Established in 2014 and published every Sunday, Tampa Bay Rants and Raves is a weekly airing of local and national news, sports and historical notes from a politically incorrect viewpoint.

First thing on our mind:

What a crazy election. Presidential candidates showing up where they customarily aren’t seen – Trump in a McDonald’s and Harris in a church.

Leading off: Bob, George, Taylor and the rest

We were watching an interview with long time journalist Bob Woodward last week. He’s on the circuit pushing a new book. Woodward defines policy wonk. He’s all over the Ukraine and the Middle East. But when questioned about economic issues, he just blew off his interviewer. Woodward doesn’t care about the economy because he’s a rich man and doesn’t have to worry about the prices of bread, gas and electric. The same holds true with Taylor Swift, George Clooney and dozens of other celebs who fall in with Kamala Harris. They simply don’t understand what the average American is struggling with – and we’re not really sure they or Harris care.

Tampa Bay, politics and notes:

We and our Saintly Wife note the passing of the man who was our first family doctor, Dr. William P. Williams. The skilled and caring physician was 92.

Many of us have our mail in ballots and might have trouble on some down ballot issues. If you’re not a political nerd, a tried and true method on those issues is to read The Times recommendations and vote the opposite way.

Related; the liberal LA Times and Washington Post refuse to endorse a presidential candidate - a huge blow to the Harris campaign.

Biden/Harris “nomics” – housing sales are at a 14-year low. And Kamala’s buddies in the executive suite of Disney raise the theme park’s admission fees even further beyond the means of the average American family.

And what do the French know that we don’t know? A wealthy French citizen has wagered $46 million on a Trump victory next week.

We don’t care what everybody says, Secretary Blinken. There are a few people who think you’re doing a good job!

Have you noticed when you order stuff on line in addition to inflated shipping charges, there are often handling fees or shipping warranties – we don’t even know what the latter is except another dip into your wallet.

Ten years ago this week in TBRR (and “borrowed” from the 5:05 Newsletter): Ben Bradlee, dead at 93 - He was preceded in death by journalism.

Sports, media and other notes:

More recently “borrowed” from the 5:05 Newsletter: Congress passed a short-term spending bill that will fund the federal government until after the November election. The bill averts a shutdown, keeping 364,000 bureaucrats in Washington from having to find work as cable news correspondents.

A major loss on the local sports scene – the unexpected death of USF head basketball coach Amir Abdur-Rahim at age 43 due to complications during a medical procedure. His first year at USF was beyond promising.

Possibly the most charismatic player of the 1980s, Dodger lefty Fernando Valenzuela passed away last week at age 63.

Please quit whining about a World Series between two big spending teams. Last year, it was very mid-level teams (Texas and Arizona). The baseball gods pick and choose every year.

Related: Seeing that memorable photo from the 1955 World Series again, Jackie Robinson was still out at home plate.

We know it would take a little planning, but an alternating schedule of Rays games in Clearwater, Dunedin and Tampa would make the most sense until the Trop can be repaired.

Factoid: There have been 350 head coaches in NBA history and the Spurs’ Greg Popovich has coached against nearly half (170) of them. He will face three more for the first time this season.

In the quirky Athletic 134, Miami moves up to #4. UF is up to 46. The others: UCF (67); FSU (94); USF (96) and FAU and FIU still joined together at 112-13. One Division I team remains winless - Kent State.

Idle thought: It seems every time you open the fridge, you notice another food item still missing from your post-Milton restock.

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One last thing: give us the best broadcasters

“No national announcer, me included, will ever be as knowledgeable and tuned into the culture of a team as the local announcer. To call your team in the biggest moments is something we all desire.” Those are the words of Brian Anderson, the long time voice of the Milwaukee Brewers. Anderson, the Braves’ Brandon Guadin, the Yanks’ Michael Kay, Cleveland’s Matt Underwood are all cast aside along with others when playoff time comes around in favor of broadcasters, while good, have no depth of knowledge of the teams on the field. There is actually a rather simple solution – provide local audiences with an alternate audio feed of their local announcers during the playoff. ESPN or whomever along MLB still get their cuts and local fans get knowledgeable announcers.

UP NEXT: Jill Stein; Channel 44; PBMs

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