TNF Names 2024 MVPOLITB
There are many different ways to describe 2024, but there’s one thing we can all agree on: it’s been a year.
Now that it’s over, in a couple of hours anyway, it’s time for Tampa News Force to name the 2024 Most Valuable Part Of Living In Tampa Bay, or “TNFMVPOLITB” for not-very-short.
3rd RUNNER-UP: The St. Petersburg City Council – Following a vote to approve spending $23.7 million to repair Tropicana Field after it was damaged during Hurricane Milton, the council reversed its decision in a second vote a few hours later. In the process, they finally took a decisive step in eliminating the pesky presence of regular season and frequent postseason appearances of Major League Baseball in the Tampa Bay region while also fucking with the heads of Rays fans and management. While the end results of both those things is short-sighted and negative, it is the kind of effective multi-tasking we want from our government leaders.
2nd RUNNER-UP: Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield – As much as we’ll always be grateful for everything Tom Brady contributed to the success of the Buccaneers during his tenure with the team, Brady never seemed to really embrace the area. His replacement, Baker has taken to Tampa Bay like he was born here and is the kind of guy you can address by his first name even if you’ve never met him. He’s the kind of guy who will hang out with you at a local bar, pounding beers and watching TV. (EDITOR’S NOTE: Tampa News Force has never met Baker or hung out with him at a local bar, pounding beers and watching TV but would certainly be available to do so sometime if he’s into it)
1st RUNNER-UP: Line Workers – Among the many ridiculous and quaint things our future descendants will laugh derisively at us about, along with our fashion and hairstyle choices, will be the fact that our entire society is powered by a network of wires hanging from poles. As Tampa Bay’s identity transitions from “A Place That Hurricanes Never Hit Ha-Ha-Ha” to “A Place That Hurricanes Hit All The Time Boo-Hoo-Hoo” our reliance on the people who help repair those wires, many of whom travel from their homes very far away and work around the clock for days and weeks at a time, is probably going to increase, as will our sincere appreciation.
2024 TNFMVPOLITB: The TGH AquaFence – When it comes to award-deserving efforts, doing the job of keeping at-risk people and emergency caregivers at Tampa General Hospital (TGH) safe in an effective manner exactly as expected without bragging about it is admirably noble and the kind of thing you can’t expect from most other inanimate objects and almost no human beings. Thank you for your service, TGH AquaFence. If you were a person this honor would come with a $5000 check, but since you’re not, it doesn’t.
