A weekly airing of national and local politics, sports and lifestyle items from a very politically incorrect viewpoint. As always, beware - much of what is printed here should not be taken literally.

A blessed Easter to all

Florida’s chief executive needs our support

We first saw Ron DeSantis on a baseball field as a 12-year-old, and we were impressed. He impresses us now as he deals with something no governor, senator, mayor or any other elected official saw coming. He has a lot to deal with. What he shouldn’t be dealing with is a bunch of second guessing by folks armed with a fraction of the knowledge he has at his disposal. Chief among those is Tampa’s mayor flaunting her resume of 11 months in elective office. Mayor Castor is already sounding like someone who aspires to replace Governor DeSantis – good luck with that. But between now and when qualifying begins for the next election cycle, how about you and the rest of the vast squad of Monday morning quarterbacks getting on board and supporting our state’s efforts?

Great Tampa Bay, politics and stuff:

1. In a follow up to last week’s lead piece about the very possible demise or sell off of “Florida’s Best Newspaper,” if we had a choice of a new parent company it would be Cox Media whose Atlanta Journal Constitution is, by far, the best newspaper in the south, if not the nation.

2. Headline of the Week: Jane Castor gets 78% approval rating in pandemic, outdoing DeSantis, Trump, new poll shows. Even a casual reading of the story below the headline reveals incredible playing with numbers. As the old saying goes, figures don’t lie, but liars figure.

3. Zev Buffman who oversaw the expansion of Ruth Eckerd Hall, and tirelessly pushed for the controversial Coachman Park amphitheater project, died last week at age 89.

4. Item – new area code coming for Hillsborough County as 813 combinations are virtually exhausted. Back in the mid-90s, a printing company owner conservatively estimates that the 727 area code and zip code changes on business stationary and forms put a child through college.

5. During these troubled times, thank goodness for the several special editions of the 5:05 Newsletter. From a recent edition: In his last video, Joe Biden lost his train of thought. There were no survivors.

Sports, media and other stuff:

6. XFL and the Vipers – we hardly knew ya.

7. As April 15^th approaches (though the deadline has been extended), this tax thought from the Farmer’s Almanac,“If Patrick Henry thought that taxation without representation was bad, he should see how bad it is with representation.”

8. Introduced 56 years ago this week was the Ford Mustang. Projected to sell 100,000 models the first year, it sold 400,000. The iconic car debuted at the 1964 World’s Fair.

9. You walk into a restaurant at a Princess Cruise Line resort in Fairbanks, Alaska and the last person you would expect to see at a table is baseball great Al Kaline, but there he was. The 18-time All Star passed away last week at age 85.

10. Good move by the Bucs to bring back QB Blaine Gabbert. He knows the Buc’s system and will lend a veteran presence should the unthinkable happen and Brady goes down with an injury.

Ode to a big brother

Forgive us this week as we dwell on something deeply personal - saying farewell to a brother-in-law who was never a brother-in-law, but the big brother I never had. I was about eight when I first met Joe, a guy who was hopelessly in love with my sister, nine years my senior. I remember how mature I was at age 16 (not at all) and how mature my brother-in-law to be was at that age. He was like a surrogate dad, - helping with my limited baseball skills, building me a soap box derby-type car and, worst of all, having to act as co-babysitter with my sis should one of my parents’ social activities conflict with their date night. What fun that must have been. Joe was a hard worker, fiercely independent, a superb athlete, champion skeet shooter and a great Dad, Granddad and Great Granddad. Even though we were separated by some 1300 miles, we managed to see each other at least once a year – the last time being December when the love of his life passed away. His heart was broken and now less than four months later, he will join her again. That gives some comfort to the love of my life and I who will miss him dearly.

UP NEXT: The Draft; The Stones; Wild sports ideas; Hypocrisy reigns

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