Established in 2014, Tampa Bay Rants and Raves is a weekly airing of local and national politics, sports and Tampa Bay memories from a politically incorrect viewpoint.

First thing on our mind:

Why does it seem your favorite baseball team’s arch rival plays about 120 home games each year and all of them against teams with a .350 winning percentage?

Leading off: Open letter to the Don

Hi Don: The convention is just around the corner, assuming you are free to attend. We figure you want to win. We have the answer in two words – Nikki Haley, the lady who most polls had beating Biden for the Presidency. Imagine voters comparing her to Biden’s number two. So please, for once, trash your ego (and to some degree, get her to lose hers) and reclaim the White House and free America of the aviator’s sunglasses and the hyena laugh. Your nation will thank you.

Tampa Bay, politics and notes:

Nice touch: last week’s full page ad by students, faculty and staff of the University of Tampa thanking retiring president Ron Vaughn for his 30 years of leadership.

Not so nice touch: The Democratic Party is rolling out an ad campaign targeting Donald Trump’s strength in rural areas. We assume it will go like this – “Hi, we didn’t even know you existed, but we really need your support this November.”

A tip of our cap to Pinellas School Board member Stephanie Meyer for taking the initiative to remove a controversial book from Clearwater and East Lake High Schools that should have never been there in the first place and has been pulled from other errant school libraries across the state.

More Bidenomics – that 2 liter bottle of soda you used to buy for $1.99 a few years back is now pushing four bucks.

Biz note: The Federal Trade Commission is suing to block a merger of Albertsons and Kroger claiming it would eliminate competition. The merger would have hardly any effect in the bay area where neither chain has a footprint.

Idle thought: for long time residents of the bay area, it’s been interesting to watch the ebb and flow of Ybor City. Over the years, it’s been a hot spot for unique housing and entertainment, then things slump. The area seems to be in a slump right now, but will no doubt rebound.

International news from the 5:05 Newsletter: Israel announced its complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip after learning of a protest from a 19-year-old Fine Arts major at Northwestern University.

This week in 1992, (May 22) Ed McMahon says “Here’s Johnny” for the last time as the iconic late night host along with McMahon and Doc Severinsen bid their late night audience adieu.

Sports, media and other notes:

Study in contrasts: 80-year-old Diana Ross wows a Tampa Bay audience and two days later repeats her performance in Atlanta – on the same night Anita Baker cancelled her concert six minutes before it was scheduled to start.

Two of the Bucs division rivals (Falcons and Saints) are tied for the easiest schedule (.453 opponent winning percentage) going into the 2024 season.

Trash can redux: Houston pitcher Ronel Blanco tossed and suspended after foreign substance found in his glove. Will the Astros ever learn?

Baseball fans should circle next week on their calendars as Craig Counsell makes his return to Milwaukee as the now manager of the rival Chicago Cubs.

The NBA playoffs began when – Groundhog Day? In the words of revered sportswriter Jesse Outlar, “If the NBA were in charge of World War II, Germany and Japan would still be in the running.”

Topping the charts this week in 1974 was the Ray Stevens’ novelty song The Streak. In ’64, Motown records had its first ever number one record – Mary Wells’ My Guy.

Restaurant roundup: Boston Market has shrunk from 300 to 30 units while it undergoes bankruptcy; the Denny’s on S. Missouri Ave. has been shuttered; but there is good news just up the road, the long closed Burger King adjacent to Wal-Mart is being transformed into a Chipotles.

Factoid: there is one vending machine for every 40 people in Japan.

You’ve lived in the bay area a long time if you ever visited Joyland on US 19 either as an amusement park or a country western venue.

…One last thing: Westshore Plaza

Permit us a shadow of a tear as we remember Tampa Bay’s first “high end” shopping mall – Westshore Plaza. It was just a hop, skip and a jump across the Courtney Campbell Causeway from Pinellas. Every holiday season had to include a visit to the sprawling retail center. Built in 1967, it was anchored by a three story Maas Brothers complete with their delightful Suncoast Restaurant on the third floor where you could dine while watching takeoffs and landings at nearby Tampa International Airport. The mall also contained a Robinson’s (later Dillard’s), Sears and Penney’s along with dozens of specialty stores. Now it will be razed for a mishmash of usages, none with the panache of the bay area’s first great shopping experience.

NEXT WEEK: K through 8; Prop bets; Summer Music!

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