TOP OF THE WEEK:

“Florida’s Best Newspaper”, the Times, is usually about as subtle as a rattlesnake. This makes it all the more interesting trying to divine their motive for the hatchet job they did on Charlie Crist a couple Sundays ago. Were they trying to get ultra-liberal Nan Rich the Democratic nomination? No newspaper has that much juice. Seeking to advance the candidacy of Rick Scott? Surely you jest – the Times has a blind hatred of the man. The piece was something you would think they would publish about Scott - not his for sure challenger. Something’s up. Stay tuned.

Around the Bay –

1. State Rep. and County Commission hopeful Ed Hooper has the right idea regarding Greenlight Pinellas. Instead of passing a regressive sales tax that hits low income people the hardest, use Penny for Pinellas dollars for any expansion of our mass transit system.

2. The PSTA has done themselves no favors with their back and forth on records request issues – or their shucking and jiving on the issue of spending Homeland Security dollars to promote the ill-conceived Greenlight issue. Would you buy a used bus from these people?

3. We understand Circuit Judge Daniel B. Merritt’s frustration with folks who don’t show up for jury duty. But the judge went beyond the pale with his showboating with the American flag. While we’re on the subject, why do some folks get called every 18 months to two years and others never? We suggest a very complex system like starting at the beginning of the alphabet and running through “Z”. It can’t be that tough to more equitably distribute the duties.

4. Quote of the Week: from Pinellas Sheriff Bob Gualtieri after the third inmate suicide at the country jail in four months, “(it) doesn’t mean…that we’re doing anything wrong”. Double talk sheriff - you have a dirty house and you need to clean it up.

5. Add former Governor Jeb Bush to the growing ranks of leaders from government, the medical profession and law enforcement who have turned thumbs down on the medical pot initiative in Florida.

The Diamond, the Media and Other Stuff –

6. Recent newspaper piece on certain celebrities and not so celebrities on their Top 10 records of all time got us thinking – thinking California Girls by the Beach Boys; Elton John’s Crocodile Rock and Spanky and Our Gang’s I’d Like to Get to Know You. And your three all-time favorite 45s are?

7. Speaking of good old time rock and roll, you long time bay area residents complete the following radio jingle without looking below. “WLCY One ______ (shortened version of their frequency).

8. It’s amusing how dismissive so many people are of Buck Showalter. The latest is Fangraphs which says the Orioles success is an anomaly. Unless we read the standings wrong, the Orioles are 19 games above .500 despite no Dodger or Oakland-like pitching staff or Angel-like lineup. They just play solid fundamental ball under a manager who has won everywhere he’s managed. Maybe he wouldn’t win where so many baseball analysts live – a fantasy world.

9. The anybody but Bud crowd have their man in new MLB Commissioner-elect Rob Manfred. Some detractors say he is a clone of Selig. Perhaps, but he is not a former club owner like Bud Lite. There is no question that the Brewers (Selig’s former team) got a few breaks during his tenure – most notably being selected to move from the AL to the always larger drawing NL. This year alone, the NL has outdrawn the AL by five million people with about 30 games remaining.

10. Oh, new commissioner Rob – about that All-Star game and DH. Fix it!

IN CLOSING:

Usually when either Tony Kornheiser or Michael Wilbon are absent from Pardon the Interruption, the chemistry of America’s best sports talk show gets all messed up. But ESPN may have stumbled on something recently when both hosts were gone and Dan LeBatard and Jason Whitlock filled in admirably. Individually, they’ve been no great shakes on the show but together they blended perfectly and you hardly missed Tony and Michael.

(Answer to number 7 above, it was “WLCY One thirty eight” – shortened version of this classic radio station’s 1380 frequency – now occupied by Radio Disney. Oh, the Humanity!

POST SCRIPT:

Don’t forget to vote Tuesday!

TOP OF THE WEEK:

The recent promotion of Major Dan Slaughter to replace Tony Holloway as Clearwater police chief generally seems like a good move. It didn’t come with the hoopla that Holloway’s hiring brought to the city but that’s okay. Slaughter’s hiring did raise a point that has been debated over the years in Clearwater and elsewhere – his residency. Slaughter lives in Trinity – a good 35 miles from Clearwater. Many folks in Clearwater think that high ranking officials like the city manager and the city attorney, to name a couple, should live in the city – and they do. They also ask, “Shouldn’t the police chief also have some skin in the game - or at least live in the same county as the city he or she serves”? We vote yes.

Around the Bay –

1. Incredible failure last weekend by Verizon that left hundreds of 911 callers with busy signals. In this age of back-ups and double back-ups, this is inexcusable.

2. While on the subject of Verizon, something not nearly as important but every bit as frustrating – why can’t they standardize calls from Pinellas to Hillsborough? Some you must dial 1, others – no. Are callers supposed to guess which is which?

3. If we’re spending hundreds of millions of dollars on the U.S. 19 overpasses, why do you still wait two or three minutes for the light to cycle at Ulmerton and 19?

4. With just over a week to go before the seven-person Republican primary to fill County Commissioner Susan Latvala’s seat, it looks like Dunedin Mayor Dave Eggers is the leader heading into the stretch.

5. In reference to our Top of the Week concerning the new police chief, you’ve lived in Clearwater a long time if you remember when the chief’s name was Willis Booth – and the fire chief Peter Treola.

The Diamond, the Media and Other Stuff –

6. Which is the bigger lie –“I’ll respect you in the morning”, or “Please hold, your call is important to us?” Our Rants and Raves focus group (comprised of three old, cranky people) says the latter by a landslide. Margin of error – 50 per cent or so.

7. In the 21^st century, if ever there was a model for planned obsolescence, it’s Apple with a new device coming out what – every 90 days? And even if you like the older technology, it usually breaks within a year. And you thought it was a great idea to get a law or medical degree!

8. Think of things that were here a quarter century ago and now gone forever (i.e. the Pontiac and VHS). Think ahead twenty five years about things that now exist and will be gone then. Two candidates – AM radio and the daily newspaper.

9. Observation from a recent visit to the Florida Keys – spectacular landscape, interesting things to do but boy they sure could use some restaurants on the caliber of what we have here in Pinellas County.

10. Our crack sports analyst Achmed Walled (pronounced wall-ED) forecasts a 7-9 season for our local professional football squad.

IN CLOSING:

With full credit to the 1970’s rock band Orleans:

You're still the one

That makes me laugh

Still the one

That's my better half

We're still having fun

And you're still the one

You're still the one

That makes me strong

Still the one

I want to take along

We're still having fun

And you're still the one (yes you are)

Happy 45^th anniversary TC!

TOP OF THE WEEK:

The broadcasting industry in general and the Atlanta Braves nation in particular suffered a huge loss last week with the passing of Pete Van Wieren, the mild mannered “professor” of the great Ernie Johnson, Skip Caray and Van Wieren broadcast team that formed in the seventies. All three are in the Braves Hall of Fame. All three should be in Cooperstown as we alluded to a few weeks back on this blog. Your HB (Humble Blogger) and his family were privileged to meet Pete at a social function in Atlanta about ten years ago. He treated us like old friends – commenting on the then new ball park in Clearwater and expressing bewilderment that his Braves were still the team of choice of our family despite the emergence of the Rays. Pete and his colleagues were the overriding factor in our family remaining Braves fans to this day. Baseball heaven now has one of its finest broadcast teams back intact.

Around the Bay –

1. If you really like to play longshots, put some money on one of the three Democrats who will contest the District 67 house seat now held by Ed Hooper who is termed out. The winner of this month’s primary will most likely go against Republican Chris Latvala, son of well-connected state senator Jack Latvala.

2. As was suggested by this blog a few months ago, the best replacement for departed County Administrator Bob LaSala is the guy sitting in the office right now – Mark Woodard. Still, it’s a shame that Florida’s Sunshine Law prevents a lot of good candidates from applying for this and other jobs. The Sunshine Law is good – to a point. Two areas that ought to be exempt (and are in many other states) are top level job applicants and real estate transactions where government’s negotiating power is severely hampered by the Sunshine Law.

3. So what’s the big deal about cabbies here in Florida wearing shorts? Some hotel maven thinks it’s unprofessional. What’s he want - tux and tails? It’s ninety some degrees every day in Florida this time of year. Maybe the cabbies could take a lesson from the Jolly Trolley operators who look appropriately tropical in their garb which includes shorts.

4. Further to the item above. In just what large city are these pristine cabs said hotel guy speaks of? None we’ve ever visited.

5. With the general election for our Circuit Court judges and school board just a few weeks away, take a moment to chat with attorneys and educators you respect to find out about those races where you might not be familiar with the candidates.

The Diamond, the Media and Other Stuff –

6. Remember when ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball was “must see” TV? Not so much since the network unwisely jettisoned Jon Miller – one of the best broadcast guys in the game. Now we get desperation moves like last week’s planting of the broadcasters on Fenway’s green monster. Just give us solid broadcasters like Jon Miller – not gimmicks.

7. Speaking of ESPN, their bad seed, Stephen A. Smith, has put his foot in his mouth again and has been suspended. When is the network just going to dump that guy who brings nothing to the table but a loud mouth?

8. Just a guess but it appears the major tennis federations are quietly tightening the screws on juicers in that sport – both male and female.

9. Do corporations not learn from history? Coca Cola, those fine folks who gave you “new Coke” some thirty years ago, recently changed the formulation of its Vitaminwater with a sweetener that leaves a metallic aftertaste. What could possibly go wrong? It took about two months of outrage from customers to return to the old formula.

10. Just think, perhaps we could have “new Twinkies”, “new Hershey Bar” or, God forbid, “new Girl Scout Thin Mints”. Some things, while not all that good for us, are best left alone.

IN CLOSING:

My, that’s quite a hornet’s nest Pasco education chief Curt Browning stirred up over dropping the valedictorian and salutatorian honors at county high schools. The Latin descriptions colleges use seem to work pretty well. The one on your HB’s (humble blogger’s) diploma was a rather lengthy Latin phrase which roughly translated into “We need the space, so we’re giving him this piece of paper.”

One of the best things to happen to Pinellas County in the last couple decades was when a retired Clearwater firefighter decided he wanted to seek a city commission seat. His name was Ed Hooper. Many viewed Hooper warily assuming he would be a voice for the firefighters union and little else. If that was what they expected, they were disappointed. Hooper was a mild-mannered voice of reason on a city commission that turned Clearwater around from what were some very dark days. He then set his sights on Tallahassee where he has been a strong, but not loud, voice for public safety, human rights and, appropriately so, his home district. Now termed out by Florida’s archaic legislative rules, he could easily retire but instead will seek a seat on the County Commission. This is good news for our county where he would again fill a seat where the occupant has lost his way. Pinellas County needs more Ed Hoopers.

Around the Bay –

1. So why don’t we just have the CEOs of the major power companies in Florida comprise the Public Service Commission? The outcomes for the public couldn’t be any worse. The PSC is broken and needs to be put out of its misery.

2. What a mess we have in the congressional districts in Florida. There is no good solution but in all due respect to Circuit Court Judge Terry Lewis, the most pragmatic is to hold the elections as scheduled in ’14 and then get it right in time for 2016. The redrawing ordered by Judge Lewis promises to be a mess which will be challenged in the courts.

3. Item: Last week Audi experimented with a driverless car on the Lee Roy Selmon. Actually, if you remember, Audi experimented with driverless cars back in the 80’s when their 4000 and 5000 series cars would suddenly go into reverse without warning – or any assistance from a driver.

