Thanks to correspondent Mike Doran for the tip on this next item.
You might recall Carl Reiner's failed 1976 sitcom, Good Heavens, an anthology sitcom about an angel granting wishes to average folks. A couple of years earlier, Reiner directed a pilot for the series under a different title.
Everything Money Can't Buy was the pilot in question, with Jose Ferrer as Mr. Angel, and the concept was a little more serious, which might explain why it didn't sell for some odd reason. It was one of the last projects under the familiar Screen Gems banner before the studio was rechristened Columbia Pictures Television in May 1974. Bernard Slade's Thornhill Productions was attached, with writer-creator Slade also acting as executive producer. Slade had flopped at NBC with The Girl With Something Extra, which paired Sally Field with John Davidson.
Money's ensemble cast included Brenda Vaccaro, Bert Convy (The Snoop Sisters, Tattletales), and two supporting players from The Bob Newhart Show, Peter Bonerz & Jack Riley.
This could've been a hit on another network, but viewers weren't ready for a concept like this. No rating.
2 1/2 weeks ago, there was a solar eclipse. To mark the occasion, Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon teamed with Heart to cover Bonnie Tyler's 1983 smash, "Total Eclipse of The Heart":
Obviously, it was a protracted version, clocking in under 3 minutes. Tyler's original, with producer Jim Steinman adding backing vocals, runs about 5 1/2 minutes:
This is the price Donald Trump is paying for waking up in the middle of the night, or staying up all night, take your pick, and whining on Truthless Social.
Four times now, since the current trial began in New York, Trump, who will be 78 in June, was caught napping in the courtroom, and has had to be awakened by attorney Todd Blanche. Most men in Trump's age group usually go to bed at a decent hour, somewhere between 7 & 10 pm, but we've read reports of Trump posting on his site anywhere between midnight and 4 am.
Farron Cousins fills us in.
This is becoming a serious health problem for Trump, even if he doesn't recognize or realize it. And. remember, he constantly has accused current president Joe Biden of being in cognitive decline, and nicknamed him, "Sleepy Joe".
Karma will have the last laugh on Trump before this is over.
Marcy Carsey & Tom Werner's television empire was rolling as we moved into the 90's. With 2 hit series on NBC, the couple were asked to develop a 3rd sitcom for the network.
Grand began as a mid-season replacement in January 1990, lasting the customary 13 weeks, then getting renewed for a 2nd season, which was also 13 weeks, save for 1 episode that never aired here in the US.
Perhaps the biggest name in the ensemble was Michael McKean (ex-Laverne & Shirley), who had moved on to dual careers in movies and music, the latter as part of Spinal Tap. However, due to other commitments, McKean left the show after the 1st season. Co-star Bonnie Hunt would move on to better things, including her own self-titled sitcom.
Sources are reporting this afternoon that Wilson, after 3 seasons, is heading to Denver for a 6th round pick in this weekend's draft.
For Wilson, it's a chance at a fresh start after coach Sean Payton ran another Wilson---Russell---out of town after last season. Russell Wilson is now in Pittsburgh. Jests GM Joe Douglas fumbled the ball. He had a chance to rid the team of the right wing drama that is Aaron Rodgers and his conspiracy theories, and opted instead to send the underachieving Zach Wilson, a BYU grad, packing.
Look, I get that controversy creates cash, which the Jests are hoping translates into ticket sales if Rodgers can play the season. He's already tarnished his legacy, so, why not?
When fans go to the ballpark, some will carry gloves in the hopes of catching some foul balls or home runs.
A Colorado Rockies fan, however, mistimed his attempt at precisely the wrong time on Sunday, in the first game of a doubleheader against Seattle. You'll see what I mean in the highlight reel.
Luckily, Colorado won the game, but I feel sorry for the fan, who likely lost his privileges for the rest of the season.
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Less than 24 hours later, another fan caused some havoc at Yankee Stadium in the 1st inning of today's matinee between the Yankees & Oakland.
While umpires have a reputation of having "rabbit ears" when manning the plate, Hunter Wendelstedt, a 2nd generation arbiter who should know better, should've adjusted his antenna, if you will, placing the blame for a fan's verbal abuse against him on Yankee manager Aaron Boone, and Boone suffered the quickest ejection of his career.
Umpires do have the authority to eject fans. Bob Davidson famously did that during his career. Wendelstedt, at least, owes Boone an apology before tomorrow's game.
Following the success of Taxi, its producers sold another series to ABC in 1979, another ensemble sitcom, but without the same results.
The Associates was another workplace comedy, this time in a law firm. Oh, the prospect was there for a crossover with Taxi, but, insofar as I know, it didn't happen. What did happen, however, since the series came from the pen of John Jay Osborn, Jr., author of The Paper Chase. John Houseman reprised as Professor Charles Kingsfield for a 1-shot.
As for the cast, most of them went on to other things after the series ended.
Wilfred Hyde-White joined the cast of Buck Rogers in The 25th Century in season 2.
Martin Short (ex-SCTV) moved on to I'm a Big Girl Now the very next year before embarking on a modest movie career and appearing on Saturday Night Live. He currently stars in Only Murders in The Building with Steve Martin and Selena Gomez.
Tim Thomerson (ex-Quark) would later return to television in Sirens & Land's End after he, too, made some movies.
Joe Regalbuto took the guest star route, including a villainous role on Mork & Mindy in season 4 before landing the role of his career on Murphy Brown.
BB King performed the title song for the show. Right now, here's a sample episode.
Entering today's game at Dodger Stadium vs. the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Mets sit 2 1/2 games behind Atlanta in the National League East. Both the Braves & Mets have won 6 straight entering play today. 2nd place Philadelphia almost has to win to keep pace, and hold on to their position, with the Mets 1/2 game behind the Phillies.
The Mets have gone 12-3 since a 0-5 start. That includes taking 2 of 3 from Atlanta, and the Phillies haven't played the Mets yet this season. However, consider what has happened of late to Mets opponents.
The Kansas City Royals, 2 games behind Cleveland in the AL Central entering play today, won 2 of 3 from division rival Chicago after leaving Citi Field last week. However, barring a late rally, they could lose 2 of 3 to Baltimore. You can argue the Mets cooled them off, taking 2 of 3 last weekend.
The Pittsburgh Pirates came to New York Monday in 1st place in the NL Central. Today, they're in 4th place, and in danger of getting swept again, this time at home against Boston. Yep, the Mets cooled off the Pirates.
The Dodgers have dropped three straight after losing the first two games of this series vs. the Mets. Struggling Tyler Glasnow gets the call today after getting strafed by Washington in his last start, while the Mets counter with Adrian Houser. New York has kept Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, and company in the ballpark, though there's no guarantee that'll still be the case today, to be fair.
And, here's the scary part. Former Dodger JD Martinez is getting ready to be called to Flushing, to give Pete Alonso, Francisco Lindor, DJ Stewart, et al some backup. Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez is on the IL with a torn thumb ligament, prompting the return of fan favorite Tomas Nido.
After today, the Mets go to San Francisco, where the opportunity exists to abuse Blake Snell yet again. No wonder Mets fans on Reddit are giddy. But, then, they're also fickle, and as soon as things go south, they'll go back to whining.
