Tampa vs. St. Pete: "Got Talent?" Edition

They've battled over the Rays, the Bucs, the airport, postmarks, and even half-marathoners, but the latest edition in the Tampa-vs.-St. Pete war features the NBC show America's Got Talent.

During the Sunday night season premier, I tweeted my surprise that the show opened its St. Pete casting call with a montage from the Florida Everglades. Little did we know, NBC's misdirection was just getting warmed up.

As the Tampa Bay Times' Michael Van Sickler and Eric Deggans reported, St. Pete leaders are miffed the episode mentioned "Tampa" and "Tampa Bay" numerous times, but never once "St. Petersburg."

They even drew the parallel to the Rays' Stadium Saga:

It was a snub that stung especially because Tampa is being hyped by some as the next home of the Tampa Bay Rays, who currently play in St. Petersburg's Tropicana Field. (Mayor Bill) Foster and other city officials bristle every time ESPN broadcasts a game from the Trop by declaring, "Live from Tampa."

This surely won't be the last time the issue pops up, especially since we're still in the relatively early stages of "How the Stadium Saga Will Go Down."