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.

Leading off: mixed results in mid-terms

In Florida, particularly the bay area, it was a rout. Double digit wins for Republicans at the top of the ballot and big wins for Congressional candidates – except for Kathy Castor’s gerrymandered District 14 where our family cat could win if she were a Democrat.

Nationwide, a different and disappointing story as the predicted sweep of both houses of Congress did not materialize. We’re not sure how the economy could further worsen to get voters more motivated. Apparently free loans trumps things like the sanctity of life. It could be a very grim couple years.

Tampa Bay, politics and stuff:

Ron DeSantis decisively wins the Florida Governor’s race. The win comes despite the best efforts of Florida’s liberal media who now should resign themselves to another term of DeSantis leading a state that, due to his leadership, is in better shape than 90 percent of the other states in our union.

Clearwater’s massive re-do of its bayfront wins by a surprising 2-1 margin.

Just wondering: why don’t we get an “I Voted” sticker with our absentee ballots?

Our friend TL and the gang volunteered our services to help count votes in Nevada. All it would cost is comped rooms, breakfast buffets and $500 in chips. We have not yet heard back.

Florida’s gas tax holiday month was a bust as virtually all of the savings were erased by an OPEC decision to cut oil production – another gift to us from the Biden administration and their incomprehensible energy policies.

From the 5:05 Newsletter: Today’s inflation fighting tip: Bring up politics at the Thanksgiving table and save hundreds of dollars on Christmas gifts.

Related question: who do you believe more –the 5:05 Newsletter or the Tampa Bay Times? Easy answer – the 5:05 only makes up about 50-60 percent of their stuff.

This week in 1959 (Nov. 16) Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The Sound of Music debuts on Broadway. It would run for 1443 performances.

Sports, media and other stuff:

As predicted here in January, Jeff Scott let go by USF. That was no surprise. What was a surprise was the extension he was granted earlier this year. USF’s AD Michael Kelly might also want to avoid any long term leases.

Local football pundits are incredibly naïve with their advice for USF to hire an up and comer and keep him here. USF ain’t Alabama folks. Anybody who is successful at USF (and that’s a stretch) won’t be here after one good season.

Asking for a friend: when was the last time TCU was in the Top 10 of college football teams? Remember Jim Swink?

Related to our Rant last week over USF dropping their radio station’s (WUSF-FM) jazz programming; we tip our cap to WMNF-FM for at least adding some jazz programming. The problem is WMNF is overly diversified and you’ll have to wade through polka, barbershop and Turkish music to find some minimal jazz programming.

A Happy 90^th Birthday this week to one of the 60s’ most popular artists – Petula Clark; gosh does that make us feel old!

Just thinking: two of the very best ‘50s songs not to reach #1 were The Diamonds’ Little Darlin’ and The Drifters’ There Goes My Baby – both stalled at #2 behind Elvis Presley songs.

Dusty Baker is invited back for 2023 as the manager of the Houston Astros. We presume the dugout guy who wakes him up during games will also be extended. And, incredibly former Ray’s front office guy James Clack who built the team is given the boot. Weird franchise.

Having moved Ji-Man Choi to the Pirates, the Rays can now seek the legit first baseman they have been lacking for the last several years. Josh Bell, perhaps?

Forty years ago, the last Checker taxi cab rolled off the assembly line. They were mostly powered by Chevrolet engines and were virtually indestructible – a good thing as the majority of them patrolled New York City streets. Today, they are a collector’s item.

…and another thing: covering the Series

Okay the 2022 MLB playoffs are over and congratulations to the Astros. Knowing that MLB heeds our every word, we respectfully ask them to give us better coverage of the playoffs. Instead of announcers who have maybe seen your favorite team 3-4 times during the season, why not have ESPN, Fox or whomever employ the regular season announcers for the participating teams? ESPN’s Karl Ravech who is the lead announcer on the network’s duller than dull broadcast team pathetically tried to make a case that guys working off Cliff Notes are better than folks who work a 162-game schedule. Who would you rather see – a guy who broadcasts games once a week or, say Dwayne Staats if you’re a Rays fan. He would have shared duties with Cleveland’s lead announcer Tom Hamilton – both these guys have over two decades covering their respective teams and would be an upgrade over any other combination in the booth. And while we’re on the subject, ESPN should look at some of the regional networks’ (like the Ray’s Bally) graphics which are much more fan friendly.

UP NEXT: Anniversary of an icon; Time debuts; Channeling UT

111322/734

Sorry, time does not permit replies to comments