TAMPA — There isn’t much left that Stadium Series headliner Tim McGraw hasn’t done. One of the best-selling artists of any genre, the 58-year-old country music icon has sold more than 106 million records worldwide and has a stunning 49 number one singles to go along with three Grammy Awards, 1 4 Academy of Country Music Awards, 11 wins at the CMA’s, ten at the AMA’s and three People’s Choice Awards, not to mention his four New York Times best-selling books and numerous acting appearances in Friday Night Lights, The Blind Side and more recent appearances in Yellowstone-prequel 1883. But he’d never done something like what he pulled off on Sunday night at Raymond James Stadium, performing a medley of his hits in front of a sold-out of nearly 70,000 fans during intermission of the Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning wrapping up the National Hockey League’s outdoor game schedule. “Sports and athletics have been a big part of my family my whole life,” he said.  “Over the last couple of years, we’ve been able to do some really cool things associated with sports; we did the NFL Draft in Nashville, we did the first MLB game at Bristol (Motor Speedway), we did the first concert at the Field of Dreams.  So this just adds to the list of the cool things we’re able to do…when they brought this to me, it was a no-brainer.” McGraw’s father, Tug, was a legendary pitcher who spent 19 seasons in the big leagues, including the last ten years with the Philadelphia Phillies, in which he was an integral part of their 1980 World Series team.  A two-time All-Star, he recorded the final out in that championship run, pitching in four of the six games of that series. So, for Tim, there are obvious baseball ties. Even football connections, as he once owned an Arena Football League expansion team, the Nashville Kats, during their brief resurgence. Hockey, though? McGraw joked before the start of a well-attended press conference prior to his intermission performance that nobody could ask him technical hockey questions, but he lit up when describing his enthusiasm about the sport. “I certainly got into it when hockey came to Nashville,” said McGraw, whose song “I Like It, I Love It” remains the Nashville Predators goal song. “I grew up in the 70’s and 80’s in Louisiana, so the only time that I ever really saw hockey – there was no hockey around when I was growing up – was in the Olympics.  And of course, we were all into it during the Olympics.  Even now, as much as I like to watch it, I still can’t tell you what’s going on.  But, I love watching it.  The athleticism, how they move on the ice, and some of the shots that they make and the moves that they make are absolutely incredible.” There was, however, one last hilarious part to his answer after he took a second to think about it. “Of course,” he said, “my favorite part is when they knock the (crap) out of each other.  That’s why I would have liked to have played.” ...read more read less