One year to go in our national nightmare

One year from this week, one of history’s worst U.S. Presidents will leave office. He will leave behind an incredibly horrific record in international policy and, depending on your viewpoint, something not much better on the domestic front. Even his most liberal backers in the media have quietly stepped aside from this wounded executive when it comes to his mishandling of the Mid-East and world policy in general. As we move forward this year, the overriding question is who can we, the American electorate, turn to who will right the ship? Stay tuned.

Around Tampa Bay:

1. Last September (RANTS – September 6) we reported that Las Vegas odds favored a Clinton-Bush presidential race. To show how far our former governor has fallen, he now is ranked below Bernie Sanders in the odds to make the White House.

2. The city of Tampa, another city with a left-leaning mayor, is going to join St. Pete in exploring all but decriminalizing marijuana possession. Tampa is looking at a $70 fine for pot possession – slightly less than a third of the fine for running a stop light.

3. Former Buc’s coach Jon Gruden (their last coach to leave with a winning record) reportedly has been mentioned for a couple NFL jobs including the Eagles - a marriage that makes no sense. If Coach Gruden wants to return to the sidelines, we wish him well but hope that he will stay in the broadcast booth where he is arguably the game’s best analyst.

4. Heard from more than a few Vietnam War vets when they learn they get a military discount at one of Clearwater Beach’s deep sea fishing operations, “I’m just happy not to get spit on”.

5. You’ve lived in Tampa Bay for a long time if you remember the Rockers beautiful Would I Still Be Loving You – one of few records to have the distinction of hitting number one on a radio station survey (WALT in 1961) but never cracking the Top 100 nationally. Even better for you if you own a decent copy of the record (Warwick 653) – worth about 50 to 100 bucks nowadays.

The diamond, the media and other stuff:

6. In a related note to #5 above, the Rockers, based in Tampa, recorded the record under the name of The Tides as another group also recording on a national label was already using the name Rockers.

7. And related to our lead item, should Hillary Clinton find herself in the White House, do you think there will be a spot in her administration for her de facto press secretary – NBC’s Andrea Mitchell?

8. The Tampa Trib’s Martin Fennelly opines that in hiring Dirk Koetter the Bucs have made the final step in joining former defensive powerhouses like the Steelers in becoming mostly offensive minded. Fine, but you can’t always outscore the other team, so the folks at One Buc Place had best bring in a strong defensive coordinator (and they did just before “press time” in Mike Smith – excellent hire).

9. Don’t know why we haven’t recommended this site before, but if you are anything more than a casual baseball fan, MLB Rumors is a must read – particularly during the Winter Meetings, cut time in spring training and at the July 31 trade deadline.

10. Our Rants and Raves focus group (comprised of three old, cranky people) says just for the heck of it, let’s pass a law that declares that every 5^th person convicted of a white collar crime gets a minimum one year jail term with no appeals permitted. (Margin of error 50 per cent or so).

Yankees, Royals new trendsetters in pitching

The stunning trade of Aroldis Chapman to the New York Yankees a few weeks back continues a new paradigm in constructing a pitching staff – back to front rather than front to back. The Yankees like the Royals now have a shutdown bullpen from the seventh inning on with Chapman, Andrew Miller and Dellin Betances. The trio mirrors the World Champs’ Wade Davis, Greg Holland and Kelvin Herrara. The concept is not completely new – the 1979 World Champion Pirates had the three-headed monster of Al Jackson, Enrique Romo and Kent Tekulve and more recently the Braves made games six inning affairs with Eric O’Flaherty, Jonny Venters and Craig Kimbrel. With starters producing fewer and fewer innings each year, the Yankee-Royals model seems to be the wave of the future.