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.

Saturday savings for the USPS

‘Tis the season with cards and parcels going from coast to coast. We stop and ask you if it is a big deal if Aunt Sally’s card arrives on Monday rather than Saturday? Probably not; which leads us to our premise – do we really need Saturday mail delivery anymore? Nowadays, we pay most of our bills on line, send birthday wishes via Facebook and when was the last time you sent a postcard while on vacation? Depending on who you ask, eliminating Saturday mail to homes and businesses would save between $2-3 billion a year and would do a great deal at chipping away some, but not all, of the USPS deficit – estimated at some $7 billion annually. It is a very painless start to getting the USPS on an even keel.

Great Tampa Bay, politics and stuff:

Bob Dole who died last week at age 98 was a World War II hero, Presidential candidate and a Senator known for his ability to reach across the aisle to get worthwhile legislation passed. Today’s congressmen would do well to emulate him.

Seeing the new crop of astronauts announced last week reminds us that two of our previous astronauts came from the high school at the corner of Gulf-to-Bay and Hercules Avenue – quite an accomplishment.

With all this hoopla and petitions over who is going to control gambling in Florida; could we get a petition started to simply get rid of this cancer in our state?

Newly elected Mayor Ken Welch is going to have to develop a thicker skin if he is to govern a united St. Petersburg. His early actions of snubbing the longstanding Mayoral Ball and his criticism of the YMCA’s Community Prayer Breakfast did not reflect well on the soon to be Mayor.

Enjoy! We begin our first full week without every ex-jock pitching some Medicare plan on our TV screens!

Last week (TBR&R 12/5/21) we noted the closing of the last Biff Burger. Another once prominent chain that is rapidly shrinking is Checkers, now with less than a dozen locations in Pinellas County.

Sports, media and lighter stuff:

A question posed by the intriguing mind behind the 5:05 Newsletter: “Is it a bad sign when Santa Claus unfriends you on Facebook? Asking for a friend.”

Al Unser, Sr., a member of a great racing family and four-time winner of the Indianapolis 500 passed away last week at age 82. His brother Bobby and son Al Jr. also were winners at Indy.

Idle thought – it sure is more fun watching the Bucs with Tom Brady as their quarterback.

You’ve lived in the Bay Area (or anywhere else) for a long time if you remember when the Detroit Lions were a good team – mainly in the Fifties with Bobby Layne, Doak Walker, Leon Hart and Joe Schmidt winning three NFL championships in that decade. The Lions won their first game of 2021 last week.

This week marks the 100^th anniversary of the birth of Allen Freed – the man who coined the term “rock and roll.” Freed was an Ohio DJ who later moved to the bright lights of New York and even did a short stint at Miami’s most popular rock and roll station WQAM.

We’ve already recorded a few one-liners about the holiday season on these pages, but we were taken by an Advent piece written by Pam Kidd, a long time contributor to Daily Guideposts. It goes like this: “We hope to recognize Him in the eyes of those we meet – the weary salesperson, the harried mailman, and the rushing shoppers.” And if we may add one, the hardest of all, - the driver beeping his /her horn because you are not merging, traveling or turning fast enough to suit them in their holiday scurrying.

The leading groups of the 1980s

The 1950s, 60s and 70s had dynamic groups like the Beatles, the Beach Boys, Four Seasons and the Platters, but some new names and faces took over in the 80s beginning with the biggest duo of all time – Hall and Oates who had five number one singles in the 80s plus Rich Girl in the 70s. Joining Darryl and John as the top groups of the decade were Kool and the Gang, Huey Lewis and the News (Stuck With You), Journey, Duran Duran (A View to a Kill), The Pointer Sisters, Chicago, Jefferson Starship (We Built This City), Bon Jovi and the recent visitors to Ruth Eckerd Hall, Air Supply. Early in 2022, we will detail the biggest acts overall throughout the rock n’ roll years.

UP NEXT: More classic toys; First Family Detail; Jeep warranties

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