4. Governor wannabe Charlie Crist’s latest commercial shows him strolling down the halls of his alma mater, St. Pete High. Got us to wondering who has had the nobler career Crist or a career educator who graduated from St. Pete High about the same time - easy call. Oh, by the way, Crist’s use of the school for a commercial violated county guidelines for such commercialization.

5. Speaking of Charlie, his current employer, John Morgan, also has a new commercial recalling the days when there were no cell phones or internet. There were also no John Morgan commercials then – a better time.

The Diamond, the Media and Other Stuff –

6. Wow, next year’s Hall of Fame ballot contains an impressive front end of a rotation – Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez and John Smoltz. Hard to see any of those three not being first ballot. Only hitter of consequence up for the first time is Gary Sheffield. His dismal post season performances might doom his candidacy.

7. Time for us to take our mid-season mulligans. Picked the Cards and Yanks to be the last two teams standing – before Molina’s injury and the decimation of the Yank’s rotation. Have to go with the A’s and the Giants to reprise their ’88 World Series – hopefully sans earthquake this time.

8. SiriusXM has stubbed their toe again. A few months ago, they pulled all the DJs off the popular 50’s on 5 channel turning it into a boring jukebox. Now, they have shanghaied one of only three classical channels they offered (XM Pops) and made it an on line only channel. And they wonder why they are losing listenership to Pandora and other such services.

9. It’s probably a 50-50 proposition if Clearwater spring training attendees will see Ryan Howard manning first base for the Phils next spring.

10. Quote of the week: “You lose James Shields. You lose Carl Crawford. You lose B.J. Upton. A lot of good guys.” – Rays Manager Joe Maddon. Don’t know about Shields and Crawford, but if the Rays want Upton back, the Atlanta Braves will have the MLB strikeout leader on the first plane south.

IN CLOSING:

It’s only fair since we lead off with a short profile on one of the Pinellas County’s outstanding politicians that we conclude with a similar piece on one of Hillsborough’s. There are some politicians who defy the stereotype of egotistic, pandering and sometimes crooked idiots. One who certainly breaks that mold is County Commissioner Al Higginbotham of Hillsborough County. Al was quietly a very powerful force in bringing Bollywood to Tampa and Hillsborough County. He has been a measured voice on the Hillsborough County Commission for years. Florida could use another couple hundred just like him.

TOP OF THE WEEK:

Through a circuitous (to be charitable) process, St. Pete Mayor Rick Kriseman reached out to the largest community to his north to snare his new police chief – Clearwater’s Tony Holloway. After a $15,000 half-year search failed to please the city’s big spending mayor, he dumped all four finalists and went to Holloway who agreed to take on what could be a thankless job. Holloway took an already good police department in Clearwater, crafted by Sid Klein, and made a few needed improvements. His tenure was not without hiccups – mainly to due to some loose supervision on lower levels and the few rogue cops that every department of any size is saddled with. Clearwater says initially it will look internally. There is an opportunity for City Manager Bill Horne to again break new ground as he did hiring Holloway as the city’s first minority chief. One of the top candidates is deputy chief Sandra Wilson who could join a growing number of female top cops in the region.

Around the Bay –

1. Quote of the week: “I am the vessel” – perennial candidate for some office, Charlie Crist. Thanks for teeing it up Charlie. What vessel – the Titanic? The Costa Concordia? Or more appropriately one of the Q Ships of World War II which would run up whatever flag was appropriate during times of hostilities.

2. With all the changes at the Clearwater Municipal Marina, some folks are worried that the next step might be privatization of the nearly 70-year-old facility. Rest assured that would require a city-wide referendum, and we don’t think the city electorate is that stupid. Still the current changes at the facility are troublesome.

3. Speaking of the marina, there are very few of the old guard around anymore – the veteran skippers who were there almost from the beginning of the marina. Guys like Captains John Topicz, Bill Burk and Wayne Markham are still around on a daily basis. But you don’t see enough of Captains Maxie Foster, Sandy Haggert, Tom Hylton and Dave Spaulding anymore. All seven of those guys are a walking history of Clearwater’s outstanding fishing industry.

4. Despite some incredible challenges, Dunedin Elementary goes from F to C and the principal is demoted. Imagine if this had happened in the financial sector. Said principal would have been named President for Life and given a seven figure bonus.

5. If you’ve lived in Clearwater for a while, you probably know the name Howard Groth. Howard was an indefatigable advocate for affordable housing – serving on the Clearwater Housing Authority for well over a decade. Howard passed away earlier this month at age 98. His efforts on behalf of affordable housing live on.

The Diamond, Media and Other Stuff –

6. This is truly a great time for baseball wonks. The last few days before the trading deadline – the time when teams can trade players without getting waivers. Like the last few days before Christmas when you wonder what you will find in your stocking.

7. One of the funniest thoughts prior to today’s (July 27) Hall of Fame Induction was to have a veteran umpire do the introduction for Bobby Cox and then run the all-time ejections leader before he could give his speech.

8. CBS will allow their football announcers to decide individually whether they want to use the word Redskins in reference to Washington’s football squad. My, isn’t that special. Guess we should allow MLB, ESPN and other baseball announcers to decide if they want to call Atlanta’s team the Braves or Cleveland’s team the Indians. And then there’s the Golden State Warriors. Come on folks, there are much more important things in this world.

9. Our Rants and Raves focus group (comprised of three old, cranky people) determines that what those “Important Privacy Notice” documents you receive from everybody and his brother mean is that you have no privacy. (Margin of Error – plus or minus 50 per cent).

10. A lot of baseball this week. Probably should say something about the World Cup – glad it’s over.

IN CLOSING:

A follow up to our rant of a few weeks ago about why major league players (especially pitchers) can’t bunt: Remember when you played little league or whatever, the best athlete on your team was almost always the pitcher? What happens between then and the majors? On a random date a few weeks ago here were the batting averages of the starting pitchers in the four National League games played that night (we did not use interleague games as AL pitchers are even more dreadful) - .143, .000, .042, .167, .000 (in 12 starts), .113 (actually the averages of the Mets and Braves starters added together) and .226 – Clayton Kershaw can not only pitch but he hits pretty well. Think back to Dick Hall of the Pirates who not only pitched but played a little third base; Don Drysdale often pinch hit; George Brett’s brother, Ken, tore the cover off the ball as did Mike Hampton; and then there was that stocky left hander the Red Sox had – fellow named Ruth. One fears that with this scary decline in hitting by pitchers, the National League will someday throw in the towel and become a beer league complete with the DH like the junior circuit.

TOP OF THE WEEK:

Most governmental bodies in our region try to “buy local” and it makes sense. Granted, we can’t afford to pay five thousand dollars apiece more for a vehicle by going local but a per cent or two extra on all but the biggest ticket items will be more than made up by the local jobs it creates or retains. Often it’s hard for local companies to compete with volume buys where several agencies combine their purchase to get an even better price on a common item - but particularly on unique items, it just makes sense to “buy local.” The one thing we absolutely need to avoid is what happened about ten years ago when a newly elected official made the outrageous statement, “I’ll buy everything on the internet, it’s cheaper” - this without even bothering to get bids from local companies. Amazingly, that individual still is in office.

Around the Bay –

1. We mentioned the great new look for Largo High last week. Two other schools of the same vintage are beginning to look awfully tired – Clearwater High and Northeast. When and if they are replaced, it looks like the school board has found an excellent prototype to follow.

2. A few facts the folks at Greenlight Pinellas fail to mention in their $800,000 taxpayer funded advertising blitz: if passed the measure will give Pinellas County the highest sales tax rate in the state; and the folks who will be most harmed by this new regressive tax would be the very people in the income brackets that ride the buses.

3. In a related note, congratulations to the City Council of Seminole for not following the lemmings over the cliff and voting not to support the ill-advised Greenlight initiative.

4. “Helpful tip” from Bay News 9 last week - leave your purse or cell phone in the back seat of your car so you won’t forget your child or grandchild is back there. Thanks guys. I’ve forgotten my cell phone dozens of times, but damned if I ever forgot my granddaughter was in the back seat.

5. In Pinellas County’s District 4 County Commission race, seven Republican candidates are vying for the opportunity to take on an unopposed Democrat in the November general election. My, that could get messy.

The Diamond, the Media and Other Stuff –

6. Our Man of the Week is Michael Dean of UCLA’s Herb Alpert School of Music. Among many other accomplishments, Dean trains people how to sing (and sing well) the National Anthem. Dozens of celebrities have used him to try to bring grace and dignity to that revered piece of music. In fact, wouldn’t it be nice to have major events require a piece of paper from Mr. Dean asserting that such and such celebrity can actually sing the piece?

7. Item: about a month ago, the Washington Post asked 10 writers to nominate something we as a people would be better off without. Only a couple made sense – like status updates on Facebook or whatever, a few were just stupid – like abolishing the U.S. Air Force, AP classes and President’s Day. Remember these were all writers. We imagine if you ask ten moderately intelligent people who were not writers what we could easily do without, at least one would name the Washington Post.

8. You had to wonder how things were at the Vatican last week when Pope Francis’ Argentina team played Pope Emeritus Benedict’s German team for the World Cup. Word is the current pope is a much bigger sports fan than his predecessor.

9. Our Rants and Raves focus group (comprised of three old, cranky people) doesn’t think the carnival the MLB All Star game has become is what Chicago sportswriter Arch Ward had in mind when he fostered its birth some eighty years ago. Margin of error: plus or minus fifty percent.

10. A couple All-Star notes: Hopefully with the exit of Bud “Light” Selig, we’ll also see the end of the ridiculous idea of having the outcome determine home field advantage in the World Series, particularly if you put any stock in Adam Wainwright’s suggestion that he grooved a couple pitches to Derek Jeter who scored the first run of the game (Early Wynn would have buzzed Jeter). Lastly, great idea by Michael Wilbon of PTI that there be a 3-4 minute remembrance every year of former All-Stars we lost the previous 12 months like Gwynn, Kiner, Fregosi and Zim to name just four.

IN CLOSING:

The recent tragic accident that killed a retired Clearwater police officer at the intersection of Gulf-to-Bay and Belcher brings two issues into focus. This very intersection was one targeted with the cash cow red light cameras to improve safety. When will our cities admit it’s simply about the money? Now a study is proposed to find out how to cure this dangerous intersection – apparently the red light cameras are not the answer (duh!). Secondly, the driver accused in the tragedy was carrying pot – the same thing we are asking our Florida voters to approve this fall. Aren’t our roads dangerous enough without a bunch of “certified patients” out there driving and smoking dope?

TOP OF THE WEEK:

This week a very short story about four guys who grew up on Marymont Park in east Clearwater. Depending on the season, they played basketball, touch football, baseball and volleyball. They went on to be a doctor, a career educator, a business owner and a manager of a high profile Clearwater business who also served as a city commissioner. Today kids, unlike these now 60-somethings, can’t even get into the park. It’s locked tight. The city of Clearwater and its recreation department have lost their way. Parks like Marymont and others are now open to whoever can write a check and no one else – certainly not a kid who just wants to shoot some hoops rather have his nose in a computer – or worse.

Around the Bay –

1. More than a few Oliver Stones in Dunedin are comparing the Tai Chi Society’s purchase of the Fenway Hotel to a similar purchase in Clearwater back about 38 years ago. A bit of a stretch – isn’t it?

2. Is Tarpon Springs about to become the next Kenneth City? All the nonsense over what was a credible plan to improve their aging waterfront has cost them a whole department. Who’s minding the store there?

3. Our Top of the Week can have just as easily included the city of Clearwater’s library system which is falling all over itself – where to put the Countryside and East Libraries plus some new technology that few clients and not all of their staff seem to understand. Who’s minding that store?

