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Get Ready For Scintillating TSA Meetings

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By Steve Otto

sotto@tampatrib.com

Published: March 29, 2009

COMING SOON TO A SCREEN NEAR YOU!

REALITY TV LIKE YOU HAVE NEVER SEEN BEFORE!

BE A PART OF THE MEETINGS THAT NEVER END!

GET COLD SHIVERS AS REPORTS ARE READ!

WATCH IN HORROR AS POLITICIANS APPEAR!

DON'T MISS - THE TAMPA SPORTS AUTHORITY SHOW!

If you've been looking for a good excuse to buy one of those gigantic flat-screen TVs - the ones that are so big you have to watch them from another room - now is the time.
Mayor Pam Iorio has decreed she wants the meetings of the Tampa Sports Authority to be aired live on television.

It's not that she thinks the meetings are going to match the excitement of any of those network shows that have taken gore to a new level, or maybe "American Idol" or even "Dancing with the Stars."

She just wants someone to keep an eye on these guys at the authority so they won't try to pull any more stunts like that recent bit of thuggery in which they gave the authority's director the heave-ho.

Where's The Watchdog Angle?

I can see where she's going with this. The sports authority long has been its own little club. Why not just put a camera in the room so at least someone will be keeping an eye on them?

One answer is that if there are shenanigans to be done, it's more likely they will take place somewhere else. The other answer, of course, is that watching a meeting about running a stadium and a few golf courses is not exactly "30 Rock" or "The Office."

"Maybe if someone isn't doing a good job, it will become apparent to everyone," the mayor was quoted as saying.

She might be right, but on the other hand, we have been televising Tampa City Council meetings and meetings of the Hillsborough County Commission for years. In fact, you can watch the school board, the Barrio Latino, zoning and land-use meetings, the planning commission and even the bus company meetings, if you don't happen to have a life.

If any of those groups has improved or acted more responsibly because of the cameras, it has escaped me.

A Play For The Coach

If you're tired of all the bad news going on these days, here is a moment from Friday's luncheon at the Columbia Restaurant in Ybor City. It says something about the kind of people who are in this town.

The event was former Jesuit coach Bill Minahan's annual celebrity luncheon to raise money, this time for the LifeLink organ donation people. It was 23 years ago that Minahan received a kidney and he is determined to see that everyone who might need one has that opportunity. This year is was a buffet at the Columbia with all donations going to Lifelink's foundation for those unable to handle the financial burden.

The place was packed as the 300 or so who showed up listened to Minahan, 80, give a pep talk that would have made Knute Rockne proud.

It was later, as people were packing up to return to their jobs, that I caught Minahan's wife, Martha, standing in a corner with maybe a tear or two in her eye. She said Columbia co-owner Richard Gonzmart, who once played on one of Minahan's football teams, had just whispered that the entire event was going to be on the Columbia's tab.

Keyword: Otto Graphs, for more of Steve Otto's musings.

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