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.

Messing with another piece of Americana

It had to happen – Frito-Lay, a very politically correct company, has introduced Cracker Jill – same stuff as the century old Cracker Jack. The company, which has consistently supported liberal causes, also wants to change the words to the 114-year-old Take Me Out to the Ballgame subbing Cracker Jill for Cracker Jack and further scrambling the words to “no one can stop you if you have the will” replacing the “I don’t care if I ever get back.” The late, great Harry Caray is rolling over in his grave. But hey, there are still Cape Cod, Golden Flake, Pringles, Utz, Wise and a bunch of really good store brands available.

Tampa Bay, politics and stuff:

A Rave to the Clearwater City Council (specifically Mayor Frank Hibbard and Council members David Allbritton and Lena Teixeria) for their selection of Ruth Eckerd Hall to operate the new entertainment venue on Clearwater’s Bayfront (see TBR&R 4/24/22).

The Roe v Wade palaver just gets crazier by the day. This past week, such whack jobs as Eric Holder and the two Joys in everybody’s life, Behar and Reid suggest getting rid of Roe v Wade would do everything from the overturn of Brown v Board of Education, interracial marriage, women’s right to vote and the return of segregation. Wow.

Meanwhile Catholics who actually practice their faith across the country (and the globe) are praising Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone’s denial of communion to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The speaker, Mr. Biden and others are learning it’s hard to support a radical left wing agenda against the sanctity of life while claiming to be a Catholic.

Number of the week: 1 – the original phone number for the White House when its phone was installed in 1845. Today it is 202-456-1111 if you are not pleased with the service you’re receiving for your dollars.

Six buck Joe: JP Morgan reports gas prices could hit six dollars a gallon this summer. With prices like that, you might as well live in California. Not really, for so many reasons.

And this absolute gem from the editorial department of the 5:05 Newsletter: As I was filling up with gas this morning I noticed the guy next to me on Pump 3 bought $10.00 worth. Where the hell is he going? To Pump 4?

Tampa Mayor Jane Castor’s botched job is now complete as Tampa loses assistant chief Butch Delgado to the private sector. Castor’s decision to pass over the obvious choice for chief made Delgado’s position with the department untenable.

Walmart reports lower first quarter earnings. Those of us who rather be shot than shop there are crying crocodile tears.

This week in 1961 (5/30) legendary driver A.J. Foyt gets the first of his four Indy 500 wins.

Sports, media and other stuff:

We salute Kelly Ring on an incredible career – 37 years at Channel 13. Next to her grace on the air, what we enjoyed most were the retrospectives over the last weeks showing her career highlights – as well as the many hairdos of Kelly Ring over the past 37 years!

And yes we know, there are some embarrassing photos out there with long hair and an electric blue tuxedo when one of our radio stations kicked off its disco format.

Five Years Ago in TBR&R (May 28, 2017) Tampa and Raymond James Stadium are awarded a Super Bowl in 2021. The folks at Raymond James have proved over and over again they are up to the task. This led to the first time ever one of the Super Bowl participants was playing on their home field. It worked out well.

Josh Donaldson, meet Curt Schilling.

Idle thought: It’s amazing how much we learn from reading out of town newspapers.

Factoid: St. Pete’s Derby Lane closed at the end of 2020. This month, another dog racing operation will close in Dubuque, Iowa after 37 seasons and by year’s end, there will be only two dog racing operations in the nation – both in West Virginia.

You’ve lived in Clearwater a long time if you remember when the University Park neighborhood off Belcher Road (Campus, College, University and Academy Drives) was a large gladiola farm.

The Americans we admired most

On this patriotic weekend, we asked our TBR&R Focus Group to name the Americans who lived during their lifetime they admired most. Our lead-off hitter named the late civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Our next respondent was a longtime admirer of the Great Communicator and 40^th U.S. President Ronald Reagan. Another focus group member also gave a nod to President Reagan along with the national spiritual leader Rev. Billy Graham. The famed theoretical physicist Albert Einstein who immigrated to the U.S. in 1933 and became a citizen in 1940 was the choice of one of our charter Focus Group members. Another of our group mentioned President George W. Bush who guided our nation through a very troubled time. The first American in space, Alan Shepherd, and the man responsible for the polio vaccine, Jonas Salk, were acknowledged by another of our Focus Group members. We thank our members for some great names of some great people.

UP NEXT: Hires root beer, Greg Maddux; A winning platform

This week we bow our heads in thanks

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