Enjoy the ride, kids. It's a long way to October, after all.
After CBS acquired Step by Step & Family Matters from ABC for the purpose of creating their own Friday comedy block, the producers added a new series that borrowed concepts from three other shows.
Meego, however, ran into trouble almost from the beginning. Bronson Pinchot (ex-Perfect Strangers) had the lead as a shape-changing alien who takes on the job of acting as a babysitter/housekeeper for a single dad (Ed Begley, Jr., ex-St. Elsewhere) and his three children.
The familiar factors?
1. Alien crashes his spaceship in the backyard of a common Earth family, and moves in (think ALF).
2. The domestic job (similar to another Miller-Boyett bomb, Out of The Blue, which the producers developed for Paramount & ABC 18 years earlier, though the lead there was an angel).
3. Miller-Boyett tried to duplicate the success of Mork & Mindy, but they did not give Meego a love interest. Robin Williams would've known what to do with the character of Meego. We think.
Erik von Detten ("Toy Story") appears in the pilot, but was replaced by Will Estes in the next episode. Not sure why. Michelle Trachtenberg (ex-The Adventures of Pete & Pete) & Jonathan Lipnicki are the other children. Family Matters co-star Jaleel White made a pair of uncredited cameos early on, not as Steve Urkel, but as other characters. It was almost as if the producers were reluctant to add Meego to the same shared universe as Matters & Perfect Strangers.
Check the opener:
I've always felt a show like this belonged on Saturday mornings. ABC tested Out of The Blue one Saturday due to delays with their cartoon lineup.
ABC did its level best to keep its Friday TGIF block relevant from top to bottom in the mid-90's, but not everything that made the lineup clicked.
Take, for example, Home Free, a spring replacement series in 1993. An ensemble comedy built around the staff of a newspaper.
Matthew Perry, about a year and a half away from Friends, top-lined. The ensemble also included veteran Marian Mercer, Alan Oppenheimer, who hadn't had a live-action series gig since season 1 of The Six Million Dollar Man, where he was replaced by Martin E. Brooks, and spent the 80's and early 90's as a voice actor, Brooke Theiss (ex-Just The Ten of Us), and Dan Schneider (ex-Head of The Class). I think part of the reason Oppenheimer stopped getting live action gigs might've been because casting directors kept confusing him with Gavin MacLeod, but that's just me.
Following is a sample episode:
As everyone knows by now, Schneider later became a producer at Nickelodeon, and wound up losing that gig a while back due to allegations of sexual harassment/abuse, which forms the basis for the current Investigation Discovery series, Quiet on Set.
One Day at a Time had ended its CBS run in 1984. Two years later, Pat Harrington brought back his character from the show, building superintendent Dwayne Schneider, to do a commercial for Trak Auto, filmed in Maryland. Check it.
I think he might've done a series of spots for Trak Auto, but this so far is the only one on YouTube.
Bruce Springsteen was in town the other night, and one can imagine this track was on his playlist.
"My Hometown" was released as a single to promote "The Boss"' live package covering the period between 1975-85, and is a tender ballad with a softer than usual beat, in that Clarence Clemons swapped out his saxophone for a tambourine. Bruce's future wife, Patti, also plays the tambourine, with Nils Lofgren subbing for Steven Van Zandt on guitar.
Thanks to fellow blogger Chuck Miller for the tip.
All Elite Wrestling held its first event in Oklahoma back in January. During the taping for Ring of Honor's weekly program on Honor Club, former AEW women's champion Nyla Rose won a squash match. Nothing wrong with that, right?
Not as far as the Oklahoma State Athletic Commission's concerned, unfortunately.
The OSAC has specific guidelines for boxing, MMA, kickboxing, and, of course, pro wrestling. In the case of the latter, it says nothing about transgender athletes vs. "cisgender" ones. Rose, of course, is a transgender wrestler, and the first trans wrestler to become a world champion. She's also an actress (as Chuck revealed) and dabbled in writing comics not too long ago.
So the OSAC sent a letter to AEW's Tony Khan warning him about using Rose the next time AEW/ROH hits Sooner Country, which, in their small minded point of view, will lead to fines against the promotion.
I call BS. The OSAC is all about pushing their political agenda, discriminating against trans athletes such as Rose. AEW also has openly gay wrestlers such as Anthony Bowens of the Acclaimed, and current women's champ Toni Storm, while married to currently injured Juice Robinson, is bi-sexual.
To politicians up & down the Bible Belt, a transgender man or woman is an abomination. AEW, like most of the country, is inclusive in every way imaginable, and will sign anyone regardless of preferences.
That having been said, the OSAC gets a box of Weasel ears for their bigotry and attempting to bully Khan and his troupe. I would recommend that the OSAC gets a total overhaul before AEW/ROH or even WWE returns to Oklahoma.
The news was shocking, but not surprising, on Monday.
Long time Yankees radio broadcaster John Sterling announced his retirement, to take effect immediately, after his 2nd stint with the team, which began in 1989. Sterling had previously hosted a radio pre-game show with Hall of Famer Mel Allen for WMCA in the 70's. Sterling did not accompany the team to Cleveland or Toronto for their road trip, making the announcement on radio in New York.
In between tours in New York, Sterling spent time in the 80's in Atlanta, calling Braves & Hawks games for WTBS. He'd started his career in Baltimore years earlier, as the play-by-play radio voice of the then-Baltimore Bullets (now the Washington Wizards).
Upon the launch of the YES network in 2002, Sterling was brought back to television to host the team's answer to Biography, Yankeeography, and hosted the annual Old Timers Day event at Yankee Stadium. In more recent times, however, Sterling's age was catching up to him, as his vision, one would suspect, began to betray him. He would assume a home run, only to correct himself when the fly ball was caught by an opposing outfielder.
NY Daily News media columnist Bob Raissman, noting the homerism in radio broadcasts with Sterling and analyst Suzyn Waldman, dubbed the team as "Ma & Pa Pinstripe", a play on the "Ma & Pa Kettle" movie series in the 40's. Sterling will be honored at Yankee Stadium Saturday for his years of service. I'm guessing that Ryan Ruocco, fresh off calling the NCAA women's basketball tournament for ESPN/ABC, is filling in for Sterling until a full-time successor can be found.
Sterling had signed a new deal several months back allowing for a reduced work schedule, similar to what the Mets' Howie Rose signed, but, realistically, Sterling should've seen the writing on the wall well before that. Hindsight, and all that. For now, an era in baseball broadcasting in NY is over, and the Yankees would be hard pressed to find someone that can carry the mail for years to come.
Looking at Sunday's Michigan-Houston game, the first half of a UFL doubleheader on ABC, there was no effort made in Detroit to disguise the fact that there were SO many empty seats. In the nightcap in San Antonio, the use of the lighting in certain areas of the Alamodome made sure those empty seats were hidden from view.
I don't have the attendance figures, but given that the Tigers are off to a solid start in baseball, more people are interested in seeing them than the Michigan Panthers at the moment, and those that remember the past failures of the XFL & USFL are certain to believe this iteration of the UFL will be no different.
Caitlin Clark, the Iowa superstar expected to be the #1 draft pick in the WNBA draft tonight, appeared during the Weekend Update segment, which caught co-anchor Michael Che by surprise.
