A little of this & a little of that

 If you were planning on seeing Barry Manilow on his farewell tour, I've got some bad news.

Manilow has postponed a series of dates, including a stop in Albany at the MVP Arena on April 20, due to health concerns. Hold on to your tickets, as they'll be honored when the concerts are rescheduled.

The farewell tour is on hold.

ESPN is taking a ton of heat for its Masters coverage on Thursday.

There were already issues with Jason Kelce (Monday Night Countdown) as an on course reporter. Then, the network doubled down by having WWE superstar Michael "The Miz" Mizanin in a broadcast booth with Laura Rutledge. Give Miz credit, though, for dressing for the occasion, as dapper as usual, in a white & green ensemble. Mizanin was there to promote not only Wrestlemania next weekend, portions of which will air on ESPN, but also his new side gig as host of the Amazon Prime revival of American Gladiators.

 And this was after ESPN was turned down when it requested that Pat McAfee and his crew could set up shop at Augusta, after McAfee had gotten in hot water with WWE fans a week ago for being inserted in a main event storyline at the Show of Shows between Randy Orton & Cody Rhodes, at the request of TKO CEO Ari Emanuel.

Like, if it ain't broken, ya don't fix it, but ESPN & WWE are both guilty of that. Then again, it could've been worse at the Masters.

Stephen A. Smith could've been in Miz's seat.

It's been a happy homecoming so far this week for former Mets utility ace Jeff McNeil.

Back in New York with the A's for series vs. the Yankees & Mets this week, McNeil went 4-8 with an RBI and a run scored as the A's took two of three from the Yanks. Tonight, McNeil returns to Citi Field for a series vs. his former team, for whom he played the first seven seasons of his career. Former Mets prospect JT Ginn gets the start for the A's.

Later this month, Liberty Mutual insurance is retiring the Safeco brand of personal insurance (i.e. homeowners, auto), as all of their insurance products will be under the Liberty Mutual umbrella. You might remember when Liberty Mutual sponsored outdoors programming in the 70's. I caution, however, when you visit the website, you might find mascots Limu Emu & Doug pictured on the site. The commercials are in heavy rotation, but do ya really need a reminder when online? Judge for yourself.

You need experienced negotiators to make a ceasefire happen. Unfortunately, the White House is sending some clowns

 On Wednesday, president Trump announced he was sending a negotiating team to forge a ceasefire between the US, Israel, & Iran. Instead of hiring experienced negotiators, Dumb Donald is sending VP Just Dumb Vance, son-in-law Jared Kushner, and special envoy Steve Witkoff.

That tells you right away that Trump is looking out, again, for his own self-interest instead of doing it right. The faux tough guy act ain't working with the Iranians, but Dumb Donald keeps trying, such that ABC's Jimmy Kimmel suggested that they should have sent these guys:

Then again, considering Trump & Vance are Washington's answer to Beavis & Butt-Head, well........!

Folks, it's going to get worse before it gets better.

Sports this 'n' that

 Once again, Donald Trump is meddling where he doesn't belong.

This time, it's college sports, particularly football.

On April 3, Trump signed an executive order, directing the government to improve collegiate rules as it relates to eligibility, pay-for-play, and, most importantly, the transfer portal. At the same time, the oldest bully in America is threatening schools with loss of federal funding if they do not comply.

The order is set to take effect August 1, right before the start of football season. Included in the order:

Restoring the transfer system to its original model. Apparently, Trump, like a lot of fans, is sick of the transfer portal being used after football & basketball seasons.

"Five for five eligibility". Translated, athletes would have no more than 5 years to fulfill their eligibility requirements.

In other words, Trump wants to force the NCAA to go back to its outdated system. The current system, it seems, confuses Trump. Then again, he's easily confused for a man his age. Progress of any kind, whether it's in sports or in society, offends him.

Well, we've got two words for you, Dumb Donald.

Pound sand.

At the end of the week, the Mets will see an old friend in a visiting uniform for the first time this season.

Jeff McNeil is already in town with the Sacramento A's, as they're playing the Yankees before going across town to Citi Field on Friday. McNeil went 2-3 with a walk & a run scored in a 5-3 loss to the Yankees on Tuesday.

The World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers are mourning the passing of one of their icons of the 70's.

Davey Lopes was part of the fabled Dodger infield during the 70's and early 80's. Lopes spent the last few years as a coach with the Dodgers & Washington before passing away Tuesday at 80.

Once the Dodgers get back from their road trip, if it hasn't happened already, they'll likely add a patch with Lopes' #15 to honor him.

I don't think it surprises anyone that CarShield's national ad campaign with former major leaguer and MLB Network analyst Eric Byrnes is turning off a lot of people, due to Byrnes' over the top delivery.

Wrestling legend Ric Flair, on his 2nd tour of duty with CarShield, appears at the end of a couple of the ads in a broadcast booth, headset and all. We prefer rapper-actor Ice T (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit) over Byrnes any day of the week.

MLB teams are using either active players, like the Yankees' JC Escarra & Oswaldo Cabrera, or retired stars, like Howard Johnson, representing the Mets, in localized ads.

