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: Tucker – 5 things we didn’t know

Although we watched him frequently over the years, we must admit there was a lot we didn’t know about former Fox superstar Tucker Carlson – until we read Chadwick Moore’s 2023 best seller Tucker. First, he once had a show on PBS. You could have told us he once wrote for Pravda or the St. Pete Times and we would not have been any less surprised. Speaking of writing, his Dad, Dick Carlson, was an award winning TV journalist in southern California. And speaking of TV, Tucker and his wife don’t own one. Tucker is a college dropout as is Susie, his wife of 32 years. They both dropped out in their senior years and got married – seemed to have worked out. He was a one and done contestant on Dancing with the Stars in 2006. We said five things we didn’t know – actually there were probably five times five, including his admiration for Rachel Maddow, another writing for Pravda moment. Tucker is a fascinating read, well worth your time.

Tampa Bay, politics and notes:

We send our heartfelt prayers to the Kuhlman family whose son Nathaniel was killed in a freak skiing accident on his honeymoon in St. Lucia.

Related to our lead article - Tucker Carlson remains on the payroll of Fox as it becomes more and more apparent that removing him from the air was a condition when Fox settled with the litigious Dominion voting machine company.

Good start to moving the county government headquarters out of Clearwater – paying 20% more than what appraisal experts say the land is worth and three times what it sold for seven years ago - your tax dollars in action.

Borrowed from Bob Batlan, our friend of over seventy years, “One day I would like to turn on the news and hear, there is peace on Earth.”

Economist Steve Moore compares EVs to the Edsel, Ford’s 1950s “car of the future.” In both cases, Moore says, “nobody bothered to ask consumers whether they wanted the car.”

Is your body clock screwed up again? Thank your U.S. Representative.

Word is that MLB is all behind the Rays’ new stadium plan. Fact is Rob Manfred and his merry crew are anxious to put the Oakland and Tampa Bay mess behind them, so they can move on to expansion. MLB would approve a Quonset hut for the Rays if it would hasten expansion.

The head of Century 21’s mortgage division says if you have a mortgage in the 3-4 area, embrace it. Mike Miedler says the seven percent plus mortgage is going to be around for awhile.

Born 100 years ago this week (11/18) was America’s first man in space, Alan Shepard.

Sports, media and other notes:

The great debate this time of year is white bread or cornbread stuffing? Mom did the former, but we up and married a Southern girl and that was that. And please, don’t even talk about putting seafood in stuffing.

Let us understand this: Georgia beats the 12^th ranked team in the country and remains #2 in the playoff rankings behind an Ohio State team whose most recent victory came against a team ranked forty-something.

We absolutely don’t understand the NCAA (and we’re not alone). Some arcane rule prohibits James Madison University from bowl consideration despite a 9-0 record. So instead of seeing a 9 win (or better) team in a major bowl, we’ll see some 6-6 stiffs rather than a really solid program.

No respect – despite winning the World Series, the Rangers are only fourth ranked by Vegas to win the 2024 Fall Classic behind the Braves, Dodgers and Astros. Side bar – of the five teams yet to cash in November, our Rays are ranked most likely to win it all.

As we enter the holiday season, shopping news from the 5:05 Newsletter: Starting next month, Wal-Mart will require customers to unload arriving semi-trucks and restock the shelves before selecting items they want to purchase. They can then proceed to the self-checkout station.

You’ve lived in Clearwater a long time if you ever filled up at one of its many Gulf stations. A buyout moved Gulf out of Florida in the early ‘80s, while you can still find the orange and blue disc in some northern states and the UK.

One last thing: A trial we wanted to see

Major League baseball was being sued by two former minor league teams, one each in New York and Connecticut over their loss of affiliation with MLB in 2021. It was part of a move by the majors to drop their affiliates from 160 to 120, in effect robbing 40 smaller communities of organized ball. All but two went pretty much quietly into the night but Albany’s Tri-City Valley Cats and the Norwich Sea Unicorns sued MLB for over $30 million. Some observers said this could have ended up at The Supreme Court and, more importantly, impact the major’s long standing anti-trust exemption. But MLB settled just before the trial date, no doubt for a lot of cash, so it could continue making even more money outside the monopoly rules that govern other businesses.

UP NEXT: Giving from the heart; Lego; Thinning the herd

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