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: But do they pay your claims?

Years ago, we had a very wise friend, Preston Packard. Preston spent years in the insurance business and offered this advice which we have never forgotten, “The sole measure of an insurance company is how they pay their claims.” Preston’s words came back to us these past weeks as we have been subjected to endless slick, and not so slick ads, for Medicare. Many come from some companies whom we have never heard of (and one which we wish we had never heard of). They promise the world, but do they pay your claims in a straightforward way – or do you have to be wrung through the wringer to get paid – or worse, not paid? Our late friend’s advice would be if you have a company that’s paid your claims (Medicare or any type claim), stick with it, don’t change plans for nickels – it’s the dollars that count.

Tampa Bay, politics and notes:

Pro-life advocates won a major victory in the Georgia courts last week and next week need to head off a treacherous Ohio ballot initiative that would make unborn children the victims of abortionists up to the minute they are born. Yes, we said Ohio, not Germany.

Are we the only one who gets more nervous the more we hear about the Rays’ stadium proposal?

“Smokin’ hot” is how Toyota’s head of American sales describes the market for hybrid vehicles. Sales trends seem to indicate that Toyota’s hesitance to enter the EV market was well played.

Is there any more useless organization than the UN? Other, of course, than the US House of Representatives.

Idle thought: As Biden and company tout our nation’s economy, you have to wonder when was the last time they bought groceries, filled up their tank or paid an insurance premium.

Second idle thought (had a lot of time on our hands this week): The only thing more embarrassing than Joe Biden is his press secretary.

Waffle House employees are seeking raises to $25 per hour. Does that mean the level of service will jump by that much?

It’s just 68 days until you can buy Girl Scout cookies. The bad news: inflation has caught up with the girls in green and the cost of a box is now up to six bucks.

Seen on a bumper sticker, “I am everything liberals hate.”

This week in 1987 (Nov. 4) The NBA comes to Florida with the announcement of franchises for Miami in 1988 and Orlando in 1989. Two years to the day, the Magic play their home opener.

Sports, media and other notes:

The readers of one major daily newspaper already have their choice winning the World Series. As the playoffs dwindled down to a final four, they were polled as to their choice to win the series, the Astros, Diamondbacks, Phils or Rangers. But the editors slipped in one more option – “anybody but the Phillies.” It won overwhelmingly.

Sidebar: Entering the World Series, this year’s playoff home team is 14-22.

Was there ever an uglier football game than last week’s Bucs-Falcon’s contest? It should be forever branded as the Inept Bowl. Thursday’s game wasn’t much prettier.

NFL News from the 5:05 Newsletter: Super Bowl LVIII To Be Played At Intermission of Taylor Swift Concert.

Tops at the box office fifty years ago this month – Paper Moon with Ryan and Tatum O’Neal with Tatum becoming the youngest actress to win an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Finally, we still think Halloween should be on the last Friday of October, so our kids don’t show up at school the next day, dead tired or all sugared up.

…and another thing: a conference to admire

While football conferences from coast to coast play musical chairs, there is one conference that has remained stable for nearly 70 years – the Ivy League. The same eight schools, from Brown to Yale, who formed the conference in 1956, continue to play each year and play every conference member along with three non-conference games, usually against other schools with high academic standards like Colgate, Holy Cross and Rhode Island. There are no athletic scholarships and virtually all the players are four-year athletes. In other words, the way college football was supposed to be played. There was talk of another very academically-oriented school joining them – Stanford which was cast adrift by the implosion of the Pac 10, but that would have stressed the compact travel model of the Ivy League. So it will be the original eight again playing Chip Hilton-style football. It makes us want to watch a game or two this season.

NEXT WEEK: Free agents; Tampa, one way; An amazing 66 years

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