Wild West Wednesdays: The series premiere of Lancer (1968)

 Lancer, some might think, was CBS' long delayed response to NBC's long running Bonanza, except it was on a different night.

In the opener, Murdoch (Andrew Duggan) reunites his two sons, Scott (James Stacy), who has returned home from Boston, and Johnny (Wayne Maunder, ex-Custer), promising them each a share of their land in exchange for driving out some outlaw raiders.

Joe Don Baker and future icon Gordon Jump are among the guest stars.

We'll reach into the Four Star archives in 2 weeks.

WWE 2026 Hall of Fame class

 In 10 days, WWE will induct a new class into the Hall of Fame, part of Wrestlemania weekend, a weekend that also sees unfunny comic Tony Hinchcliffe get roasted, and Fox NFL Sunday analyst Rob Gronkowski, supplanted by Tommy Lee Jones as the pitchman for USAA, hosting an after-party during the weekend.

This year's class:

Stephanie McMahon: You knew this was inevitable, after husband Paul "Triple H" Levesque had been inducted twice as a faction member (Evolution, DX), that Stephanie would get her flowers.

AJ Styles: Newly retired (at least in storyline), Styles (Allen Jones) appears to put a cap on a nearly 30 year career in the business, between WCW, TNA, New Japan, Ring of Honor, & WWE.

Demolition (Ax & Smash): Two time tag team champions in the late 80's, Ax (Bill Eadie) & Smash (Barry Darsow, the 2nd man to essay the role) became just as much an iconic team as the team they were emulating, and would ultimately feud with, the Road Warriors.

Dennis Rodman: The NBA maverick joined the NWO in WCW in the late 90's. Rodman goes into the celebrity wing of the Hall.

Posthumous inductions:

Bad News Brown: Brown (Allen Coage) brought martial arts to the WWE in the late 80's, when he was signed away from Stampede Wrestling in Canada. While he was never a champion in WWE, Brown had memorable feuds with Roddy Piper & Bret Hart. First WWE wrestler to use an enziguri, which was his finisher, under the label, "Ghetto Blaster".

Sid Vicious (aka Sid Justice, Sycho Sid): In one of his last interviews before his passing, Vicious (Sid Eudy) claimed that one reason he hadn't already gone in the Hall was because of issues with Vince McMahon. Along with Demolition, Sid goes in as a case of fan service, and despite being a heel most of his career, he accrued a fan following no matter what.

Memorable moment:

"The slam heard 'round the world" (Hulk Hogan vs. Andre The Giant, Wrestlemania 3, 1987): Nearly 7 years earlier, Hogan was a heel who actually slammed Andre at Shea Stadium, something that was kept quiet because it was a non-televised event. In Pontiac, Michigan, the roles were reversed, with Andre now a heel, managed by Bobby Heenan. Despite a perceived botch, Hogan slammed Andre, leading to the finish of their match. Andre would get a tainted piece of revenge 11 months later.

The fun begins at midnight (ET), or, 9 pm on the West Coast, on April 17.

On The Air: Comics Unleashed (2006)

 Byron Allen (ex-Real People) moved back in front of the camera with Comics Unleashed, a talk show in the style of, say, Politically Incorrect, which launched in syndication in 2006, and ran for 10 years.

CBS first came calling when James Corden decided to end The Late, Late Show a few years back, and Unleashed was added to the network's late night lineup. After Taylor Tomlinson's After Midnight ended last year, Unleashed came out of the bullpen once more.

Today, it was announced that Unleashed will move to 11:35 pm (ET) starting in May after Stephen Colbert and The Late Show come to an end. Allen's revival of the former ABC game show, Funny You Should Ask, hosted by Jon Kelley (ex-Extra), currently in syndication, will slide into the 12:35 am slot.

Now, let's go back to an early episode with Dane Clark, David Brenner, & George Wallace.

No rating. Just a public service.

Dumb Donald keeps poking the bear

 The bear, in this case, would be Iran.

Yes, there is an unpleasant history between the US & Iran, mostly illustrated by the hostage crisis between 1979-81. But, on a day when he should've actually done the smart thing, and gone to church like millions of others, Donald John Judas Trump opted for a sllllllllllllllloooooooooooooooow motorcade through Washington. Sometime Sunday morning, he issued a fresh threat to the Iranian government to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, claiming he'll have power plants & bridges in Iran bombed tomorrow.

In a potty mouthed post on Truthless Social, Trump made this threat, mocking the Iranians by stating, "Praise be to Allah". 

"Open the strait, or I unleash hell!"

That he made this latest threat on Easter, of all days, reminds us again that he is not, and never has been, a Christian, having conned everyone, including the late James Dobson, into believing he'd give his life to Christ. Trump is trying to bully the Iranian government into giving him what he wants. The worst case scenario there is another hostage crisis, more than 45 years later.

Trump is grossly unpopular with most of the country here because a lot of Americans have grown tired of his act. When he talks to news outlets like Fox No News or NBC, you can't really tell if he's telling the truth (he usually isn't). He just gives interviews so he can be on TV and get a headline or three. At the end of the day, it's all about him. It always is. The more he plays up his faux tough guy act, the worse it's going to be for everyone.