Tampa Bays sports memorabilia goes on display

Content Published Originally by WTSP.com on Wednesday, June 15, 2011.

TAMPA, FLORIDA -- It may be the dream of every Tampa Bay sports fan.The Bucs Lombardi Trophy. A replica of the Lightning's Stanley Cup. Even items from the original Rowdies soccer team and USFL's Tampa Bay Bandits.

All of it goes on display at the Tampa Bay History Center this weekend.

"You can see about eight decades' worth of sports history here," said museum curator Travis Puterbaugh. "We hear it constantly, 'There's not a lot of tradition here,' from people in Boston, Chicago, and New York.  It's not true."

At the center of the exhibit is the work of longtime Tampa Tribune sports cartoonist Lamar Sparkman, perhaps best known as the creator of "Bucco Bruce."

That includes Sparkman's original prototype of the Bucs logo, which is different than the final product.

"He was inspired by the Three Musketeers, some of the pirates off the Gulf of Mexico that he studied, and he came up with the logo," said Carter Toole, Sparkman's grandson.

The exhibit also features some of the sports legends who grew up in the Bay area, including Doc Gooden, Wade Boggs, Tony LaRussa, and Lou Piniella.

For the first time, it's a chance to relive some of Tampa Bay's most memorable moments all under one roof.

Admission is $12 for adults, $7 for kids over age 3.

This weekend, though, all fathers get in free.

The exhibit runs from Saturday through September 12th at the Tampa Bay History Center, located at 801 Old Water Street in downtown Tampa.