known as the "Four Freshmen."

The four freshmen starters were Jorge Azcoitia, Hiram Green, Willie Redden and Tony Washam. The point guard was senior Penny Greene.

Monday trivia

Here's our daily sports trivia question, featuring a Tampa Bay/Florida spin. Try your luck by commenting below.

Besides the selection of Steven Stamkos in 2008, the Lightning twice had the No. 1 overall pick in the NHL draft (1992, 1998). Who was taken with those picks?

Check for the answer in Tuesday's Wake-Up Call.

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