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 noticed one of our Facebook friends lists 894 friends – not sure we know that many people.

Leading off: South’s best newspaper changes

For as long as we can remember, the South’s best newspaper and best radio station both resided in Atlanta. WSB radio was the gold standard for those of us in the broadcasting business and the Atlanta Journal Constitution (AJC) was the best that journalism had to offer. Years ago, WSB switched from general programming to all news - a momentous move at the time. Now, the AJC has announced it will print its last newspaper on December 31. Truthfully, it’s been years since we held a newspaper in our hands, but we do read the AJC on line daily preferring it to the drivel we are saddled with locally. But we know for Atlanta residents, it will be a jarring transition; many do not have internet connections. To quote Robert Zimmerman, “The Times, They Are A-Changin”.

Tampa Bay, politics and notes:

Crime continues to run rampant in blue states, the latest atrocity occurring in Minnesota.

With classes now underway, we wish a happy 60^th anniversary to the Clearwater Campus of St. Petersburg College which opened in 1965. Your humble blogger was one of the least distinguished members of that inaugural class.

So, does Dominion Voting Systems still make ballot counting machines or just rely on defamation suits against anybody and everybody for their revenue?

A breathless world learns that Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are engaged.

650 - restaurant chain Cracker Barrel changes their logo so that the old guy and the barrel are gone in favor of some block type. To say it hasn’t been received well would be a gentle way to put it.

We think our saintly wife will abide by the Cracker Barrel change as long as they don’t mess with her favorite chicken and dumplings with a side of southern-style green beans.

Factoid: Volvo was the first automaker to offer seat belts as standard equipment way back in 1959.

Historical tidbit from the 5:05 Newsletter: Willie Nelson said when he was a kid his parents took him on tours of Civil War battlefields. That is even more remarkable when you consider that when Willie was a kid the battles were still raging.

This week in 1963 (Sept. 2) The CBS Evening News expands from 15 to 30 minutes hosted by Walter Cronkite.

Sports, media and other notes:

Idle thought: what all we missed in our childhood by playing Strat-O-Matic baseball instead of Grand Theft Auto.

The man who guided the famous Secretariat to the triple crown in 1973, Ron Turcotte, died last week at age 84.

It has been suggested that our esteemed blog contain a few more so-called “Dad” jokes. With that in mind, I saw a snake that was 3.14 meters long…  I think it was a πthon.  

While you groan, a reminder that next week, our Focus Group creates their individual Mount Rushmore of television shows. This week we hail two shows, we found very entertaining although they did not last - Kathy Bates’ Harry’s Law (2011 two seasons) and Harold Gould and Stephanie Powers’ Feather and Father Gang (1976 one season).

Great start for the USF Bulls. Hope they can sustain it. 

A recent article by veteran sportswriter Jayson Stark led us to this best guess of four active hitters who are sure things for the Hall of Fame. In alphabetical order, they are Freddie Freeman, Bryce Harper, Aaron Judge and Manny Machado. Next week: four active pitchers on the express lane to Cooperstown.

Speaking of hitters, as we “go to press” there are only eight hitters in the major leagues hitting over .300. Two of the hitters listed above, Freeman and Judge, are among the eight.

Biggest at the box office this week forty years ago (1985) was Back to the Future. Ten years later (1995), the top grossing film was another futuristic film Waterworld.

You’ve lived in Florida a long time if you ever took in a stage show at Miami’s Fontainebleau, Deauville or Eden Roc on Collins Avenue.

One last thing: MLB down the stretch

It’s been ten years since a small market MLB team (KC Royals) won the World Series. The Brewers have a great shot this year. All of the NL teams are showing cracks, but Pat Murphy’s bunch the fewest. The Phils and Mets in the East are both falling over themselves. Houston may be Milwaukee’s greatest threat from the AL, although this past weekend’s Brewers – Blue Jays series could well be a World Series preview. The Rookie of the Year races are pretty much in focus. With the injury to his shortstop teammate, Jacob Wilson, the Athletics’ first baseman Nick Kurtz looks like a shoo-in. The same can be said in the NL with slick fielding (and hitting) Braves catcher Drake Baldwin distancing himself from the field. The MVP and Cy Young Awards will pretty much depend on performances down the stretch. We had Zack Wheeler in the NL Cy Young contest until his devastating injury. Next month – our postseason predictions.

UP NEXT: Top TV shows; Jim Quinlan; Population 15,581

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