The death of civility

We’ve never been huge Ted Cruz supporters but a recent story about the Texas senator struck a chord. During the insanity that was the Kavanaugh nomination, Cruz, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, took a much needed break for a date with his wife at their favorite dining spot. They were literally barred at the door by screaming morons opposed to Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination. The senator and his wife were finally admitted to the back door of the restaurant by the kitchen staff. Forget about the inconvenience to the senator and his wife, think of the restauranteur and the business lost because of a bunch of me first and only me trolls. R.I.P. civility.

Great Tampa Bay, politics and stuff

1. We’ve already advocated for Amendment Six (TBRR 10/14/18) but our words pale compared to the moving statements by Kelsey Grammer currently on our airwaves.

2. “I looked down from space and I saw no political divisions…” This from the guy who said he would vote against President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee before he even knew who it was. Keep it classy Senator Nelson.

3. Good news for diners. One of the restaurants featured in our year-long dining spotlights (TBRR 2017) is about to re-open. While an official date has not been set, Cheddars on Roosevelt Blvd. has been refurbished and is beginning to hire staff.

4. Idle thought: If companies like Verizon are going to push their customer service offshore (TBRR 10/14/18), at least don’t insult our intelligence by renaming your offshore worker with the heavy Indian accent “Susan” or “Paul”.

5. Breaking travel news from the 5:05 Newsletter: Hawaiian Airlines now holds the record for the longest nonstop flight. It travels from Boston to Hawaii. However, it is only a one-way flight since there is no demand for return flights.

Sports, the media and other stuff:

6. Joe Girardi’s Yanks come within one game of the World Series last year, and he gets fired. This year’s team with added firepower is out in the first round under Aaron Boone. If I own the Yanks, I’m not real happy with GM Brian Cashman’s managerial decisions.

7. Another victim of high tech, apps and so forth is that you cannot hear many of the post season baseball games on the radio in the Tampa Bay area. We have literally three dozen stations in the bay area, and one can’t carry the games?

8. And no, we were not pleased when we turned on our very expensive Spectrum cable to the message that “FSN1 is not currently available” at the beginning of Game 6 of the NL championship. How do you nicely say Spectrum s**cks?

9. Hall of Fame fullback Jim Taylor, a vital cog of the great Packer teams of the late 50s and early 60s, passed away last week at age 83.

10. We’re sure glad the Bucs got rid of that Matt Bryant guy.

Yet another post season umpiring gaffe

We all remember the Bartman incident that cost the Cubs a playoff series in 2003. Then there was the Rich Garcia non-call in 1996 on clear fan interference in the American League playoff that cost the Orioles a playoff series. In 2012, Sam Holbrook made his infamous “outfield fly rule” call that cost the Braves a wild card game with the Cards. Now because “Country Joe” West couldn’t waddle out to right field quick enough to see a ball that obviously went in the stands, the Astros get hosed out of two runs that would have made a difference in a crucial playoff game. We should also mention Angel Hernandez who had four of five challenged calls overturned in this year’s playoffs. The best teams in baseball deserve the best umpires calling playoff games – nothing less.

Up Next: What will be the next great comedy? Election stuff; moving vans

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