Sports this 'n' that

 What is wrong with the Mets?

The team has dropped 8 in a row, having been swept by the A's and Dodgers over the last six days, and the offense has all but vanished, scoring just 3 runs in the Dodger series.

Part of it, of course, is psychological in the absence of star slugger Juan Soto, on the IL with calf issues. Then, utility man Jared Young tore a meniscus, and he went on the IL on Wednesday. Pitcher Clay Holmes made his start on Wednesday after experiencing hamstring tightness on Friday vs. the A's.

Unsurprisingly, Mets fans on reddit are predicting manager Carlos Mendoza, in his 3rd season, may be gone before the season is over. You can't predict injuries, however, and there are those fair weather types who will hold the front office accountable for letting Pete Alonso (Baltimore), Jeff McNeil (A's), and Brandon Nimmo (Texas) leave after last season, taking away a large chunk of the offense before Soto went down.

Proof that fans in NYC are a finicky bunch.

Is this the final season for the LIV golf tour?

MSN reporters seem to think so, as players are leaving the tour, bit by bit.

The Saudi-backed tour changed networks last year from CW to Fox, hoping the wider reach of the latter might help, but it hasn't helped player morale, it seems.

Stay tuned.

If it was theatre NYC fans wanted the last three nights, they got it at Yankee Stadium.

The Bronx Bombers walked off the LA Angels twice, but the highlight of the series was an epic duel between sluggers Aaron Judge & Mike Trout, who combined for 7 home runs in the 3 games. 4 for Trout, 3 for Judge.

I'd say Mike Trout is finally healthy.

The two outfielders, with 6 MVP awards between them (3 each), and their teams will meet again in Anaheim later this season. If you thought this series was wack, wait for the sequel.

And you know Hollywood loves sequels.

Wide World of Sports signed off ABC years ago, but the way smaller, niche sports are starting leagues, and getting TV deals with ESPN, you'd think Disney would want to revive Wide World.

Like, major league table tennis, anyone? You do know pickleball is a hybrid of table tennis, aka ping pong, and regular tennis, right?

Dumb Donald's latest scam didn't fool anyone. DoorDash should sue

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

By now, you've read and/or heard about the DoorDash courier showing up at the White House, bypassing security, etc., to deliver some McDonald's to President Junkfood on Monday. Even a DoorDash courier has to go through security checks just to gain access. That's how it works.

And that was Donald Trump's 1st mistake after the imbroglio over the AI picture, recycled from a couple of years ago, of him dressed like Jesus, that he found and posted on Truthless Social on Sunday.

Turns out that "DoorDash Grandma" is known to Trump and his team.....

I get that Trump was trying to, ah, overcompensate for offending his base on Sunday, but, instead, he made things worse for himself.

Given the prospect that the courier doesn't really work for DoorDash, I'd say the company can consider some kind of litigation for fraud, false representation, etc., but then, they'd have Mango Judas whining and threatening them in return.

Come 2029, however, it's a different story. File it away 'til then. It'll come in handy.

Musical Interlude: Treat Her Right (1965)

 From Hollywood A Go-Go comes singer-dancer Roy Head with "Treat Her Right":

Yowza!

Wartime Mondays: The Fountain of Youth (McHale's Navy, 1964)

 From season 3 of McHale's Navy:

Binghamton insists on going on a mission with the crew of PT-73 in order to win points with Go-Go Granger (Ted Knight). Of course, Binghamton (Joe Flynn) gets more than he bargained for, especially after finding the crew's secret still......

In two weeks: The Wackiest Ship in The Army!

The weekend of GOP stupidity

 Donald Trump won't stop cosplaying as a tough guy.

On Sunday, however, he whined and complained about Pope Leo's bashing of his pointless war with Iran.

"WAAAAHHHHH!!! He should stay out of my business! WAAAAAAAHHHH!"

No, he's not going to, Mango Judas. You had no business starting a conflict with Iran, knowing full well what they are capable of doing to innocent Americans. The US Conference of Catholic Bishops defended the Chicago-born Pope, telling Politico that they're disheartened by your public excoriation of the Pope.

Overnight, the Tangerine Insomniac whined on Truthless Social that Pope Leo is "weak on crime". No, that's not true. He complained that Pope Leo is "terrible for foreign policy". Wrong again, Mango Judas. If you were a true Christian, and we know you're not, and never have been, you would have a better understanding of where the Pope is coming from. But, no, you have to pout like a brat, as usual, because it's all you know.

Worse, Donnie Diapers posted an AI image of himself as a Christ-like figure healing a sick man, mocking not only the Pope, but Jesus as well. Fellow Republicans, including Brilyn Hollyhand, former co-chair of the Republican National Committee's Youth Advisory Council, denounced the image as blasphemy. Pope Leo, for his part, says he doesn't fear the Trump administration. Amen.

Meanwhile, the Department of Injustice, likely on orders from the oldest baby in America, opened an investigation against the National Football League over the allegations of overpricing subscription fees for streamers, which the DOI says is in violation of a 65 year old law, the Sports Broadcasting Act, which is in need of amendment to account for streamers such as Amazon Prime, Netflix, and Paramount+. That the DOI decided to launch a frivolous investigation speaks more to the fact that the league shut out Trump when he tried to buy three different NFL franchises over the years, including Buffalo & New England. The league's stance is that they didn't want someone like Trump in the league for whatever. Trump's been whining about the NFL ever since he was outbid by the Pegulas for the Bills a few years ago. Then again, the Bills have become perennial AFC contenders, something they likely wouldn't be under Trump. Same with the Patriots, who have had a resurgence this past year, and thrived under Robert Kraft's ownership.

What they're basically saying is that while Trump is a bloviating jackass, he lacks the dignity, maturity, and professional comportment of a Kraft or a Jerry Jones. While Jones is a self-promoter, he's not a shameless carny like Trump.

Basically, the league can tell Todd "Bleached" Blanche, the current acting head of the DOI, to pound sand, and go away. The timing of the investigation, which began two weeks before the draft, is suspicious on its own.

Finally, it turns out that sending VP Just Dumb Vance to Hungary to meet with then-president Viktor Orban turned out to be Trump giving Orban the kiss of death, as Orban was defeated in Sunday's election. Unlike Trump, Orban conceded defeat, ending a 16 year tenure as president.

It should be a sign that Trump should leave well enough alone about matters that do not concern him directly, but you know he won't. His ego dictates he needs a headline a day at the very least. All he did was make Orban the most famous Hungarian since Victor Borge & the Gabor sisters, Eva & Zsa Zsa, and it cost Orban his seat.

Well, the American Safety Council was right. You can learn a lot from a dummy.

The most unlikely commercial pitchman (1974)

 After Night Gallery had ended its run, Rod Serling took on a rare commercial endorsement for Mazda.

The Japanese automaker had made its first inroads in the US four years earlier, but, for now, this was the earliest known commercial available.

I think it was around this time that Serling had begun narrating the Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau specials for ABC.

Insight Sundays: The Man From Inner Space (1975)

 "The Man From Inner Space" comes from the pen of William Peter Blatty, the creator of "The Exorcist". It is a fanciful fable of an African-American (Louis Gossett, Jr.) arriving in a spaceship, and taken to the Pentagon. Co-starring James Franciscus (ex-Longstreet, Mr. Novak) & Frank Aletter (ex-It's About Time, Danger Island).