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: The banking scramble

Leading bank analysts are telling us the failures of the Silicon Valley Bank in California and Signature in New York do not mark a return to the bad old days of the Obama administration when literally dozens of banks were failing each year – 51 in 2012 alone. The Trump administration’s initiatives stopped the bleeding with just eight bank failures in the last three years of his term. And these are only the first pair in the two years of Biden’s reign. The experts say it won’t be the last, but it won’t be the mess that it was during the Obama years, as both bank failures were rather unique situations as compared to your corner bank. But not all is rosy in the mainstream banking industry and banks here and elsewhere going to great lengths to lure new customers. Locally, both Wells Fargo and Chase are offering handsome bonuses to those willing to move their checking accounts from other banks who are sitting on their hands thinking long term customers will put up with being ignored – or worse.

Tampa Bay, politics and stuff:

We think we need to say this at least once a year so you know where we’re coming from: Get off my lawn!

Andrew Gillum, the former Mayor of Tallahassee and gubernatorial candidate, goes on trial next month on charges of lying to the FBI and wire fraud. No word yet on whether he will be endorsed by the Tampa Bay Times.

Political questions: Can Trump get the GOP nomination? Can Biden win the Democratic nod? If so, who prevails? All the answers are pretty scary.

Biden wants to put a tax on the “rich” ($400,000 or more annual income) to “strengthen Medicare.” If only, we believed that money will end up in the Medicare coffers.

Military news from the 5:05 Newsletter: German tanks arrived in Ukraine last week to fight the Russians. To get there, they went through Poland just for old times’ sake.

Idle thought: soon we will witness the demise of the paper statement. Already, many companies charge for the document – often in the form of “a discount” if you choose not to get a statement – bad news for us old timers who like a piece of paper to study. Good news for companies who would rather we not.

This week in 1975 (March 22) Walt Disney World Shopping Village, now known as Disney Springs, opens.

Sports, media and other stuff:

As we’re into March Madness, it’s hard to believe we’ve been without the charismatic Jim Valvano for thirty years.

It is never easy to follow a coaching legend – just ask Phil Bengtson who followed Vince Lombardi at Green Bay. But Jon Scheyer is off to a good start at Duke winning the ACC basketball tournament from the four seed.

If we were a Mets fan, we’d be awfully worried about our starting rotation whose average age is just under 36 years of age. And this week, their bullpen lost the best reliever in baseball.

By the way, our bold 2023 baseball predictions are coming next week.

Related to our concluding piece, you’ve lived in Clearwater a long time if two of your favorite food places were Pete’s Pizza on North Fort Harrison Avenue and the Philly Hoagie Shop across from Cleveland Plaza.

…and another thing: Focus Group and food

This time around, we asked our esteemed Focus Group to focus on food – specifically “If we were limited to just three foods (excluding beverages) and health issues were not a factor, what would you choose?

Our leadoff hitter opted for medium rare prime rib, chef salad and Italian subs – not just any subs, but the ones crafted in Publix’ deli.

Like our leadoff hitter, our second responder was also quite specific with a hamburger, not just any hamburger but one from Five Guys, in addition to chewy chocolate chip cookies and fried shrimp.

Batting number three, one of our charter members went for three all-American favorites – pizza, salad, followed, of course, by ice cream, again not just any ice cream, but Blue Bell’s Great Divide.

Our northern-most group member thinks the question was too easy firing back his answer of pizza, cheeseburgers and peanut butter cups.

Our newest Focus Group member would exist on sandwiches, pie and, reflecting her youth, sushi. There are no wrong answers, we guess.

One of our long time members comes incredibly close to our leadoff hitter’s response with prime rib, the Columbia’s 1905 salad and Publix Key Lime pie.

Finally, another long time group member goes with some basics – chicken, potatoes and raspberries. And perhaps some wine and vodka to spice things up!

NEXT UP: Dave Cowens; “Watch me;” Play Ball!

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