This week our annual year in review, over three times the content at the same low price.

(Before starting, we offer apologies for the lack of an edition of TBR&R last week. Despite having all the shots and a lot of caution, the COVID bug finally got us requiring isolation in a room with no outside connectivity. A few gems from last week’s planned edition are included in this edition).

Tampa Bay, politics and stuff highlights:

(From January) Quote of the Week: “(Clearwater City Manager Jon) Jennings said he brings the advantage of a fresh face without the historical baggage that exists between the city and Scientology.” That is either the height of naiveté or hubris – neither of which bodes well for Clearwater.

We see the wondrous ads from the local gambling casino showing all those winners. The ads never mention breadwinners trying to explain to their families why they are being evicted, having their power turned off or no gas for the car because of that wonderful casino.

(From February) Surely the irony is not lost on the American public: our fearless leader vowing the crucial Nord Stream 2 Russia-to-Germany gas pipeline would be blocked if Russia “further invades” Ukraine. Meanwhile 11,000 Americans lost their jobs when Biden shut down the Keystone Pipeline, and they hadn’t invaded anything.

Is Vladimir Putin any less a war criminal than Tojo, Goring and the rest?

(From March) We have never owned a firearm in our life, but now we feel it necessary to protect ourselves from popcorn throwers. You’ve got to wonder about the state of mind of a guy like Curtis Reeves who feels it necessary to carry a firearm into a movie theater. What an outrageous miscarriage of justice.

(During March’s Supreme Court confirmation hearings) Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh probably thought he was watching a slow pitch softball game last week as compared to the thuggery he experienced three years ago.

(From April) Unlike the presidential race, it’s getting harder and harder to keep this guy and his daily gaffes in the basement and out of sight.

As we close within weeks of April 18, this nugget from the U.S. Tax Code: “If you steal property, you must report its fair market value in your income in the year you steal it unless you return it to its rightful owner in the same year.” So those of you who looted a Target or other store in 2021, it’s time to pay up.

(From May): Quote of the week, if not the year: No hard-working American without a college degree should have to pay for others' student loans Period - Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley. We would only add to Governor Haley’s comment – nor should responsible students who repaid their loans.

Our quote of the week comes from the 5:05 Newsletter: “You can’t control the drilling, shipping, storing, refining, buying, selling, trading and taxing of oil and then say you don’t control oil prices.”

(From May) The City of Clearwater is contemplating selling an asset (its natural gas utility) that adds $3 million annually to its coffers – an action that would put at least 60 people out of work. We don’t see many positives in that scenario. (Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed).

(July) The irony was not lost on us when Biden trashed the SCOTUS decision on Roe v Wade and then headed off to Germany – a country that has shared his outlook on the sanctity of life for nearly a century.

Senator Elizabeth Warren says that Joe Biden’s $300 billion student loan giveaway is “very popular”. Yes, very popular with deadbeats – not so much with responsible Americans.

(During Hurricane Ian) Somewhat frustrating (and downright scary) were FEMA chief Deanne Criswell’s comments that there has not been a serious storm on the Florida west coast in a hundred years. We would invite this New Yorker to review the results of Charlie, Jeanne and 2017’s Irma.

Gerry Callahan, host of "The Gerry Callahan Show," on the priorities of the Biden administration, "Every time I look [at] my disappearing 401K, I think, damn, we really have to do something about the name of the frigging baseball team in Atlanta.”

Idle 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.

(October) Honest, he asked this – Charlie Crist asked Ron DeSantis if he was elected, would he (DeSantis) serve a full four year term as Governor? This comes from an office-hopping politician, who recently resigned from the US House to focus on the governor’s race leaving District 13 with no representation.

Thought from a retired teacher: If I had to do it over again, I would staple Burger King applications to failed tests.

Best post-election quote, “look at the scoreboard” – Governor Ron DeSantis.

(November) Jack Smith, part of the Obama Justice Department that was probably the most corrupt in the last half-century, picked to lead the Trump probe. Gee, that should guarantee a fair outcome.

