And then they packed up their dirigibles and absconded into the night.
Hey, did you hear about that friendly little college athletics competition down at Raymond James Stadium last night? You know, under the blimp-choked sky? Clemson edged out Alabama 35-31. The game set an attendance record for RayJay, though it came at a cost — many ticketholders said actually getting into the game was an insane two-hour pain in the ass. (Stadium officials blamed traffic and tailgating, two factors that should have been conservatively predicted to be “a million times worse than we’ve ever experienced, so let’s be ready.”) But did this whole thing at least provide a net economic benefit to Tampa? A USF economics professor says no. So there’s that.
A Lakeland gun store was burglarized in a late-night smash-and-grab — reportedly for the second time in two months. Excellent. “Why would they return to the scene of the crime?” Probably for more guns.
And finally, a new report says the nation’s top seven most dangerous metro communities for pedestrians are all in Florida — including Tampa Bay, which comes in seventh. A college football game AND statistically deadly streets for anyone not driving a car? Those condos will be full of young, upwardly mobile professionals in no time.
This article appears in Jan 5-12, 2017.
