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.

(Editor’s note – With each edition in 2022, we will lead off our blog with a significant event in history for that week.)

Looking back at this week (1920): an epoch in New York baseball history when the Red Sox sold Babe Ruth to the then downtrodden Yanks for $125,000 – less than $5000 per World Championship (27).

10 not all that credible 2022 predictions

A new year and some thoughts on what it will bring: (1) The Supreme Court unfortunately stops short of overturning Roe vs. Wade. (2) The GOP will retake both houses of Congress in the midterms. (3) House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi will announce that 2022-4 is her last term. (4) Ron DeSantis will be re-elected Governor. (5) Charlie Crist will announce his candidacy for something, gosh knows what. (6) David Allbritton and Lina Teixeria will win Clearwater’s March elections. (7) Biden’s ratings will not sink any lower – how could they? (8) Gas prices will continue to hover in the mid three dollar range. (9) Billy Napier’s first year at UF will be about the same as Dan Mullen’s last year – around .500, while USF will have another two-three win season – and another coaching change. (10) The Rays will have another nice season but will fall short of the World Series and then concentrate on their plan to play a split season between Tampa Bay and New Zealand.

Great Tampa Bay, politics and stuff:

We lead off the New Year with this resolution: To all my doctors, yes, I am trying to lose weight, but like the folks at the 5:05 Newsletter,“I don`t want to get caught up in one of those ‘Eat right and exercise’ scams.”

More on this weight loss thing, we find that a New Year’s resolution is easier to keep if you get a running start in October.

Are we the only ones who are nervous about talks between Scientology’s David Miscavige and Clearwater’s new city manager who blew into town about six weeks ago?

My, but political parties dislike members who think for themselves and their constituents – see Manchin, Joe.

Quote of the week: “It’s between do you want to stop slightly higher prices or do you want a slower economy?” - Boston College economist Aleksandar Tomic. We’re not so sure Americans characterize the current increased cost of goods and services as “slightly higher.”

Lighter stuff:

Just days short of her 100^th birthday, we say goodbye to everyone’s favorite actress, Betty White.

When a legend (Tom Brady) calls someone else (John Madden) a legend, no more need be said. The former coach and broadcaster died last week at age 85.

Notable shortages during the holiday weeks – Gatorade, Publix’ yummy Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream and pet food – a shortage that could stretch out for as much as year according to some experts in the pet food industry.

An addendum to our new “This Week in History” feature, it was 48 years ago this week that the Steinbrenner family bought the Yankees for $10 million. The franchise is now estimated to be worth $5.25 billion.

A further thought on our tongue in cheek comment on the Rays’ split season plan: Major League Baseball Trade Rumors’ Anthony Franco thinks MLB owners will sign off on the plan with the proviso “as long as Sternberg can demonstrate it's economically viable”. That’s a big if.

By the end of this week, there will have been 43 bowl games played. That’s about 33 too many.

Recently (TBR&R 12/19/21) we reported on the ineptitude of New York’s two football teams (Giants and Jets) prompting this reply from a member of our focus group: “Jersey Boys haven’t made a good play since Frankie Valli.” He hastens to point out the only team that actually plays their games in the state of New York has a winning record.

We tip our cap to Hobby Lobby for their beautiful print ad Christmas week.

Also a nod to Audi for erasing a Wheel of Fortune technicality and awarding a car to a contestant who got the right answer but paused too long in the eyes of Wheel of Fortune curmudgeons. It seems The Wheel is getting more uptight with their rules while Jeopardy is getting looser in the post-Trebek era.

Behind the curtain at the White House

We did a quick sketch of Ronald Kessler’s First Family Detail before the holidays (TBR&R 12/19/21). Kessler, a veteran of The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal, through painstaking research and interviews with dozens of Secret Service Agents, paints a picture of the protectees as they are known and the agency that protects them. Some revealings are not startling – Bill Clinton was a womanizer before, during and after the White House. His wife was considered the worst assignment you could have, being nasty to every agent who protected her. Jerry Ford was cheap, always asking agents to buy him a newspaper and tipping caddies a buck at swanky golf courses. Lyndon Johnson was described as a stumble bum, the guy who was always falling down rather than Ford. Jimmy Carter was not that aw-shucks peanut farmer but a sullen man who would never speak to agents. And he made a big deal of carrying his own luggage on to Air Force One. The bag he carried was empty. The best assignments were both Bush families although 43’s kids gave the agents a run for their money. The Obamas and the Reagans were both extremely considerate of their agents, often staying at the White House during Christmas so the people protecting them could be close to their families. And the biggest waste of taxpayer money was Vice President Joe Biden’s insistence that he fly home every weekend on Air Force One, sometimes even flying back on Saturday so he could play golf with President Obama – and then flying back home to Delaware that afternoon. The Secret Service figure for just Biden’s first term as VP was $1 million in taxpayer dollars for those weekend commutes. These are just appetizers from the 250 pages of this well written book. It is well worth a read for more looks behind the curtain at The White House – and The Secret Service.

UP NEXT: iPhone; This year’s HOF; Low expectations

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