4. IRS Update: local conservative Republican gets dreaded letter from IRS – turns out it says we owe you a lot, and we can’t pay you right now. Same conservative Republican gets another IRS letter – turns out the august organization lost all the corporate extension requests said Republican’s hired accounting firm sent them. This is a firm with a thirty year plus history - not some storefront numbers house but you get the idea that the IRS should be operating from a storefront given their current level of competence. Who’s minding that store?

5. Anybody who believes that an agreement between the county and PSTA not to levy property taxes for transportation would mean that the PSTA could not come crawling back for more money is naïve and/or has never attended a governmental meeting or sat on the dais of such a meeting where an agency hasn’t come back saying “we really thought we could do this without your help.” In our lifetimes, we will see PSTA come back and ask for the property tax to be reinstituted whether the ill-conceived Greenlight Pinellas initiative is passed or not.

The Diamond, Media and Other Stuff –

6. A hearty farewell to Steve Otto whose last regular column appears in the Tampa Tribune today (July 13). Otto is arguably the last of the local columnists whose work you read first when you picked up the paper off the porch – along with Howard Troxler, Bob Henderson, and for people as old as your HB (Humble Blogger), – Dick Bothwell and Chuck Albury. One nice thing has happened recently - the reappearance of Diane Steinle on a regular basis in the local section of the Friday Times. Diane, like the others, has her foot and heart planted firmly in her community.

7. No matter how long you watch baseball, you always see something new. Newest for us was Phil’s broadcaster Tom McCarty catching a home run off the bat of the Braves’ Freddie Freeman. In a gimmick, McCarty and his colleagues were broadcasting from the stands in center field and McCarty made the catch with absolutely no effort. We’ve seen a lot of broadcasters catch foul balls but never a home run.

8. Factoid – In 1950, Hall of Fame catcher Yogi Berra batted 656 times, hit 28 homers and drove in 124 runs while striking out 12 times. In the 10-game period June 27 – July 6, three members of the Atlanta Braves (Chris Johnson, B.J. and Justin Upton) each struck out 12 times or more.

9. In a recent survey of baseball insiders, voted the most overrated manager in major league baseball was – (the envelope please) - Joe Madden. Not sure we disagree.

10. Our Rants and Raves focus group (made up of three old, cranky people) points out that Germany again defeated France – this time in soccer in Brazil where, alas, the United States had already gone home and could not bail out France once again.

IN CLOSING:

Nobody’s perfect - even Hall of Famers. All three managers entering the baseball Hall this month were fired at least once – one three times. Joe Torre was given a pink slip by the New York Mets, St. Louis Cards and the Atlanta Braves. Bobby Cox also was canned by the Braves who were smart enough to hire him back several years later. And Tony LaRussa was fired by the Chicago White Sox. Perhaps there should be an asterisk by LaRussa’s firing as he was fired by that mental giant Hawk Harrelson who inexplicably was the general manager of the White Sox at the time.

TOP OF THE WEEK:

There was a name omitted in last week’s Top of the Week when we mentioned some legends who have left us in recent weeks. That name was Gerry Goffin. Goffin along with his former wife, Carole King, created magic in the 1960s with “Go Away Little Girl”, “Hey Girl” and dozens more including perhaps their best effort, the moving “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow”. The two worked in the iconic Brill Building in New York City along with a few other names who have penned a tune or two – Sedaka, Bacharach and Diamond – to mention three. The book that details the building and era Always Magic in the Air by Ken Emerson is one of the best two or three books about that time and its music.

Around the Bay –

1. Charlie Crist talks of going to Cuba. Why - to open a branch office of Morgan and Morgan?

2. The city of Clearwater spends $125K for a downtown study whose results tell them what a dozen moderately intelligent residents could have told them for free. This blog, crafted by not even moderately intelligent people, has aired two of the issues over the past month. The study will join dozens of others on a shelf at City Hall.

3. Ed Armstrong, one of the most successful land use attorneys in the Bay area, was recently appointed to the board of the Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFMD). This sent the environmentalists howling. Thing is the guy probably knows more about water management issues than 80 percent of the people already on that board.

4. Another less illustrious attorney recently charged with moral turpitude was otherwise portrayed as a white knight who defends homeowner and condo associations against all sorts of miscreants. That same branch of the law also protects inept and sometimes law breaking association officers against the homeowners they supposedly serve not to mention the state of Florida.

5. Our Rants and Raves focus group (which is comprised of three old, cranky people) reminds us that the holiday we celebrated this weekend is Independence Day – not the 4^th of July lest we forget.

The Diamond, the Media and Other Stuff –

6. The National League East is the weakest division in baseball this year. And every year, they have the weakest telecast teams. Miami’s Waltz and Hutton along with Washington’s Carpenter and Santangelo are two sets of whiny homers. The Mets have Ron Darling, need we say more? In the last fifteen years Philadelphia has gone from having the elite broadcast team in the game with Ashburn, Kalas and Wheeler to something very mediocre. Atlanta has one of the game’s better analysts in Joe Simpson but he is saddled with Chip Caray who is one of those guys in the business solely because of his last name (see also Buck and Schaap).

7. In a related note, why can’t broadcast “teams” be inducted into the broadcaster’s wing at the Hall of Fame? Granted Harry Kalas is already there but the team he worked with in the 70s and 80s should be there as well – Ashburn, Wheeler and Andy Musser. Same goes for Atlanta’s team of the 80’s and 90’s Ernie Johnson, Pete Van Weiren and Skip Caray.

8. Worst umpires in baseball? Last year’s polling had the trio of Angel Hernandez, C. B. Bucknor and “Country Joe” West at the top or bottom depending on how you look at it. What? No Laz Diaz or Bob “Balk A Day” Davidson?

9. Wake us when all the falderal over the LeBron James free agency is over.

10. As the NFL pre-season approaches (wasn’t the Super Bowl three weeks ago?), a lot of folks are still shocked by how one-sided the event was. But no one should have been surprised by the way Denver’s John Fox was out coached. The bigger surprise was his recent contract extension. This time next year, he well could be without one of the NFL’s elite quarterbacks, and he will instantly become a 6-10 coach and then a coordinator of a 4-12 team. Maybe like Pete Carroll, with a third try, Fox will win a Super Bowl but strongly doubt it. The over/under on Fox getting a copy of the home game from the Broncos is eighteen months.

IN CLOSING:

Recently some Ray’s fan was banned from games for the rest of the year for “improper cowbell etiquette.” This leads us to try to recall how many cowbells rang out when Bobby Thomson hit the shot heard round the world or when Maz shocked the Yankees in the 1960 World Series or when Nolan Ryan notched his seventh no-hitter at age 44 in 1991. The answer is the same for all three and thousands of other memorable baseball events – none. Cowbells are best reserved for little Johnny’s first hit in T-Ball not for a strikeout at a major league game. Tampa Bay will never be recognized as a legitimate major league venue until they do away with those bush league noise makers.

TOP OF THE WEEK:

Is it just our imagination or do we tend to lose legendary folks in clusters? Just over the last month, we’ve lost a football icon – Chuck Noll; two baseball legends – Don Zimmer and Tony Gwynn and the king of the countdown – Kasey Casem. We’re no doubt overlooking others. It is probably an element of aging when so many people who were part of your growing up years depart. Granted Noll, Casem and Zim were all in their eighties – good full lives, but Tony at 54 – way too soon for one of baseball’s purest hitters of all time.

THIS WEEK’S TEN:

Around the Bay –

1. Not a particularly good week for the left. Obama gets his hand slapped by the Supreme Court over his cavalier method of appointments and in Massachusetts a freedom of speech win for the pro-life movement.

2. Already there are rumors of at least one political hack seeking the seat Pam Dubov will vacate in the Property Appraisers Office come 2016. We’re hoping that someone with better qualifications than our family cat will surface between now and then.

3. You never like to see uncontested races for political office as they tend to allow mediocre candidates to sneak in and then become mediocre incumbents in the next election cycle. Such is not the case in Dunedin where, despite uncontested races, three solid candidates in Deborah Kynes, Bruce Livingston and John Tornga will take office. Only Kynes has held elective office previously, but the two gentlemen know their community well and will do Dunedin proud.

4. The Mayor’s race in Dunedin will be contested between current city commissioners Julie Bujalski and Julie Scales. So at least we know the next mayor will be named Julie. The nod should go to Scales who has a greater breadth of knowledge concerning her community and its issues.

5. Inquiring Rants/Raves readers ask why our focus group (which consists of three old, cranky people) always shows a margin of error of 50%. It depends on how many of the three have taken their meds on that particular day.

The Diamond, the Media and Other Stuff –

6. Factoid: Baseball player standing 5 feet 10 inches tall, playing weight 170 pounds - a banjo hitting second baseman? Nope, that was the playing weight and height of Willie Mays - one of the greatest sluggers of all time. Mickey Mantle and Hank Aaron weren’t much bigger.

7. Congratulations to friends of your HB (Humble Blogger) on the birth of their son this past week. He joins his two-year-old sister Addison as part of their growing family. Addison was named after part of the iconic intersection (W. Addison and N. Clark Streets) where Wrigley Field sits. Regretfully, the young man was not named Clark – the other part of the famed intersection. Good name – worked well for a guy with the last name of Kent.

8. Are there really people who keep track of whom Tom Cruise, Katy Perry or Pedro Godoy are married to this week? Wasn’t it easier to try to recall who Jimmy Stewart, Bob Newhart or Eli Wallach were currently married to? The answer was always the same - the woman they married over a half a century ago.

9. The Atlanta Braves post season hopes were shaky enough with four front line pitchers on the DL, but with Craig Kimbrel no longer quite being “Mr. Automatic”, the Braves are looking for extra bullpen help.

10. Doesn’t a little part of all of us want to see Johnny Football return the Browns to the status they held in the fifties and early sixties – the days of Jim Brown, Otto Graham and Lou Groza? Well maybe not, if you’re a Bengals or Raven’s fan.

IN CLOSING:

The smile on our face this week is because your HB (Humble Blogger) no longer has to share the love of his life with several hundred kids, parents and assorted educators. She retires this week after 30 plus years as a teacher and administrator – the majority of those years at one of the county’s (and country’s) best schools where she worked with some incredible educators. I know she is proud of her role and her influence on thousands of young people who still stop her in the mall or the grocery store for a hug. Her family is even prouder.

TOP OF THE WEEK:

Pinellas County has an average group of constitutional officers – ranging everywhere from quite good to barely adequate, but the superstar of our elected constitutional officers over the past half-dozen years has clearly been Property Appraiser Pam Dubov. Her announcement that she will leave office after this term was a body blow to Pinellas County. Pam is truly a hero - having taken an office that was riddled with corruption and turning it into a model of efficiency and, for the taxpayer, fair play. One cannot possibly argue with her motivation to leave office but that does not make the loss of a truly excellent public servant any easier to swallow. We wish her only the best.  

HIS WEEK’S TEN:

Around the Bay -

1 Perhaps you’ve heard this before but it bears repeating – “Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.”

2. The mid-term elections in our country will probably be determined by which party can “outdumb” the other. District 13 here in Florida and the Cantor fiasco in Virginia would indicate it is currently a dead heat.

3. It might not have been everybody In Dunedin’s first choice, but the Tai Chi Society’s purchase of the venerable Fenway Hotel will at least breathe new life into the picturesque property.

4. Like Roger Maris’ 61st home run in New York or Hank Aaron’s 715th in Atlanta, everyone in Clearwater “was there” the night the old Gulf to Bay Drive-In Theater burnt down 49 years ago.

