Established in 2014 and published weekly, Tampa Bay Rants and Raves is a weekly airing of national and local politics, sports, lifestyles and historical notes from a very politically incorrect viewpoint. As always, beware - some of what is printed here should not be taken literally.

First thing on our mind:

We shouldn’t expect style points from President Trump, only results.

Leading off: Local ownership is best, but…

What a crazy couple of weeks – or is it months? The Rays and local government playing a game of chicken and MLB is suggesting to the current ownership group, maybe it’s time to sell. A couple of potential ownership groups have stepped forward, both local, and supposedly stocked with wealthy men. But, are they wealthy enough? Tampa Bay needs a sugar daddy like George Steinbrenner or Ted Turner who doesn’t mind losing a few bucks if he can build a winner. We’re not sure either group that has been identified has that much horsepower. We’ve suffered through two ownership groups very tight with a buck. Tampa Bay deserves better – and they deserve a better location than the failed site in South St. Pete. As for their most recent proposal to extend their lease on the Trop with major renovations, that is putting a $400 million coat of lipstick on a pig.

Tampa Bay, politics and notes:

The Rays walking away from the new stadium deal is probably the best thing that could happen for Tampa Bay baseball. The site is fatally flawed and the Rays’ decision could open up much better options in the bay area.

We admire President Trump’s self-restraint during his visit at the Justice Department last week. With the way he’s been treated, we would have shown up with dozens of empty boxes and instructions to fill them up and leave.

There seems to be a train of thought that unless DOGE can wipe out the complete $1.8 trillion annual deficit inherited by the Trump administration, that it is a failure. That simply is not true.

Good for President Trump buying an $80K Tesla to support Elon Musk who is truly living the credo “no good deed shall go unpunished.”

Headline from last week “Activists vandalize Trump golf course.” The word is criminals, not activists.

After last week’s piece about vanishing jobs, some hack mentioned at risk repairmen for flip phones and iPods – two things we hold dear.

On TV this week in 1980 was the cliffhanger season finale of Dallas which had everybody at the water cooler asking “Who shot J.R. Ewing?”

Sports, media and other notes:

Media news from the 5:05 Newsletter: White House reporters seem mystified by press secretary who actually answers questions.

By the way, whatever happened to Karine Jean-Pierre? We thought she would be a natural fit for a retooling of The View.

Former Clearwater High and FSU basketball star Luke Loucks will take over the Seminoles’ program next year replacing retiring legend Leonard Hamilton.

We enjoyed a birthday lunch last Sunday at Capogna’s – good as ever and so nice to see Al, Stefani, Kristy, Donna and several others from the original crew.

MSN’s Ron King recently penned an article on five GM models that should have never been discontinued. One of those is the classic Chevy El Camino. The two-seater upscale pickup is still in great demand on the used car market.

As a regular reader of the strip Blondie by Clearwater’s Dean Young, we wonder, with all he eats, why Dagwood Bumstead doesn’t weigh 300 pounds.

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One last thing: National League Winners

This baseball season is fascinating with very few teams on the outside looking in. This week, we predict the National League. Out west, only a fool would bet against the big money Dodgers, but stranger things have happened. They won’t in 2025. The NL Central is a big pool of mediocrity with every team having some glaring weakness – in most cases pitching, except the Pirates, but they can’t hit. The Brewers always seem to find a way to win and we think they will again. In the NL East, it’s tempting to predict a three way tie which came close last year. This could be the aging Phils last chance to grab the division and we forecast that they will, followed by the Mets and still injury-plagued Braves, both wild cards and to them we add the Arizona Diamondbacks, who had a puzzling slump last year, but adding Corbin Burnes will help a whole lot. Next week: the AL.

NEXT UP: J. Arlos Ogg; Space junk; Excessive moderation

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