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:

3 and 4-way stop intersections make you question whether there is any intelligent life on this planet.

Leading off: Exciting sports news

Major league baseball has announced its backing of the Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL), a four team women’s touring softball league. In their initial season, which begins this week, the teams will play a 24-game schedule culminating in a best of three championship at the end of the season. The league’s commissioner is the well-regarded Kim Ng, the former general manager of the Miami Marlins. Unfortunately, none of the initial season games will find their way to Florida, a hot bed of softball dating back over 75 years to the incomparable Clearwater Bombers and Lady Bombers. But it’s a great step forward for women’s sports and softball.

Tampa Bay, politics and notes:

We fervently hope the departure of Elon Musk from the Trump administration will not lessen the efforts to throttle back on wasteful government spending.

Sobering news from the 5:05 Newsletter as the hurricane season begins this week: Due to staff cuts, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced that, beginning this summer, hurricane warnings will be issued on weekdays only.

Related: we didn’t think we would ever use the 5:05 Newsletter and any derivation of the word sober in the same sentence.

Number of the week: $1.25 billion. That’s the estimated value of the Rays in Forbes’ annual valuation of the 30 major league teams. Only the Marlins at $1.0 billion are valued lower. Top dollar? That’s the Steinbrenner owned Yanks at $8.2 billion.

Discover Card, launched 40 years ago by Sears, has been acquired by Capital One. So it too is now in your wallet.

Badcock Furniture’s now empty stores are beginning to be repurposed. In St. Pete, the city’s free clinic will move in later this year. Another store on US 19 north of Pinellas has been taken over by another furniture operation. In Largo, that store sits empty right next door to a recently shut down Denny’s which could lead to an even more significant redevelopment.

This week in 1942 (6/4): The Battle of Midway, perhaps the greatest US naval victory ever, begins in World War II.

Sports, media and other notes:

We say a bittersweet goodbye to “Hot Lips” Houlihan. Loretta Swit, the Emmy Award winning actress who portrayed the iconic M*A*S*H character, died last week at age 87. She was a part of the series from beginning to end.

The Rays option Chandler Simpson to their AAA affiliate. It’s hard to imagine that the team cannot find a place for such a dynamic player. He has hit .285 with 19 steals since his mid-April call up. No other player in baseball had more steals during that period.

This week (6/1) marks the 18th anniversary of the Mississippi Braves’ manager Phil Wellman’s classic tirade after being ejected from a AA game. If you’ve never seen it, check it out, it’s legendary!

Remember back in 1979 when ESPN came to your cable system? Fourteen years later came ESPN2 or “the Deuce.” Later, it was ESPN+ and now something called ESPN Unlimited, with a mere $300/year fee.

Number of the week: 900 – That’s the number of new restaurants McDonald’s plans to add over the next two years along with and over 300,000 new employees.

Kitty update: after three weeks in her new home, our adopted Celene is doing great. Thanks to so many of you who reached out with good wishes after our being an “empty nest” for the first time in our married life.

“Borrowed” from Facebook friend Ken Nelson: You’ve lived in Florida too long if you can pronounce Okeechobee, Apalachicola, and Thonotosassa without thinking twice.

One last thing: Mount Rushmore V

Best annual sports events? This should be easy, especially when you eliminate the Olympics which are not held every year like other big sporting events. There is one event that is head and shoulders above all else and that is The Super Bowl if for no other reason that the Monday following is always the workday of the year with the most no-shows. The oldest of America’s great sports events is the Kentucky Derby dating back 151 years. Not quite as old is the just completed, 114-year-old Indianapolis 500. You can’t forget America’s pastime, the World Series which dates back to 1903. And if we can squeeze five events on this Mount Rushmore, we pick golf’s premier event, dating back some 91 years, The Masters. Next month, our Focus Group compiles their summer music playlist.

NEXT UP: BBT overload; Some great vets; Stop wasting our money.

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