Memories of the Lombardi Trophy being raised by Buccaneer hands, or inspiration heading into battle against the NFL's most electrifying athlete?
Which one moves Tampa Bay fans more?
We're about to find out.
The month-long battle between the Buccaneers.com Flash Intros of the past three seasons, a competition laid over the backdrop of the NFL's playoffs, is about to produce a single winner. Facing off in the final vote: Champions! the 2002 movie posted just after Tampa Bay's victory in Super Bowl XXXVII; and The Michael Vick Experience, posted during the week leading up to the Bucs' 27-0 pounding of the Atlanta Falcons this past December.
Fans have determined these two finalists through four rounds of voting. During the first three weeks of the NFL playoffs, Buccaneers.com readers voted for the winning Intros from the 2002, 2003 and 2004 seasons. This week – Super Bowl week – those three finalists were put up against each other in a single heat, and fans voted again.
Heavy voting during the first three days of the week produced the two clear leaders above. The winning movie from the 2003 season, Vick's Worst Nightmare, has been eliminated. In the poll to the right, please vote for the 2002-04 Buccaneers.com Flash Intro Champion.
Our first contestant, Champions! is straightforward and austere, capturing the feeling of a community as its victorious team heads back to town with the ultimate prize. The last in a series of three nautically-themed Intros surrounding the Bucs' Super Bowl appearance, it begins with the familiar Buccaneer ship sinking the Oakland Raider ship in the open seas. The Buccaneer vessel then sets sail for Florida, with Head Coach Jon Gruden holding the Lombardi Trophy high. The trophy image expands to the entire screen and is followed by a Super Bowl Champions logo.
To watch the Champions! Intro, please click here.
Our second contestant, The Michael Vick Experience, continues somewhat of a Buccaneers.com Intro tradition of focusing on the Falcons' elusive quarterback. Since he became Atlanta's starting QB in 2002, Vick has made at least a cameo appearance in five of the six Intros that preceded Bucs-Falcons games. He has felt the wrath of the "Riceman" (2002), stood in for Clubber Lang (2004) and even donned a Freddy the Falcon uniform (2003). But your votes chose The Experience as Vick's best Flash Movie moment.
The piece, which spoofs a shoe commercial featuring an amusement park ride of the same name, shows Vick suggesting to a rider what he's in for against the Buccaneer defense. It ends with the terrified Falcon fan begging for a way off the ride.
To watch The Michael Vick Experience Intro, please click here.
So there you have the two finalists for the 2002-04 Buccaneers.com Flash Intro playoffs. A champion will be crowned at the end of this week! Help us make the final choice.
