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.

A chat with Governor Ron

The last time we saw Governor Ron DeSantis in person, he was a 12-year old playing against our son’s Little League All-Star team. Ron or Dee’s (as his teammates called him) team won and went on to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, but we digress. If we were honored to see him in person now, we would throw our arm around his shoulder and repeat some advice we first heard decades ago from renowned broadcaster Bruce Williams – “don’t mess with the mouse.” His attack on the Reedy Creek cutout that dates back to Governor Hayden Burns is, to put it kindly, misguided. We would remind Ron that Disney owns networks, lots of them, and if our Governor wants to run for President someday, he needs those networks, which do lean a bit to the left, to at least be neutral – or as neutral as networks are these days. We leave you Governor Ron with another bit of wisdom (not ours obviously) – “choose your battles wisely.” There’s nothing wrong with a hasty, but dignified retreat from this can of worms.

Great Tampa Bay, politics and stuff:

Factoid: During World War II, New York State eliminated the requirement of a front license plate saving some 2000 tons of steel annually. When the war ended, things went back to normal. Incredibly, 31 states still require two license plates – what a waste of precious materials.

We don’t understand the latest financial fad, crypto. But we do remember an earlier financial fad, day trading. Just as we remember our esteemed financial advisor correctly telling us there are two types of day traders – those who are broke and those who soon will be.

Acronym of the week: SWPBTSLWFR. It stands for students who paid back their student loans waiting for a refund. They, to use another acronym, are NHTB (not holding their breath).

Well worth a read is Newsmax correspondent James Rosen’s book Cheney One on One. The high point of the book is Cheney’s spot on prediction of what Putin is doing with his oil dollars – a prediction made some eight years ago.

Media news from the 5:05 Newsletter: Elon Musk is on a roll. Today he read the New York Times editorial page online, shook his head, and pressed Add to Cart. Also, due to Elon Musk,the narrative has suddenly changed; Progressives no longer brag about buying a Tesla.

This week in 1937 (5/3), Margaret Mitchell wins the Pulitzer Prize for her novel Gone with the Wind.

Sports, media and other stuff:

We are changing the name of this section back to its original title to better reflect the material below …and because we can.

Baseball Factoid, Miguel Cabrera, who became the 33^rd player to notch 3000 hits, can count only one bunt single among that total.

Another odd missing product that we hope to see back on the grocery shelves soon is Rice Krispies.

Headline from the Duke University student newspaper 42 years ago this week upon the hiring of a new basketball coach: Krzyzewski, this is not a typo.

One of our favorite signs is in front of Charlie and Millie’s Pizza House on Seminole Blvd. It reads “Free Beer Tomorrow.” The catch is the sign never changes.

Seen on a T-shirt: Instead of Build Back Better - How About Put It Back The Way You Found It.

This week marks the 100^th anniversary of the birth of versatile actor Darren McGavin. He was known for the TV series Riverboat and Kolchak as well as the cranky father in the holiday classic A Christmas Story.

We wish a Happy xxth Birthday to our baby girl, the apple of our eye, a dedicated Mom, wife and educator and a gal who knows more baseball than 95% of the guys in America.

Fun with numbers – baseball style

Baseball fans, not to mention major league players, often howl in agony when an umpire, particularly a home plate umpire misses a call. It can change a 2-1 count in the hitter’s favor to a 1-2 count – one pitch away from a punch out. There is a site that records each day’s MLB evaluation of umpires. It’s run by a bunch of college baseball geeks much like your more elderly Humble Blogger. A recent sample from last weekend showed umpire accuracy of up to almost 98 percent (97.7) by veteran ump Alan Porter – now in his 13^th season in MLB. A large majority of home plate umps were well over 90 percent. The weakest link, in the words of Jane Lynch, was, unsurprisingly, Angel Hernandez, who has somehow managed to keep his job since 1991. The reaction of Kyle Schwarber in the 9^th inning of the nationally televised Phils-Brewers game on yet another missed pitch was a classic.

UP NEXT: Winston Churchill; New word for the OED; Chicago

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