Starting Five

1. Sweep It Under the Hug

Hey, guys. The Entourage movie doesn’t come out until June 5.

The intrepid MH reporting staff has thus far been able to learn the name of the third man in this group hug after Dallas scored the go-ahead touchdown versus Detroit, but it’s not J.R. Ewing. Then again, the staff still hasn’t figured out how the frozen margarita machine operates. Priorities…

I’m sure if we dig enough we’ll find out that Gov. Chris Christie and Cowboy owner Jerry Jones, two wealthy and powerful men, do more together than just attend play dates. And I’m sure there will need to be a “Harrumph!” or two about that. But will anything change?

2. Go Green (and/or Yellow)

Oregon, the ultimate in Nike-sponsored schools, unveiled its national championship game (by the way, doesn’t that game need a name that we can grow to love, i.e. Rose or Cotton Bowl?) uniforms. For only the second time all year, as far as I can see, the Duck duds will have not a fleck of green or yellow, instead being silver and white. The only other time Oregon’s unis were bereft of green or yellow? The first time they played Arizona, when they were black and pink.

Oregon lost that game.

Here’s my bowl binge roundup in Newsweek.

3. Alpine Tragedy

Two United States ski team prospects, Ronnie Berlack, 20, and Bryce Astle, 19, perished in an avalanche in Austria yesterday. Berlack, from New Hampshire, and Astle, from Utah, were two of six U.S. skiers who were “free skiing,” i.e., going off marked trails when the avalanche began. The other four skiers were able to ski away from it.

The season-opening races on the World Cup circuit were set to begin today at this very resort, Soelden.

4. The Pop Coaching Tree

The Atlanta Hawks, 26-8, have now won 21 of the past 24 after taking down the L.A. Clippers at Staples last night, and have done so without a single player who is worthy of a SportsCenter shout-out.

The Golden State Warriors are now 27-5 after beating Oklahoma City by 26. While GSW has a far splashier lineup, that’s still astounding.

What’s the connection? Second-year Atlanta Hawk coach Mike Budenholzer, 43, began as a video coordinator for the San Antonio Spurs in 1994 and remained on the bench alongside Gregg Popovich until the end of the 2013 NBA Finals. First-year Warrior coach Steve Kerr spent four seasons under Popovich as a player.

And yes, the coach of the Philadelphia 76ers, Brett Brown, is also a former Pop apprentice, but if you watch the Sixers they actually play hard. And Philly beat the depleted Cleveland Cavs last night, so they no longer have the NBA’s worst record: the Knicks do.

5. Hay, Now!

So I don’t watch The Bachelor (yeah, sure), but this is Chris Soules and he is the hunk du jour for the show’s 19th season, which premiered last night. Basically, he looks like half the defensive coordinators in the Big Ten, but that’s none of my business.

The contestants include: A former Washington Redskins cheerleaders, Jacob Hester’s sister-in-law (remember the LSU fireplug running back?), a fertility center nurse with the great Bachelor-y name of Whitney Bischoff (she’s also a Midwesterner and is apparently the frontrunner), a former New York Jets cheerleader, a cadaver tissue saleswoman and two widows.

Like I said, I don’t watch the show.

Remote Patrol

The Sting

TCM 8 p.m.

Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid

TCM 10:15 p.m.

America’s hottest couple in the early 1970s was Sonny & Cher Archie & Edith Paul Newman and Robert Redford. This was Clooney and Pitt, only with better chemistry. Enjoy.