Sports this 'n' that

 On June 1, 2012, Johan Santana etched his name in the Mets' history books by authoring the team's 1st no-hitter at Citi Field vs. St. Louis.

33 days short of the 10th anniversary of that event, the Mets needed five pitchers to complete their 2nd no-no, this one against East division rival Philadelphia.

2nd year hurler Tylor Megill (4-0) started, and went 5 innings, fanning 5, while walking 3 through 88 pitches. The Phillies worked deep counts against Megill and the bullpen, but it was all for naught. Edwin Diaz struck out the side in the 9th to lock it down. SNY's YouTube channel provides the highlights.

Considering the Phillies' Jim Bunning authored a perfect game in June 1964 against the Mets, payback was certainly overdue.

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Night 2 of the NFL Draft, and the stars were out. Just not the ones you'd think. The Minnesota Vikings benefited from their past and the WWE's future representing for them.

The past? Ed Marinaro, a star for the Vikings in the 70's before turning to acting (Laverne & Shirley, Hill Street Blues). The future is University of Minnesota star Gable Steveson, who will join WWE as soon as he graduates next month. Marinaro, though, made headlines for a rambling speech that resulted in his being rushed off stage to keep the broadcast, airing on ESPN, ABC, & NFL Network, moving.

WWE was also represented by three active wrestlers. As previously reported, Titus O'Neil, now a company ambassador and part-time wrestler, as well as a commercial endorser for the Fuccillo auto group, represented his hometown Tampa Bay Buccaneers in round 2. Happy Corbin did likewise for the Kansas City Chiefs. Mike "The Miz" Mizanin appeared during round 3 to represent for the Cleveland Browns, even though Miz currently lives in Los Angeles. No truth to the rumor that ESPN bloviator Stephen A. Smith begged off covering the draft, since Miz pwned him on First Take a while back.

The draft wraps up today.

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Newly retired umpire Brian Gorman has a future in broadcasting if MLB wants their media partners to use a rules analyst, just as the NFL does, on a more full-time basis.

Working Apple TV+'s broadcast of Yankees-Royals, Gorman had the line of the night in trying to explain the complexities of a controversial call that saw Royals rookie Bobby Witt, Jr. called out at 3rd for oversliding the base, even though a case could be made that New York's Gleyber Torres had his momentum from chasing Witt push Witt off the bag. Kansas City manager Mike Metheny was ejected by umpire Manny Gonzalez, and a suspension is likely for Metheny for bumping Gonzalez. As Gorman observed, had the call gone the other way, Yankee skipper Aaron Boone would've been out to protest. Gorman summed it up best by comparing it to an ice cream cone and two 5 year olds fighting over it. Pretty funny stuff.

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Nowadays, when the WWE cuts talent from their rosters, they will claim budget cuts to cover the fact that the money is being redistributed to a different part of the corporate infrastructure for the benefit of shareholders. However, fans are getting wise to this scheme, especially when it's prefaced by a group e-mail issued by VP/Talent Relations John Laurinaitis, who has his job back because he's the father-in-law of the Bella Twins (he married their mother).

Friday, 8 wrestlers, 3 of whom hadn't appeared on television yet, a referee, and a manager were cut from NXT:

Manager Malcolm Bivens, better known on the independent circuit as Stokely Hathaway, chose not to re-up after signing an extension last year. Bivens was the spokesman for the Diamond Mine stable, but that role now will fall to veteran wrestler Roderick Strong.

Referee Blair Baldwin may not be a name anyone recognizes, but she has worked some episodes of NXT 2.0. She'd been with the company roughly a year.

As for the wrestlers?

Vish Kanya, from India, Raelyn Divine, and Mila Milani had not yet appeared on television, and their dismissals are dubious, considering it had been announced three days earlier that NXT would have a "Breakout tournament" for the women similar to the men's tournament, won by Carmelo Hayes last year. Divine is the sister of oft-unused wrestler Mace (formerly Dio Maddin), who now may have his head on a swivel.

Dexter Lumis (Samuel Shaw) was the quiet sort who let his actions, and his artwork, do the talking for him. His storyline marriage to Australia's Indi Hartwell will be quietly dropped. Hartwell has also had to say good-bye to countrywoman and tag team partner Persia Perotta (Stephanie De Andre), who'd only made her television debut last summer.

New Zealander Dakota Kai (Cheree Crowley) had the most NXT experience, and fans feel she was done dirty, having been taken off television instead of winning the NXT women's title. 

Photo courtesy of WWE.

Kai had dyed her hair pink a year ago in tribute to the late Japanese star, Hana Kimura, and did everything that was asked of her, including a stint where she had a gimmick similar to 90's wrestler Damian Demento in that she talked to herself, hearing voices in her head. Demento lasted a year with the gimmick before being cut. Shawn Stasiak was given the same thing in 2002, and was cut a few months later.

Harland (Parker Boudreaux), the silent sidekick of Joe Gacy, was taken off television earlier this month, and sharp eyed fans noticed a "druid" with a tattoo like his on the last episode. He didn't have a lot of match experience, and reports are he was not picking up a lot of things in class. There was a lot of buzz when Boudreaux signed out of Central Florida more than a year ago, and fans made comparisons to Brock Lesnar.

Draco Anthony (Reginald Crews) had come in with some hype as well, but after a feud with Gacy & Harland, lost his last TV match to Xyon Quinn earlier this month. I suspect management lost patience with him as well.

Online commentators are reacting the most to the departures of Lumis and Perotta, because they were in a storyline with Hartwell and another Australian, Duke Hudson, and Kai. WWE has this annoying habit of cutting talent in the middle of story arcs for no other reason than their phony "budget cuts". CEO-Chairman Vince McMahon, 76, is getting bad advice from Laurinaitis, creative director Bruce Prichard, and executive producer-director Kevin Dunn, and it needs to stop. Yesterday.