Tampa Bay Raves and Rants is a weekly airing of national and local politics, sports, lifestyles and nostalgia items from a very politically incorrect viewpoint. As always, beware - much of what is printed here should not be taken literally.

The GOP, so far

Just think children, a mere three years from now your TV will be pelted with ads from the standard bearers of the Democratic and Republican parties. The Democratic ticket is too scary to think about, but there is beginning to be some clarity on the Republican side. A recent four-part series by political analyst Sarah Isgur handicapped about a dozen and a half possible candidates. She ranked Don Trump as the favorite – but keep in mind she was part of his administration and may not be all that unbiased. Following Trump in order are Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Ted Cruz, Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton, Missouri Senator Josh Hawley, Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former UN ambassador Nikki Haley, plus two longshots, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem and Fox’s Tucker Carlson. An interesting bunch of names and we would bet some fairly serious money on one of those names being the GOP nominee. Our favorite is on that list, but we’ll hold fire until the election is a bit closer.

Great Tampa Bay, politics and stuff:

Were you late for an appointment Joe? What an incredible show of disrespect.

We wish only the best for incoming Clearwater City Manager Jon Jennings and City Attorney David Margolis. As we pointed out earlier (TBR&R 6/6/21), they have some huge shoes to fill.

Idle question: at what point does the city of Clearwater stop throwing money at its downtown?

Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul becomes New York’s first female governor. The bad news – she inherits a mess. The good news - the performance bar by which she will be judged is ridiculously low.

We love the billboards the state of Ohio has purchased on California roads. Two examples – “Just a short 2350 miles to a state that’s better for your business” and “Our business climate is better (So is our traffic)”.

Second idle thought: we read a local obituary recently that trumpeted a few accomplishments and interests plus the fact she hated a certain public figure. Is hatred what you want as a legacy? Hatred of poverty, racism or war – yes, but hatred of a fellow human being? That’s a sad existence.

Sports, media and lighter stuff:

To us, it was one of the greatest lines in comedy TV. Lou to Mary: You’ve got spunk…..I hate spunk! Ed Asner, Lou Grant and so many other roles in his illustrious career, passed away last week at age 91.

Mike Richards is out at both Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune, in part, due to some unfortunate comments. Meanwhile, the search for a new Jeopardy host continues its crooked path. We sincerely hope it will not come down to who can garner the most names with online petitions as opposed to someone well qualified for the spot (See Jennings, Ken or Bialik, Mayim).

October 31 – the Bucs take on the Saints in Week 8 of the NFL season. Three days later, the seventh game of the World Series is scheduled to be played - just saying.

A sign of the times from the not so official 5:05 Newsletter: Hundreds of “sniffer dogs” are being retired as marijuana becomes legal in more and more states. Many are expected to be adopted by stoners who keep misplacing their stash.

Topping the charts fifty years ago this week was Paul McCartney’s first solo #1 song – Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey.

Happiness is – hearing from Mike Twitty (Pinellas County Appraiser) that your property value went up, but your taxes actually went down a few bucks.

Factoid: A quote long attributed to Henry Ford regarding his early cars, “You can have any color you want as long as it’s black.” Actually the first Ford Model A only came in red – a tidbit from an otherwise tedious book The Life of the Automobile by Steven Parissien.

Speaking of cars, you’ve lived in Pinellas County a long time if your license plate began with 4-W for average sized cars, just 4 for compacts and 4-WW for larger vehicles.

Here come the Rays and the Bronx Bombers

There are two teams in the American League you do not want to play right now – our Tampa Bay Rays and the New York Yankees. In August, the Rays were 21-6 and the Yankees 20-8 including 13 straight wins. The Yanks have an easier schedule down the stretch including six games with the Rays’ punching bag, the Orioles. The Rays are finished with the Orioles for the season. The local nine have three with Boston, six with Toronto and three with the Astros – and they end the season with three in the Bronx. They surely want to be four up on the Yanks when they meet in early October. The Yanks also have six with Toronto who could play spoiler to either or both teams plus three with the Red Sox. And you can’t overlook a three game set with the spiraling Mets, who would like nothing better than to spoil their cross town rivals’ season. It’s going to be an interesting month.

NEXT UP: Omega Man, Lemonade stands; Grover Cleveland

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