Tampa Bay Rants and Raves is a weekly airing of national and local politics, sports, lifestyles and nostalgia items from a very politically incorrect viewpoint. As always, beware - some of what is printed here should not be taken literally.

Leading off: time for a clean slate

Thanksgiving is behind us, Christmas is just around the corner and then New Years and resolutions. America’s two major political parties should have an overriding resolution – fresh, competent faces for the top of the 2024 ballot. Republicans, on the whole, are fed up with the unparalleled ego of Donald Trump while Democrats blush every time Joe Biden opens his mouth. Neither of these men is qualified to lead our nation into the mid-decade. The Republicans have the advantage with Florida’s superstar Ron DeSantis plus others. The Democratic bench is quite a bit thinner. The key is going to be convincing Biden and Trump that their time has passed. That probably won’t be easy, but it certainly will be the best for our nation.

Tampa Bay, politics and stuff:

Pinellas County suffered a loss earlier this month with the passing of community activist Sallie Parks. Sallie served as a Pinellas County Commissioner and was very active in the arts community and one of the early stalwarts of Leadership Pinellas.

We tip our cap to Maurice Upton of Dunedin who risked his life in a vain attempt to rescue his 82-year-old neighbor in an apartment fire last week.

And we know he doesn’t want us to say it, but Mom and I are proud as can be of our son who saved a young boy from drowning last week when he slipped between a dock and his parent’s boat at a Madeira Beach marina - proud of you, son.

A 19-year-old high on marijuana kills two people in a Palm Harbor crash, yet we keep hearing calls to legalize the drug.

Sure, they will continue to bash him, but Donald Trump’s jumping into the 2024 race will take CNN, MSNBC, ABC and CBS off their respirators – not to mention the struggling Tampa Bay Times.

From the Wall Street Journal on Biden’s attempt to pardon student loans: "the largest presidential abuse of power in decades."

Number of the Week:92 years ago (1930) – the last time either party had such a narrow margin in the U.S. House.

With real estate prices being what they are, this conversation is not out of line: Prospective Buyer, “What can I find in the ¾ million range?” Realtor: “You’re living in it.”

Breaking economic news from the 5:05 Newsletter: Crypto Exchange company FTX filed for bankruptcy causing a panic in the digital currency world. Investors are said to be moving any money they have left into safer, more reliable Powerball tickets.

This week in 1922 (November 28) Captain Cyril Turner (RAF) gives the first skywriting exhibition in New York City. Turner spelled out, "Hello USA Call Vanderbilt 7200." 47,000 called.

Sports, media and other stuff:

A Rave to the nation’s cartoonists for their tributes to “Sparky” Shultz on the date of his 100^th birthday.

It’s the holiday season, shopping, decorating and what rest time she finds, our Saintly Wife is glued to the Hallmark Channel.

They didn’t ask us, but of the eight candidates in the contemporary MLB Hall of Fame balloting, four should make it – Don Mattingly, Fred McGriff, Dale Murphy and Curt Shilling. The announcement is next Sunday (12/4).

Sports oddity: the biggest, baddest free agent of the 2022 offseason, Aaron Judge was the 30th pick in the 2013 MLB draft. The first pick, Mark Appel, finally made it to the bigs this year. The pick right in front of Judge, Jason Hursh, made a total of 11 appearances in the majors for the Braves.

South Carolina and Vandy each fined six figures after their fans went on the field after signature victories. What the NCAA needs is a picture of Larry David in each stadium with the words Curb Your Enthusiasm.

We’ve always kind of liked Lane Kiffin, so we hope the rumors of his entering the gates of Hell at Auburn are untrue. (Late update – he signed an extension with Ole Miss).

Not satisfied with trying to water down the NCAA basketball playoffs (68 teams now qualify), there is now a move to expand the college football championship to 12 teams by 2025 with the season ending, we presume, in the middle of spring training.

Factoid: Every odd number has an e in its spelling.

You’ve lived in the bay area a long time if you’ve seen houses torn down that you watched being built in your younger years.

…and another thing: new rules, new value

Baseball’s general managers met in Vegas a couple of weeks ago and one of the topics was how they will re-evaluate players based on new rules regarding defensive shifts, base size and pitcher’s clocks. For example with more ground to cover, Gold Glove free agent Dansby Swanson is going to become even more valuable; guys with speed will have a bigger impact with the bigger bases and limits on pick-off attempts. The pitch clock will affect guys like Shohei Ohtani, who takes a lifetime between pitches and the Met’s Mark Canha who could have time for cocktails before stepping back in the batter’s box. These slow pokes will be charged a ball (for pitchers) and a strike (for hitters) if they don’t speed up their games. It should be an interesting (and quicker) season.

NEXT UP: Dark theaters; Great toys; USF football?

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