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

First thing on our mind:

We mourn the America’s first born Pope.

Leading off: Don’t blame the mayor

Like it or not, the microscope for the blame in the Ray’s mess seems to be focusing on Mayor Ken Welch. That is terribly wrong. Shakespeare had fewer villains than this baseball drama. To name just a few, there are the Rays’ ownership (our choice for number one) along with the dithering Pinellas County Commission and the not so bright St. Pete City Council. Oh, add Tampa for good measure. And, if you look back in time, the actors in the original drama of where to place this monstrous mistake played a large part. As we’ve said before, the machinations that went on during that escapade would make a Chicago politician blush. So lay off the mayor, he is but one tiny part of this gigantic mess.

Tampa Bay, politics and notes:

Grade: B Our assessment of President Trump’s first 100 Days. He did a great job in cleaning up Biden’s messes, but has been a little over the top on this tariff business.

Related: The Mellman Group reports that 72% of Jewish voters surveyed say they don’t approve of the job President Trump is doing. We are not of that faith, but are surprised by the results.

Also related – this week in 1933, Jewish students are barred from school in Germany.

10 million people will not be happy, the rest of us gratified, as the Trump administration begins collection activities against nearly 10 million student loan deadbeats – a problem swept under the rug during the Biden years.

Win one, lose one: former Pinellas US Rep. David Jolly, who served as a Republican, has announced he’s joining the Democratic Party. Meanwhile, Florida Senate Minority Leader Jason Pizzo quits the Democratic Party.

Tough times for the restaurant biz with nationally known names like Red Lobster, TGI Fridays and Tijuana Flats either filing for bankruptcy, closing several restaurants or both.

Tourism news from The 5:05 Newsletter: Foreign travel to the US is off 18% in 2025. That makes sense when you remember our #1 tourist attraction the last four years has been the Rio Grande.

Tourism idle observation: we seem to have the roads and restaurants to ourselves for a little while.

This week in 1931 (May 1), the 102-story Empire State Building opens in New York.

Sports, media and other notes:

Rich Cope, a major player in Pinellas County real estate for decades, died earlier this month. Rich, a CHS grad, was 82.

The Bucs grab Ohio State wide receiver Emeka Egbuka with their #19 pick in the NFL draft last week.

Regardless of the scores, it was a PGA win for Davis Love III returning to the tour after open-heart surgery in January.

Our friend TL tells us the Tampa Bay Rays are the third most stingy in percentage of revenues spent on payroll. The only worst franchises are the Chicago White Sox and Miami Marlins.

A recent game between the Twins and Braves featured 7 of the 18 starting hitters batting less than .200. This explains why the two teams were a combined 13-26 going into the game.

Topping the charts this week in 1975 was B.J. Thomas’s (Hey Won’t You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song – one of the longest titled #1 songs in recording history.

One last thing: MLB at the one month mark

After a little over a month in the American League, there are very few surprises. Our guesses of the Tigers and Rangers look like chalk. The Yankees have fought off some serious injuries to claim leadership in the East. The only surprise has been the slow start of the Orioles and they have the tough Tigers and Yanks on the immediate horizon. In the NL, the beast may not be in the East, but the West where three teams are playing over .600 ball and Arizona is not far behind. No surprise in the Central where the Brewers and Cubs are dueling it out. We want to believe in the Cubs, but…The biggest NL surprise was the Braves 0-7 start, but each week it seems, they are getting another star player back and they still might right the ship. So far, your MVPs are Aaron Judge and Pete Alonzo. Cy Young favorites at this time appear to be Max Fried and the Padres’ Nick Pivetta.

.UP NEXT: Mount Rushmore IV; Costco vs. Sam’s

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