The Diamond, the Media and Other Stuff –

5. It will be an interesting off season in the NBA as the Heat try to buy their way to another championship or two.

6. Arguably the five greatest disc jockeys of the rock and roll era were Dick Clark, Casey Kasem, Alan Freed (who coined the term rock and roll), Wolfman Jack and Cousin Brucie Morrow. With the passing of the revered Casey, only Cousin Brucie remains of those five pillars of rock and roll radio and television. Brucie is still going strong hosting a series of rock and roll concert shows on the east coast and a weekly show on Sirius XM.

7. Looking at recent MLB standings versus payroll, the Oakland A’s project to average $838,000 per win this season. Their fellow major leaguers down the coast, the Dodgers, will average 2.8 million dollars per win, and unlike the A’s, are on track to miss the playoffs. For comparison sake, our local baseball club is projected to average 1.28 million per win and will certainly have free time come October.

8. Many of you who receive this “masterwork” each week also receive the 5:05 Club Newsletter. For those of you who may have missed this gem from a couple weeks ago, we repeat it here: “Columnist Maureen Dowd said she ‘curled up in a hallucinatory state’ after eating a pot laced cookie. Which, coincidentally, is what most people do after reading Maureen Dowd’s columns.”

9. It was fifty years ago this month that the Chicago Cubs made their infamous Lou Brock for Ernie Broglio trade. Each fan can think of one huge clinker of a trade his team made over the years: the Reds Frank Robinson for Milt Pappas trade; the Pirates Bert Blyleven for the “Tijuana Brass” exchange; the Braves entire farm system for Mark Teixeira. And your club’s worst trade of all time was?

10. Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon have recently inked long term contracts to continue on PTI – the best sports commentary show on the air. Just wish the two would focus a little more on sports and less on their occasional drifts into “I’m not a sociologist, but I play one on TV.”

IN CLOSING:

Drawing on personal experience - if the rather elegant and somewhat pricey venue where your HB (Humble Blogger) held the wedding receptions for his two children had asked for a guest list (as opposed to count), the reply would be something about where the sun doesn’t shine. The recent flap over whether a prominent defense attorney and longtime Clearwater resident could attend one of his closest friend’s daughter’s wedding is ridiculous and like many other blunders will do only very “positive” things for Scientology’s standing in the community.  

TOP OF THE WEEK:

In a bit of a departure this week, about half of our weekly blog will deal with a single subject – a new city hall for Clearwater that will be needed if the Clearwater Marine Aquarium is successful in their very ambitious plan to move the aquarium downtown. This is one item the city needs to get right and past history indicates that isn’t a slam dunk. Back in the middle nineties, a sitting council made a wise decision to buy the glass tower at the corner of Garden and Cleveland and gradually move all city hall functions there while having a revenue stream from existing tenants. It made so much sense that a new incoming majority voted to sell the thing – at a loss while incurring a damage suit from surrounding businesses – a stroke of genius that ended up costing taxpayers well over a million dollars. A few suggestions on how to avoid similar and other follies below:

THIS WEEK’S TEN:                         

Around the Bay –

1. Don’t cheap out. About the time of the Garden Avenue fiasco, it became apparent that the city desperately needed a place to house its police department and, separately, its key departments. They tried to do it on the cheap (see million dollar loss above) and the result were two very non-descript buildings loaded with problems that took even more money to fix. It needs to be a signature building – something we can be proud of. This isn’t a garbage truck we’re buying; it’s a building that will outlast a lot of Clearwater’s citizens.

2. Location, location, location. Subtitle: avoid the library debacle. Don’t put the new City Hall on the most valuable piece of land the city owns or can buy like we did with the downtown library. Rather put it on a tract of land where you want to drive traffic. But do keep it downtown – Countryside might offer some attractive sites, but there is too much linkage between city and county government and much of county government is downtown.

3. Make it traditional rather than glitzy. No doubt the current city hall was very avant garde when it was built in the 1960s. But now it looks odd much like our downtown library. The cantilever design of the current city hall works so well that you can place a marble in the center of a room and watch it roll to the corner due to gradual sagging of the cantilever design over the years.

4. Hire a local architect to design it – someone who has a feel for significant local buildings not some currently chic guy or gal from New York City – another mistake with the downtown library.

5. Lastly, get citizen input as to design, location and size (perhaps it’s time to consolidate more city services into one building as would have been the case with the Garden Avenue purchase). But for better or worse in the end, there are five people who need to say “this is our choice.”

The Diamond, the Media and Other Stuff –

6. Our fearless sports prognosticator Achmed Walled (pronounced wall-ED) reminds folks that he was right in predicting that California Chrome would not win the Triple Crown. Big whoop, you could have predicted that for the past 36 years and been right every time – kind of like predicting the Cubs won’t win the World Series.

7. In a related note, California Chrome’s owner Steve Coburn couldn’t be more off base with his assertion that horses should have to run all three legs of the Triple Crown. These aren’t stock car races we’re talking about but a contest between living beings that are subject to injury and fatigue. More than once a Kentucky Derby winning owner has pulled their horse from further competition due to health concerns.

8. You’ve really lived in Clearwater a long time if you remember the Drew Street Canal.

9. Factoid: Tony LaRussa’s induction into the Hall of Fame next month will make it five for five among major league managers who held a law degree – all five in the Hall.

10. Our Raves and Rants focus group (which consists of three old, cranky people) was split three ways on the question of who would win the World Cup. Their answers: Brazil, Iceland and “what’s the World Cup”?

IN CLOSING:

A blog commenter from last week points out that the most recognizable restaurant name on Clearwater Beach was literally caught with its hand in the cookie jar regarding how it compensates or under-compensates its wait staff. There are few harder working members of our labor force than waiters and servers. To take money out of their pockets is inexcusable – just as inexcusable is cheaping out on the tip when you dine out. If you can’t afford to leave your server a fair tip, perhaps you should stay home. And if restaurateurs feel they cannot afford to fairly compensate their employees, maybe they should look closely at their business values.

A post script to this week’s “In Closing”: We erred several weeks ago in saying that the current minimum wage for servers is $2.13. That was based on some old data. It’s now slightly double that but still unconscionable.

TOP OF THE WEEK:

Dwyer, Sierens and Wilson! Every once in a while the media makes the news instead of reporting it and that was certainly the case over the past ten days. Three stalwarts of bay area TV news have announced they are retiring. Anne Dwyer has been a steady performer on Channel 13 for the better part of thirty years. Gayle Sierens came straight out of FSU’s Mass Comm program to Channel 8 first as a sports reporter and then a much respected anchor. If you’ve lived here a long time, you might remember John Wilson as an anchor at WTSP Channel 10, but Channel 13 is where they will retire his jersey. Nearly a century of bay area news expertise leaving the airwaves - they will not be easily replaced.

THIS WEEK’S TEN:

Around the Bay –

1. All the smear tactics the Democrats used against David Jolly aside, has any one organization done more to make him look good than the stumbling, bumbling Democratic Party?

2. In a related note, that loose cannon rolling around the political decks (Beverly Young) has got to make both parties do a great deal of squirming.

3. “Florida’s best newspaper” screams “Oh the humanity” about Governor Scott’s light hacking of the state budget. Pure politics, they say. Of course it is – as it has been with every Republican, Democratic or Whig Party governor we’ve had since the beginning of time or at least since 1845 when we became the great state of Florida. As we were reminded in the District 13 race, what is okay for donkeys is usually not acceptable for elephants.

4. A new seemingly chic phrase is “hot mess”. This seems to define what’s happening in downtown Clearwater with the parking garage/hotel/Scientology trilogy. Again, what could possibly go wrong with these machinations?

5. You’ve really lived in Clearwater for a long time if you remember the Rainbow, Miss Buckeye and Sea Fever party fishing boats – and Capt. Nick Lopez’ legendary Flo-Jo charter boat.

The Diamond, the Media and Other Stuff -

6. With the baseball Hall of Fame inductions a little over a month away, it needs to be noted that a considerable void in the shrine is the omission of coaches. Managers, yes – three this year alone with Cox, LaRussa and Torre all being inducted; but there needs to be a wing or something similar for outstanding coaches. Here are six who should be first ballot – Don Baylor, Dave Duncan, Walt Hriniak, Charlie Lau, Leo Mazzone and Johnny Sain.

7. Item: The LA Clippers sell for 2 billion dollars. Not bad for a franchise that has had exactly nine winning seasons in their 44-year existence. Imagine what a good team would bring.

8. Somewhat lost in all the hoopla of Dwyer, Sierens and Wilson retiring was the announcement that another extremely talented newsperson is also leaving the airwaves. Yolanda Fernandez has announced she’s leaving Channel 8 to become the public spokesperson for the St. Pete police department. Like Gayle Sierens, Yolanda is another local girl who came back to the community to contribute both on the air and off - another large loss.

9. Speaking of losses, baseball is very much diminished this year with the loss of two beloved “lifers”, - first, Jim Fregosi who died this spring and now Don Zimmer – a baseball icon if ever there was one.

10. The Tampa Bay area will be the home of the 2022 SEC men’s basketball tournament – an Atlanta fixture for many years. Our sports prognosticator Achmed Walled (pronounced wall-ED), citing the fluidity of conference members year to year, predicts that Harvard, Northwestern and Southern Cal could all be in the SEC by then. 

IN CLOSING:

Your HB (Humble Blogger) has been privileged to meet all four of the news people mentioned above at one time or another. Can’t say I’m on a first name basis with any of them, but one incident involving Gayle Sierens sticks in my memory. Years ago, playing in a charity basketball game between two media teams, your HB grabs a rebound, sees a teammate streaking down court and starts to throw a baseball-type pass which hits Gayle square in the face. Fortunately, her pretty face was not damaged, and she could not have been more gracious about the incident- a classy, and despite my errant pass, still pretty lady.

TOP OF THE WEEK:

A relatively new item the past few years in local (and national) newspapers is the “fact checker”, “political fact” or whatever. Reading these things makes you wonder who checks the “checkers”. While we assume the facts they dispense are somewhat correct, often there is a “however” that doesn’t seem to make it into print. Case in point is a recent “political fact” column on Medicare Advantage programs which states “So far, Obamacare hasn’t harmed Medicare Advantage. Coverage has stayed relatively the same.” This is simply not true. Take the case of one healthy Advantage enrollee. This year alone, their lone prescription drug now costs $120 a year more. They have lost nearly all dental and vision coverage, a cost thus far this year of nearly $250. Virtually all advantage plans have dropped the so-called silver sneakers fitness coverage – a cost of $360 a year. Not even counting the nickel and diming of increased co-pays, this healthy enrollee is out over $700 and we’re just over a third of the way through the year. Heaven help someone not so healthy. These political fact folk’s pants may not be on fire, but they are smoldering.

THIS WEEK’S TEN:

Around the Bay -

1. With all the increases in the cost of beach parking by the city of Clearwater, something that flew under the radar screen of most media is the impact it has on our handicapped citizens. Most if not all handicapped spots on the beach were free - as it should be. Now they are being asked to pay as much as seven dollars for a spot that was free a month ago. Hope some handicapped person takes the city to court over this latest show of avarice - and hope they win.

2. The folks who run the Island Way Grill, Rhumba and other Pinellas restaurants say their new Mexican-themed restaurant atop the Clearwater Marina will be open in September which prompted more than one wag to ask “of what year?”

3. In a related note, we sure miss Capt. Bruce Littler’s nautical themed shop on the first floor of the marina. It and the nice gift shop at the western end of the marina were both victims of “progress” at the city owned facility.

