Bob Barker, R.I.P.

Bob Barker, best known for his tenure as host of the CBS daytime game show The Price Is Right, passed away today at the age of 99. He died 109 days shy of his 100th birthday. 

After a career in radio, Barker turned to TV becoming the host of Truth or Consequences which he hosted for nearly 20 years from 1957 to 1975. In 1972, Barker also began hosting The Price is Right. Barker remained as host until his retirement in 2007 when he was replaced by Drew Carey. 

Barker was also well known for his vegetarianism and animal rights activism and philanthropy long before it was fashionable. 

However, if you're of a certain age, you will always remember Bob Barker for kicking Adam Sandler's ass in Happy Gilmore. When this movie came out in 1996, the scenario was so far-fetched and yet incredibly hilarious. 

Bob Barker leaves this world with a lot more smiles than frowns. R.I.P.

Shohei Ohtani Should Never Throw Another Pitch in The Big Leagues Again

Although Shohei Ohtani has undeniable talent and shown the ability to be both a pitcher and position player, he has also shown that it is not a sustainable path.

Yesterday, Ohtani had to leave his start against the Cincinnati Reds yesterday and a MRI has revealed a torn UCL which could very well lead to his second Tommy John surgery. Ohtani previously underwent the procedure at the end of the 2018 season missing nearly the entire 2019 season. For the time being, however, Ohtani will remain in the Los Angeles Angels lineup as a DH. 

He would have his breakout season in 2021 earning the AL MVP and is considered an odds-on favorite to win it for the second time in three seasons as he leads the AL in HRs with 44 and is hitting a career high .304. This despite the fact the Angels have never enjoyed a winning season during his tenure with the ballclub and actually haven't posted a winning record since 2015. In view of this fact, I think Toronto Blue Jays slugger Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. ought to have won the AL MVP in 2021 while I also believe Seattle Mariners superstar Julio Rodriguez as a more deserving recipient this season.

Ohtani is a free agent at the end of the 2023 season and this injury could not have come at a worse time. Yet at the same time, I think it is very clear that Shohei Ohtani should never throw another pitch as a big-league player. His long-term value is as an offensive player. Although he has posted a more than respectable 38-19 record on the mound, the time has come for Ohtani to leave the pitching to others.

Windham Rotunda (a.k.a. Bray Wyatt), R.I.P.

Professional wrestler Windham Rotunda, better known to the world as Bray Wyatt, died of a heart attack today. He was only 36. 

His passing comes a day after the death of wrestling legend Terry Funk. Of course, it has been known Funk had been ill for a quite a few years. Whereas Wyatt was less than half Funk's age. Funk was old enough to be Wyatt's grandfather.

Of course, Wyatt came from a wrestling family like Funk. Wyatt's grandfather was none other than Blackjack Mulligan. His father was Mike Rotunda (known to some as I.R.S.) and he was named after his uncle Barry Windham with whom Rotunda teamed during the 1980's in what was then known as the WWF. Wyatt had another wrestling uncle - Kendall Windham. Wyatt's younger brother Bo Dallas is also an active wrestler. 

Wyatt's wrestling career lasted nearly 15 years mostly in the WWE. He was first billed as Husky Harris and was part of the Nexus stable in the early 2010s. But after a stint in NXT, he would develop the Bray Wyatt character as a cult like leader leading The Wyatt Family. Sadly, two thirds of The Wyatt Family are now gone with Luke Harper (a.k.a. Brodie Lee and Jonathan Huber) dying the day after Christmas in 2020 at the age of 41. 

Aside from holding both the WWE Title and the WWE Universal Title, Wyatt will be remembered for his creative wrestling personas as Wyatt whether as a cult leader, a demented children's host of Firefly Fun House or as The Fiend. 

Wyatt was released by WWE in July 2021, but would return with much fanfare in September 2022. However, he only wrestled one match and that was at the Royal Rumble against L.A. Knight back in January 2023. Shortly thereafter, Wyatt would be written off WWE programming for reasons not explained until his passing today - he contracted COVID. He also had a history of heart ailments.

However, warlier this week, there was optimism that Wyatt would return to action in the not-too-distant future, but sadly the future would come to pass. R.I.P.

Terry Funk, R.I.P.

Former professional wrestler and occasional actor Terry Funk passed away today. He was diagnosed with dementia in 2019. He was 79.

Funk grew up in a wrestling family in Amarillo, Texas following in the footsteps of his father Dory Funk, Sr. and older brother Dory Funk, Jr. (who is still with us at 82). The younger Funk began his pro wrestling career in 1965 primarily working as a tag team with his brother. 

In 1975, Funk captured the NWA World Heavyweight Championship from Jack Brisco. He held the title for over a year before dropping it to Harley Race in 1977.

In 1989, Funk returned to significant prominence when he attacked Ric Flair after regaining the WCW World Heavyweight Championship from Ricky Steamboat feuding with the Nature Boy for most of the year. 

Funk had a couple of stints in the WWF during the mid-1980's and late 1990's. The latter of which he was known as Chainsaw Charlie capturing the WWF Tag Team Titles with Mick Foley (a.k.a. Mankind). In between these two stints, Funk wrestled in ECW winning its World Title from Raven in April 1997 at the age of 53 before losing it to Sabu a few months later.

