For what it’s worth, the reporter-panelists on ESPN’s “Around The Horn” don’t see the Rays fading from the pennant chase. When asked (July 31) whether they would “buy” or “sell” the prospect of the Rays actually winning the American League East, two (Tim Cowlishaw and J.A. Adande) “bought” and the other two (Woody Paige and [...]
Now we’ve added “Flugtag” to the Tampa lexicon for that which is festive and funky and fun. Move over Gasparilla and Guavaween. Actually, the Red Bull Flugtag, a celebration of home-made “flying” machines that drew some 100,000 spectators and three dozen participating teams to downtown recently, could carve out its own unique niche. Frankly, you [...]
The good news is that a few weeks ago Tampa was cited as the only Florida city to win a 2008 Outstanding Achievement City Livability Award by the U.S. Conference of Mayors. Tampa’s prominent recognition was in the large cities, quality-of-life category — along with Chicago, Honolulu and Seattle. Among other things, such publicity is [...]
Look closely and you’ll notice it’s not just the Tampa Bay History Center that is under construction near Garrison Channel. Work is also under way on the Cotanchobee Fort Brooke Park Project sandwiched between the history center and the existing Cotanchobee Fort Brooke Park. The focal point will be Heroes Plaza, which will commemorate those [...]
It’s a small step, but maybe the new law imposing restrictions on how schools prepare students for the FCAT will prompt a pendulum swing back to pedagogical reason. If anything, the FCAT has proved that bad things can be done in the good name of accountability, a concept nobody is against. But teaching to a [...]
Much has been written about the class, style, professionalism and good humor of the late Tony Snow. Had Snow, 53 when he died, not been preceded in passing by the lionized Tim Russert, the outpourings of homage would have been more voluminous. During his 1½ years as White House press secretary, Snow remained well respected [...]
My bad. I went and read beyond Wayne Garcia and Lance Goldenberg again in Creative Loafing . But the Wade Tatangelo piece on the “Flugtag follies” caught my eye. I then quickly recalled why it is that these eyes typically avert this journalistic sputum. Sure enough, he had once again managed to work “shit” and [...]
*Nice touch for the Tampa Bay Lightning to stage a town hall meeting for the general public and to include season ticket holders at the press conference for the Vinny Lecavalier contract extension. Even if some media regulars couldn’t find seats. As one fan at the over-flowing, 3:30 press conference noted, “I think there were [...]
Here’s hoping the pre-All Star swoon by the Rays is nothing more than an ebb in a half-season that overflowed with wins. Here’s hoping that what happened last year to the USF Bulls’ football team doesn’t also afflict the Rays. Recall how the Bulls went from undefeated and second in the nation to multi-defeated and [...]
At least one prominent, Florida GOP insider thinks that if Gov. Charlie Crist were on the John McCain ticket (instead of, say, Mitt Romney), it would actually backfire here in the Sunshine State. The sense that Crist hasn’t meaningfully dealt with the state’s major issues, property taxes and insurance, and the understandable perception that he [...]
