Rick Scott, Florida Governor, Confused By Tampa Bay Region Name: 'Is That What It Calls Itself?'

Florida Gov. Rick Scott appeared confused about the Tampa Bay region, the state's second largest metropolitan area, in an informal meeting with reporters Tuesday. The governor was told that the St. Petersburg Times would be changing its name to the Tampa Bay Times.

"Does the region call itself the Tampa Bay region? Is that what it calls itself? The region does?" he said to a few reporters in the governor's office, according to the paper's Buzz blog.

Scott, originally from Illinois, moved to Naples, Florida in 2003. He barely met a seven-year residency requirement when he ran for governor in 2010.

The Tampa Bay region is familiar to many because of its sports teams: the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Tampa Bay Rays and the Tampa Bay Lightning. Southwest Airlines, the largest airline flying into Tampa International Airport, lists the destination as Tampa Bay.

Scott's office said his comment "was simply small talk," adding that the governor had thrown out the first pitch at a Rays game and spent time with Buccaneers players. The St. Petersburg Times reporter present, Steve Bosquet, said Tampa Bay "didn't roll off [Scott's] tongue."