A little bit of this and a little of that

The organizers of the French Open, which usually takes place in June, are hoping they can still mount the tournament, the second Grand Slam tennis event of the year, next month in Paris without fans in attendance. As previously reported, there won't be Wimbledon this year, as the All-England Club took things a step further, and cancelled this year's tournament altogether.

Meanwhile, the National Hockey League plans on going through with their annual entry draft, but they're unsure if they need to hold it earlier than normal, or leave it in its traditional June slot. Stay tuned.
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After all the hype that surrounded his transition from Duke to the NBA, Zion Williamson is now facing a legal hurdle he didn't want or expect.

Williamson is involved in litigation with a former business manager, who now wants Williamson, drafted by New Orleans last year, to acknowledge his family received impermissible benefits from Duke, which, of course, would put the university in the NCAA's crosshairs.

We have seen three, maybe four, generations of athletes take the short path to glory, swapping education for instant riches by leaving school after 1 or 2 seasons, just because a few glad handing hangers-on and leeches sell the athletes on the idea that they're ready for the pros, and that college is just a stepping stone, and the leeches want in on the ride. For every Moses Malone or LeBron James, who went from high school straight to the pros, there's a bazillion kids who don't make it to the NBA, and have to ply their trade overseas in pro leagues there to fulfill their dreams, usually because they're discovering their talents aren't as fully polished as they'd been led to believe.

Any day now, we'll hear that the NCAA will take the predictable step of investigating Duke.....
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You know what they say. Celebrity deaths usually come in groups of three.

That was certainly the case over Mother's Day weekend, as there were three in the past 48 hours.

First, it was Little Richard (Richard Penniman), as we documented on Saturday. Then, it was another R & B star, Betty Wright, who passed away at 66. Wright had some soul hits in the 60's & 70's, leading to appearances on Soul Train and elsewhere. We have a video up from Soul Train over at Saturday Morning Archives in her memory.

And, then, we're waking up this morning to learn that actor-comedian Jerry Stiller has passed away a month shy of his 93rd birthday. Stiller, pre-deceased by actress-wife Anne Meara (2015), experienced a career revival after landing a role on Seinfeld, which led to nearly a decade on The King of Queens opposite Kevin James.

Actor-son Ben Stiller announced that his father had passed away from natural causes.

Let's take a look back at Stiller & Meara from a 1968 appearance on What's My Line?:



In recent times, Stiller was one of a number of celebrity endorsers for Capital One, along with Samuel L. Jackson and Jennifer Garner. Rest in peace.