Merry Christmas to all …

Take care of these major sports issues, then worry about names

Topping the list of sports issues is pro athlete thugs beating kids; very closely followed by that same bunch of thugs (mostly from the NFL) doing worse to women; right behind that is the life threatening issue of concussions, again, primarily in the NFL. While on the subject of life threatening, auto racing, particularly NASCAR has to clean up its house in that area. Sadly, the technology is there but not being implemented. Then there is doping and what it does not only to the level of competition, but to the future health of our athletes. How about corruption in sports – the FIFA being the poster child in that arena? Next let’s focus on college basketball and football and decide if we want those sports to be what they have been for over a century – a venue for student-athletes or simply a farm system for the NBA and the NFL. Add to that the question of pay for college athletes. Isn’t a free four-year education enough? Then, of course, there is that hot mess at the University of Missouri. Okay, there are a half dozen or more major problems facing amateur and pro sports. Once we solve them and about a half dozen other pressing issues, maybe we can talk about whether we want our pro teams having names like Braves, Chiefs, Indians and Redskins.

Around Tampa Bay:

1. Our official greeting appears above and below but to put it in another perspective (from the nearly world famous Gassman Law Firm sign on Court Street) – Happy Hollandaise!

2. An early Christmas present from the city of Clearwater to employees of businesses at the Clearwater Marina – an increase in the cost of parking their vehicles – a minimum of over $100 a year. Things just keep getting better at our city marina (see disclaimer above) and stand a good chance of getting worse.

3. Experts used to say the first sign of a failing shopping mall was the appearance of a video game room. Now you have to wonder about a mall that includes a tattoo parlor.

4. Lots of rumors circulating concerning a new Publix for Island Estates including one saying the new store will be multi-story. Multi-story yes, but apparently only one level of shopping (over parking) according to what most sources have revealed.

5. You’ve lived in the bay area a long time if you remember the brouhaha created by the staging of Angels in America at Ruth Eckerd Hall.

The diamond, the media and other stuff:

6. Quote of the week: From The Tampa Tribune’s ace columnist Tom Jackson on Donald Trump’s blundering answer on America’s nuclear triad – “We’ve all heard more cogent answers to less important questions from finalists in Trump-sponsored beauty pageants”.

7. Our crack sports prognosticator, Achmed Walled (pronounced wall-ED) fresh off his bullseye  World Series pick - (Royals in 5), likes Bama to beat Michigan State and Clemson to prevail over Oklahoma with the Tide rolling in the national championship game.

8. 59 days until pitchers and catchers report! That is, if you are reading this the date of publication – even less if you’re reading it later on!

9. Yet another gem borrowed from that Mad Magazine of the digital age, the 5:05 Newsletter: "When a woman asks you to guess her age, it's like deciding whether to cut the blue, red, or green wire to diffuse a bomb."

10. NBC, MSNBC and NBC whatever else have announced a merged effort with Politifact – a marriage made in the far left corner of heaven.

And the countdown continues (with an apology to Casey Kasem)

We’re doing something a bit different next week, so this week we conclude with the top three songs of the week as we said goodbye to 1965 fifty years ago. They were The Dave Clark Five’s Over and Over – their only #1 record. Following the DC 5 were the Byrd’s Turn, Turn, Turn (just down from number one) and Simon and Garfunkel’s breakout hit – The Sounds of Silence (about to ascend to number one the first week of 1966).

… and to all a good night!