And the best of the bunch: The key to the 2024 election is going to be convincing Biden and Trump that their time has passed. That probably won’t be easy, but it certainly will be the best for our nation.

Sports, media and other stuff highlights:

(From January) Something that warms our heart: Stetson Bennett IV, currently the most famous college football player on the planet, communicates with a flip phone.

From the 5:05 Newsletter: “To all New Yorkers now moving to Florida - remember you are refugees not missionaries.”

(From February) The first week of Spring Training games have been canceled and folks who use the $10 an hour jobs during spring to supplement their income are out of luck as the players and owners decide whether a first year player should make $570,000 or $650,000 a year.

(From April) Idle thought: we all gripe about the traffic this time of year in Florida. But when you have the days we’ve had recently, who can blame half of America for wanting to be in Clearwater, FL?

(Also in April) Bruce Arians to be inducted in the Bucs’ Ring of Honor – pending a review of every email he sent since age 12.

(From June) We laugh at the hubris of our local left leaning newspaper. They are asking readers for donations so they can continue their efforts against unborn children; serve as an apologist for the hot mess we have in the White House and support anything woke.

We’re glad Tampa’s New Year’s bowl has picked up a new sponsor but you have to admit ReliaQuest Bowl doesn’t have quite the cache of Outback Bowl.

Mid-year economic news from the 5:05 Newsletter: A quart of milk, a dozen eggs, two pounds of ground beef and a gallon of chocolate ice cream costs more now than they did when you started reading this sentence.

(From the August trading deadline) In case you missed the return for Juan Soto, a member of our Focus Group supplies a partial list: the Padres’ farm system, the San Diego Chicken, Tijuana, La Jolla Beach, Sea World, the San Diego Zoo and an aircraft carrier to be named later.

(From August) Vin Scully was the voice and spirit of the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers. More so, he was the voice and spirit of baseball. The sport’s greatest broadcaster, who invited us to “pull up a chair”, died last week at age 94.

For those of you who always thought a free education, room and board were a fair trade for three years of football, welcome to the new reality of free agent college football players.

We’re sorry to see Don Mattingly relinquish his post with the Miami Marlins – simply a great baseball man as a player and manager.

(From September) Wish we had thought of this years ago – an app on your kid’s phone (which most likely you’re paying for) that locks their phone if they don’t return a call from you within an hour.

From the 5:05 Newsletter: One of the best things about baseball’s World Series is that there are no halftime shows.

Won’t it be nice to have a 3-game loser crowned national football champion? The new 12-game playoff mess allows for that to happen. And why not have the playoff games played in established bowls rather than granting home field advantages?

Holiday word of advice: it’s probably best not to sing Oh Christmas Tree around our friend TL.  

$45,523 – something we’ve tracked since our misspent days in radio. That’s the cost of the 12 Days of Christmas this year – up about 10% from 2021. That’s one time through the song – not all the repeats which takes it to just shy of $200,000.

Christmas item from the 5:05 Newsletter: The Clearwater Walmart announced it will be closed on Christmas Day so both cashiers can be home with their families.            

Fifty years ago, topping the Billboard year end chart for the third week in a row was Billy Paul’s soulful Me and Mrs. Jones followed by Gilbert O’Sullivan’s Clair and Al Green’s You Ought to be with Me. At number 4 and about to jump to number 1 was Carly Simon’s You’re So Vain.

Our last song together

(Our 2022 look back at the passing of some people who made a difference. The title of this segment was inspired by the poignant Neil Sedaka song captured so well by the late Glenn Yarbrough).

Was there ever a more admired woman in the world than Queen Elizabeth II? With a tear, we said goodbye in September to the woman who ruled Great Britain most of every living persons’ life.

Fifty years ago this week, while on a humanitarian mission to earthquake stricken Nicaragua, baseball great Roberto Clemente died in a plane crash just a few months after his last major league at bat and 3000^th hit.