4. You’ve really lived in Clearwater for a while if you remember Scotty’s Swing Shift on WTAN Radio.

5. It appears a misguided bunch in Tarpon Springs are hell bent to not have a picturesque boardwalk along the bayou - keeping Dodecanese Boulevard a canyon of tourist shops. This story, however, may not be over.

The Diamond, Media and Other Stuff -

6. If you have an open mind and want to learn more about the umpiring craft along with baseball’s darker side, grab a copy of umpire Dave Pallone’s Behind the Mask. It’s not a new book but very topical given the recent uproar over NFL draftee Michael Sams.

7. The Tampa Bay Rays often remind you of the Atlanta Braves of the 90s – excellent starting pitching, spotty offense and a so-so bullpen. Like the 90s Braves, they have one of the best records of the decade but little to show for it.

8. Major league statistics indicate a batter drawing a lead-off walk scores just under 40 per cent of the time. What they mean is your team scores just under 40 per cent of the time. The opposing team, it seems, scores about 95 cent of the time.

9. The only song recorded by two different artists to hit number one on the charts was? Answer below.

10. Our crack sports prognosticator Mohamed Walled (pronounced wall-ED) is on assignment but his cousin Achmed Walled (pronounced wall-ED) is filling in.  Achmed predicts that those hoping for a Triple Crown will be disappointed when this week’s Belmont Stakes is run.  

IN CLOSING:

A few weeks ago we did a piece on some Pinellas County businesses that have been here for more than a half-century. Last week, a principal of one of those long-time businesses, Ron Day, retired. Ron succeeded his father and store founder, Herb Day, as the head of Day’s Furniture and continued his father’s tradition of excellent products and service. Now, Ron’s son, Mark, takes over – and the good news is Mark has two sons hopefully waiting in the wings at this Clearwater institution.

Answer to number 9 above. The Loco-Motion was the only song to hit number one by two different artists – the original by Little Eva (Carole King’s babysitter for her daughter) and the remake by Grand Funk Railroad. 

TOP OF THE WEEK:

The answer to the Tampa Bay Rays attendance problems is as simple as it is complex. Move to the National League. Why? The bay area is loaded with retirees from the mid-west - folks who were Cards, Cubs, Pirates and Reds fans.  Add a healthy mix of Phils fans who moved here after being spring training visitors for years and a very significant amount of Braves fans from when the Braves were the only team in the south and you have some strong draws. And the Giants and Dodgers draw everywhere. You’re trading these for only two American League teams that are strong draws – the Yanks and Bosox. There was a time early on when it was proposed that the Rays and their expansion teammates, the Diamondbacks swap leagues but one can only guess someone in Arizona said not “no” but “hell no”. The most likely league swapping partner with the Rays is the Miami Marlins whose demographics lean far more to the east than Tampa Bay. Not easy to get done but very much worth the exploration.

THIS WEEK’S TEN:

1. Now that we have the beach to ourselves for a few weeks until school lets out, time to relax with a pizza at Post Corner or a drink and a sunset at Palm Pavilion.

2. You’ve really lived in Pinellas County a while if you ever “talked to this old boy” – Howard “The Trader” Ewing at his auction house at the corner of Gulf to Bay and Duncan in Clearwater – long before Art Capogna built his super restaurant across the street.

3. Is anyone surprised that Tampa Bay is number two in pedestrian/bicyclist fatalities across the nation - too much of an attitude “I know you’re in the crosswalk, but I have a big truck/SUV/bus.”  You might expect such stupidity from bad drivers, but we observe way too much of this from PSTA and Jolly Trolley drivers as well.

4. So Tony LaRussa is now the Man in Charge with the Arizona Diamondbacks – not bad for a local boy who was a career .199 hitter with no round trippers in his career. But the guy also has a law degree and is as smart a man who ever donned a baseball uniform.

5. Recent poll said 31 per cent of people living in Florida would like to live elsewhere. Let’s see, there’s I-75 on this coast and I-95 to the east. Safe travel!

6. Factoid: Of the 10 highest paid athletes in 2013, none were from MLB or the NHL. There were five from the NFL (all quarterbacks); three from pro soccer; one each from the NBA and boxing – Floyd Mayweather, Jr. who topped the poll at just over 73 million based on two fights in ’13. The professional team with the highest payroll was the LA Dodgers. How’s that working out for Magic and the boys?

7. Why can’t major league baseball players, especially pitchers, bunt? In a tough, complex sport, it is one of the simplest things to do, yet guys who are called on to perform this task most often look like T-Ball players. This isn’t a beer league where you come out and play after eight to ten hours at the office. This is your only job. Take some pride and learn how to do one of the game’s most fundamental tasks.

8. Think back to the sixties and what was playing on the radio. What were your favorites? Put us down for the Beach Boys’ California Girls, Tommy James’ Crystal Blue Persuasion and Johnny Rivers’ Poor Side of Town. And your best from the sixties?

9. Our Rants and Raves focus group (which consists of three old, cranky people) says the end of civilized America came with the invention of the cell phone and punks starting to wear their baseball caps backward. Margin of error: 50 percent or so.

10. A Pasco County School for sale on Craig’s List? Falls into the category of “wish I had thought of that when I was a high school senior.” Also makes you wonder who’s minding the store at Craig’s List.

IN CLOSING:

In the nearly three month existence of Rants and Raves, we have been remiss in not giving a shout out to the two guys who made this thing happen – James Foster and Robert Brucker. We’ve known James for years and his skill at making things happen or fixing things that do happen on the technical side of a computer is exceptional. His patience with the old fogey who creates most of this blog is amazing. We met Robert through James and his work in listening to what we wanted creatively and matching that to a tee still leaves us in awe. They are two very bright young men and if you ever need help with computer problems, a website or related issues, you can reach them at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .  And no, they didn’t ask us to write this – in fact we’ve probably embarrassed them.

TOP OF THE WEEK:

We begin this week with a quote from esteemed political observer and professor emeritus from USF Daryl Paulsen: “Just when you think things can’t get any more bizarre for the Democrats, they get more bizarre.” Professor Paulsen was referring, of course, to how well the Democratic Party has handled the District 13 Congressional race which, for the first time in decades, was wide open. In the special election, they import a carpetbagger from Thonotosassa which ticks off a bunch of Pinellas voters, and they lose by less than two per cent. When a longtime community activist steps forward to challenge David Jolly in the fall, they tell him “stay away.” So they wind up with yet another candidate who doesn’t even live in Pinellas County; can’t legally run as a Democrat; has a suspect degree and no one knows the guy. Oh, and then he drops out after qualifying is over. In a word, “Brilliant!”    

THIS WEEK’S TEN:

1. Second quote of the week: From Democratic U.S. Senator Jay Rockefeller concerning his opposite number from Florida – Bill Nelson, “I was afraid he was going to run for governor.” So were we, Senator, so were we.

2. You’ve really lived in Pinellas County a long time if you remember when Publix was closed on Sundays and gave S & H Green Stamps.

3. Factoid: only one pop/rock artist has ever had a number one song as both an instrumentalist and a vocalist. Give it some thought before you scroll down to the bottom of the blog for the answer.

4. Number of the week – 368. That’s how many times the Houston Astros have employed an infield shift through mid-May leading the majors. AL leader is the New York Yankees. The infield shift has probably been the biggest impact on baseball since the mound was lowered in 1969 or the “let’s keep one-dimensional players in the game” rule also known as the DH in 1973.

5. Nice of FSU’s wayward quarterback’s father to assume part of the blame for his son’s aberrant behavior. Let’s see, the university has had the kid for about a year. You Dad, have had him for, we assume, eighteen years. And this is FSU’s fault? Wouldn’t it be nice if we all could send our kids off to college with a 24-hour nanny like Antonor Winston suggests his son needs?

6. Our Rants and Raves focus group (which consists of three old, cranky people) says the best pies by far on the west coast of Florida are at Village Inn. And, if you are truly fortunate, you’ll eat at the Gulf to Bay location in Clearwater and be served by a dynamo named Sarena. Margin of error this week – zero per cent!

7. Add the term “quick question” to actually, no question about it and absolutely that are used entirely too often and quite often incorrectly.

8. Kudos to Governor Rick Scott for vetoing the legislation increasing the speed limit to 75 miles an hour on certain Florida highways. Apparently our legislators have not observed how well our Florida (and out of state) drivers do at 70. Thank goodness the governor has.

9. The folks in the Tampa Bay Rays front office have to be congratulating themselves for not re-signing B.J. Upton last year. After a year plus of his five year-75 million dollar contract with the Atlanta Braves, Upton is still below the Mendoza line (.191 as of May 14).

10. With the city of Clearwater pouring millions of dollars (some would say unwisely) into downtown Clearwater, why do they continue to ignore the multi-story eyesore at the corner of Cleveland and MLK? A “prospective” buyer is on the horizon but if this one falls through like the others, surely the city has the power to tear down the eyesore and bill the current owners.

IN CLOSING:

In doing some research for last week’s items regarding Clearwater and Largo High Schools, we stumbled across an old high school annual from the sixties. Most interesting were the businesses that advertised in them – some still around like WTAN Radio, the Palm Pavilion, Jersey Jim Towers, Peltz Shoes, Publix, Douglas Manufacturing, Sweats Flower Shop and Trickels Jewelers. And from the do you remember file – Maas Brothers, the Sandy Book Store, Siple’s Garden Seat, Chic-Inn, the Clearwater Sun, Merz Record Shop, Frank’s Department Store and the Kapok Tree Inn. Much has changed in the past fifty years – not always for the best. 

The artist referred to in #3 above is Herb Alpert who scored a vocal hit with “This Guy’s in Love with You” and actually had two instrumentals that topped the charts – “A Taste of Honey” and “Rise”.          

TOP OF THE WEEK:

 Florida’s top law enforcement officials are urging the state not to return to the good old really bad days of pill mills. And our state sheriffs, including Pinellas County’s Bob Gualtieri, say that based on other state’s experiences, that’s exactly what lies ahead for our state if the initiative on medical pot passes this fall. Gualtieri cites Oregon where just nine doctors “certified” 28,000 patients as needing medical pot. Conservative estimates place those nine physician’s take on those certifications at more than five and a half million dollars. And you thought peddling pills was big biz! Just as we have put a bunch of these pill mills out of business in the last few years (although sadly, a couple have managed to reopen their doors in the last month or two) now we are on the brink of creating a whole new growth industry for unscrupulous physicians in our state.

 THIS WEEK’S TEN:

 1. Have a happy 50^th reunion this weekend CHS Class of ’64. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

2. 1964 gave birth to both a phenomena and an icon – Beatlemania and the classic Ford Mustang.

3. One more reunion item – perhaps the biggest draw of all high school reunions is hoping to find that the guy/girl who dumped you in high school is now bald/fat or both.

4. In a related note, Largo High is hosting a “Final Homecoming” for alumni Monday and Tuesday evenings this week at the school which will be torn down this summer to make way for a new facility. No truth to the rumor that the above mentioned CHS Class of ’64 will assist with the decorations as they did 50 years ago during football season.

5. Our Rants and Raves focus group (which consists of three old, cranky people) suggests a cash register that automatically shuts off at ten items for those in Publix’ ten item aisle who cannot seem to be able to count. One stronger suggestion from the group is a trap door that opens on the 11th item. Margin of error: 50 per cent or so.

6.  Clearwater city manager Bill Horne says he has no immediate plans to retire. Horne has helmed the city since 2000 which makes him Clearwater’s longest serving city manager since when – the beginning of time?

