This week’s dining tip (see back story in Jan. 1 TBRR): we’ve featured two really good dine-in locations for pizza this year – Capogna’s and Post Corner. For the order out variety, it’s hard to beat Marco’s on Missouri Avenue just south of Druid Road – decent prices and quality far above most typical carry out/delivery operations.

Toys”R”Us bankruptcy hurts hundreds of thousands

The recent news of Toys”R”Us financial troubles causes some concern for their some 65,000 employee’s futures. But the issue goes much deeper than that. The key is the phrase you read in virtually every bankruptcy case  “restructure debt”. That is a very nice way of saying paying vendors, who supplied goods and services in good faith, pennies on the dollar, if that. You have to be on the other side of a bankruptcy (and we have) to experience the frustration of a large account payable vaporizing into nothingness. It’s bad enough when your own business mistakes bite you in the wallet, worse when someone else’s mismanagement does so. So it’s not just 65,000 employees who suffer in a deal like this – try multiplying that number by five or ten or more – the businesses and their employees who will take one on the chin – for a few, possibly a fatal blow.

Tampa Bay, politics and stuff:

1.Clearwater’s economic development efforts took another step backward with the departure of de facto head Seth Taylor after a drunken incident last weekend. Clearwater’s economic development efforts, the envy of the bay area twenty years ago, have been in a deep funk for over a decade.

2. This coming weekend marks Clearwater’s premier outdoor event each year – Jazz Holiday. Although it has morphed from its pure jazz beginnings, it’s still a terrific entertainment opportunity.

3. Curious fact: recently 114,000 voters came off the Florida rolls for lack of participation. Nearly 25 percent of the “lost” voters were in Hillsborough County – only one percent in Pinellas.

4. Our Rants and Raves focus group (comprised of four old, cranky people) are unanimous in their feeling that our country, like many others, should have a compulsory two-year national service commitment. Freedom isn’t free and think of what could be accomplished with such a program.

5. If you’ve lived in the bay area a long time and were an auto racing fan, you’ll want to attend the annual Golden Gate Speedway reunion on Sunday, October 22, at the site of the speedway on Fowler Avenue – now the Big Top Flea Market. Several drivers and cool old race cars from the speedway’s heyday will be there.

The diamond, the media and other stuff:

6. Earlier this year, we cataloged a number of great acts of the rock era who never made it to the top of the charts – some major omissions from those earlier lists – Bruce Springsteen (25 charted records), Wilson Pickett (38), Brook Benton (50) Nat Cole (60) and Fats Domino – who had 68 charted records!

7. This month marks the 61^st anniversary of Don Larsen’s perfect game against the Dodgers in the World Series. Larsen threw 276 innings for the Yankees that year. Nowadays, the players union and agents would be screaming bloody murder if a team worked a pitcher that many innings.

8. Our star prognosticator Achmed Walled (pronounced wall-ED) hasn’t been himself since his World Series pick Cleveland Indians got bounced by the Yankees. Still, he’s 3 for 4 in World Series predictions since the inception of TBRR. Those are Hall of Fame percentages.

9. Oh yes, the hockey season has begun. Wake us when it’s over.

10. Idle thought: do you think anyone will ever come up with one of those restroom hand blowers that actually dries your hands?

MLB managerial comings and goings

John Farrell is out in Boston – after winning the ultra-tough AL East two years in a row. The reasoning is lack of success in post season which is always a crap shoot. We’re anxious to see how well his successor does in Boston. The Bosox front office better get it right. Terry Collins was no surprise in New York or Brad Ausmus in Detroit although Ausmus will have a job next year if he wants one. Kicking Pete Mackanin upstairs makes no sense after extending him a few months ago – but then do any Phillies’ moves make that much sense? Could this time around be the well-deserving Dave Martinez’ time? It should be.

SNEAK PEEK AT NEXT WEEK: GRITS, LEWIS GRIZZARD & A SINGER NAMED LULU