After starting 0-5, the Mets have won three straight series, with Kansas City the latest victim on Sunday. A bloop single by Harrison Bader opened the door for 2 runs in the home 8th, and while Edwin Diaz gave up a solo homer to Vinny Pasquatino in the 9th, he was able to pick up his 3rd save, as the Mets escaped with a 2-1 win. Bethlehem graduate Matt Quatraro can be happy he won one game in this series, an 11-7 slugfest on Saturday.
USAA and Fox NFL Sunday's resident lunkhead, Rob Gronkowski, threw out the 1st pitch prior to today's Patriots Day game between Boston & Cleveland, won by the Guardians. Gronkowski spiked the ball, thinking he'd scored a touchdown. I'm convinced he's not just putting on an act in those commercials......!
I'm sure you've heard by now that the folks behind Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? have mounted a new version of the game, Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity?. No joke. Super Bowl hero Travis Kelce has been tapped to host the show, which will debut later this year, apparently, as a summer fill-in. One has to hope Kelce isn't another Peyton Manning as an MC. Manning's reboot of the College Bowl appears to have been dry-docked by NBC after 2 seasons.
According to today's Albany Times-Union, someone is posing as an elections official in Saratoga County, going door-to-door to question Democratic voters about signing a petition for Democratic county treasurer candidate Michelle Madigan.
Commissioner Cassandra Bagramian has put the word out to remind everyone that impersonating a licensed election official is a crime. Bagramian alerted her GOP counterparts, and, as of now, there is cooperation on both sides.
It's easy to assume that this scammer is a GOP operative, but we don't know that for sure. A similar scam was run in Warren & Washington counties last year. Madigan is running against Joann Kupferman in the general election in November.
This is the kind of bi-partisan cooperation that has been missing in Washington the last few years. In time, we'll learn who is responsible not only for this, but the scams last year as well. Personally, it's probably some independent contractor who is just looking to stir the pot. I hope they find this clown.
All this week, lawyers for former president Donald Trump have tried and failed to delay his pending criminal trial in New York. The biggest perp walk to the courtroom of all time is set for Monday morning, and Trump is calling for his supporters to help him.
"I need you in New York on Monday, or all hell breaks loose!!!"
Yeah, he's that scared.
What the lawyers have tried is recycling previously dismissed motions to delay based on such things as pre-trial publicity. If you believe the popular notion that Trump wants to "run out the clock" in the hope he gets re-elected in November, that's a little too far fetched at this point. A lifetime of entitlement and privilege has led to this. Some believe that Trump, who will be 78 in June, is suffering from some form of dementia, which is what claimed the life of his father, Fred, some years ago. He doesn't have attorney Roy Cohn to save him, either.
Basically, if this goes as expected, Trump is SOL, and he deserves it.
Fictional baseball teams don't seem to succeed on television for some reason.
For example, Paramount took a chance on turning the original "Bad News Bears" into a sitcom for CBS in 1979. They were better served mounting this as a children's show. Four years later, NBC tried a drama, Bay City Blues, from the producers of Hill Street Blues. Lasted a month.
In 1994, during the baseball strike, Fox tried Hardball, which was clearly a case of trying to pick up the audience that had seen the "Major League" movies. Hardball marked the return to primetime of sitcom legend Rose Marie (ex-The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Doris Day Show, Hollywood Squares), leading an ensemble of players, some of whom would find greater success, including:
Dann Florek (later of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit).
Phill Lewis (The Suite Life of Zack & Cody).
Joe Rogan (NewsRadio, Fear Factor), now a podcaster and UFC commentator, better known now for his warped political views.
Bruce Greenwood (ex-St. Elsewhere, later of Nowhere Man).
Check the opener, introduced by Terry Bradshaw & Howie Long.
Another flop. Fox was better off having Married... With Children airing in front of it, instead of after it.
Pablo Cruise's final top 40 hit was "Cool Love", the 1st single off 1981's "Reflector". I remember going to a Record Town knock-off, Record City, to buy the vinyl single right before graduating from high school. The following clip came two years later, when the band appeared on Solid Gold:
The story was that Rachel Gunn, RN was originally meant to be a vehicle for country singer KT Oslin, but Oslin dropped out because she felt the title character was too mean.
It was also meant to air on CBS, but ended up going to Fox instead, as a spring-summer replacement series. Unfortunately, Gunn ended up lasting just the one season, though for two cast members, it might've been a godsend, after all.
Christine Ebersole (ex-Saturday Night Live) was cast as Gunn after Oslin dropped out. As a bonus, Ebersole also recorded a solo cover of Huey Lewis & The News' "Workin' For a Livin'", which came out 10 years earlier. One can only imagine "Workin'" with a Nashville beat if Oslin had recorded it. It wasn't long after Gunn ended that Kevin Conroy (Dr. Dunkel) moved right into another series for Fox, one that would define his career------Batman: The Animated Series launched just a few days after Gunn's last episode. Megan Mullally would later co-star on Will & Grace. Dan Tullis, Jr. was already on Columbia's payroll, having appeared in a recurring role on Married...With Children.
In this sampler, Gunn falls for a rodeo star. Vlade Divac, then with the Los Angeles Lakers, appears briefly in an unlikely role.
The 2024 baseball season isn't even a month old, counting the 2 game series between San Diego & the Los Angeles Dodgers in South Korea, but 1st year Mets executive David (Bear) Stearns is showing already that he has no patience for underachievement.
Last week, the Mets signed former Atlanta pitcher Julio Teheran, who'd been cut by Baltimore in pre-season, and put him on the mound against his original club Monday night at Truist Park. Teheran couldn't get out of the 3rd inning, as the Braves took an early 4-0 lead. However, the Mets won the game, 8-7, thanks to a pair of homers from Brandon Nimmo and a game winner from DJ Stewart.
Photo courtesy Associated Press.
This morning, Teheran was designated for assignment by the Mets, the 3rd pitcher the team has effectively cut in the last two weeks. Relievers Phil Bickford & Yohan Ramirez have also been DFA'd. Bickford was released, and Ramirez got the DFA label on Monday to make room for Teheran. The Mets, now 4-6 after an 0-5 start, are showing signs of finally getting it together on offense, but the pitching is in dire need of help because of the brutal early season schedule.
It's almost as if Stearns is channeling the spirit of the late Yankee owner George Steinbrenner, while Steinbrenner's son, Hal, runs the Bombers with a more patient hand. Weird, isn't it?
Wrestlemania is in the books, the first without former WWE CEO/Chairman Vince McMahon, who is continuing to sell off his stock shares.
Son-in-law Paul Levesque, aka Triple H, ran the show this year, and, in the eyes of many, hit a home run right off the bat. By the time they signed off around 10 pm (ET) on Sunday, WWE was ready to write some new stories.
Sunday's highlights:
McMahon's daughter, Stephanie, who turned up at the Hall of Fame ceremony on Friday, opened Sunday's show. You could see there was a sense of relief, knowing her father wasn't there, but, as she admitted, she'd been to every Wrestlemania, either as a performer, creative team member, or just as part of the McMahon family, since the first one in 1985 at Madison Square Garden. The Philly crowd loved her.