7. A recent poll of major league players says the most overrated players in the game are Bryce Harper, Yasiel Puig and ARod. Wait; can you be overrated if you’re not even playing? So we’ll subtract ARod and add Troy Tulowitzki – decent when he’s on the field but very fragile, having missed 210 games over the past four seasons.

8. Factoid: Clearwater Lake is not in Clearwater but just outside Umatilla in east central Florida.

9. If you’re a personnel guy in the Houston Texans’ front office you better pray nightly that Johnny Manziel turns out to be no better than an average NFL quarterback and that Jadeveon Clowney doesn’t revert to his lackadaisical college ways.

10. You’ve lived in Pinellas County quite a while if you remember when an “A” date was a first run blockbuster movie at St. Pete’s Center Theater followed by a late night snack at Wolfie’s.

IN CLOSING:

Couldn’t the people who designed the Obamacare website have gotten some “real” people to look over their shoulder and say “this might work for a techie but how about the guy/gal who make their living in some other field?” You often wonder what in the world folks are thinking when they design sites that are used by you and me – Joe/Jane Average. Another case in point is renewing your auto tag in Pinellas County. Used to be a fairly simple on line process but now you need to enter your life history including (love this one) the last five digits in your Social Security number to get a new yellow sticker for your car. Governor Scott is pushing to lower the renewal fee twenty five bucks. They ought to give us an additional twenty five to enter all the unnecessary junk Pinellas County asks for.

TOP OF THE WEEK:

Florida’s top law enforcement officials are urging the state not to return to the good old really bad days of pill mills. And our state sheriffs, including Pinellas County’s Bob Gualtieri, say that based on other state’s experiences, that’s exactly what lies ahead for our state if the initiative on medical pot passes this fall. Gualtieri cites Oregon where just nine doctors “certified” 28,000 patients as needing medical pot. Conservative estimates place those nine physician’s take on those certifications at more than five and a half million dollars. And you thought peddling pills was big biz! Just as we have put a bunch of these pill mills out of business in the last few years (although sadly, a couple have managed to reopen their doors in the last month or two) now we are on the brink of creating a whole new growth industry for unscrupulous physicians in our state.

THIS WEEK’S TEN:

1. Have a happy 50^th reunion this weekend CHS Class of ’64. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

2. 1964 gave birth to both a phenomena and an icon – Beatlemania and the classic Ford Mustang.

3. One more reunion item – perhaps the biggest draw of all high school reunions is hoping to find that the guy/girl who dumped you in high school is now bald/fat or both.

4. In a related note, Largo High is hosting a “Final Homecoming” for alumni Monday and Tuesday evenings this week at the school which will be torn down this summer to make way for a new facility. No truth to the rumor that the above mentioned CHS Class of ’64 will assist with the decorations as they did 50 years ago during football season.

5. Our Rants and Raves focus group (which consists of three old, cranky people) suggests a cash register that automatically shuts off at ten items for those in Publix’ ten item aisle who cannot seem to be able to count. One stronger suggestion from the group is a trap door that opens on the 11th item. Margin of error: 50 per cent or so.

6.  Clearwater city manager Bill Horne says he has no immediate plans to retire. Horne has helmed the city since 2000 which makes him Clearwater’s longest serving city manager since when – the beginning of time?

7. A recent poll of major league players says the most overrated players in the game are Bryce Harper, Yasiel Puig and ARod. Wait; can you be overrated if you’re not even playing? So we’ll subtract ARod and add Troy Tulowitzki – decent when he’s on the field but very fragile, having missed 210 games over the past four seasons.

8. Factoid: Clearwater Lake is not in Clearwater but just outside Umatilla in east central Florida.

9. If you’re a personnel guy in the Houston Texans’ front office you better pray nightly that Johnny Manziel turns out to be no better than an average NFL quarterback and that Jadeveon Clowney doesn’t revert to his lackadaisical college ways.

10. You’ve lived in Pinellas County quite a while if you remember when an “A” date was a first run blockbuster movie at St. Pete’s Center Theater followed by a late night snack at Wolfie’s.

IN CLOSING:

TOP OF THE WEEK:

Behold the all-inclusive Democratic Party. The Rev. Manuel Sykes is told he need not apply to run for the District 13 Congressional seat against Rep. David Jolly this fall. Among Sykes’ shortcomings according to party bigwigs, he is a political novice - as were Presidents Clinton, Bush and Obama at one time, if memory serves. But our favorite complaint from the Demos is that Sykes doesn’t live in the District. Good grief, the last candidate the Democrats came up with didn’t even live in the same county. It was fun to watch the backpedaling this week of various Democrats including former candidate Alex Sink. They went from encouraging the right Reverend to run to “I barely know the man.” Stay tuned, this can only become more fun as we enter the summer months. 

THIS WEEK’S TEN:

1. The gubernatorial candidate from the Weathervane Party (as in which way is the wind blowing today?) Charlie Crist says he is pro-life “by my definition”.  My, isn’t that comforting to today’s unborn children?

2.  Factoid: only one set of siblings have ever both won an Academy Award for best leading actor or actress. Can you name them? Answer at the bottom of the blog.

3. In all the bizarre happenings surrounding the Donald Sterling situation, perhaps the most bizarre is the NAACP announcing they were cancelling their scheduled May “lifetime achievement award” ceremony for Sterling. Lifetime achievement award? That would be akin to the NRA making President Obama their Man of the Year.

4. Our resident sports guru Mohammed Walled (pronounced wall-ED) wonders if you remember when they used to call a traveling violation in the NBA – or the NCAA for that matter.

5. Doesn’t just a small part of you want to walk into Publix this week and stroll out with thirty bucks worth of seafood and see what would happen to you?

6. Love it when a guy or gal wins a multi-candidate political race with 42 per cent of the vote then trumpets “the people have spoken” or something equally self-serving. Yes, the people have spoken and 58 per cent of them don’t want you holding office. Much more appreciate the approach of David Jolly who personally reached out to a voter who pointed out that Jolly won with less than a majority.

7. Read a unique piece recently regarding Consumer Reports rankings of hospitals. Some small hospital in Maine topped the list. Consumer Reports, Reader’s Digest and People Magazine rankings aside, we’ll take our chances (and we have) with Morton Plant Hospital. A city the size of Clearwater is lucky to have a medical facility of that caliber.

8. A sure sign of getting old is when the music you rocked out to on WLCY, WALT or Q105 is now playing exclusively on WDUV – The Dove.

9. Give a little man/woman a job with the slightest hint of authority and they often become Nazis. A few examples – ticket takers at entertainment venues, crosswalk guards and the ultimate job sure to turn a nobody into a Nazi – a condo or HOA board.

10. Doesn’t it seem a certain baseball manager is getting a bit full of himself? Not content to manage his own sub .500 team, he recently took exception with how the Baltimore Orioles run their organization. Here’s a tip, put a couple World Series trophies on the mantel before you start knocking an organization that has more than a few championship flags flying in their park.       

IN CLOSING:

We assume new USF AD Mark Harlan comes to the bay area with his eyes wide open. This is not Duke or Ohio State he’s taking over; it is USF with its own personality and problems. The school has not had a decent program in either of the two major sports since people named Greenberg and Leavitt were on the sidelines. One issue Harlan will find at USF that he did not face at UCLA is the lack of tradition. For a great number of USF grads, there were no football and basketball programs when they attended the school; so for baby boomers and beyond there was never the “must go” game on Saturday afternoon or night – same with basketball. The double dribble on the basketball hire aside, Harlan seems like a bright guy, but he has a very large mountain to climb.

From above: Olivia de Havilland (twice, The Heiress and To Each His Own) and sister Joan Fontaine (de Havilland) for Alfred Hitchcock’s Suspicion.

TOP OF THE WEEK:

We begin with a tale of three households: Household One occupied by a really famous Tampa couple (see face value disclaimer above) who do not pay their mortgage for three years and somehow talk their bank into refinancing the debt. Household Two has same approximate debt to value ratio as #1, has never missed a payment and gets an average of six letters a month asking them to refinance with no closing costs. Household Three also has never missed a mortgage payment but has a kid in college and really could use some relief from the amount they lay out each month. Approximately same value ratio as Numbers One and Two and their bank won’t budge on a refinance. Some nonsense about ratio of what they make to what they pay for housing. Hey, they have been making the payments every month for years – doesn’t it make sense they could handle a lesser monthly payment brought on by a refinance? Oh, the bank did have one suggestion – start missing some payments and maybe they would consider it. You get the feeling that if you peek around the curtain at this bank you would behold the Mighty Oz back there with his smoke and mirrors.

THIS WEEK’S TEN:

1. Item: Tampa city council votes to allow sale of beer, wine and liquor at Westshore Plaza AMC Theaters. Do the esteemed council members not follow current events? Again to quoting a great American, “What could possibly go wrong?”

2. Is it any surprise that the first real MLB replay controversy involved a blown call by ump Eric Cooper? Cooper is not the worst umpire in the game (certainly not the best) but he has a proclivity for blowing calls in high profile situations. By the way, we wish a complete recovery to Tim McClelland out for the year with a back injury. McClelland gets a lot of flak for his deliberate manner calling balls and strikes but the fact remains he is one of the three or four best umps in the game.

3. As we close in on Derby Day, our crack sports prognosticator Mohammed Walled (pronounced wall-ED) reminds us all “A slow horse eats just as much as a fast horse.”

4. What isn’t fun this time of year is getting a letter from the IRS when you are a conservative Republican. Fortunately for the person in question, the gist of the letter was you’re getting a rather large refund, and we can’t pay you right away – honest!

5. Rev. Manuel Sykes has announced his candidacy for the District 13 Congressional seat this fall.  While Sykes is a political novice, he brings one thing to the table that the last Democratic candidate lacked; he’s been a resident of Pinellas County for more than six weeks.

6. The best candidate to replace former county administrator Bob LaSala might be right under the noses of the Pinellas County Commission – Assistant County Administrator Mark Woodard. Woodard is a bright young guy with a strong financial background and obviously knows his way around Pinellas County and its players. But the county will no doubt launch a national search – it’s what every governmental unit larger than Nokomis does - with mixed results.

7. Talk about short sighted. Major insurance companies that write Medicare supplements are cheaping out and dropping silver sneakers coverage for their clients. This is the same thing that Florida Blue, United Healthcare and others touted – that including these gym memberships would make for healthier clients and reduce debilitating conditions (not to mention fewer claims).

8. In a related note, aren’t there times when you want to take virtually every major insurance company CEO and give them a blindfold and a cigarette?

9. Thumbs down to SiriusXM for dumping all the DJs on the 50’s (actually fifties and early sixties) Channel. What the snotty nosed kids running the network don’t realize is how much guys like Chicago’s Dick Biondi, Atlanta’s Skinny Bobby Harper, Detroit’s Scott Regan or Tampa Bay’s Rock Robbins (the last two were actually the same guy) were part of what made fifties and early sixties radio so magic. Major mistake pulling pros like Pat St. John and Norn N. Nite off the channel and turning it into a bland jukebox.

10. Great timing by the city of Clearwater, planning the Iron Girl race and its attendant traffic screw ups on Palm Sunday. What’s the matter - weren’t Easter and Christmas available dates?

IN CLOSING:

Since Tony LaRussa traded in his uniform a couple years back, the brightest mind now occupying a dugout is in Baltimore – Buck Showalter. Like LaRussa, he sometimes rubs people the wrong way, but his baseball wisdom is unmatched. Also like LaRussa, he has built winners in more than one market. Two young Turks who may grow into the next Showalter or LaRussa are the Card’s Mike Matheny and Detroit’s Brad Ausmus – although it’s going to take both a few years to fill the large shoes that previously occupied their dugouts – LaRussa and Jim Leyland.

