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

Comey perhaps Trump’s best appointment

We join the majority of Americans in applauding the appointment of Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court. With all due respect to Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh, this is President Trump’s finest appointment of any kind during his Presidency. We admire this young woman’s tenacity in ignoring the slings and arrows thrown her way by Chuck Schumer and company. Without doubt, the most outrageous line of questioning came from the distinguished whack job from Hawaii. That would be Mazie Hirono who asked “Since you became a legal adult, have you ever made unwanted requests for sexual favors, or committed any physical or verbal harassment or assault of a sexual nature?" The Senator followed that up with, “Have you ever faced discipline or entered into a settlement related to this kind of conduct?” Showing enormous restraint, the soon to be Justice answered “No, Senator” to both questions rather than “have you ever been tested for any degree of mental acuity?” Our country is getting a very qualified legal scholar for our highest court - one without the left wing baggage of her predecessor.

Great Tampa Bay, politics and stuff:

1. Wall Street usually reacts in front of impending events. The precipitous decline of the last ten days indicates a fear of a Biden victory. Should he win, most experts expect a continued, but moderate decline. A Trump victory, they say, will produce a strong upward spike.  

2. If Joe Biden is elected President, it’s not so much him and his diminished capacity we need to worry about, but rather the people he listens to.

3. Basement Biden seems to think if he is elected, America will all join hands and sing Kumbaya. We not sure if that indicates extreme naivety or further diminished mental capacity.

4. Statistics: Florida, the third largest state in the union, is 11^th in Covid deaths. The states with the highest death rates are New Jersey, New York and Massachusetts.

5. Further statistics: Florida is the largest state in the union that doesn’t just automatically pull a lever in Presidential elections. The last time two other “Top 4” states, California and New York voted Republican was 1988 and 1984 respectively. Is it any wonder we’ve been stampeded by the candidates?

Sports, media and other stuff:

6. Spanning the globe, The 5:05 Newsletter offers this time reminder: Day Light Savings Time begins November 1. Don't forget to set your clocks back to 1861.

7. We’re not sure whether the bag over this USF alum’s head is because of our awful football team or the school’s awful decision to shut down their School of Education. Believe us, it’s the latter.

8. Here’s a name for you – Hector Headley Lopez, until this year, the only player to ever have a sacrifice bunt and a homer in the same World Series game (1961) as well as being our long-time friend and lifetime Yanks fan’s least favorite player. One historical baseball book described Lopez as the worst fielding player in the history of the game. Our friend would agree.

9. Baseball factoid – two major league clubs notched their 11,000^th win in the just completed baseball season – the Dodgers and the Cubs. The team with the most wins over their history is the Giants with just under 11,200. Most losses - that would be the Phillies with just over 11,000.

10. Disappointed yes, but you have to tip your cap to the LA Dodgers. The World Series champs had to beat the other three toughest teams in baseball (Atlanta, San Diego and the Rays) to claim their prize - no cakewalk there. They earned their seventh World Championship.

Understanding Tampa Bay baseball

Annually, or even more often, one of the local baseball writers complains they don’t understand Tampa Bay baseball fans. They specifically don’t understand why the Rays are one of the two worst draws in baseball. So, we’re going to type this real slow and maybe they will grasp the facts of Tampa Bay baseball life. It starts with Tropicana Field – unquestionably the worst baseball venue in the universe. Its horrible location was the result of a lot of political brokering that had nothing to do with the best geographical site, but who could get money in their pockets. The facility itself is a dungeon and it, along with its various workers, is not fan friendly. Next, you walk down any street in St. Pete and ask anybody over 40 “where are you from” and you get Chicago, St. Louis, Milwaukee, New York and so on. If they are baseball fans, they established those loyalties before there was a Rays team. And then there’s the elephant in the room – Atlanta. Folks who did grow up here latched on the Braves with the Superstation back in the 60s and after 30 years of Hammerin’ Hank, Dale Murphy and Chipper Jones, they didn’t change colors. (The Braves winning a lot has something to do with it as well.) Will a new stadium help? Probably not. Will the Rays continuing their winning ways help? Maybe. Would changing leagues help? We honestly think that would be the best solution as the bay area tends to attract Midwestern transplants and the Midwest is heavy with NL teams – think Cubs, Cards, Pirates, Brewers, Reds plus the Phils who have a large fan base here after training in Clearwater for over 70 years. Will any of these things happen? It remains to be seen. In the meantime, get used to continued sparse crowds in the south county dungeon.

NEXT UP: 3 Musketeers; Election Wrap; Patti, Brenda and the girls

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