4 years after winning the WWE title during the COVID pandemic, Scotland's Drew McIntyre dethroned Seth Rollins, only for Judgment Day's Damian Priest to cash in the Money in The Bank briefcase, and claim the title himself. Online commentators speculated that McIntyre could challenge for the title in his native Scotland at Clash at The Castle in June.
After her Damage CTRL teammates fell in defeat on Saturday, Japan's Iyo Sky (formerly known as Io Shirai) dropped the WWE women's title to Bayley, which will have supporters of the faction fuming about how the team has failed again at the big dance.
Finally, and most importantly, Cody Rhodes "finished his story" by overcoming the Bloodline Rules, with help from John Cena and the Undertaker, to dethrone Roman Reigns.
Ever since winning the Universal title (now simply the WWE title) in 2020 at Summerslam, Reigns' title defenses have been overbooked for whatever reason, but this time, because this trope had long passed its expiration date, Rhodes got some much needed backup.
This morning, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson moved back onto WWE's alumni page, as he will be off making or promoting movies for the next 3-4 months. When he does return, will he still be the "Final Boss", his new heel persona, or does he revert back to being the beloved icon he was before? We'd have to find out.
Meanwhile, job 1 for Levesque and WWE is to heed the advice of Bob Seger and "Turn The Page":
It was the story in Major League Baseball to begin the 1974 season. No, not the Oakland A's quest for a 3-peat in the World Series, though that would happen six months later.
When the season began in April, Atlanta's Hank Aaron was pursuing history, taking aim at Babe Ruth's record of 714 home runs. He tied the record, as memory serves, against Cincinnati. On April 8, on NBC's Monday Night Baseball, Aaron and the Braves faced the Los Angeles Dodgers. I remember sitting at home----well, actually, I was on the carpet----with my folks, watching the game 'til bedtime.
The video, posted by MLB's YouTube channel, is from the NBC broadcast. However, the audio is the Dodgers' radio broadcast, with venerable Vin Scully on the call. I am not sure if there's any video with Curt Gowdy's original call for NBC available online at present.
No one knows what happened to the two publicity seeking fans that ran on the field to congratulate Aaron. They likely had seen their last game, as they were probably ejected for getting on the field, which is still a no-no for fans.
Hank Aaron finished his career where it began in the majors, in Milwaukee, before going into the Hall of Fame. We lost Aaron in 2021. In many people's minds, he's still the true home run king, not Barry Bonds. That argument will continue forever.
The theme surrounding tonight's WWE Universal title rematch between Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes at Wrestlemania has been about Rhodes "finishing the story" after getting screwed last year by the Bloodline. Reigns (Joe Anoia) has lost all credibility as a heel champion because he can't win any title defense without help from his family. He thinks he has the ultimate trump card now with his cousin, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, as a member of the TKO Holdings Board of Directors.
As ESPN's Lee Corso would say, "not so fast, my friends, not so fast".
Reigns' 3 1/2 year run has been pockmarked with tainted title defenses, but his biggest patron, disgraced former chairman Vince McMahon, isn't there anymore, having been forced out a few months back. For Nick Khan, Ari Emanuel, & Paul "Triple H" Levesque, tonight is about letting Cody finish his story, so WWE can, in the words of Bob Seger, "turn the page", and move on.
We've already seen a heel champion succeed without cheating this weekend.
Roxanne Perez turned heel on NXT women's champ Lyra Valkyria a few weeks back, and, in subsequent promos, the "Prodigy" has edited out the fact that she competed and lost her bid to regain the title last year at Stand & Deliver. Saturday, in Philadelphia, at the same event, Perez, 22, finished her story, now one of not so much redemption, but fraught with resentment over perceived slights in her year-long quest to get back to the top.
In submitting Valkyria, Perez got it done the right way, not needing any unnecessary outside help. Tatum Paxley, whose story arc with Valkyria recalls a classic story arc between Trish Stratus & Mickie James, both now Hall of Famers, back in 2005-6, tried to help, but Perez dispatched her as well en route to becoming a 2-time champion.
To further illustrate the theme, we must shift over to women's college basketball, and what most thought would be the final chapter of "Caitlinmania", as Iowa's Caitlin Clark and the Lady Hawkeyes vied for the NCAA women's title against South Carolina, which had a story of its own to finish, one of a perfect season, something that hasn't happened in women's basketball since UConn did it 8 years ago.
Basketball's new golden girl
Iowa eliminated Connecticut on Friday, thanks to a questionable offensive foul call charged to UConn, which would have people thinking the game was rigged in favor of Iowa. I'd like to think that shouldn't be the case. Today, Iowa jumped out to an early lead, but went into halftime trailing South Carolina by 3, 49-46. The Lady Gamecocks went on to win their 3rd title, and complete the perfect season, and, in effect, finish their story, with an 87-75 win. Clark played every second of this game, as Iowa's coaches relied heavily on their superstar in her final college game. Clark may not be heading to the Olympics, but she has declared for the WNBA draft.
"Dumb Donald is really dumb!"---Gene Rayburn, Match Game, 1973-84.
Donald Trump is SO desperate to avoid accountability, he has had his ambulance chasers try to have a subpoena issued against NBC-Universal-Comcast. claiming collusion in relation to a documentary on adult film actress Stormy Daniels (Stephanie Clifford), whose case against Trump goes to court on April 15.
Judge Juan Merchan, who has taken more abuse from the Archduke of Affluenza than legally allowed, blocked the subpoena, referring to this attempt as nothing more than a fishing expedition. Earlier in the week, Trump continued his unhinged attacks on Merchan and his daughter, only to have a pre-existing gag order expanded so that it has to stop. As if that'll happen. Trump responds to such rebuke by acting like a spoiled child, an embarrassing situation for a man whose physical age is closer to 80 than 8.
The more Trump leads with his mouth, the more he gets in trouble. And that's entirely his fault.
This morning's earthquake didn't have much of an effect in the hometown, but it was felt in New York City and New Jersey.
And, because she feels she needs a headline per day, Georgia Misrepresentative Empty-G (Marjorie Taylor Greene) took a page from the late Pat Robertson's playbook, and claimed the earthquake was an act of God, and, in her twisted mind, so is the solar eclipse set for Monday.
Greene, like Robertson before her, believes that God is responsible because He wants Americans to repent for their sins. Apparently, Congress' Dumb Dora failed science class in high school and/or college, as several commenters on Yahoo! and social media roasted Greene, and schooled her on why earthquakes happen in the first place.
It's kind of weird for Greene to invoke God, but, then again, she and other Republicans try to wrap themselves around their pseudo-Christian beliefs to keep their evangelical supporters snowed.
As a Christian myself, I'm insulted by people like Greene.
The titular sports talk show is a knock-off of ESPN's Pardon The Interruption, whose co-host, Tony Kornheiser, was the inspiration for the sitcom, with his fictional counterpart played by Jason Alexander (ex-Seinfeld), who doubled as a producer. The series is set in Philadelphia instead of Washington, DC, where Interruption has been based since its inception. Malcolm Jamal-Warner (ex-The Cosby Show) co-stars.