TOP OF THE WEEK:

First, a blessed Easter to all.

The five year reign of county administrator Bob LaSala has ended. For many, this comes as no surprise. Quite a few Pinellas residents remember that LaSala, hired by the county in 2009, had been passed over as a candidate for the job of Clearwater city manager just a few years earlier – mainly for some of the same reasons surfacing now – abrasive, dictatorial and not a forward thinker. This led many to question why a guy who was deemed lacking for managing a city of 110,000 was qualified to run a county of well over 900,000? The kicker was a member of the county commission who voted to hire LaSala in 2009 was a part of the Clearwater city commission that found him wanting a few years earlier – and then voted to fire him last week. Go figure. 

THIS WEEK’S TEN:

1. Ok Clearwater, go ahead and charge up to three dollars an hour for beach parking but in exchange, get rid of about three quarters of those weekend races that do little or nothing for the beach economy but make it impossible to get to the beach, its attractions and its three dollar an hour parking.

2. So long Alex, it’s been good to know ya. Drop in again sometime.

3. It has been a couple years since they closed their doors, but we still miss Butler’s in St. Pete and their great eastern Carolina BBQ. It was a St. Pete treasure.

4. Speaking of St. Pete treasures, for the book collector or vinyl collector, it doesn’t get much better anywhere in the country than the city’s Haslams and Bananas.

5. A Rants and Raves trio – three sports announcers who make you hit the mute button. Ours in alphabetical order are Troy Aikman (NFL); Ron Darling (MLB) and Len Elmore (NCAA basketball). The White Sox’ Ken Harrelson is not mentioned here as he owns a lifetime achievement award in this category. And the three that make you reach for the earplugs?

6.  Our rants and raves focus group (which consists of three old, cranky people) says the best book of the 20th century was Lewis Grizzard’s “I Haven’t Understood Anything Since 1962” – and they haven’t. Margin of error: 50 per cent or so.

7.  Jabari Parker is leaving Duke for the NBA. A great many Duke fans are not shedding tears over his decision. As for the teammates he leaves behind, they may actually get to touch the basketball next season.

8. Add Hess to Target and others who have to rebuild trust with their customers after they were hit for the second time in the bay area by so-called skimmers that steal credit card information at the pump.

9. It is often said that sports teams play up or down to those around them. That happens in other walks of life as well. Channel 8’s Rod Carter was a solid newsman in his first stint at WFLA-TV. Since returning and being surrounded by those characters on the morning news show, Rod has lost a step or two.

10. When posed with the question “Hero or zero” in relation to Johnny Football’s NFL prospects, our crack sports prognosticator Mohammed Walled (pronounced wall-ED) firmly says “hero.” Although much depends on what team drafts Manziel.

.

IN CLOSING:

To paraphrase Ronald Reagan, here we go again. “Florida’s best newspaper” scalds Rick Scott for dumping a state funded plane and using a plane on his own dime. All he did was save the state a bunch of money. Seem to remember another former gubernatorial candidate used a state plane for part of her vacation. Same source gives Scott heat because he’s only been a resident of the state for a little over a decade. That same source chose to look the other way on the recent District 13 candidate who moved to Pinellas County about two weeks after Bill Young’s funeral.

WEEK OF APRIL 13, 2014TOP OF THE WEEK:

It is so refreshing to have Keith Olbermann back on the sports scene. His presence on Sports Center and later on “the deuce” (ESPN 2) was huge. Unfortunately, he came off as an overbearing bully when he switched to news/commentary. A few suggested refinements in his new ESPN show – not that he asked us. First dump the highlights – you can get them anywhere, and they detract from his natural ability as a sports commentator. Getting rid of the highlights would let you pull the show back to a more manageable thirty minutes. Lastly, put it at a reasonable hour – replacing some of the junk shows ESPN has in the late afternoon/early evening slots. The show was superb in that format and time slot during the Australian Open.

THIS WEEK’S TEN:

1. Quote of the week: “The people who are asking me to resign are not my employer” – former Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. Sorry Madam Secretary, when you work for the federal government, you work for all of us. One tires of arrogant public servants at all levels who think they need not answer to the unwashed masses. 

2. Our crack sports prediction guru, Mohamed Walled (pronounced wall-ED) says the Miami Heat will tumble in the NBA playoffs which conclude when – about a week before Thanksgiving?

3. Love the word factoid. It was coined by Norman Mailer but probably most popularized by CNN. This week’s factoid – a Rants and Raves Trio - the highest earning dead people in the world. They are #3 – Peanuts creator Charles Schulz – maybe a little bit of a surprise; #2 the king of rock and roll Elvis Presley – absolutely no surprise and #1 – Michael Jackson which makes you wonder why?

4. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame held its induction this week. Notable inductees included Nirvana, Hall and Oates, KISS and Linda Ronstadt. But can someone please explain why a guy who recorded 21 Top 40 hits on his own and wrote hit songs for the Carpenters, Frank Sinatra, Dinah Washington plus multiple hits for Connie Francis, the 5^th Dimension and the Captain and Tennille isn’t in the hall? The guy’s name is Neil Sedaka and every time we mention this the standard reply is something like “you’re kidding”! Sadly, we’re not. By the way, there is a petition on line to correct this injustice.

5. Sports fans often complain that almost all pro sports managerial/coaching vacancies are filled by good old boys – no offense Lovie. The same seems to hold true in politics. Every suddenly vacant seat on a governmental commission/council usually gets filled by a veteran seat warmer instead of some up and comer who is going to be there sooner or later anyway. Why not sooner?

6. The above mentioned Keith Olbermann has a pet phrase (Hello! The world’s out here!), which you want to shout at all the cell phoning and texting bozos on our region’s streets and highways - and amazingly in the aisles of our grocery stores.

7. Say what you want about the St. Pete Times – one of their strongest moves in the last few years was moving John Romano out of sports and into a slot as a decent general topic columnist. But the real plus was the ascendency of Tom Jones to full-fledged sports columnist. The guy is strong.

8. Our Rants and Raves focus group (which consists of three old, cranky people) tips their cap to the Clearwater Public Library system and their new check out system. Projection is that by this time next year the other 90 per cent of their customers and other half of the library staff will figure out how the damn thing works. Newer ain’t always better. Margin of error: 50 per cent or so.

9. More than one person has told us they too have had this dream: you can’t remember where one of your college classes meet, and you end up failing the course and not graduating. Could this be what happened to USF’s erstwhile basketball coach?

10. Not a resident but visit there a lot and the idea for upgrading Tarpon Spring’s waterfront sounds terrific. As it is now, you walk down a cavern that is Dodecanese Boulevard and are shut off from the very picturesque bayou behind the shops. A boardwalk right along the bayou would be fabulous. Forward thinkers in Tarpon Springs need to make it happen despite the naysayers.

IN CLOSING:

Thanks to Governor Rick Scott, State Senator Jack Latvala and others for closely watching over Florida’s spring training interests. Florida has lost an alarming amount of teams to Arizona over the past decade. In fact, had it not been for Sen. Latvala, Clearwater’s Bright House Field might not have been built and Dunedin most likely would have said goodbye to the Toronto Blue Jays years ago. Now there is a real possibility that at least one team might be persuaded to return to Florida from Arizona where we understand the beach is not all that great.

And just a post script to the above: classy move by the Phillies to have Alan Bomstein throw out the first pitch on the final Sunday of the spring season. Alan, the owner of Creative Contractors, had more to do with getting the Phils a new stadium and keeping them and the dollars they generate here than anybody outside of government or even inside for that matter.

TOP OF THE WEEK:

 But first a “headnote” – we apologize for the tardiness of getting the blog posted last week. We know all ten of our readers wait breathlessly for it to appear each Sunday. It would not have happened if your HB (Humble Blogger) weren’t so technologically challenged. Thanks to a really terrific IT person who backs us up – like all the time! Now, on with the show.

This fall voters will decide whether to tax themselves another penny on the dollar to pave the way for light rail in the county. Greenlight Pinellas is a noble idea but fraught with problems. Principal among the problems is the new tax would replace a current levy on real property in the county. So instead of we homeowners continuing to pay for transit upgrades, the burden would fall on many, many people who don’t own property and can ill afford to pay even more for their kid’s shoes, diapers and school supplies. The other question in this house of cards is how long before our transit officials come back to us and say “Hey, just kidding about dropping that levy on your property!” Granted some of this tax burden (potentially the highest sales tax in the state) would be shared by tourists who already pay outrageous bed taxes in our county, but the biggest burden of this regressive tax will fall on those who can least afford it.

THIS WEEK’S TEN:

 1. With Susan Latvala leaving her post on the County Commission and, parenthetically, abandoning her party in the recent District 13 race, it’s easier to count the number of folks not running for her seat than those who are.

2. Latvala’s departure from the county commission is creating a ripple effect especially in Dunedin where the chairs in the commission chamber will get shuffled with Mayor Dave Eggers leaving to run for the Latvala seat. But Dunedin will not suffer a leadership void. Already long time commissioner and Pinellas Community Foundation head Julie Scales has announced for mayor. Former commissioner Deborah Kynes and businessman and civic leader Bruce Livingston will seek commission seats. This trio brings a world of experience to the fore and Dunedin should not miss a beat.

3. Our Raves and Rants focus group (which consists of three, old cranky people) remind the world that their yellow legal pads have never frozen or crashed. Margin of error: 50 percent or so.

4. With a shadow of a tear, we said goodbye to the cast of “How I Met Your Mother” last Monday. Frankly, they had me at the title back in 2005. One of the unique aspects of the show’s long run was that it was initially dismissed by most critics – critics who, in large measure, warmed to it over the years. Not on the level of a Seinfeld but not far behind either. Although as far as classic character names are concerned, the Slutty Pumpkin was right up there with the Soup Nazi.

5. Another TV note. MLB’s Extra Innings package is usually free for the first week or so of the MLB season to entice you to buy the season package at about $200. The opening day Brewers-Braves game was nothing but a broken up satellite signal for nine innings making the announcers sound like the late Foster Brooks – and viewers happy they weren’t actually paying for that garbage.

6. Good move by Marquette hiring long time Duke assistant Steve Wojciechowski. There have been other stabs taken at getting Wojo away from Duke, but Coach K’s recent announcement that he planned to stay on at Duke for another five years might have made Wojo more amenable to an offer. Prediction: he will be back on Duke’s sideline in the future.

7. Honest, this happened less than two weeks before the District 13 general election. Your HB (humble blogger) gets a robocall one evening asking him to push buttons indicating his choice in the long before held Republican primary. Hope whoever funded that fiasco got their money back.

8. Few things make us do a slow burn more than seeing a bunch of kids whip into a beach handicapped parking space; hang grandma’s handicap tag on the mirror then grab their chairs and towels and run for the beach. If caught, there should be a very special fine/punishment for such punks.

9. We would be remiss not to recognize the passing of a true American patriot late last month. Former U.S. Senator and Rear Admiral Jeremiah Denton was a POW for over seven years during the Vietnam War but never gave any quarter to his enemy even when severely beaten for his famous blinked TORTURE message during a staged interview by the North Vietnamese.

10. We hear many heartfelt stories of families whose members need medical pot to ease pain. We’ve heard very little from heartbroken families whose members are now drug addicts who started on that road with pot.

