Around HereBy Leo CoughlinNobody asked me, but - …If there is any question at all about where the baseball team will be playing in the future that was settled Friday night, August 13, at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg where the Rays (geb. Devil Rays) turned out in uniforms with the word "Tampa" prominently displayed. Not "Tampa Bay," but just Tampa. Just as well. Media all over the country always refers to the team as being in Tampa. …To continue - and don't tell me these were "throwback" uniforms. Tampa never has had a major league team or anything approaching it and the Rays are the only big league team St. Petersburg has ever had. …Some official in Largo needs to request an Attorney General's Opinion on the legal status regarding the state nepotism statute on Assistant City Manager Henry Schubert and his wife, Dorothy, both highly paid employees of the city. We are not competent here to pass on it and neither is Largo's legal officer. …It appears that if there is a disturbance of some magnitude at Largo High School (and there has been) it does no good to call the police who, in one notable incident, were rendered ineffective by a person who physically interceded during the process of an arrest. In the real world that is obstruction of justice and one gets charged. No charges in this case, we hear. …What is mind boggling to me is that an obviously self-indulgent flight attendant who engaged in a stupid act is being made a national hero. This is probably the best-focused definition of our times (and an indication of what is wrong with us). …The great irony - the forbidden word can be used only by those whom it describes. …Whatever became of Dave Shimkus? …One member of the Largo City Commission who is usually jousting with Alan Zimmet, the legal officer, who does know what he is talking about, commented publicly that reports on the compensation Henry Schubert, an assistant city manager, receives is misleading. What's misleading about $171,593? Those are the city's own figures. (Maybe it's a case of one former city clerk showing support for another former city clerk.) …Still on my mind - I get boiling mad at the constant references on national media (particularly ESPN) to the Rays as being in Tampa. The team may wind up there, but it's not there yet. Of course, as a former ball writer I can attest that most sports writers are morons. Witness their constant mistaken reference, for example, to a team with 46 wins and 60 losses and they call it "14 games under .500." Couldn't be more mistaken. The team is 7 games under .500. Add up the total games; divide by 2; that's .500. Calculate the difference - 106 divided by 2 equals 53; 53 minus 46 equals 7. …Our sources in Tampa tell us that Mayor Pam Iorio wants a raise. From what we have found out, she should definitely get one. …There should be no retrial when a mistrial has been declared because a jury can't agree. The legal terminology used in Scottish law should be employed - "not proven." If the charge or charges are not proven, end of case. Otherwise, the government unfairly keeps going to trial until it prevails. …Thomas Jefferson was our most harmful president. …Our observant friend notes - Joe Biden is a strange guy. Every time I see the vice president sitting behind the president listening to Barack Obama talk he looks like your dog looks at your answering machine when your voice is coming out. …There's no more inane or meaningless phrase than "trust but verify." It's self-contradictory within itself. A piece of nonsense. …The Largo City Charter (Sec. 2-49) regarding the "Compensation of officers and employees" says that they "shall be paid such compensation as the commission may fix or approve." Funny, then, isn't it, that reports of the huge compensation packages some city officials get was unknown - until recently reported - to most, of not all, members of said commission.
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