(From January) Our condolences to the Crown family on the passing of Bill Crown, who headed the family’s long standing accounting practice. Bill, a community leader and a member of the Morton Plant Tree House, had just turned 80.

(Also in January) For almost half a century, he was the go to guy when your vacuum cleaner went kaput. Clearwater High grad George Valone passed away at age 77.

He captained the Fort Harrison Hotel until it was purchased by the evil empire, and then spent three decades at the stately Clearwater Beach Hotel. Wally Lee passed away in February at age 89.

(From March) For the second time this year, our community has lost a longtime accountant and civic leader. Mike Bollenback, of Bollenback and Forret, was extremely charitable with his time and treasure to several non-profits in our community.

(April) In terms of USF men’s basketball coaches, there have been Lee Rose, Seth Greenberg then everybody else. Rose, who guided the Bulls to their first post season tournaments, died at age 85.

Our community suffered another loss in April with the passing of attorney, civic leader and former Mr. Clearwater, Jerry Figurski. Jerry, who served as President of UPARC and active in numerous other civic efforts, was 77.

One of the most colorful people in the history of Clearwater’s waterfront passed away in April. 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.

Former Clearwater Sun sports writer and later a Georgia weekly publisher, Tom Manter passed away in late May. Tom, a CHS graduate and all around good guy, was 75.

Lee Thomas was part of the Clearwater scene for nearly a decade as the well-respected General Manager of the Philadelphia Phils – this following a successful career as a left handed power hitter in the majors. Lee passed away in late Augustat age 87.

If you had an unsolvable problem with your boat’s diesel engine, the man you called was John Brock, a magician with diesels. The longtime Clearwater resident passed away in September at his adoptive Andrews, NC. John was 80.

Sabine “Beanie” Korosy, the beloved matriarch of The Sandy Book Store passed away in October at the amazing age of 103.

In our life’s journey, we have met few men nicer or kinder than Dillard Nash who passed away in late October at age 90. We offer our heartfelt condolences to the Nash family.

Pinellas County suffered a loss in November with the passing of community activist Sallie Parks. Sallie served as a Pinellas County Commissioner and was very active in the arts community and one of the early stalwarts of Leadership Pinellas.

This month we were saddened by the passing of a good friend and a very familiar voice – Don Guckian. For years, Don was the PA voice of the Phillies and Threshers at both Jack Russell Stadium and BayCare Field as well as a devoted Rotarian and just a man it was a pleasure to know.

Finally, Five Rants, Five Raves

(Our year-end feature salutes five people or things for outstanding achievements and, likewise, five bozos for, well, being bozos.)

RANTS:

The Biden administration – our space is limited, so fill in as many blanks as you wish starting in reverse alphabetical order with the Ukraine.

American voters (Floridians not included) who, despite suffering incredible financial hardships, did not respond at the polls to dissemble our elitist Washington gang.

Clearwater City Manager Jon Jennings for attempting to kill the City Gas Department that spins off over $3 million a year (overturned); for trying to walk back a long standing agreement with the PSTA for a new transit center (again, overturned). Jennings has yet to learn he does not set policy, but carries it out.

Mayor Jane Castor for her incredibly flawed selection process for a new police chief, leading to a major embarrassment for the city.

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred, other than Biden, it’s hard to find a longer list of reasons, but here are three: the lockout which cost Floridians millions, T-Ball rules (see runner on second) and the yearly playing games with the dynamics of the baseball itself.

RAVES:

Was there a bigger hero on the world stage this year than Volodymyr Zelenskyy?

Governor Ron DeSantis for his steady leadership during Hurricane Ian in September.

Jon Cooper’s Lightning for three years of great hockey experiences.

We thank Tom Brady for making the Bucs relevant for a third season.

A fifth (and lifetime) Rave for the 5:05 Newsletter which provides a great deal of material and inspiration for this weekly effort.

NEXT UP: (1/1/23) 10 shaky predictions; 10 Must-Dos

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Merry Christmas!

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