IN CLOSING:

 An addendum to our Top of The Week: State Senator Jeff Brandes is taking the PSTA to task for its funding of an “educational” campaign on Greenlight Pinellas. So far, some $800,000 of taxpayer money has been spent on this “educational” campaign – including signage on PSTA buses. Funny, when opponents of the initiative wanted to spend non-taxpayer dollars for similar signage, they were rebuked by the PSTA – something about PSTA’s signage being educational but the opponents not being educational? The spending of taxpayer dollars on campaigns like this one and Clearwater’s Marine Aquarium is simply not right. A great many taxpayers disagree with these initiatives and for good reason; why should their dollars be spent to promote what they consider to be economic follies?  

TOP OF THE WEEK:

As we say goodbye to Spring Training (only 323 days until pitchers and catchers report) we focus on the situation in Dunedin. Keeping the Blue Jays in Dunedin doesn’t just affect that quaint little village but all the communities around it. Cities like Clearwater and Tarpon Springs, not to mention unincorporated areas like Palm Harbor, have a big stake keeping the Jays. It won’t be easy. Dunedin has probably the worst spring training stadium in Florida. An even bigger issue is the distance between training facilities and the stadium. Virtually all spring training complexes are like Clearwater with its Carpenter Complex right next door to Bright House Stadium. The problem in Dunedin is there just isn’t space for such a complex currently. Right now if you were handicapping, it’s probably less than 50 per cent that the Jays stay here beyond their current contract. And if that happens, it will have a major economic impact on all of Pinellas County. The answer may lie in a parcel outside of Dunedin proper. Let’s hope the Jays stay somewhere in Pinellas County.

THIS WEEK’S TEN:

1. Animals and those who love them lost a great friend earlier this month with the passing of Peter Gregory who with wife, Mary, ran Mill Creek Farm - a retirement home for some 125 horses in Alachua, Florida. We could write a novel about what this wonderful couple has done for equines. But simply Google Mill Creek Farm and see for yourself. Or better yet, plan a Saturday outing to visit the farm. It and its residents will capture your heart.

2. With the baseball season underway, it just won’t be the same for Phillies fans without Chris Wheeler behind the mike. The guy has lived and breathed Phillies baseball for well over forty years - bad decision by Comcast.

3. Here’s an idea to help keep the cost of new cars down. Go back to the early fifties when directional signals were an optional item on cars. Heaven knows with texting, cell phoning, eye lining and eating breakfast, the directional signal gets used less than the spare tire these days.

4. The Washington Redskins name is as good as dead. And watch out Cleveland Indians and Atlanta Braves; you’re next in line.

5. We’re holding our breath that there may actually be a deal for the old Fenway Hotel in Dunedin. In a related note, it like every other hotel in Pinellas built in 1920 or before supposedly hosted Babe Ruth. The North has all those inns where the Father of our Country allegedly slept. We in Pinellas have all the hotels where the Bambino frolicked.

6. Didn’t say everything here would be relevant or insightful. Recent discussions among fellow idiots yielded this – all-time best TV cops? Your HB’s (humble blogger) top three – Telly Savalas’ Kojak; Peter Falk’s Colombo and Robert Stack’s Eliot Ness. And yours?

7. File away these numbers for future reference. The study commissioned by the Clearwater Marine Aquarium says a downtown facility will draw 1.2 million visitors a year (after an initial year of 1.4 million). Further, its annual cash flow will be $6,000,000 - Clearwater’s next cash cow.

8. One of the best kept restaurant secrets in these parts is Sweet Sage on North Redington Beach – a truly unique breakfast and lunch spot. And your favorite such restaurant is?

9. His music was legendary. His personal life was most often a train wreck. The insights into the music industry are superb. “Anyone Who Had a Heart” by Burt Bacharach is well worth a read.

10. Let’s try to understand this. Our region has worked so hard to rid itself of pill mills and the drug peddlers with medical licenses who operate them. But now we want to trust some of those same people to “certify” their patients need medical pot. In the words of a great American, “What could possibly go wrong?”

IN CLOSING:

Had the Braves and Yankees in the World Series until forty percent of the Braves young stud rotation became patients of Dr. James Andrews. The Bravos will still be in the hunt but we like Yanks and flip a coin between the Giants and Cards – and heads, it’s the Cards. Surprises of the year – the Miami Marlins will not finish last in their division - the Phillies could. Surprise player of the year could be Tiger third baseman Nick Castellanos. Look for fall-offs in Boston and the nation’s capital. Biggest individual bust could easily be last year’s media darling – the Dodger’s Yasiel Puig. 

TOP OF THE WEEK:
 
Congratulations to recently elected Clearwater city councilmen Bill Jonson and Hoyt Hamilton. Hamilton returns to the council after a stint in Georgia. He overcame a first-ever (for Clearwater’s non-partisan elections) four figure donation from a political party to his opponent to win convincingly. Couldn’t the Democrats have just imported someone from Lutz to run against him? Jonson held back an extremely strong challenge from Clearwater native David Allbritton winning by a mere one percent. Allbritton took on arguably the strongest of the sitting members of the council and performed well. One would hope this is not the last we will have heard from him.
 
THIS WEEK’S TEN:
 
1. Part of the closeness of the Jonson/Allbritton race has to do with a perception of Jonson as anti-development/redevelopment. It is a label that has saddled the city of Clearwater as a whole for more than a decade since it severely scaled back its forward thinking economic development team crafted by then city commissioners and now State Rep. Ed Hooper and now County Commissioner Karen Seel along with others.
 
2. A Person of Note: Professor Robert Mikos of Vanderbilt’s Law School. In a recent article concerning legalizing medical pot in Florida, Mikos made this statement, “In the legally relevant sense, it’s (a physician certifying a person for pot use) no different than a doctor recommending jogging every day.” Really professor, you actually believe that?
 
3. Every time a scary line drive injury befalls a pitcher like Aroldis Chapman, people hark back 57 years to Herb Score. Sadly, very few people under sixty know who Herb Score was. In short, the Indian’s lefthander was on the way to the Hall of Fame with a 36-19 record his first two seasons, a Rookie of the Year. After his debilitating injury in his third major league season, he became an inspiration to others in and out of sports battling adversity – not to mention a revered baseball broadcaster in Cleveland. There were few classier people in baseball than Herbert Jude Score who passed away in 2008.
 
4. The chorus continues “Save the Belleview Biltmore.” The solution is easy. Get out your checkbook or find someone who is willing to get out theirs to save the Queen. So far, no bona fide group has come forward – and for good reason.
 
5. Breaking news – Tarpon Springs police determine that no laws were violated in “Golfgate”. But some poor guy leaves his job at the city golf course because of all the headaches this tempest in a teapot created. It reminds us of the infamous “Largo 8” – a group of trailer park penny ante poker players who were busted by the Largo police department back in the early eighties. Their plight was immortalized in song by WTAN Radio’s afternoon team of Dennis Crandall and Ron Scott. Gosh folks, don’t you have more pressing matters?
 
6. Next time you complain about the traffic backup to Clearwater Beach this time of year, please remember those folks are helping pay your salary no matter what line of work you’re in.
 
7. The sitcom based on the book was a dud, but the book itself, based on twitter (whatever the hell that is) is hilarious. Pick up a copy of Justin Halpern’s “Sh*t My Dad Says”. Unless you grew up in a monastery, you will see your Dad, Grandpa, Father-in-law or quite likely yourself in this 160-page easy read.
 
8. Veteran righthander Livan Hernandez officially announced his retirement from baseball last week. He had not pitched since 2012, and his career had not been quite the same since the retirement of umpire Eric Gregg.
 
9. Analysts will go on for weeks pontificating on what sank Sink. Most are overthinking this thing. Sink lost by less than four thousand votes. Based on conversations, it’s very possible that more than four thousand people simply resented an outsider who had never lived in Pinellas County marching in here with some twisted sense of entitlement.
 
10. City councils/commissions are welcoming new members and saying goodbye to old ones this month. One departing individual is no doubt breathing a sigh of relief that they completed their term without a clear conflict of interest on their part surfacing while they held office. It would take a judge and jury to decide whether the law was violated but the spirit of the law certainly was.
 
IN CLOSING:
 
March and April are arguably the two best fishing months of the year on the west coast. With some changes this year that have done away with closed seasons, it’s even better. Right now, any charter boat can keep red grouper and members of a select group of head boats (Clearwater’s Double Eagle and Queen Fleet and Tarpon’s Gulf Star) can catch and keep red and gag grouper as well as red snapper year round. And now the kings are here in force. Enjoy!

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.

TOP OF THE WEEK:
 
Welcome all six readers to the initial edition of Tampa Bay Rants and Raves. Someday, an archived copy of this might be as valuable as the initial copy of Sports Illustrated with a youthful Eddie Matthews on the cover. Unlikely, but possible!
 
We naturally launch our maiden voyage with a political note on the eve of an important election in Pinellas County. It was barely a century ago that Pinellas (then West Hillsborough) County fought long and hard to de-annex itself from Hillsborough County. Apparently, we have not come all that far when the Democratic Party cannot find a suitable candidate for District 13’s congressional seat among the several hundred thousand people within our county boundaries but must import someone from Thonotosassa who couldn’t find Ulmerton Road without her GPS.
 
THIS WEEK’S TEN:
 
1. Don’t have the money for either project, but would sure try to save Tampa’s Jackson House rather than the Belleview Biltmore despite the number of memorable events your HB (humble blogger) attended there over a half century.
 
2. Hey St. Pete, how’s that new mayor working out? Have we figured out how we’re going to pay his gang of eight over the years?
 
3. Before the next Winter Olympics come up, could someone from Clearwater contact Michael Wilbon of ESPN’s Pardon the Interruption and tell him how to correctly pronounce the city’s sister city – Nagano?
 
4. The city of Hampton, Florida is on the brink of dissolution by the state. That’s what happens when three-quarters of a city’s revenues come from traffic tickets. Now on to Waldo, Lawtey, Inglis and Brooksville – all of whom seem to spend more time on speeding tickets and red light violations than actually running a city.
 
5. At Phillies spring games, there is a huge void this season – the seat in the scout’s section that was always occupied by Braves vice-president and former MLB manager Jim Fregosi. Most fans know of his numerous accomplishments on the field. Not as many know how much Jim gave to this community. Kudos to the Phillies for a moving tribute to Jim prior to the March 5 Braves game.
 
6. Regarding the recent tragedy on I-275 that killed five people, does anyone else wonder why some bozo is videoing the errant driver on their smart phone rather than dialing 911? It might not have made a difference but certainly shows where we have come as a people. Not pretty.
 
7. NASCAR note: You may not like the way he said it, but Richard Petty is right about Danica Patrick. We normally admire Tony Stewart, but his suggestion that there be a match race between the King and darling Danica makes as much sense as a home run hitting contest between Brian McCann and Yogi Berra.
 
8. Catholic’s lament: Why must Lent and the sale of Girl Scout cookies coincide?
 
9. Tarpon Springs Police are cracking down on golfers who might occasionally make a side bet during their weekly golf league. In an apparently unrelated note, a substantial reward has been offered in two of the several unsolved murders in the city.
 
10. Don’t you think the $2.13 an hour for tipped servers could be bumped up a bit without causing the ruination of the Florida restaurant industry?
 
IN CLOSING:
 
The city of Clearwater has its first real political race in a decade with David Allbritton facing incumbent Bill Jonson. Both bring strong credentials to the table. It’s a shame both can’t win or that Allbritton hadn’t jumped into the political arena a few years earlier when the city was getting mediocre council members because of only token or no opposition.
 
We sincerely welcome your comments on this soon to be world famous blog. Just hit add comment below. Till next week….   

A weekly look at Tampa Bay area and national politics from a conservative viewpoint – plus a helping of sports and lifestyle items. Warning: not everything printed here should be taken at face value!