Away from the talk show set, it's just another domestic sitcom. While the real Kornheiser is a humorist when writing his columns, Alexander, seeking to shed the image of his Seinfeld persona as George, is just another sitcom dad.
Let's take a look at a sample episode with guest stars Julia Duffy & Peter Scolari, reunited from their days on Newhart:
20 years later, Pardon The Interruption rolls on, while Listen Up! is but a footnote in television history. No rating.
Of the original cast of Saturday Night Live, only four cast members would land primetime network gigs after leaving the show, three of them in lead roles.
Jane Curtin (Kate & Allie, 3rd Rock From The Sun).
Chevy Chase (Community). Chase also tried a late night talk show that bombed.
Garrett Morris landed supporting roles on Hunter & The Jamie Foxx Show.
The one everyone forgets is Dan Aykroyd. Aside from movies, Dan had returned to television not only with the syndicated Psi Factor, but a short-lived ABC sitcom, Soul Man, which parlayed a 3 episode test run in April 1997 into a full season order five months later.
Soul Man took a supporting character from Home Improvement, and brought him over, with Aykroyd top-lining as a widowed Episcopal priest with three sons. There would crossovers with Improvement in the form of guest appearances by Zachary Ty Bryan & Richard Karn during season 2.
Because it was more of a domestic sitcom than a religious-centric one, that would explain Soul Man getting that 2nd season.
In this sampler, Pastor Mike learns his eldest son is failing geometry. I can relate.
Before you get the pitchforks out for not including Jim Belushi's According to Jim, remember, we were discussing the originalSNL troupe.
It's not enough that Lara Trump, wife of Stupid-E, co-chair of the Republican National Committee after father-in-law Donald Trump bullied Ronna McDaniel out, is reaping the benefits of her new gig. She thinks she's a pop star. Well, at one time, so did Paris Hilton, but Paris did the smart thing, and gave it up just as quickly as she tried it.
"Anything is Possible" is not a cover of an old Debbie Gibson track. No, Lara co-wrote this one herself, but, as you'll hear, she's not even in Gibson's class as a singer or a songwriter. She's made William Hung look like a Grammy winner by comparison.
After the Democratic National Committee produced a diss track via artificial intelligence, Lara, who actually challenged the Democrats, and other critics, went whining to Fox No News.
To think that Lara previously butchered the late Tom Petty's "I Won't Back Down". However, chalk this up as the latest in a long line of Trump family failures.
In 2005, WWE moved Velocity & Heat (formerly Sunday Night Heat) to their website for online viewing after ending their contract with Spike TV (now Paramount Network), and moving Monday Night Raw back to USA Network.
19 years later, WWE is taking the next step, presenting its first series intended solely for social media. Enter WWE Speed.
2 matches per week, 3 minute time limit per match, at least for now, and the series begins with a tournament to crown the new brand's 1st champion. Corey Graves (Smackdown) goes it alone on commentary, as there's no room for a color analyst.
Fans are posting the matches on Reddit, which enables me to review the show.
Today's opener kicks off the tournament, and, believe me, you need to see these matches to see how this new format works. With a 3 minute time limit, there is no margin for error. Every second counts.
If it wasn't for the fact that it was England's Culture Club which released "Church of The Poison Mind", off 1983's "Colour by Numbers", the GOP could accept this as their new theme song, given their fealty to a false god (Donald Trump, natch).
Jokes aside, singer Helen Terry joins Boy George and company for this one. All 4 band members collaborated on the writing of "Church", which is a throwback to the Holland-Dozier-Holland-penned Motown classics of the 60's.
There is definitely something in the "blue grass" of Kentucky.
Kentucky Misrepresentative James "Gomer" Comer has admitted that his attempts to impeach President Biden aren't going so well, so he now wants to issue a criminal referral to the Department of Justice.
But, there's one problem that, as Farron Cousins points out, Comer will never admit to. He has no evidence for even a criminal case.
This is how desperate the GOP is to clear the path for Donald Trump. Comer is passing the buck on the blame for no other reason than to just deflect and refuse to accept accountability for wasting taxpayer dollars on a snipe hunt ordered by Trump.
"Well, golllllleeee!! How does he still have a job?"
Because Kentuckians are too stubborn to realize they've been repeatedly duped. Comer is hoping to get a Cabinet post if Diaper Don, the Archduke of Affluenza, returns to the White House. Kentucky hasn't really had anyone with common sense since Colonel Sanders.
The DOJ will likely take Comer's referrals and toss them in the appropriate box. A recycling box.
As we all celebrated Easter on Sunday, it was not the only holiday.
There was also the Transgender Day of Visibility, which began in 2010. However, few would've known about it if President Biden had not made a proclamation recently that got conservatives and Republicans up in arms over a mound of nothing.
I will freely admit that until Biden had spoken up on behalf of the transgender community, I didn't know this holiday existed. Republicans, however, have made it part of their culture war mission to disrespect and same the LGBTQ+ community. Unlike Easter, the Transgender Day of Visibility has one consistent date, March 31. Easter, as fellow blogger Chuck Miller pointed out earlier today, falls three weeks later next year, on April 20.
File photo courtesy Associated Press.
It's the coincidental timing of Easter and the TDoV falling on the same day that has Republicans up in arms, whining, crying, and humiliating themselves because of their blatant, willful ignorance. Next year, they won't have the same argument, but they'll likely cry on Easter anyway, because of the alternate connotations of 4/20.......!
There's been a good amount of talk about "superhero fatigue", magnified by the relative failure of Marvel's "The Marvels" at the box office last fall.
Now on Disney+, fans see for themselves where Marvel Studios seemingly went wrong with a film featuring Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) and Ms. Marvel (Iman Vellani). Monica Rambeau, who was Captain Marvel for about 15 minutes in the books back in the 80's before Marvel Comics gave her the code name Photon, completes the triad of heroines under the guidance of Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson).
At issue is a Kree seeking to revive her homeworld after the Supreme Intelligence was destroyed by Captain Marvel. She wields a quantum band similar to one worn by Ms. Marvel, who thought hers was a family heirloom. Yoiks!!
Keep an eye open during the credits for some, ah, old friends.
Check the trailer:
The more our ladies shift and switch places, it seems appropriate that Marvel finally put something relatively contemporary on the soundtrack, namely this gem from the Beastie Boys:
Well, since we have no other trailers to talk about.....!
Mr. Maddock is a state representative from Michigan who has had too much Trump-Ade for his own good.
You've heard of mistaken identity cases. The case involving Maddock is really a case of blind stupidity amplified with arrogance and willful ignorance.
Wednesday night, the teams playing in Detroit at Little Caesars Arena in the NCAA men's Sweet 16 arrived at Wayne County Airport. Maddock wigged seeing three buses bearing the players, coaches, & staff of Gonzaga University, one of the top teams in the country, and insisted, even after his claim was debunked, that these were migrants he claimed entered the country illegally.
Portrait of a moron.
Even though the airport and Gonzaga officials confirmed who was in the buses, Maddock refused to back down, claiming he "hadn't heard a good enough answer".
Bollocks & balderdash!!
The answers were right there in front of you, fella. Your paranoia put you in this position, and now you've a price to pay. You owe the people of Detroit a major league apology. Just the same, you're getting this:
We should also note that Maddock's wife is one 15 false electors awaiting trial after pleading not guilty to the scheme to overturn the 2020 election. Stupidity does run in that family.....
