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 (borrowed from our Saintly Wife’s oldest friend)

The best things in life aren’t things.

Leading off: A friend and mentor

Back some thirty years ago, I learned that a mentor need not be older than you. When I first met attorney Ed Armstrong, he was 38 to my 49. I was a small business owner foolishly about to enter politics. I knew little about the subject, only that what was going on at city hall was not good for the city and needed to change. Ed, and others, showed me how to make that happen. Thus began a short, six-year political career, but a three decade friendship. Long after I left political life, we continued to dissect local political life through infrequent lunch dates and more frequent emails. Lately, because of some minor health and mobility issues, I kept putting off those lunches. Today, I strongly regret that, but cherish a friendship with perhaps the smartest man I ever knew and a guy who had a great hand in influencing the political life of Clearwater and Pinellas County. Ed was 68 when he passed away while on the golf course – he wouldn’t have it any other way. We send our sincere condolences to his wife, Tara and their daughter Lexa.

Tampa Bay, politics and notes:

Number of the week: 15,581 – the city of Clearwater’s population 75 years ago (1950). Nowadays, add a little over 100,000 to that.

Going up! Clearwater is proposing an 8% hike in your utility bills over the next five years. A public hearing on the issue will be held on Thursday, the 17^th.

Our friend TL tells us that three “individuals” have their own zip code – The President (20500-0001); the First Lady (20500-0002) and ….Smokey the Bear (20252 – since 1954). You would think Santa has one, but he does not, although most mail sent to him is routed to North Pole, Alaska 99705 or to zip code 88888.

From the editorial offices of the 5:05 Newsletter: If I was asked to describe myself in one word, it would be “not very good at following instructions.”

This week in 1956 (Sept. 9) Elvis Presley makes his first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show singing four songs including the yet to be released Love Me Tender.

Sports, media and other notes:.

We know this is fraught with danger, but we predict this will be the year the Buffalo Bills end their 65-year Super Bowl drought. And put us down for another NFC South title for the Bucs.

We love that Athletic Top 136 football ranking. And they love Florida’s football teams –moving FSU up to #3 and Miami #4. Florida’s win over LIU didn’t register much as the Gators dropped from #15 to18, just two spots above USF who upset Boise State. UCF, despite a win, dropped from 82 to 83 and Florida Atlantic sits at #119 while FIU climbed three spots to 123. Kent State won for the first time in a year and escaped the basement, now occupied by Middle Tennessee. At the top is LSU, winner over Clemson and Ohio State holds down #2 after their narrow win over Texas.

Most disgusting thing of college football’s first weekend was Northwestern’s denial of Tulane’s desire to wear decals memorializing the 20^th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Karma prevailed as the Green Wave crushed the heartless Wildcats 23-3.

As promised, this week, inspired by a Jayson Stark piece, we project four active pitchers as sure fire Hall of Famers. In alphabetical order, they are Clayton Kershaw, Chris Sale, Max Scherzer and Jason Verlander. See last week’s (7/24/25) TBRR for the quartet of active hitters whose plaques are being readied.

You’ve lived in Clearwater a long time if you remember when the “new” Chevrolet dealership, Jim Quinlan Chevrolet, opened on south U.S. 19. Their early sales manager was none other than “Chick” Smith.

One last thing: Mount Rushmore VIII

It’sSeptember, traditionally the kickoff of the new TV season and this month, we are challenging our elite Focus Group to create a Mount Rushmore of television shows of any genre.

Our lead-off hitter selected four highly successful shows, starting with the 1950’s classic, I Love Lucy followed by the big hit (14 seasons) Dallas. Also on his list was NBC’s ensemble cast show Friends which ran for 11 seasons. And finally, he selects the show that ranked #1 on TV for five consecutive seasons, The Cosby Show.

Our Focus Group member from Palm Harbor provided an eclectic foursome of shows starting with one of the greats – Seinfeld. She then opts for the very interesting AMC series Mad Men which had a seven season run. It was followed by the Rod Serling anthology The Twilight Zone which had a five season run on CBS between 1959 and 1964 plus three reboots over the years. Finally she goes with everybody’s favorite girl next door sitcom, The Mary Tyler Moore Show.

One of the best “political” shows, The West Wing, from the turn of the century tops another of our members’ lists along with the World War II mini-series Band of Brothers. Another of his selections was the Syfy network’s (and later Amazon Prime’s) The Expanse. Concluding his list is the NBC ensemble cast comedy Community which ran from 2009 through 2014.

Our youngest group member reaches back to her youth for Sesame Street. Being young and able to stay up late, she follows that up with NBC’s Saturday Night Live. Also on her list, probably TV’s most popular game show, Jeopardy. Completing her list is the nine season NBC hit, The Office.

Another of our number goes back over 65 years for his first nominee, ABC’s docudrama, The Untouchables; the most recent show on his list is The Good Wife (along with its spinoffs); another show that had a successful spinoff was the geeky Big Bang Theory and his fourth selection in a tight race with Seinfeld is the Charlie Sheen comedy Two and a Half Men.

One of our charter members’ list closely mirrors the selections directly above, also giving a nod to the CBS drama The Good Wife followed by The Big Bang Theory along with the CBS series that set viewership records with its final episode, M*A*S*H. Her fourth selection was the nine-season NBC hit Seinfeld.

M*A*S*H also gets a mention from another of our Focus Groups members. She follows that up with the enduring PBS show Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood. Also on her list is the king of late night comedy, The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Lastly, she selects another comedy classic NBC’s six season hit, Rowan and Martin’s Laugh In.

Our northernmost Focus Group member submits a list headed by one of those “I wish I had thought of that” shows, The Wonderful World of Disney. To that he adds the king of game shows, Jeopardy, NBC’s 50-year success, Saturday Night Live, and finally, a show that appears on everyone’ s Top 10 or 25 or 50 best shows, the pioneering I Love Lucy.

This is the last of our yearly series of “Mount Rushmores.” Our Focus Group returns the first week in November with some cherished holiday traditions.

UP NEXT: Joltin’ Joe; GM; Shades of Angels in America

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