A new feature for 2017 honoring and stealing from Tom McEwen

Tom McEwen was the finest sports columnist to ever appear in a Tampa Bay area newspaper. The Tampa Tribune scribe did so much to further the sports environment in the bay area. One of the charming things about Tom was the way he lead off his morning column with a breakfast suggestion. It went something like this: As you enjoy a pair of extra-large eggs, soft scrambled along with three crisp strips of bacon and a glass of 100 percent Florida orange juice – at which point he would launch into his column. During 2017, we are leading off the blog each week with a dining suggestion, some homemade, but most of the dine out or bring in variety as a tribute to one of our nation’s best and our own Tom McEwen. This week’s appears below; the rest will be just under the dateline each week. Enjoy.

As mentioned above, in an obvious steal from and bow to a great journalist – the Tribune’s Tom McEwen, we are beginning each of our 2017 blogs with a dining suggestion. To kick off the new year, knowing most of us overspent during the holidays, how about a low cost breakfast at McDonalds? We find their Egg McMuffin quite enjoyable if not all that healthy.

Tampa Bay, politics and stuff:

1. As mentioned before, we agree with liberal columnist John Romano about once a year. Starting the year off right, we do concur with his opinion that Derby Lane would make the most sense for a new Rays’ stadium. Actually, it was the first choice of many in the late 80s until some backroom deals that would make a Chicago politician blush located it in south St. Pete.

2. Welcome home from Hawaii, Mr. President. Not sure why you needed a vacation when in just a couple weeks, you’ll have all the free time you want. Yippee!

3. A left wing legal think tank recently criticized Florida’s laws on felons voting. Their convoluted arguments made little sense but their report offered one scary fact – there are 1.6 million felons living in Florida – that’s one in twelve of our approximate 20 million population.

4. Did you see that commercial during the holidays with about a dozen out of work actors (man, does Loretta Swit look awful) urging electors to ignore we the people’s wishes and vote for Hollywood’s choice for President? Geez.

5. You’ve lived in Clearwater a long time if you ever dined at the Oyster Bar.

The diamond, the media and other stuff:

6. Our farewell to Wayne Rogers last week reminded us of our favorite M*A*S*H episode titled Adam’s Ribs. The show touched so many ex-GI’s who when stationed overseas, in addition to their loved ones, also pined for a certain taste of home – for us it was the legendary Italian hoagie from the Philly Hoagie Shop on Cleveland Street. The machinations of Trapper John (Rogers) and Hawkeye (Alan Alda) to get some precious Chicago ribs to Korea created one of the finest half hours in television history.

7. A thought from Dr. Don Ardell’s Ardell Wellness Report: Living a long life appeals to everyone; getting old? Not so much to anyone.

8. It’s the last week of the NFL regular season which means Black Monday is coming. One name that will be mentioned as a potential head coach after the dust has settled is Lion’s offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter. He has turned the Lions around and what a joy it would be to have the NFL’s greatest name as a head coach.

9. Recent headline in “Florida’s Best Newspaper” – Allegiant shares ValuJet blueprint. Gosh, where have we heard that before? - here over six months ago (RANTS – May 8, 2016).

10. Those of you who think “fake news” is a new phenomenon obviously are not long time readers of the 5:05 Newsletter. Here’s one of their latest pieces of breaking news: Reports say former vice president Dan Quayle may be in line for a position in the Trump Administration. I’m thinking maybe, “Spelling Zar.”

Time to get running events off Clearwater Beach

The latest foot race on Clearwater Beach may have been the last straw. As usual, the race gummed up traffic on and off the beach during the busy holiday season. Worse, this time, December 17, a confusing pattern of traffic cones resulted in a head on collision on the race course. These races bring hardly any “bed nights” to the city and overall very little economic impact unless you count perhaps a post-race energy drink or cup of coffee. The resulting traffic mess plays hob with businesses on Clearwater Beach. We’ve spent millions of taxpayer dollars on various trails throughout the county. We need to use them and avoid the stress on the singular connector to Clearwater Beach.

SNEAK PEEK AT NEXT WEEK – ONE ENCOURAGING CLEARWATER PROJECT – ONE NOT SO