The late actress & singer Marni Nixon was much in demand in Hollywood, but only for her voice, though she did land a few roles in front of the camera during her career.
Nixon was known as a voice dubber or ghost singer, who had sung for Natalie Wood & Rita Moreno in "West Side Story", Deborah Kerr in "The King & I", and Marilyn Monroe, among others. Her fame and relative anonymity led to appearing on To Tell The Truth twice. The first time was in December 1964. The 2nd appearance came just over 26 years later, in January 1991. Kitty Carlisle was on the panel both times, which explains why she recused herself in 1991.......
In between Truth appearances, Nixon continued her career, and millions of children heard her sing for Janet Waldo in Hanna-Barbera's adaptation of Jack & The Beanstalk in 1967.
How desperate is Donald John Judas Iscariot Trump to avoid paying all of his legal bills out of pocket?
Desperate enough to resort to selling Bibles, with additional reprints of documents such as the Bill of Rights and lyrics to Lee Greenwood's 80's anthem, "God Bless The USA", for a whopping $59.99, plus tax & shipping costs.
SAY WHAT???
We all know April Fool's Day is next Monday, but to Trump, his gullible supporters are fools every day of the year for blindly wasting their money on anything he attaches his name to, so what's a Bible in this case, but another tool for grifting?
Jesus would not have approved.
File photo courtesy Getty Images/MSN.
In reality, you can get a New King James Version of the Bible at Walmart for about 1/4 of the cost Trump is charging. I know, because I did just that a year ago. Four of those would still leave you some room for the collection plate.
Plus, given Trump's notorious refusal to pay licensing fees for songs, such as "God Bless The USA", played at his rallies without the artist's permission, though we're not sure about Greenwood, a country singer whose last hit was in the 80's, I wonder if that covers distributing the lyrics without permission, too.
Jesus Himself warned us about false prophets & teachers in the Book of Matthew. File Trump in that category, because he otherwise wouldn't touch a Bible with a 10 foot pole. He's also getting another set of Weasel ears for his growing collection. He can give these to his press flack, Steven Cheung, who clearly is incapable of understanding that his boss is the biggest con artist this side of Harold Hill. And if you don't know who that is, go rent "The Music Man".......
Ronna Romney-McDaniel's television career, at least at NBC, is over before it really started.
The former chairperson of the Republican National Committee, pushed out the door by Donald Trump in what amounted to a bloodless coup so he could take over the RNC and use it as a personal piggy bank, so they say, was hired by NBC as a contributor. However, that didn't end well.
McDaniel was let go today, two days after getting publicly excoriated on Meet The Press, and after NBC personalities, including former Press moderator Chuck Todd, questioned the wisdom of their bosses hiring McDaniel, who until Sunday didn't definitively admit that Trump lost the 2020 election. On Sunday, she finally did, but it was too little, too late.
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By now, you've all heard about the boat crashing into the Francis Scott Key bridge in Baltimore, collapsing the bridge, and plunging several innocent commuters into the river. The boat sank, as well.
Leave it to some ill-mannered GOPers to try to paint the accident as anything but. Like, for example, a terrorist attack. Which it wasn't.
Georgia Misrepresentative and conspiracy theorist Marjorie Taylor Greene was promptly blasted on X for trying to sell the idea that it was some sort of attack. Greene has no shame, and will say anything to keep her name in the headlines. They're dealing with tragedy in Baltimore, and she's trying to imagine something else happened.
Also on Sunday, Fibber Jordan went on 60 Minutes, and co-anchor Lesley Stahl, in the course of her interview with Jordan, fact-checked him right to his face about misrepresentation, among other things, leaving ol' Fibber flabbergasted.
Farron Cousins explains:
The truth hurts, doesn't it, Fibber?
============================================
Finally, the Baron of Blasphemy himself, Trump, is trying to compare himself to Jesus. It just happens to be the week before Easter, so we get the timing. I will remind that the late musician John Lennon once opined that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus, and, a few years later, Lennon was killed by an obsessed fan.
So what would be Trump's fate in correlation with Lennon? While we don't wish ill on anyone, getting convicted in at least one trial, coupled with another election loss, would be torture enough on Trump's fragile mind.
Archie Comics used to be a safe haven for readers. Not anymore.
The horror line is what keeps the company going, between 1-shots and miniseries, as they're uncertain if they'll ever relaunch their classic titles again. The horror books are aimed, in this writer's opinion, at the same audience that Marvel & DC are targeting with their young adult TPB's. However, the quality leaves something to be desired.
Take, for example, Pop's Chock'lit Shop of Horrors 2: Fresh Meat.
Terry "Pop" Tate, who was rebooted into an African-American a while back, in line with his characterization on Riverdale, makes a deal with the devil to eliminate the competition, and there are three short stories that are not worth discussing. Just like the first volume, this is inspired by the original "Little Shop of Horrors" that Roger Corman made all the way back in 1960, but that inspiration is a little hollow. Archie seems to have found an audience for this dreck, which means a 3rd volume is likely next year.
Due next month is a sequel to last year's equally inane Cult of That Wilkin Boy. Consider this dark, alternate reality the legacy of Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, who still won't return to finish Afterlife With Archie.....
Rating: C-.
On a lark last month, I acquired the first two volumes of DC's Zatanna & The Ripper, part of DC's line of young adult TPB's, except that this one is spun from Webtoon's online series, seeing print for the first time.
Time travel is the theme of this one, set with Zatanna as a youth, apprenticing under her father, Zatara. The manga-inspired artwork is nice, but the flaw in the script seems to be stemming from editorial's need to include John Constantine as Zatanna's canonical sweetheart, a la Batman/Catwoman. Whatever happened to Jeff Sloane, who was Zee's manager-boyfriend back in the 70's? I think what the writer is going for here is inspired by the movie, "Time After Time". I'm not the target audience, so I'll just guess and move on.
Rating: B--.
Final analysis of Wesley Dodds: The Sandman shows us that while Robert Venditti came up with a smart, compelling script, it's undone by Riley Rossmo's attempt at emulating the artistic style of the Golden Age, and failing. Venditti's other miniseries, Superman '78: The Metal Curtain, wraps up in the next week or so, and is easier on the reader's eyes, art-wise.
Had this next item gone to series, there's a chance Victoria Principal might never have made it to Dallas.
Victoria was part of the ensemble cast for an unsold 1977 pilot, Mixed Nuts, inspired by the 1975 Jack Nicholson film, "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest", but that inspiration, plus having the cast fronted by veteran Morey Amsterdam (ex-The Dick Van Dyke Show, Can You Top This?), wasn't enough to get any network to take a chance.
The pilot also featured Ed Begley, Jr., who was doing commercials at the time, 5 years away from St. Elsewhere.
Cast member Frank LaLoggia posted this nearly 8 minute clip.
This had potential. What I think they were going for was the kind of ensemble comedy that made Barney Miller, for example, so successful.
