TOP OF THE WEEK:
 
To the surprise of many, Republican David Jolly defeated two political opponents; a cable news channel and a newspaper to capture the 13th Congressional District that covers the majority of Pinellas County. As a long time Bill Young aide, Jolly will hit the ground running in Washington. Alas, due to timing, the Dunedin native will also have to crank up a re-election effort right away. It will be interesting to see how the Democratic Party will respond during the regular election. Perhaps this time they could import someone from Miami or Jacksonville.
 
THIS WEEK’S TEN:
 
1. With the Clearwater municipal election over, one would only hope that former commissioner/council member John Doran would run again next time around. The body is not the same without his presence.
 
2. March Madness – one of the most fascinating aspects of this year’s NCAA tournament is to see if Wichita State can run the table. More than a few expert observers believe they can. (None of those, however, received their higher education in Gainesville, Florida).
 
3. Our Rants and Raves focus group (which consists of three old, cranky people) declares the two most over-rated coffees to be Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts in that order. All three samplers are akin to Frasier’s dad from the sitcom (John Mahoney) – they just like plain old Joe. (Margin of error: 50 percent or so).
 
4. Not sure (and don’t care) what the TV critics are saying about the current television season but there have been a few pleasant surprises particularly in the area of sitcoms. Topping the list is a show that was a well-kept secret at the first of the season – Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
 
5. It’s been a couple months now and we didn’t realize just how much we would miss Robyn Blumner in the St. Pete Times (see disclaimer above about all things here being taken at face value).
 
6. Springtime – a time for “Skater Dude” sightings. The Dude, for short, named by your Humble Blogger’s sister (the brighter child in the family) many years ago can often be sighted at the foot of the eastbound bridge from Clearwater Beach. He’s been doing his magic on skates for more than a decade in these parts and is awesome to watch!
 
7. For a good time, oh pardon us, for a good laugh, Google Miss Lube Rack 1955. If only she had stayed with the cheesecake.
 
8. So now, the city of Clearwater wants to push the restart button with Scientology. Pardon us, but haven’t we seen that movie before? And was the ending ever different?
 
9. What could have been a very divisive situation in NASCAR concerning the use of the legendary Dale Earnhardt’s #3 was handled with class by the Richard Childress organization. For those of you not as old as dirt, the man who drove the #3 car right before Earnhardt was Richard Childress himself. If NASCAR is not going to retire numbers like 3 and 43, they should remain in the hands of the Childress and Petty families.
 
10. Hasn’t been a stellar year for regional law enforcement agencies. Lakeland police chief – out. Plant City police chief given the boot. Add to that a local sheriff who fancies himself a TV personality and another who calls to mind Barney Fife (but not as much as his predecessor). This group doesn’t exactly remind you of the Untouchables.
 
 
IN CLOSING:

Fox has hit a home run pairing up John Smoltz and Matt Vasgersian as their #2 baseball team behind Joe Buck and his two new colleagues. It could be argued that Number 2 might be better than Number 1. Smoltz has learned his craft well since leaving the mound and Vasgersian probably knows more baseball than any broadcaster this side of Vin Scully. Matt just doesn't have as famous a last name as Buck. Tim McCarver was polarizing - you either hated him or loved him. But the fact remains the guy knew the game inside and out. His loss will be obvious. Tom Verducci is a good studio man - not sure how he'll fare in the booth. And Harold Reynolds has lost a step since leaving ESPN.