by John Walters
A Medium Happy 34th to Taran Killam, who apparently graduated high school in 1973.
Starting Five
1. Trump Campaign Files For Bankruptcy
This is HUUUUUUUUGE! Apparently self-funding your own campaign is more expensive than we thought. GOP frontrunner Donald Trump announced today that his campaign coffers are empty and that he will now run his entire campaign out of his Fifth Avenue home. “I said recently that I thought we’ve had too many debates,” said the recently minted granddad, “and now I think we’ve had too much air travel and hotels. New York City is a great, great city. It’s the best city. I’m going to run my campaign from here. I like Manhattan. We’ve got a moat around the entire town, which is even better than a wall.”
2. Battery Not Included (Or Is It?)
Will Tesla’s “affordable” Model 3 change the auto game?
Yesterday Tesla unveiled its $35,000 car, the Model 3 (see, it rhymes with “Model T”). The automaker has already received 115,000 advance orders for the sleek five-seater, which will be able to travel 215 miles on a single battery charge.
The Model S, Tesla’s previous big seller, came in at anywhere between $71,000 to $109,000.
Tesla stock shares (TSLA), which were at $141 on February 8, are at $245 this morning.
3. Miss Colombia Meets Missed Columbia
Colombia: Never Forget!
Is Steve Harvey on the NCAA tournament Selection Committee? Word came out yesterday, and not on April 1st, that the tourney inadvertently sent a text to South Carolina on Selection Sunday inviting it to the Big Dance. Did they not send one to the other USC, which actually did make the tourney?
The Trojans, by the way, finished 21-12; the Gamecocks, 24-8.
4. Available at the Jerk Store
Not quite an urban sombrero
Because it is, after all, that day, GQ.com is featuring a certain debonair male in all of its stories this morning. Head to the site to check it out.
5. For Whom the Bell Trolls
Bell was fired over a Facebook post. It’s not just millennials who get in trouble via social media
This is Wendy Bell. Until recently she was a news anchor at WTAE in Pittsburgh, where she had worked since 1998. She has won 21 regional Emmy awards.
Then, on March 9, there was a mass murder in Pittsburgh. Five people were shot and killed at a backyard party (that’s a lot). Miss Bell chimed in on Facebook to discuss the tragedy:
“You needn’t be a criminal profiler to draw a mental sketch of the killers who broke so many hearts two weeks ago Wednesday. They are young black men, likely in their teens or in their early 20s. They have multiple siblings from multiple fathers and their mothers work multiple jobs. These boys have been in the system before. They’ve grown up there. They know the police. They’ve been arrested.”
In the immortal words of Lenny and Squiggy, “Hello!”
Bell was terminated by WTAE.
You can read more about it here.
Music 101
What a Fool Believes
In the late 1970s the Doobie Brothers transformed from being America’s favorite biker band to a group that actually cared about writing radio-friendly hits. Also, I think, someone in the band purchased a blow dryer. Lead singer Michael McDonald joined the band in 1976 and that changed everything. This song reached No. 1 and won a Grammy for Song of the Year, but true DB fans have a difficult time listening to it without a gob of phlegm rising in their esophaguses.
Remote Patrol
Celtics at Warriors
10:30 p.m. ESPN
5’9″ Isaiah Thomas is Boston’s leading scorer at 21 ppg
The best home record in NBA history, prior to this year, belonged to the Boston Celtics, who in 1985-86 finished 40-1 (they lost by 22 to the Trail Blazers). The Dubs are 36-0 at home this season and the Spurs are 38-0 at home. When these two met in Boston on December 11, the still unbeaten Warriors needed double overtime before winning (they lost their first game the following night in Milwaukee).
By the way, Golden State’s final home game is against San Antonio next Thursday night. And then it visits the Spurs.
I don’t understand – did Wendy Bell write much more or is what you posted the gist? (I don’t have time to read the story). Is any of what she wrote true? Meanwhile, there is a RICH WHITE MAN in this country LYING & VERBALLY ATTACKING people EVERY DAMN DAY in this country & is running for U.S. PRESIDENT… If only Wendy had written there should be a WALL built around Pittsburgh & all Pennsylvanians living outside the city must pay for it…
Ok, look, the Dubs are the “enemy”. They are the major roadblock to Sweet Pea, the Cavs, the entire city of Cleveland, northern Ohio (& assorted other interested parties) celebrating till & AFTER the cows come home, come June. Par-TAY! CELEBRATE! CELEBRATE! “Dance to the music”! But I’m not a total killjoy – it would be cool to see a team actually beat the Bulls record of 72 wins. But THEN, I want them to LOSE in the playoffs! Second round would be the DREAM but if the Spurs take them down in the Western Conf Finals, that would be fine too.
Meanwhile, Sweet Pea should pass Oscar Robertson tonight on the All-time Scoring list. And next up is ‘The Dream’ at #10. Would be awesome to pass Dream on that list AND see your dream come true of winning a championship for your home area in the same year. MAYBE even awesome enough for your kitty to sing a rendition of ‘Cat Scratch Fever’! Or “Memories”. 🙂
Go get’ em, LeBron!
So, wait, Susie B.
You’re asking the guy who spends an hour-plus each day writing this blog to further explain an item that includes a link because you “don’t have the time to read” it? Oh, sure, let me get right on that for you. What else can I do to make your day easier?
Geez, some people….no wonder you like LeBron so much….
Who is lazier – the blog writer who makes a brief mention of someone being fired over alleged “racial comments” & then posts a ‘lazy’ link or the reader who wants the ACTUAL WRITER whose blog she is spending the time to read for more info &/or his take?
As for anyone making LeBron’s day “easier”, ARE YOU KIDDING?! The guy is trashed every day on national TV by NITWITS for INCONSEQUENTIAL CRAP! WHO gets the blame for ANYTHING that goes wrong with the Cavs? Hint – when Blatt was fired earlier this season, how many articles & wailing willies on TV slobbered how “HE” had got a team to the NBA Finals in his 1st NBA coaching season & yet when these same idiots talk about LBJ & that same Finals , it’s about how it was LBJ’s 4th LOSS. For Blatt, that Finals is deemed a SUCCESS, for LeBron, a FAILURE. Yeah, LeBron James is living on easy street.
The reader