WEEK OF APRIL 13, 2014TOP OF THE WEEK:

It is so refreshing to have Keith Olbermann back on the sports scene. His presence on Sports Center and later on “the deuce” (ESPN 2) was huge. Unfortunately, he came off as an overbearing bully when he switched to news/commentary. A few suggested refinements in his new ESPN show – not that he asked us. First dump the highlights – you can get them anywhere, and they detract from his natural ability as a sports commentator. Getting rid of the highlights would let you pull the show back to a more manageable thirty minutes. Lastly, put it at a reasonable hour – replacing some of the junk shows ESPN has in the late afternoon/early evening slots. The show was superb in that format and time slot during the Australian Open.

THIS WEEK’S TEN:

1. Quote of the week: “The people who are asking me to resign are not my employer” – former Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. Sorry Madam Secretary, when you work for the federal government, you work for all of us. One tires of arrogant public servants at all levels who think they need not answer to the unwashed masses. 

2. Our crack sports prediction guru, Mohamed Walled (pronounced wall-ED) says the Miami Heat will tumble in the NBA playoffs which conclude when – about a week before Thanksgiving?

3. Love the word factoid. It was coined by Norman Mailer but probably most popularized by CNN. This week’s factoid – a Rants and Raves Trio - the highest earning dead people in the world. They are #3 – Peanuts creator Charles Schulz – maybe a little bit of a surprise; #2 the king of rock and roll Elvis Presley – absolutely no surprise and #1 – Michael Jackson which makes you wonder why?

4. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame held its induction this week. Notable inductees included Nirvana, Hall and Oates, KISS and Linda Ronstadt. But can someone please explain why a guy who recorded 21 Top 40 hits on his own and wrote hit songs for the Carpenters, Frank Sinatra, Dinah Washington plus multiple hits for Connie Francis, the 5^th Dimension and the Captain and Tennille isn’t in the hall? The guy’s name is Neil Sedaka and every time we mention this the standard reply is something like “you’re kidding”! Sadly, we’re not. By the way, there is a petition on line to correct this injustice.

5. Sports fans often complain that almost all pro sports managerial/coaching vacancies are filled by good old boys – no offense Lovie. The same seems to hold true in politics. Every suddenly vacant seat on a governmental commission/council usually gets filled by a veteran seat warmer instead of some up and comer who is going to be there sooner or later anyway. Why not sooner?

6. The above mentioned Keith Olbermann has a pet phrase (Hello! The world’s out here!), which you want to shout at all the cell phoning and texting bozos on our region’s streets and highways - and amazingly in the aisles of our grocery stores.

7. Say what you want about the St. Pete Times – one of their strongest moves in the last few years was moving John Romano out of sports and into a slot as a decent general topic columnist. But the real plus was the ascendency of Tom Jones to full-fledged sports columnist. The guy is strong.

8. Our Rants and Raves focus group (which consists of three old, cranky people) tips their cap to the Clearwater Public Library system and their new check out system. Projection is that by this time next year the other 90 per cent of their customers and other half of the library staff will figure out how the damn thing works. Newer ain’t always better. Margin of error: 50 per cent or so.

9. More than one person has told us they too have had this dream: you can’t remember where one of your college classes meet, and you end up failing the course and not graduating. Could this be what happened to USF’s erstwhile basketball coach?

10. Not a resident but visit there a lot and the idea for upgrading Tarpon Spring’s waterfront sounds terrific. As it is now, you walk down a cavern that is Dodecanese Boulevard and are shut off from the very picturesque bayou behind the shops. A boardwalk right along the bayou would be fabulous. Forward thinkers in Tarpon Springs need to make it happen despite the naysayers.

IN CLOSING:

Thanks to Governor Rick Scott, State Senator Jack Latvala and others for closely watching over Florida’s spring training interests. Florida has lost an alarming amount of teams to Arizona over the past decade. In fact, had it not been for Sen. Latvala, Clearwater’s Bright House Field might not have been built and Dunedin most likely would have said goodbye to the Toronto Blue Jays years ago. Now there is a real possibility that at least one team might be persuaded to return to Florida from Arizona where we understand the beach is not all that great.

And just a post script to the above: classy move by the Phillies to have Alan Bomstein throw out the first pitch on the final Sunday of the spring season. Alan, the owner of Creative Contractors, had more to do with getting the Phils a new stadium and keeping them and the dollars they generate here than anybody outside of government or even inside for that matter.