For Bucs, tonight's game starts process of winning

TAMPA The wise observer of professional football follows a basic rule when it comes to exhibition games: Watch anything you want except the scoreboard. As we all know, it doesn't matter who wins these games and it doesn't matter who loses.

So goes the theory.

But with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers about to embark on a series of four faux football games tonight with a trip to Miami, I began a chat with running back Earnest Graham the other day by saying, "Now, obviously it's not a big deal whether you win Saturday or not ..."

He cut me off, good and quick, with a look that momentarily had me rethinking one of the core principles of my sporting life. Maybe this exhibition stuff really does matter.

"It's definitely a big deal," he said. "A team is built from the bottom to the top. Guys want to go out and play well in all facets of the game, and that includes winning. Winning is a big deal."

Well, an argument can be made that winning of any kind - even if it doesn't technically count - is good for a team trying to come back from a 3-13 season. But the second half of what Earnest Graham said is the larger goal of the next four weeks. Winning is a process of doing all things correctly all of the time, and that process begins tonight.

Too many times last year the Bucs looked like they had just fallen out of a clown car, both on the field and on the sideline. If a theme has come from the first couple of weeks of training camp, though, it's that this camp has been quiet and solid. That gives the Bucs a two-touchdown lead compared to this time last year.

"Right now we're playing with a lot less mistakes. Our confidence in the scheme on both sides of the ball is high. We definitely understand what's going on and our leaders are definitely stepping up and showing their face," Graham said.

"We're still a work in progress. We're working as hard as anyone in the league, but now we have to go out and translate it on the football field. It's always exciting around this time. We've got our draft class in, and as a team we have to prove ourselves. It's our first opportunity to go out there and put something good on film."

So what exactly would constitute a win tonight - beyond the scoreboard, of course?

Well, we're all curious to get the first real glimpse of top draft pick Gerald McCoy. Just seeing McCoy in a game, even if it's only a few plays, has a winning feel.

I think we're all tired of talking about how the defensive line should be greatly improved this season, with guys like McCoy and second-round pick Brian Price. It's time to actually see it, although Price has missed a lot of practice time with a strained hamstring and won't play tonight.

At least we'll see McCoy.

"I haven't played an actual football game since Dec..30 against Stanford," he said. "I'm looking forward to getting out there, putting on a uniform, and getting after it."

He'll be getting after it only for a few snaps at most, but it's a start.

"Just get the jitters out - the first-game jitters, rookie jitters, whatever you call it," McCoy said.

"They told me don't put anything bad on tape. The eye in the sky doesn't lie."

We'll be curious to see what Josh Freeman does, especially with the young receivers. It will be interesting to see how the potential Mike Williams has flashed in practice translates against an actual opponent and not his teammates.

Miami is a good running team, so this will be the first test to see if the Bucs are really better at stopping that. We know how much trouble they had last year.

"It's real exciting to see your new toys go out there and play," Bucs coach Raheem Morris said. "We've got a bunch of 'em - young toys, we've got toys coming back, all over the place."

So between wanting to see the new toys, checking out the quarterback and the revamped defense, and trying to cleanse the stench of 3-13, there's a lot in play over the next four weeks.

And if they happen to outscore some teams along the way, so much the better.