by John Walters

Tweet Me Right

Mac McClung won’t stop dunking 🔥

(via @BIGEASTMBB)pic.twitter.com/XZTOl4rjDM

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) November 14, 2018

White Boys Can Jump

Starting Five

1. Odds ‘n Ends

We’re opening up with sort of a leftovers item:

–The Fitchburg State kid. What possessed him?

That’s Kewan Platt, who has been indefinitely suspended and has likely played his last collegiate basketball game. Which is fine with us. That’s flat-out assault. Nate Tenaglia buried the three and was able to remain in the game. Platt has also been barred from campus.

–The insane shooting of a hero security guard officer in Midlothian, Illinois, about 20 miles south of Chicago. Jemel Roberson, 26, was working security at Manny’s Blue Room. A few drunk and disorderly patrons were asked to leave after 3 a.m. One returned and opened fire. Roberson subdued him, had a knee in his back and had him pinned to the ground, pointing a gun at him. He was reportedly wearing a vest that read “SECURITY.”

Then the cops arrived and one nervous, hair-trigger idiot fatally shot Roberson. I’m sorry, this guy is even worse than Kewan Platt.

–Speaking of firing and hair-trigger idiots, since when do retired Slovenian bikini models get to decide whether key White House employees get to keep their jobs? Hate the Dems all you want, but their last two First Ladies held law degrees from Yale and Harvard, respectively. And they only interfered with staff if one of those staffers was, you know, turning the Oval Office into the oral office.

 

2. The Fantastic Finke Family

Imagine being the Finke parents this weekend in New York City. Imagine how proud you must be. Your daughter, Alex, is one of the female leads in Come From Away, one of the most acclaimed musicals on Broadway.

Your son, Chris, is a former walk-on at Notre Dame who is now a starting wideout for the 10-0 Irish, who will be playing at Yankee Stadium. These parents should be charging big dollars to give seminars on how to parent. Well done, folks.

3. MH Lunch Date!

The staff was fortunate enough to be invited to a lunch today held in the wine cellar of NYC’s renowned 21, the legendary eatery located at 21 W. 52nd Street. Something about awards for the best free daily blogs written by cat-owning males in flannel sweats, we think. Or maybe not.

Anyway, what we learned: During Prohibition there were as many as 35 speakeasies located on 52nd Street alone in midtown. 21 was perhaps the best-known, and raids by police into the building always proved fruitless. Why?

Well, first of all the wine cellar is literally that. You have to walk through the kitchen and then down a flight of stairs to reach the hallway. Then, you need a key that’s nearly two feet long (it resembles a dipstick with a hook on the end) that releases a latch that allows you to push open the two-ton brick wall that hides the stash.

You walk past the bottles (we saw a private reserve bottle for Richard Nixon) and then into the dining room above. New York City holds so many secrets. It takes more than a lifetime to uncover them all.

4. For Whom The Bell Toils

Apparently, no one. Point made, LeVeon. And everybody loses. Hope it was worth it.

From Bell’s vantage point, he did not appreciate the Steelers pinning the “franchise tag” on him, which would guarantee him a $14.5 million price tag, which is somewhat below market value. By our vantage point, while $14.5 million is below market value, $0 is even less and running backs have a finite shelf life.

Bell is only 26 and he probably has at least five more good seasons in him. Besides, a year off isn’t the worst thing for an NFL running back in his prime: ask John Riggins, whom we discussed yesterday. Either way, Bell is going to be wealthy beyond most fans’ comprehension. There are no winners here, and really no losers besides the fans.

5. Blunt Object

We’re a fan of Vogue‘s “73 Q’s” series and yesterday checked out this one with actress Emily Blunt (we also checked out the Seth Meyers, Cindy Crawford and Zac Efron episodes: Seth’s was our favorite while Cindy telling us that her favorite food is “caviar” left us rolling our eyes).  Anyway, this one provides a a peekaboo of Vogue’s editorial offices and we also learned that Emily has a famous brother-in-law and she did the setting up.

Music 101

You’ll Never Find Another Love Like Mine

The king of the three-piece leisure suit and romantic soul, that’s Lou Rawls. Although Rawls was the guy your parents listened to in the Seventies, this 1976 hit reached No. 2 on the Billboard charts, chart-blocked from No. 1 only by the Bee Gees later K.C. and the Sunshine Band. Interesting Lou Rawls note: For his first marriage, in 1968, his best man was Sidney Poitier.

Remote Patrol

Country Music Awards

8 p.m. ABC 

For one night each year—whom are we kidding? Only for the first 20 minutes of the show—the MH Manor goes country for this tremendously entertaining opening. Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood are the best and here’s hoping he gets in a job about her “Game On” SNF theme and that she gets a few in about his cheating on her with Peyton Manning.