Sports this 'n' that

 Five days after defeating San Antonio for their first NBA title since 1973, the Knicks had the attention of all of NYC this morning.

The victory parade down the legendary Canyon of Heroes culminated at City Hall, where Mayor Zohran Mamdani spoke at great length, praising the team. Owner James Dolan has already decided that the Knicks will be the first NBA champions to visit president Trump at the White House, since Dolan & Trump are long time friends and have similar social attitudes, as witnessed by Dolan's long standing feud with former Knick star Charles Oakley, dating back nearly a decade, and, well, we know about Trump's childish, daily tantrums.

Trump is in France for the G7 Summit, and missed the parade.

The Knicks have already worked out a deal with the WWE in relation to Danhausen, who was a good luck charm for the team during their post-season run. Comparisons to the Mets' magical run 2 summers ago after a promotional appearance by Grimace can be dismissed, since Danhausen got the Knicks "to the finish line".

Speaking of WWE, there are no plans to hold a PLE at the White House, unlike the UFC spectacular four nights ago. UFC frontman & Ram pitchman Dana White has already shot down plans for a second card at the White House, and has to deal with the backlash of one of his fighters taking a cheap shot at former First Lady Michelle Obama. Right wing morons are overestimating the crowd size for Sunday's card. Par for the course for chronic liar Trump and his supporters.

Belated congratulations to the Carolina Hurricanes on winning the Stanley Cup on Sunday, besting Vegas in 6 games. We referenced this over at Tri-City SportsBeat on Monday.

It must've been guys night out for WWE's Paul "Triple H" Levesque, Roman Reigns, & Nick Khan at the UFC card on Sunday. Levesque's brother-in-law, Shane McMahon, was also in the house, as he's probably the biggest MMA fan in the family.

YouTube Theatre: The Outlaws is Coming (1965)

 The Three Stooges' final feature film for Columbia sends them back to the old west.

"The Outlaws is Coming", released in January 1965, enables the team to reward the children's show hosts screening their shorts across the country, such as WPIX's "Officer" Joe Bolton, by casting them as outlaws. Emil Sitka plays three different roles (keep an eye out for him in this picture), and, otherwise, the supporting cast includes Adam West, a year before Batman, Nancy Kovack, & Henry Gibson.

Paul Frees (of course) delivers some Lone Ranger-esque narration early on.

I remember seeing this on WSBK once upon a time, introduced by Dana Hersey, back in the 70's or 80's, I forget which.

A Stooges fan channel misleads viewers by inserting a head shot of Curly Howard in the thumbnail, when Joe DeRita is in this film. Of course, we know better, don't we, kids?

Wild West Wednesdays returns in 2 weeks with Zorro.

Musical Interlude: Just Another Girl (2013)

 Nearly 10 years after their debut, "Hot Fuss", The Killers released a compilation CD, which included the single, "Just Another Girl". Save for a cameo at the end, where he's dressed like he was in "All These Things I've Done", Brandon Flowers doesn't appear. Instead, Dianna Agron acts as a stand-in, miming Flowers' vocals.

Surreal.

There are such things as variant covers (All in The Family, 1971)

 From season 1 of All in The Family:

We had this one up before, and ended up losing it after it'd been taken down from YouTube. Now, it's back, via the Norman Lear Effect channel.

Archie (Carroll O'Connor) learns about judging people when he makes a wrong impression about a friend of Mike & Gloria's, only to discover when he goes to the bar that a friend of his has a secret. Anthony Geary and Philip Carey guest star, along with Billy Sands (billed as Billie), whose former McHale's Navy castmate, Bob Hastings, makes his debut as the bartender.

Wartime Mondays: The Leathernecks (The Gallant Men, 1963)

 Sure, Flag Day was yesterday, but let's travel back to World War II with The Gallant Men, a one season drama from Warner Bros. & ABC.

Van Williams (ex-Surfside Six), George Murdock (later turning up on The Bold Ones & Barney Miller), and Philip Carey (ex-Philip Marlowe) guest star in "The Leathernecks". Hank Simms is our announcer.

Writer Ken Pettus would later write scripts for Williams and The Green Hornet three years later.

Wartime Mondays is going on hiatus. 

Musical Interlude: The theme from Peter Gunn (1969)

 Hey, bub, check it. Henry Mancini. Peter Gunn. Ed Sullivan. Whut more y'need to know?

Destiny favors the Knicks, despite the NBA star system

 1973.

That was the last time the Knicks were NBA champions. The last title run for Willis Reed, Walt Frazier, Phil Jackson, Earl Monroe, and Bill Bradley. The Mets tried to ride that momentum to another World Series that fall, but fell to the then-Oakland A's in 7 games as the A's won their 2nd straight title. The Yankees, Jets, Giants, & Rangers weren't even close.

2026.

An improbable post-season run culminated in the first NBA title since then on Saturday night, as the Knicks avenged a 1999 NBA finals loss to San Antonio by dusting the Spurs in 5 games. Jalen Brunson took on the role of Willis Reed, willing his team to victory, leading the Knicks with 45 points as his father, Rick, a member of the 1999 team, and now, an assistant coach, looked on from the Knicks bench.

Predictably, fans in NYC were delirious, and also prone to violence, just out of sheer stupidity, not knowing how to properly celebrate. For the Knicks' man-child owner, James Dolan, he adds the Larry O'Brien trophy to the Stanley Cup the Rangers won 32 years ago.

But, it almost didn't happen, because of the NBA's star system, and how they want to protect their most marketable players, like the Spurs' Victor Wembanyama. In the 3rd quarter, as the Knicks were making their comeback, the refs missed what would've been a flagrant foul, committed by Wembanyama, on Brunson. Knicks coach Mike Brown, Brunson, and Knicks fans who made the pilgrimage to San Antonio, complained. So did ESPN's team of Mike Breen, Tim Legler, & Richard Jefferson. The refs held their whistles because the league, conspiracy theorists say, wanted the series to continue.

But, to borrow from 80's singer Taylor Dayne, you "can't fight fate". The Knicks persevered, and ended 53 years of title frustration. Dolan would also have a WNBA title trophy if he hadn't sold the Liberty a few years ago.

For all the negativity that came with president Trump showing up at MSG on Monday, with granddaughter Kai in tow, the Knicks, you can say, gave Washington's resident man-child an early birthday present.

But, now comes the hard part. Repeating. Good luck.