A weekly look at the Tampa Bay area and national politics from a conservative viewpoint – plus a helping of sports and lifestyle items. Warning: not everything printed here should be taken at face value!

Just what are our nation’s values?

In a recent editorial, “Florida’s Best Newspaper” used a throwaway line about “a recommitment to the nation’s values. What are those values? We know for sure that this humble blog would disagree mightily with “FBN’s” definition of what this nation’s values should be. But let us give it a stab starting with the fact that all life is precious and should not be willfully taken. That politicians should emulate the days when LBJ and Nixon would reach across the aisle for the good of the country. That we work really hard to see that every kid has a Mom and a Dad to come home to and that those same kids, here and abroad, never go to bed hungry. A good start on some New Year’s Resolutions.

Great Tampa Bay, politics and stuff:

1. The CHS Class of ’64 lost one of its best the last week in December. Bob Crown who over the years quietly helped so many people in need through Isaiah’s Inn, died at age 72. Our condolences to the Crown family.

2. So many people, especially losing candidates, are pulling out their hair over some 7,000 ballots that went uncounted because they did not arrive on time. The solution is simple – don’t wait until the last minute to mail your ballot!

3. This week’s stupid scam: Got an email from “Amazon” saying our account was not secure and go to this site to make it secure. We’re not the fastest draw in the west but we’re guessing something addressed to “Dear Value Customer” may not actually be from one of the slickest corporations in America.

4. It’s going to be a real treat watching the logic of newly elected New York (where else?) U.S. Rep. Alexandra Ocasio Cortez who recently compared migrants from Central America to Jews fleeing the Hitler regime in World War II.

5. You’ve lived in Pinellas County a long time if you ever enjoyed a steak at Moock’s Tavern on 16th Street North in St. Pete.

Sports, the media and other stuff:

6. Idle thoughts during the Gators’ win in the Peach Bowl. To play on a bigger stage, they are going to need somebody better than Feleipe Franks at quarterback. And Michigan is number challenged with a starting QB, PK and DB all wearing #2. There are 93 available numbers – six have been retired; couldn’t they spread them out?

7. Seen on a T-Shirt recently: I sometimes wonder what happened to the people who have asked me for directions.

8. The Brewers last week signed infielder Cory Spangenberg – that’s a lot of letters to put on the back of a uniform or in a box score – but still three shy of record holder Jarrod Saltalamacchia who has suited up for seven teams since his 2007 MLB debut.

9. Seven thousand strikeouts – the increase in season strikeouts from the 2008 to the 2018 baseball season. Bring back Nellie Fox who struck out 216 times – over 19 seasons!

10. With pitchers and catchers just six weeks away, this sports oddity – Hank Aaron was once fined by Commissioner Ford Frick for reporting early to spring training. It’s hard to believe the guy (Frick, not Aaron) is in the Hall of Fame.

You can’t fire the owners – pity

Who will be the next Tampa Bay Bucs coach? The answer is – it doesn’t matter. Since the incredibly stupid firing of Jon Gruden, the Glazer family has burned through four coaches in ten years. There’s a trend here. It might seem that the coaches aren’t the problem. It’s an ownership making bad choices of head coaches, the drafting of a turnover machine as their franchise quarterback plus other unwise trades and draft picks (see Catanzaro, Chandler). The Jets, Browns (somewhat surprisingly), Broncos, Dolphins, Cardinals and Packers join the Bucs in a head coaching feeding frenzy.  A couple coaches who survived Black Monday, Carolina’s Ron Rivera and Pittsburgh’s Mike Tomlin probably got another year based on prior accomplishments, but both of them had better win in 2019.

Next Up: Getting it right; The Captain; Baseball Codes

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