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:

Have you ever calculated how much time you waste each year correcting errors by banks, insurance companies, doctor’s offices and a milieu of other people and companies who just don’t seem to care?

Leading off: Beating the odds:

You would think that this year’s presidential election would not have been as close as it was. It pitted a lightweight who was part of a team presiding over economic failure and a broken border against a man who brought our nation back to prosperity and peace. But it’s tough when you also have to run against ABC, CBS, NBC, the left wing cable networks, Spectrum and newspapers like the New York Times, Washington Post and Tampa Bay’s own version of Pravda, plus all of Hollywood. But President Trump managed to pull it off despite the stacked deck.

Tampa Bay, politics and notes:

So can we expect final election results from Arizona and Nevada before Christmas? Congress needs to enact legislation with a finite date for vote counting. Bad things seem to happen the longer the count.

Related: The “Philadelphia Factor” we mentioned in the 10/20/24 TBRR may still come into play as there is now a recount in the U.S. Senate race in Pennsylvania. When things like this happen in Pennsylvania, there are usually funny consequences.

Also related from the 5:05 Newsletter: In England, elections from start to finish last 6-weeks. There are strict spending limits for political parties and political advertising on TV and radio is not allowed. I have only one thing to say about the US political bloodletting that has occurred every 4 years since 1796. Make America Great Britain Again!

Could we join dozens of others who have thrown out names to replace Marco Rubio? How about former Florida AG Pam Bondi?

We’re not so sure President Trump’s AG pick makes it across the finish line. More on this next week.

We stumbled across a credit card called Coign Card that pays you a modest one percent cash back, but also contributes a percentage of each purchase to dyed-in-the-wool conservative causes. The Visa card is neat, featuring a background of the Preamble to the Constitution.

Factoid: Florida’s two biggest employers are (this shouldn’t surprise you) Disney World and Publix.

Subway, say hi to Arby’s. The sandwich chain is being sold to Roark Capital, the owner of the roast beef restaurants.

This week in 1969 (Nov. 19): Apollo 12 astronauts Pete Conrad and Alan Bean become the third and fourth human beings to walk on the moon.

Sports, media and other notes:

Dr. Ralph Frick passed away last week. In addition to being a skilled oral surgeon, he was the father of the Rotary Club of Clearwater Charities that has distributed thousands and thousands of dollars to worthy local charities over the last 35 years.

Bobby Allison, winner of 85 NASCAR Cup races and participant in one of the greatest races of Tampa’s Golden Gate Speedway history died last week at age 86. Allison and Zephyrhills’ Wayne Reutimann staged a bumper to bumper thriller in the 1966 Florida Governor’s Cup 200 in Tampa.

At least these ballots got counted and there are three new inductees in Rochester’s Toy Hall of Fame. They are My Little Pony, Transformers and the Phase 10 card game. There are now 88 objects (including a stick and a blanket) in the Hall.

It was never a good fit and veteran commentator Chris Wallace has left CNN and will involve himself in non-cable ventures moving forward.

While it’s not so great to wake up and be Kamala Harris these days; it’s great to wake up and be Juan Soto.

Factoid: The most inexpensive “get in the door” ticket for this weekend’s NFL games New England @ Miami ($42); most expensive Dallas @ Washington ($225).

We’re sure the other 49 states are getting cruel pleasure out of The Athletic’s 134 each week. Four of the state’s Division I schools are ranked below 100 including USF (102); FSU (103); Florida International (114) and Florida Atlantic (128). Above the 100 level are Miami (14); Gators (54) and UCF (68). All seven teams dropped in the rankings this past week.

If the Rays really want a 365-day destination around their new stadium, they should talk to Derek Schiller and Mike Plant. In fact, they should have already talked to them. The two are the Braves’ minds behind the highly successful Battery area which attracts over 10 million people yearly.

Long time baseball announcer/analyst Bob Costas is calling it quits after 44 years in the game. Quite honestly, over the last decade Costas lost a step or two and had become rather self-absorbed.

Granted several members of The View may have had a stroke over this month’s election results, but the good news is their ratings should do okay as they pontificate on how “bad” things are going to be moving forward.

One last thing: Good, not great, Ray’s news

It was probably the best the Tampa Bay Rays and their fans could expect. First, they have a home for next year, George Steinbrenner Field. The stadium is the biggest, but not the best, stadium available in the Tampa Bay area. They also now have a broadcast partner as Diamond Sports has emerged from bankruptcy and will again carry the Tampa Bay games in 2025. What happens beyond 2025 on both fronts is a crap shoot.

UP NEXT: A venerable aircraft; The Hit Squad; Pong

111724/558

Sorry, time does not permit replies to comments.