Rod Stewart peaked at #2 on the adult contemporary chart with his cover of Carole King's "So Far Away", which King wrote in 1971 for her legendary "Tapestry" album. Stewart's version first appeared on a King tribute album which also featured the likes of Amy Grant, Curtis Stigers, Celine Dion, and the Bee Gees, then, a few months later, was reissued on Stewart's "If We Fall In Love Tonight" CD.
WROW AM (Magic 100.5 FM/AM 590) is having issues with Albany Street again.
The long running Sunday public affairs show has run the same episode with Amsterdam, NY Mayor Mike Cinquanti for the 6th consecutive week. Despite this, host Brian Cady is still doing his Sunday morning drive show, now reduced to 2 hours (7-9 am ET), with Madison Wealth Managers' Saturday show getting a Sunday berth at 9 am a few weeks back. You'll recall that the Jon Reilly experiment in the summer of 2022 went nowhere, and his lone episode ran for 2 months straight before Cady was brought in as the new host, and Reilly was let go.
Cady, also the PA voice of the Amsterdam Mohawks of the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League, does not have an e-mail address at WROW, so we have no way of knowing what the issue is. Stay tuned.
Update, 2:45 pm (ET): It appears Cady could very well be gone, as John Gabriel manned the 7-9 am shift this morning following the Albany Street rerun. He didn't say he was filling in for Cady, and we' re trying to obtain some information.
Saturday afternoon's sudden snowstorm caused some issues for commuters in Troy & Albany.
On a personal note, my brother & I were visiting his erstwhile roommate at a rehab center in South Troy. It rained when we got there, and when we left at 4:30 pm, it was snowing. It took a while to realize that CDTA called an audible, and took the #85 line on one single route. In other words, as often happens during winter storms, the secondary route through the Cottage Street Apartments complex was detoured to the main route. My brother & I hiked from the CSA complex, and nearly reached the bus shelter in front of Hudson Valley Community College before flagging down the #85.
Once aboard, we could not help but overhear a conversation between the bus driver and a very loud, obnoxious young man, presumably a HVCC student, who was spewing out conspiracy theories, one right after the other. Of course, amongst ourselves, we questioned the young man's sanity, or lack thereof.
Tree branches had already fallen along our trail to HVCC, by the way, but that was tame compared to what my bro encountered when he returned to Albany. Traffic was snarled along State Street as one of the new UAlbany-centric express buses was stuck in a snowbank.
Suffice to say, Mother Nature caught everyone off-guard.
For those that wonder, La Victoria on Congress Street in Troy is still open, but they've been notified by the city that some work needs to be done on the space. No, not cleaning up the graffiti on the outside, but some work has to be done inside. Stay tuned.
With the Dodgers & Padres having already started---everyone else begins regular season play March 28---it's time to close this year's preview with thumbnails of the remaining four divisions.
National League Central:
1. St. Louis: The Cardinals are overdue. Brandon Crawford comes over from San Francisco to help the defense, and add some punch in the batting order.
2. Cincinnati: Last year's division champs will contend for a Wild Card.
3. Milwaukee: Not enough pitching. Not enough offense.
4. Pittsburgh.
5. Chicago.
National League West:
1. San Francisco: Bob Melvin takes over for Gabe Kapler, and has a better situation than he did in San Diego.
2. Los Angeles: Dave Roberts' streak of division titles, despite the addition of Shohei Ohtani, ends this year. Wild Card at best.
3. Arizona. As the top two made some key moves, the D-Backs will play for a Wild Card.
4. San Diego. The Padres got hosed by the Yankees in the Juan Soto trade. 'Nuff said.
5. Colorado. Not this year.
American League Central:
1. Minnesota.
2. Cleveland.
3. Detroit.
4. Chicago.
5. Kansas City.
American League West:
1. Houston: The Astros have much to prove that last year's loss to Texas was just an aberration.
2. Texas: If they get Jacob deGrom back, they could get back to the World Series.
3. Seattle: They'll contend for a Wild Card, nothing more.
4. Los Angeles: The Angels have to replace not only Shohei Ohtani, but Jared Walsh as well. Not enough offense behind Mike Trout.
Ooops, she's done it again. (Apologies to Britney Spears)
Marjorie Taylor Greene wants the government to shut down just to "own the libs" and stick it to the Biden administration. Current Speaker Mike Johnson, less than 6 months into his tenure as Speaker, is Empty-G's new target. Why? Because he's doing the right thing, preventing the government from being shut down.
Brian Tyler Cohen explains:
What Empty-G fails to realize is that if the government shuts down, she doesn't get paid, and neither do her fellow GOPers or anyone else. So what if she's wealthy? The only benefit to the government shutting down, even in the short term, is taking her away from the headlines.
Have another Dunce Cap, Marjorie. You've earned it. Again.
ABBA landed in the top 10 on the Hot 100 for the last time in 1980 with "The Winner Takes it All", the 1st single off the "Super Trouper" album. Despite the theme of the song, the title alone lends it all to tournaments like the NCAA men's & women's basketball tournaments, which have begun (men) or will this weekend (women).
If they play the instrumental some time, then you know they got the message. I'd prefer the instrumental of this than the schmaltzy "One Shining Moment"....
Today, we call them flight attendants. Back in the day, they were stewardesses, and, as history has taught us, shows about these women don't fare very well.
From a Bird's Eye View was Sheldon Leonard's last sale to NBC. It was supposed to be on the fall 1970 schedule, after Leonard had bombed with My Friend Tony & My World & Welcome To It. It was also the 1st of 2 series Leonard co-produced with ITC in England. "Bird", you see, is British slang for woman. Go figure.
This was developed as a star vehicle for actress Millicent Martin, who had top billing.
While the series launched in England in 1970, NBC sat on it until the first half of 1971, perhaps because they couldn't find a slot for it on the fall schedule. Standard sitcom fare, with the choice of occupation highlighted making it more challenging. As we've talked about, most ITC series, with some exceptions (i.e. The Saint, This is Tom Jones) averaged one season.
Leonard & ITC would collab again the next year on Shirley MacLaine's Shirley's World, which aired on ABC, and bombed.
You would think with the moves that the Yankees made in the offseason, that they wouldn't miss the post-season again this year. Ah, but misfortune has plagued the Bombers this spring, with two key players unavailable for opening day next week.
The late George Steinbrenner would have ditched Aaron Boone and/or GM Brian Cashman already, but son Hal doesn't have the impulses his father had, and this is despite the fact that there were people calling for Boone to be gone after failing to make the playoffs last season.
Infield: DJ LeMahieu will likely begin the season on the IL, and that opens a spot for Columbia High grad Kevin Smith (Oakland), should he make the 40 man major league roster. The rest of the infield is set, with the Anthonys---Rizzo & Volpe----and Gleyber Torres.
Outfield: The big news, of course, was Juan Soto coming over from San Diego, and bringing Trent Grisham with him. The Yankees also signed Alex Verdugo away from Boston/ Factor in Aaron Judge, and you can understand why Yankee fans are hoping they not only make the playoffs, but win the division, too.
Pitching: Gerrit Cole is on the IL. Luis Severino is with the Mets. Domingo German, he of the perfect game last summer, is in Pittsburgh. The rotation, as it stands now, consists of Marcus Stroman (Cubs), Carlos Rodon, Nester Cortes, Clarke Schmidt, and maybe, Luke Weaver, a mid-season pickup last summer. Rodon in particular had issues last season, and unless he finds the form he had in San Francisco and Chicago, the Yankees may have to lean too heavily on the mercurial Stroman, who returns to the AL East (Toronto).
