Otto Graphs - With Steve Otto

Ugly Dog Puts Us Back On Top

2008-06-21T16:41:01-05:00

Tampa Bay - Home of Champions - has done it again.
They had a parade when the Bucs won the Super Bowl and another for the Lightning when they captured the Stanley Cup.
I can only imagine that plans are already underway to welcome home Gus, just…

Our Brave New World Makes Me Cringe

2008-06-06T17:34:00-05:00

How is it that we can treat an innocent victim like this? Someone needs to tell me the answer to this one.

Every day now – every day – the woman with the clipboard – a social worker – comes into the room and tells the mother that her…

Bailey’s Chili a la Zingaro

2008-05-26T21:49:00-05:00

Kim Bailey is the owner of Bailey’s great restaurant on Rome Ave. in Hyde Park. He was also one of the judges in my chili contest back in March.
Apparently he has recovered and not only that, says he will be serving the championship recipe Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday…

Scratch My Back

2008-05-25T14:59:00-05:00

It’s Sunday, the humidity is down, heat is up and the Scratch My Back benefit concert is about the best place to be this afternoon, starting around 5 p.m. and going on until the last band is tossed out.
The venue is the legendary SkipperDome out behind Skippers…

Getting a raw deal

2008-05-21T12:52:00-05:00

We went out to a seafood restaurant last night. This one was in Westshore Plaza where they have almost a village of new restaurants. Like the others, I guess you would describe this one as “upscale chain.’’ And it was pretty good. The service was attentive, the fish was fresh and…

Jose can you see?

2008-05-20T19:23:00-05:00

The most interesting story in Mother Trib today is the discovery of a sunken vessel in the Hillsborough River, somewhere near Lowry Park. A team of archeaologists from the Florida Aquarium made the find and say the ship appears to be etween 80 and a 100 feet long. Records indicate…

Our number is not up

2008-05-20T13:20:01-05:00

So it is no secret things are bad. How bad was the news this week contained in a report of Tampa’s economic ranking with six Southern cities. The semi-annual report was released this week by the Tampa Bay Partnership and it ranked the Tampa Bay area dead last against five other…

The Party’s Over

2008-05-18T02:10:00-05:00

Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean is going to be in town Monday. Political reporter Wendy March quotes local party leaders as saying the purpose of the visit is reconciliation. And while he’s here they will hold a $1,000 a plate dinner, which is a pretty steep price for crow.
…

Florida Wheels Roll Again

2008-05-08T12:40:00-05:00

It was just another assignment when I went down to the old Trailer Park gym on Rome Ave. to do a story on the Florida Wheels. This was back in the dark ages of the ‘70s and even being sportswriter I couldn’t work up a whole lot of enthusiasm for wheelchair…

Repairing the Damage

2008-05-02T13:17:00-05:00

Sorry I’ve been a little slow with the blog this week. I want to blame it on the crash. My youngest was driving back from FSU at the end of the semester last weekend when he was slammed into by an 18-wheeler. He climbed out of the little Mazda with only…