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

Three years to go, Demos’ frustration mounts

With three years to go in the Biden occupation of the White House, it’s becoming painfully obvious that someone else will be holding the lease after 2024. For one thing, the guy will be 82 years old. More importantly, his first year in office has been a train wreck with inflation, unprecedented border problems and the general malaise of the country pushing his approval rating to historic lows. High profile Democrats would like him to bow to the obvious and announce he will not be running for reelection in 2024. Granted, the lineup of potential successors is weak with names like Buttigieg, Harris and Warren along with longshots like Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama. Potential candidates are straining at the leash, not wanting to have to put organizations together at the 11^th hour. Biden insists he will run in 2024; too many factors say he won’t and he needs to step aside gracefully and with some dispatch.

Great Tampa Bay, politics and stuff:

Budget news from the 5:05 Newsletter: “The Biden Administration is proposing a fiscal 2022 record federal budget of $6 trillion, to be raised by what the White House describes as “an exciting new partnership with Herbalife.”

Are we the only ones offended by the Suncoast Tiger Bay Club not including Clearwater Mayor Frank Hibbard in its recent mayoral summit? Granted, the bay area’s third largest city has a smaller population than Tampa or St. Pete, but it is a giant in terms of revenues generated for the bay area and the state.

Economic news: while the Midwest is suffering most from inflation (MSAs up as high as 21% in the Dakotas and Iowa). Tampa Bay is one of the highest in the east at over 8 percent.

With the recent scandals involving insider investments by the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, we find it beyond belief that the governors aren’t required to put their portfolios in a blind trust.

Florida needs to continue with confidential searches for its university presidents, despite some ivory tower calls for openness. It simply comes down to the fact that the majority of states do not have open search requirements. So, if you’re a currently employed, highly qualified candidate with the option of applying confidentially for a new job or in states with open records – where are you not going to apply? Our universities deserve the deepest pool of qualified candidates available.

THIS WEEK IN 1935: THE BOARD GAME MONOPOLY DEBUTS - SALES SINCE 1935 TOTAL 250 MILLION COPIES.

Lighter stuff:

Washington Commanders – not great, but not as lame as other suggestions or the Washington Football Team name they were stuck with for a year and a half.

If you read this drivel regularly, you knew this was coming. The latest nominees for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame are revealed. Again, no Paul Anka or Neil Sedaka but “transcendent groups” like A Tribe Called Quest, Rage against the Machine and New York Dolls are nominated

Clearwater’s Dean Young’s Blondie comic strip reminded us recently of another American term from the 1900s that is fast fading from our lexicon – “sounding like a broken record.”

Super Bowl Factoid: The first Super Bowl which was also played in Los Angeles was blacked out within a 75-mile radius of LA. Despite the blackout, the stadium was only two-thirds full as the Packers beat the Chiefs. Top ticket price was $12.00.

Idle thought: Candy bars we ate as kids we hardly see anymore – Baby Ruth; Clark Bar; Mars Bar; Oh Henry and Zagnut.

Speaking of sweet things, we annually whine about Girl Scout Cookie sales and Lent coinciding. However, in 2022, sales start this week and Lent doesn’t start for another month – Ash Wednesday, March 2.

If you managed a radio station in the 70s you, at one time or another, had a Dr. Johnny Fever working for you – always pushing the envelope. Howard Hesseman, who died last week at 81, played the role of a wayward disc jockey to a tee on WKRP in Cincinnati.

Watching three GOATS

None of us are old enough to have watched baseball’s greatest player, Babe Ruth. We can argue about who was the NBA’s best - LeBron, MJ or perhaps Magic. But we’re pretty sure we are now witnessing two coaches and one player who will go down as the greatest of all time. One of those is right in our own backyard – Tom Brady. His multiple NFL championships with two different teams say it all. College football fans are also witnessing the greatest coach of all time at Alabama. Nick Saban is without peer in this generation or any other – again a national championship winner at two different schools. Although he never won a championship at Army, Mike Krzyzewski has won five at Duke and more games than other Division I college basketball coach in history along with coaching the USA National team to a 75-1 record during his years as their head coach. Krzyzewski retires this year, Brady as well and Saban still going strong. But we as sports fans have been privileged to witness three of the greatest during our lifetimes.

NEXT UP: Freezing Florida; Taking stock; Surgery at Sears

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