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.

Slam dunk: choosing a bayfront manager

Even though there are more than a few folks who think the Clearwater bayfront should retain its natural beauty sans amphitheater; that ship has apparently sailed. Now it’s down to two competing groups to manage what we hope will be a successful venture. One group is Ruth Eckerd Hall with a 40-year track record of performing arts on McMullen Booth Road and at the downtown Capitol Theater. The second is LA-based Oak View Group who is partnering with the Vinik Sports Group which owns the Tampa Bay Lightning. Unless there is an overwhelming and compelling reason not to, Clearwater should go with the proven local partner. Yes, Vinik is right across the bay, but when they have to make a tough decision, who gets the gold - Tampa, of course. It should be the local guys and gals with a local board of directors by a slam dunk over Tampa and LA.

Great Tampa Bay, politics and stuff:

Honest, our endorsement of Ruth Eckerd Hall over the LA group has nothing to do with one of their two principals being a major player in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame – a group of misguided folks who seem to have no room for Paul Anka and Neil Sedaka. Wait, have we mentioned that before?

Breaking news: Pelosi endorses Crist in Democratic gubernatorial primary. Is that good news or bad news for the professional candidate?

Number of the Week: $115 billion - the effective loss in U.S. revenue granted by executive largesse (read Biden) that would flow into the U.S. Treasury should legitimate collection of student debts not be paused.

A rave to the USPS for staying with their gas-powered delivery trucks while rejecting an electric fleet proposal from some start-up firm, which apparently is FOB.

Suppose you won a rather substantial amount of money in Florida’s many lotteries. Your name gets plastered everywhere and 12^th cousins materialize from out of thin air. Eleven of our 45 states have privacy laws regarding lottery winners. Florida should join the crowd.

One of the most colorful people in the history of Clearwater’s waterfront passed away last week. Capt. George “Maxie” Foster first captained popular party boats like the Dixie Queen and Miss Buckeye III and later owned the Gulfstream charter boats. He was 85.

This week in 1901(4/25): New York state – who else - becomes the first state requiring auto tags – fee: one dollar.

Lighter stuff:

Energy news from the 5:05 Newsletter: As gas prices soar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez calls on Congress to print more oil.

A shocker in the media world comes with the shutdown of CNN+ after just over a month. The parent network poured big bucks into the effort, not to mention hiring superstar Chris Wallace. But new leadership is coming on board (TBR&R 3/6/22) and it was decided to abruptly pull the plug.

TV Oddity: Within two weeks of each other, the terrific character actors who portrayed the mothers of TV buddies Jerry Seinfeld (Liz Sheridan) and George Costanza (Estelle Harris) passed away. Both Ms. Sheridan and Ms. Harris were 93.

Also passing away last week at age 70 was hockey great Guy Lafleur. He had one of those names that a broadcaster loved to pronounce – it just rolled off the tongue.

Answer: Alan Alda. The question: who was the first person to win Emmys for writing, directing and acting on one show? The show, of course, was M*A*S*H.

Inside a recent birthday card: “Celebrate like cat today. Eat. Sleep. Ignore everyone who annoys you” - a good credo to live by.

Now there are just two. A couple weeks back (TBR&R 4/10/22), we mentioned only three active coaches had multiple championships in the NCAA tournament. The surprising retirement of Villanova’s Jay Wright now has that number down to two – Rick Pitino and Bill Self.

Often heard on fishing boats along the gulf coast on a slow fishing day – “You should have been here yesterday!”

Five Years Ago in TBR&R (April 30, 2017) Acting a lot like a spoiled kid that didn’t get his way, Scientologists tried to torpedo a distribution of county bed taxes to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium after the CMA refused to sell them a piece of property the city wanted. They, unsurprisingly, were unsuccessful.

Focus Group: Most beautiful man-made objects

For the month of April, we tasked our Focus Group with determining, in their eyes, the most beautiful man-made object. Our leadoff hitter opted for Rio’s Christ the Redeemer statue – which is captured so brilliantly in the opening of an otherwise ordinary movie, The Bobo. The great sculpture in the Black Hills of South Dakota, Mount Rushmore, is the choice of another of our original Focus Group members. Another of our august group chooses the moving Pieta sculpture by Michelangelo in St. Peter’s Basilica. Our northern-most member takes a slightly different tack and names “the timeless and beautiful U.S. Constitution.” The 390-year-old Taj Mahal is the choice of another of our group – with a runner-up being a more modern structure – the interior of Radio City Music Hall. Three objects come to mind for another group member - Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, Statue of Liberty - all three for their beauty but also the emotions one feels when viewing them. Finally, the Neanderthal in our group opted for either a 1957 or 2003 Ford Thunderbird, saying truly beautiful things are heaven-made, a subject we will explore in a future issue.

UP NEXT: Margaret Mitchell; License Plates; Andre and Joe West

042422/692