Outside of wrestling, Funk was friendly with Sylvester Stallone appearing in Paradise Alley and Over The Top. He would also have a notable role in the Patrick Swayze film Roadhouse. 

Although Funk retired from wrestling on numerous occasions, his career would span more than five decades before he finally hung up his boots for good in 2017. 

Funk generally wrestled as a heel and had "middle aged and crazy" persona, and these were often accompanied by wild promos. However, I will leave you with this promo Funk did with ECW in January 1997 when he was challenging Raven for the title. 

In this promo, Funk spoke of how his father died of a heart attack after wrestling in a match at age of 54. Given Funk was 53 at the time, this promo was true to life, and he struggled to hold back tears. Ultimately, he would achieve the dreams which would allude his father. Now he is reunited with him and they can tell each other, "We did it our way." R.I.P.

Has Putin Turned Prigozhin Into a Martyr?

It appears that Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin was killed aboard a plane bound from Moscow to St. Petersburg when it crashed in Tver Oblast approximately 60 miles north of Moscow. Also apparently killed was Wagner Group co-founder Dmitry Utkin. 

Prigozhin's fate is not a surprise to many who considered him a "dead man walking" after his aborted march on Moscow back in June. As the old saying goes, "If you go after the king, you better not miss."

I thought it might be possible that Putin could have a rapprochement with Prigozhin and name him Minister of Defense as a means to "keep your friends close, keep your enemies closer." But evidently not. Prigozhin got too big for his britches where it concerned Ukraine and was too much of a threat to Putin to keep around. 

The one reason I thought Putin might not kill Prigozhin was that doing so could turn him into a martyr. Now that he is presumed dead, we shall see if this comes to pass. 

Of course, Prigozhin's death hasn't been confirmed. In the unlikely event it turns out that Prigozhin is still alive, he will become a folk hero along the lines of Rasputin. Mind you, I don't think Prigozhin had any more humanity than Putin, so I don't see him as a heroic figure. Nevertheless, he challenged Putin in a way no one has challenged him in over 20 years. 

As for Putin, so long as the war against Ukraine continues then his vulnerability is bound to increase notwithstanding Prigozhin's apparent fate.

The GOP Debates Do Not Matter

Tomorrow night, 8 Republican presidential hopefuls will gather in Milwaukee to debate who among them should be their party's nominee in the 2024 presidential election.

The debate will air on Fox News, but I shall not be watching. 

For this, there is a simple reason.

The GOP debates do not matter.

None of the 8 participants stand a chance in hell. 

Unless former Vice-President Mike Pence, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, former South Carolina Governor and UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy change their name to Trump, the Republican Party will not nominate them.

Of course, defeated, former President Donald Trump will not be participating in this debate. That too does not matter. He could skip all the debates. Trump is going to win more Republican delegates than the eight of them put together. 

If you're someone who inspires greater trust in a person that their own family, you will not lose. Nobody on that debate stage can make that claim. 

The only circumstance under which I see Trump not winning the Republican nomination is if he dies. And even then, I wouldn't count him out. If QAnon devotees gather outside Dealey Plaza awaiting the resurrection of JFK, Jr., then I can only imagine the deification to The Donald. 

Let us also remember that even the supposedly anti-Trump candidates Christie and Hutchinson signed a pledge to support whoever the Republican nominee is and they know damn well it's going to be Trump.

The best these folks can hope for his VP nomination. Frankly, this is unlikely. In which case, they will be happy to settle for a cabinet position or an ambassadorship should Trump win. Perhaps Haley can get her old job back at the UN. Otherwise, it will be a book deal or a podcast. They won't become President, but they'll do just fine.

Of course, if Donald Trump were to defeat Joe Biden in November 2024, now that would matter.

Trusting Trump More Than Your Family & Friends Proves Some of The People Can Be Fooled All of The Time

If you trust defeated, former President Donald Trump more than your family and friends, then I can only hope you haven't given him your money although chances are you probably have and plan to give more. 

Because if you trust a man who lies with such impunity more than the parents who raised you or the friends that have had your back through thick and thin then only proves you can fool some of the people all of the time. 

Naturally, I am not surprised at the results of the CBS News/YouGov poll which show 71% of Trump voters trust his word over that of family and friends given Trump's legacy of dividing families past the point of no return. 

Yet I will never understand why so many people accept Trump's word at face value. I've always viewed him as a bullshit artist from the time he was promoting boxing matches in Atlantic City. That anyone would buy a used car much less buy stock in Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts or get their degree from Trump University is beyond me.

So too is the idea that Trump will fight for them. Trump fights for himself and himself only as loyalty is one way dead end street. 

During my time as a Republican, I did not think much of President Obama and still don't. Yet if you had asked me who ought to replace him, Donald Trump would have never crossed my mind. Needless to say, I was in a minority. Not only did Trump cross their minds he would become their raison d'etre. How else does one explain the events of January 6th? Or the willingness to utter death threats against the federal judge presiding over the January 6th trial in D.C.?

No other public figure in this country invokes such loyalty and fervor. So long as Trump supporters take his word over that of their family and friends then he will win the Republican nomination in a cake walk. With that comes the chance to return to the White House no matter how many indictments and possible convictions he is facing. Should this come to pass we will have only ourselves to blame.