TOP OF THE WEEK –

Very good hire – that seems to be the consensus among the Gator Nation and sports observers in general on the Gator – Jim McElwain marriage. A little inexperienced – yes, but you most likely won’t find this guy available three years from now. He will have to grow into the job, but more than one analyst believes he will. Granted, Colorado State is not LSU and the Mountain West is not the SEC. But another guy came to Florida from that conference and did pretty well – gent by the name of Urban Meyer. Hey, Gators, you could be Nebraska who just fired a nine win coach so they could hire a guy who won five this year. We predict two years from now, Gator fans will be a lot happier than the Cornhusker faithful.

Around the Bay –

1. There’s a progression of bad things happening at PSTA – federal money being returned; the email fiascos and now apparent sabotage. They all add up to a hot mess and the blindingly obvious conclusion that changes need to be made at the agency.

2. The Seminole City Council is wise beyond their years. They were one of the few Pinellas governmental bodies to see through the smoke and mirrors that was Greenlight Pinellas. More recently, they are balking at a developer’s attempted shake down of several million tax dollars so said developer can build a new Seminole Mall complete with dozens if not hundreds of minimum wage jobs. That is not economic development.

3. Just a little to the north, expect good things from Woody Brown, the new Mayor of Largo. Brown is a bright, energetic guy and should do the office proud. But then over the past several years, the bar in that position has not been set too high.

4. Medical pot on the 2016 ballot? Perhaps its backers feel that they stand a better shot in a presidential year. But many folks have grown weary of the issue and then there’s the opposition from both the law enforcement and medical communities. Also, that problem with putting something in the Florida constitution that has no business being there.

5. You’ve really lived in Clearwater quite a while if you remember the Gay Way Skating Rink on South Missouri Avenue – a couple blocks south of another gone but not forgotten icon – Sunshine Mall.

The Diamond, the Media and Other Stuff –

6. Managers in waiting tend to be high level minor league managers, third base coaches or bench coaches. Anyone of those three positions in the Rays organization would have made an excellent manager as the Rays move forward. Bullpen coaches like newly appointed manager Kevin Cash tend to be old teammates of the manager who needed a job. It could be argued that Cash was the best of the three finalists – but that’s like saying he beat out Curley and Mo.

7. The departure of highly respected, eight year veteran coach Neil Allen from the Rays minor league system is a harbinger of things to come brought on by the shabby way long-term employees Dave Martinez and, to a lesser degree, Charlie Montoyo were treated. Loyalty, the Rays must learn, is a two-way street.

8. Gary Shelton’s final column on his years writing about sports and its characters got us thinking about our three favorite Tampa Bay sports personalities over the years – for us all three of them coaches. They are Seth Greenberg, Jon Gruden and John McKay. And yours?

9. Factoid: The 1979 TV series Benson, a spin-off from Soap, had a cast member who was dumped after just four appearances. This apparent failure was a young comedian named Seinfeld. We hear he went on to bigger things.

10. Our crack sports prognosticator Achmed Walled (pronounced wall-ED) says despite their undefeated season, if FSU plays anyone tougher than Dry Gulch A&M, they will be one and done in the college football playoffs.

IN CLOSING:

It was enlightening, while horrifying, watching the coverage of Ferguson, Missouri after the grand jury decision was handed down. MSNBC spent all night spouting rhetoric while ignoring the lawlessness on the streets. Fox focused solely on the lawlessness while ignoring the judicial and social ramifications. And CNN cut a nice down the middle approach – clearly the winner of the troubled evening.