This also puts an extra burden on the offense, though a heart of the order consisting of Judge, Soto, & Giancarlo Stanton is a threat any day of the week, especially if Stanton is healthy. LeMahieu's absence will be felt more on defense. Whatever offense the Yanks can get from their catching corps would be a bonus with Kyle Higashioka gone (San Diego).
As for the rest of the AL East:
In addition to losing Verdugo, Boston saw Justin Turner go north to Toronto. Vaughn Grissom comes over from Atlanta to fill Turner's spot on the roster, while Tyler O'Neill (St. Louis) will try to fill in for Verdugo. Lucas Giolito (White Sox) is gone for the year (Tommy John surgery), which all but kills the Red Sox's playoff chances.
Baltimore shocked a lot of folks by winning the division last year after a back & forth with Tampa Bay most of the season. The Orioles picked up Corbin Burnes from Milwaukee, but he might not be ready for opening day. The Rays, while adding some offense with Amed Rosario (Cleveland), does not look like they'll be a factor. Aside from Justin Turner, Toronto's only real notable move was picking up Isiah Kiner-Falefa from the Yankees.
On April 5, the WWE will induct the 2024 class of the Hall of Fame. The live ceremony will air on Peacock after Smackdown signs off on Fox.
This year's class is the 1st curated by Paul Levesque, aka Triple H, after Vince McMahon was forced out for the 2nd time a few months back.
Here we go:
Celebrity Wing: Muhammad Ali. The boxing legend may be the last of the participants in the 1st Wrestlemania main event in 1985 to be inducted into the Hall, following Hulk Hogan, Pat Patterson, Mr. T, Roddy Piper, Paul Orndorff, and Bob Orton, Jr.. I think Liberace may be in, too, but I can't be certain.
Ali, born Cassius Clay, was the referee for the match, with Patterson as a backup official. This wasn't the 1st time Ali was involved with the company, as he did an angle with Gorilla Monsoon a few years earlier. The collection of star power in the match alone took the event over the top, creating a Spring tradition.
Lia Maivia: The grandmother of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Maivia was also a promoter, as she operated Polynesian Championship Wrestling, which landed a minor cable deal in the late 80's. There are those who believe Johnson used his newfound status as a member of the TKO Holdings Board of Directors to ensure Lia was inducted this year.
Bull Nakano (Keiko Aoki): The Japanese legend won titles in not only Japan and the US (women's champ in 1994), but Mexico as well.
The US Express (Barry Windham & Mike Rotundo): This makes Windham a 2-time Hall of Famer, as he was inducted as a member of the 4 Horsemen a few years back. Rotundo, who later worked as Irwin R. Schyster (IRS) as 1/2 of Money, Inc. with Ted DiBiase, won 5 tag titles in all in the then-WWF, 2 with Windham, 3 with DiBiase. Surprisingly, he hadn't yet been inducted as IRS. Hmmmm.
Thunderbolt Patterson (Claude Patterson): It is said that Patterson, who retired in 1985 after a feud with Ole Anderson, was a trailblazer for African American wrestlers. He won a number of championships, but is the only one on the list with no actual ties to the WWE/F.
Paul Heyman: The clear headliner, with this year's event in Philadelphia, where Heyman, a Long Island native, cemented his legend status with ECW, Heyman, like old nemesis Jim Cornette, was a photographer before swapping his camera for a prop cordless phone (as Paul E. Dangerously). After nearly 40 years in the business, he is getting his just due, fittingly, in Philadelphia.
The inductors have not been announced as of press time.
In part 1, we looked at the Mets' prospects for 2024. Now, let's consider the rest of the NL East.
Atlanta has won the last 5 division titles, but hasn't been able to get out of the divisional round, eliminated by Philadelphia in 2022-3. So, how do the Braves respond?
For starters (pun intended), Chris Sale comes over from Boston via free agency to anchor the rotation. Ian Anderson starts the season in the minors and would have to be re-added to the 40 man roster to be called up. The rotation figures to have some combination of Sale, Charlie Morton, Spencer Strider, Max Fried, and any number of candidates for the 5th slot, including Jackson Stephens, Hruscar Ynoa, and Bryce Elder. We will see Anderson in Atlanta soon enough. Luis Guillorme (Mets) adds some infield insurance, and this could come back to haunt the Mets, as Guillorme joins Travis d'Arnaud in Hot-lanta. Ex-Met farmhand Jarred Kelenic (Seattle) has had a rough go in spring training, and could start the season in the minors, which explains why the Braves brought back Adam Duvall (Boston).
As for the Phillies, Bryce Harper moving to 1st base made Rhys Hoskins expendable (Milwaukee). Shaker graduate Jeff Hoffman will be a mainstay in the bullpen. The Phillies added some infield insurance by picking up Roger Clemens' son, Kody (Detroit), and Whit Merrifield (Toronto), who likely can play 1st if Harper is injured. Ex-Brave Kolby Allard adds bullpen insurance, otherwise, the rest of the roster looks the same.
After acquiring AL batting champion Luis Arraez prior to last year, Miami dipped into the AL Central again, this time signing Tim Anderson away from the White Sox. Josh Bell has been here, there, and everywhere the last few years, acquired for Jean Segura back in August. Nick Gordon (Minnesota) reunites with Arraez, and is outfield insurance. Christian Bethancourt (Tampa Bay) returns to the NL East, where he began his career in Atlanta.
In terms of pitching Miami must make do without Sandy Alcantara, out for the season due to Tommy John surgery. That's what will hurt the Marlins to the point where Arraez, Anderson, and friends will have to pick up the slack.
Washington waved the white flag early the last two seasons. Adding Joey Gallo (Minnesota), another travelin' man, isn't going to help. Gallo is listed as an outfielder, but figure on him playing a good chunk of time at 1st base. There's a reason he's moved around the last few years. Nick Senzel (Cincinnati) will try to provide the offense lost when Trea Turner left for Philadelphia after the 2022 season. Richard Bleier (Boston), he of the 3 balk at-bat vs. the Mets, returns to the division. That shouldn't give DC fans any confidence. Thing is, Bleier is a non-roster invitee, so he could end up starting the season in the minors, barring injuries to current players.
When cable television was introduced to homes in the 518 in the 70's, that introduction also included a New York television tradition that was discontinued 35 years ago.
WPIX, now a CW affiliate, began airing the St. Patrick's Day parade in New York as a television experiment in 1949. What started as a hour-long special evolved into a 5 hour marathon by the time the parade broadcasts ended in 1989. The one constant was host Jack McCarthy, who was a children's show host for 'PIX during the 60's, and although McCarthy retired in the 70's, he continued with the parades until 1989.
Would that someone would tape Albany's annual parade, the 2024 edition taking place yesterday, for kicks.
From 1985, we have nearly half of a broadcast, 2 hours and 10 minutes worth, commercials included.
For what it's worth, today, WPIX is carrying a Mets pre-season game, airing locally on WCWN.
