Sports this 'n' that

 Later this morning, the US & Canada will play for the gold medal in men's hockey, three days after the US women went to overtime to defeat Canada to claim gold. The American men have not won gold at the Olympics since the "Miracle on Ice" team 46 years ago in Lake Placid.

And as for how the women completed an undefeated tournament......

NBC is confining their Olympic videos to their YouTube channel. We thank Team USA for making theirs available.

Kenny Albert, who otherwise works for TNT & the Rangers, will be on the call. Finland blew away Slovakia, 6-1, to claim the bronze on Saturday.

MLB Network quietly hired Eduardo Perez away from ESPN to be one of the anchors for their new morning show, Leadoff Spot. With Karl Ravech busy with college basketball on ESPN, it appears that David Cone could wind up exclusive to the Yankees this season.

Former Houston manager/coach Bo Porter made his broadcasting debut calling the Andre Dawson Classic on MLB Network Saturday. Did a decent job. We'll see if he turns up on MLB Tonight this season.

Earlier this week, the Pittsburgh Pirates announced the passings of two members of their 1960 World Series team, one of whom had ties to the 518.

Relief pitcher Elroy Face, 97, was a native of Stephentown, one of those rare players from our district that made it to the big time. On Saturday, Bill Mazeroski, who won the Series with a homer in game 7, passed away at 89.

And, then, we learned this morning that Rondale Moore, a 2021 draft pick of the Arizona Cardinals as a wide receiver, has passed away at 25. Moore spent three seasons with Arizona before being traded to Atlanta, but missed the last two seasons with knee injuries. He would've played with Minnesota last season.

Rest in peace, gentlemen.

Forgotten TV: The McGonicle (1958-61)

 MGM originally produced this service comedy pilot, The McGonigle, for NBC in 1958, but the network sat on it for 3 years before it finally hit the air on Westinghouse Preview Theatre in 1961. Mickey Shaughnessy has the title role as a scheming sailor with a merry band, a la Phil Silvers' Sgt. Bilko. Paul Picerni came over from The Untouchables to play Bottleneck, another sailor.

We'll look at Westinghouse Preview Theatre another time, but now, it's time to sail off with The McGonigle.

I think you can see why, despite the creative pedigree involved, including Bilko writers Ray Singer & Dick Chevillat, this ended up aground. Chevillat would resurface at Filmways (i.e. Green Acres) to greater success. The plot was recycled from Bilko, whose producer, Edward Montagne, would use a similar plot on McHale's Navy when it launched a year later.

Rating: B-.

More examples of GOP stupidity

 Texas Attorney General Ken-L Ration Paxton lost a court case in his home state when a judge ruled that he has 0 jurisdiction over Bexar County's immigrant legal defense fund, which will expire next week.

Stuck for something to say.

Paxton wanted to sue the county over the fund, and was politely told to go chase himself around the block. An appeal is unlikely since, as noted the fund will expire one week from now.

After falsely claiming figure skater Alysa Liu was "woke", House Republicans posted on X a congratulatory note after Liu won a gold medal earlier this week. Nothing like getting shamed into eating virtual humble pie, y'know?

Hmmm, something tells me a certain NY Democrat might've shamed them into it.......

Back in the day, television stations would start & end their broadcast day with a playing of "The Star Spangled Banner". This was slowly phased out, as stations began expanding to their present 24/7 model, over the last 40-odd years.

FCC chairman Brendan "Used" Carr wants to change all that.

As a means of marking the USA's 250th birthday with a year-long celebration, Carr, according to Yahoo!, is demanding that stations return to playing the national anthem, plus a recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance. It's clear this jingoistic idea sprang from the fevered brain of Trump, but no one's so far given the egotistical president credit. In Trump's case, it'd be the height of his hypocrisy, since the last I checked, private schools still recite the Pledge on a daily basis before the start of the school day. Asking adults to see this on TV 7 days a week is nutz. And we know Trump won't set foot in a church unless he finds a way to enrich himself in doing so.

Carr should keep his mouth shut, and let things progress as normal. But you know he won't.

Gee, what a shock: Trump's tariffs are illegal, and he decides to impose a new one, anyway!

 "Dumb Donald is really dumb!!"--Gene Rayburn, Match Game, 1973-84.

We say that because the president thinks the Supreme Court works for him. They don't. They never did. Just because he appointed 1/3 of the current justices during his first term doesn't mean they are loyal to him.

Proof of this came today when Chief Justice John Roberts issued a ruling stating that the tariffs that Trump had imposed on other countries since returning to office 13 months ago are, in fact, illegal. Those tariffs are a big reason why our economy is in shambles right now, contrary to the misadministration's constant lies to the contrary.

Following is a report from MS Now:

A 6-3 ruling, with the three justices Trump appointed dissenting, shuts down those tariffs. However, defiant as ever, Trump would later announce that he was imposing a "temporary" 10% tariff. Look for that to get shut down, too.

"WAAAHH! I am helping this country! WAAAAH!"

No, you're not, bunky. You whined that you're disappointed with today's ruling. Tough. Deal with it, Orange Narcissus.

Update, 6:10 pm (ET): VP Just Dumb Vance doubled down on Trump's whining. Both insist Trump doesn't need Congressional approval, but as the SCOTUS made clear earlier, he does.

Musical Interlude: You Keep Me Hangin' On (1968)

 When Kim Wilde released her solo cover of the Supremes' "You Keep Me Hangin' On" in the late 80's, people forgot that she wasn't the first one to do a cover that climbed the charts.

No, that distinction belonged to Vanilla Fudge some 20 years earlier. A harder sound, a different arrangement, and it landed the band on The Ed Sullivan Show.....

The first pilot of Benson (1979)

 Benson, a spin-off from Soap that actually outlasted its parent series, had a completely different look when this first pilot went to air.

David Hedison (ex-Voyage to The Bottom of The Sea) appears here, but then, the pilot was later reshot with 2nd generation actor Lewis Stadlen replacing Hedison. Stadlen didn't last long himself, before his departure from the series.

Governor Gene Gatling (James Noble) thought he was just getting a domestic assistant from his cousin, Jessica Tate (Katherine Helmond). Nuh-uh. Benson was more than that. Much more. As time wore on, Benson moved up in the ranks until he became lieutenant governor.

Now, let's check the pilot, and the comedy stylings of David Hedison....

Rating: A-.

Musical Interlude: Woodstock (1970)

 Joni Mitchell wrote "Woodstock", reflecting about her experience at the legendary 1969 festival. Matthew's Southern Comfort hit #1 on the UK chart in 1970, but most oldies channels prefer Crosby, Stills, & Nash's cover, which came out a year later.

Here's Matthew's Southern Comfort: