Yahoo! is reporting today that back in 2008, in the midst of the New England Patriots' Spygate scandal, then-Senator Arlen Specter was contacted by a certain well-heeled friend on behalf of Patriots owner Robert Kraft.
That friend? Donald Trump.
Talk about piling on the former president.
Trump is also friends with Kraft, and perhaps felt the NFL was coming down a wee bit too hard on the Patriots, whose bid to match the Miami Dolphins' perfect season in 1972-3 was torpedo'd by the Giants in the Super Bowl. Trump, whose only foray into sports was as the owner of the NY-NJ Generals of the USFL in the 80's, kept his involvement at the time under the radar, rare for him.
Unfortunately, with tons of legal troubles ahead, a skeleton was bound to pop out of the closet against him.
Stay tuned.
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We know that NHL broadcast rights this fall shift over to Disney (ESPN) and Turner Networks (TNT). Each of the incoming media partners made some news in the last 24 hours.
First, Hall of Famer Wayne Gretzky stepped down from his front office job with the Edmonton Oilers after the Oilers were eliminated in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs by Winnipeg. Speculation is that Gretzky will land at TNT as a studio analyst.
This would be a five-star get for TNT, but keep in mind, NBC will be dispersing their studio analysts after the tournament ends, so people like Keith Jones and Anson Carter will become available.
Unfortunately, over at ESPN, a certain clown is making noises....
Yep. America's Sports Idiot, Stephen A. Smith, weighed in and whined about the Oilers' elimination, but also admitted on the air that all he knows about the game is the color of the puck. Well, he's got plenty of time to learn if he wants the top brass at ESPN to assign him as a studio analyst. However, ESPN suits would be well served to find something else for him to do at night. Like dressing up as Goofy at Disney World.
It wouldn't be a surprise if, after ESPN begins their share of the new deal, Smith does his usual schtick on First Take, and routinely gets taken to school again and again, just like usual.
Keep in mind, too, that the NHL will share space on TNT from October-December with All Elite Wrestling, which moves their programming to sister network TBS in January, but before that happens, we'd not be surprised at all if former WWE & AEW champion Chris Jericho, son of former NHL player Ted Irvine, would be a studio guest a couple of times. While with WWE, Jericho took part in some celebrity events during All Star Weekend.
Smith, by the way, earns another Dunce Cap for admitting his ignorance about hockey.
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Speaking of AEW, while he's a villain in the ring, Maxwell J. Friedman is proud of his Jewish heritage, and has spoken out about attacks on fellow Jews in the wake of recent violence in the Middle East between Israel and Palestine. Oh, sure, he posts in character on social media, but you have to believe it hits close to home for the Long Island native.
Meanwhile, WWE's Sami Zayn, a Canadian of Syrian background, has been doing some fundraising to help Syrian refugees the last couple of years. Because of his villain status in WWE, however, nothing is ever mentioned on air, so Zayn keeps fans posted via social media. Why WWE's creative morons insist on Sami remaining a heel (villain) while he's doing heroic works off-air for Syria, we don't know, though we'd not be surprised if Sami turned back babyface before the end of the year.
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