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Nobody could keep up with bowling ringer Cadillac Williams, who scored a team-best 214 in Game One

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Lane Gang

Jun 21, 2007 - Considering their respective positions with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, rookie safety Sabby Piscitelli and third-year tight end Alex Smith are generally after opposite results on the practice field.

On this particular Wednesday afternoon, however, Piscitelli and Smith weren’t on the practice field, and they weren’t at odds. None of the Bucs were. Having completed the third of four practices in their offseason-capping mini-camp on Wednesday morning, the Bucs hung up their cleats and headed a few miles down the road to the nearest bowling alley. On tap was a team-building exercise that has become something of a ritual under Head Coach Jon Gruden.

With 26 foursomes crowding the lanes, the Bucs spent about two hours relaxing, swapping smack talk and chasing down a few pins. Piscitelli and Smith ended up on the same team and, midway through the afternoon’s second game, Smith had wandered down the alley a bit to check out Cadillac Williams’ score. Now Smith was up for his team, which also included wide receiver David Boston and linebacker Barrett Ruud, and Piscitelli was calling him back.

Smith returned quickly for the sixth frame, and the result pleased both him and his young teammate – a strike, and better yet, a turkey, as Smith had also knocked them all down in the fourth and fifth frames.

Alas, despite his hot streak in the middle, Smith would finish that game with a relatively pedestrian 132. The former Stanford star went on to roll a 152 in the second game, giving him 284 to nearly match Piscitelli’s 287. Boston led the foursome with a 307 while Ruud contributed a 233, leading to a respectable two-game team score of 1,111.

"It’s always good to get out and hang out with the fellas. It’s good to enjoy some fun times together rather than just yelling at them all day and having them yell back at you. "

That combined score was good for a fifth-place tie with the team of linebacker Adam Hayward, cornerback Torrie Cox, guard Anthony Wollschlager and safety Jermaine Phillips…but nobody could catch Caddy’s crew. Anchored by running back and bowling ringer Cadillac Williams, the foursome on lane 31 threw together a 1,179 to take first place. Williams, who posted the day’s best single score with a 214 in Game One, led the individual rankings with a two-game 382. That was 39 pins better than the second-place finisher, linebacker Derrick Brooks.

Still, it’s telling that the scores weren’t printed out until well after most of the Buccaneers had left the alley. This was friendly competition with the accent on friend, an afternoon out to build camaraderie among teammates new and old. When Smith came back to lane 25 and finished his turkey in the middle of Game Two, both he and Piscitelli pumped their fists, offense and defense agreeing for once. Then Smith went back to working the lanes, throwing out encouragement and – more often than not – teases to dozens of teammates.

Defensive Backs Coach Raheem Morris, who missed this event a year ago while spending a season as the Kansas State defensive coordinator, was glad to be back amid the relaxed atmosphere.

“It’s always good to get out and hang out with the fellas,” said Morris. “It’s good to enjoy some fun times together rather than just yelling at them all day and having them yell back at you. I think everybody had a lot of fun.”

Of course, with around 80 players and 30 coaches and staff members in the building, there was bound to be some football talk, too. For instance, Piscitelli took a moment between frames in the second game to approach Gruden, who was simply observing the action as he does every year. The intense rookie brought up a play that had admittedly fooled him during the morning practice, and coach and player discussed it for a few minutes before tapping fists. Moments such as that go a long way towards building a tight and successful team, too.

“Jon likes to take us on these trips to make it seem like he’s giving us a break,” laughed veteran cornerback Ronde Barber. “But it’s good for the team. The new guys get to know each other a little better and hopefully the young guys relax a little bit and feel like part of the team.”

Brooks posted the best second-game score with a 183. Rookie defensive tackle Justin Frick showed the most improvement from Game One to Game Two, following up his 86 with a 156. Running back Earnest Graham fell the hardest, rolling a scintillating 176 in Game One only to follow with a 109. Rookie LB Adam Hayward was the most consistent strong bowler, matching his Game One 168 with a Game Two 167 (and finishing third overall behind Williams and Brooks). Williams tied for the two-game high in both strikes (eight) and spares (10). Boston appeared to rely on a power game, with eight strikes but only two spares. Punter Josh Bidwell was more deliberate, recording just one strike but marking 10 spares. Rookie running back Ken Darby scored just 163 in the two games but did manage to nip one veteran teammate – Barber, who rather casually rolled a 162.

Barber knew the goal wasn’t a number, though. When the team bus left, emptying out most of the rookies and young players, a smattering of veterans stuck around to bowl another game or too. On Cadillac’s lane, the purpose was more competition – he went head to head with fellow running back and strong bowler Michael Pittman and prevailed, 188-186 when Pittman missed the spare by one pin in the 10th frame. Barber stayed, too, rolling a few more balls with fellow vets Mike Alstott and John Wade and rarely glancing at the score.

“Nobody is going to care about those scores tomorrow,” said Barber, “but they’ll remember hanging out and having a good time with their teammates.

**

To help record those aforementioned scores for posterity, here were the top 10 scores from each of the two games, the top 10 individual two-game scores and the top 10 teams overall:

Game One Individual:

1. RB Cadillac Williams…214
2. P Sean Douglas…187
3. WR Michael Clayton…182
4. RB Earnest Graham…176
5. CB Chaz Williams…170
6. QB Jeff Garcia…169
7. LB Adam Hayward…168
8. Video Assistant Wes Bryan…167
9. S Tanard Jackson…164
10. WR Chad Lucas…161

Game Two Individual:

1. LB Derrick Brooks…183
2. LB Ryan Nece…178
3. C Nick Mihlhauser…176
4t. G Dan Buenning…170
4t. RB Michael Pittman…170
6t. QB Zac Taylor…168
6t. RB Cadillac Williams…168
8. LB Adam Hayward…167
9t. Linebackers Coach Gus Bradley…166
9t. Strength and Conditioning Coach Mike Morris…166

Combined Individual:

1. RB Cadillac Williams…382
2. LB Derrick Brooks…343
3. LB Adam Hayward…335
4. LB Ryan Nece…323
5t. WR Michael Clayton…314
5t. P Sean Douglas…314
7. S Tanard Jackson…313
8. G Dan Buenning…312
9. CB Brian Kelly…308
10t. WR David Boston…307
10t. QB Zac Taylor…307

Combined Team:

1. Cadillac Williams-Tanard Jackson-Anthony Becht-Julian Jenkins…1179
2. Derrick Brooks-Earnest Graham-Gaines Adams-Phillip Buchanon…1144
3. Dan Buenning-Cato June-Jimmy Lake-Josh Bidwell…1133
4. Nick Mihlhauser-Efrem Hill-Matt Herian-Ellis Wyms…1124
5t. Adam Hayward-Torrie Cox-Anthony Wollschlager-Jermaine Phillips…1111
5t. David Boston-Sabby Piscitelli-Alex Smith-Barrett Ruud…1111
7. Kyle Smith-Lionel Gates-Chad Owens-Jon Goldsberry…1098
8. Michael Clayton-Bruce Gradkowski-Matt Bryant-Luke Petitgout…1073
9. Brian Kelly-Chaz Williams-Jeremy Trueblood-Art Valero…1062
10t. Jeff Garcia-Chris Hovan-Maurice Stovall-Joey Galloway…1048
10t. Keith Heinrich-Jeb Terry-Kalvin Pearson-Simeon Rice…1048