Sports ‘n Stuff 5/24/22

The last payphone in New York City was removed yesterday.  It was near the corner of 7th Avenue and 50th Street in Midtown Manhattan.

There’s footage of a crane loading it onto a flatbed truck.  A small ceremony was held down the street near Times Square.  People are calling it the end of an era.  

The latest stats we’ve seen say that as of 2018, there were still around 100,000 payphones in the U.S. . . . down from two million in 1999.  And around 20% of them were in New York.

DoorDash just released a report on restaurant-ordering trends so far this year . . . and the #1 menu item people are having delivered is FRENCH FRIES.

The second-most popular delivery item is burritos or burrito bowls, followed by chicken nuggets and chicken sandwiches . . . hash browns . . . and cheeseburgers.

The NBA announced today that the Chicago Bulls will face the Detroit Pistons in Paris on Thursday, January 19th, 2023.

This will be the Bulls’ first game in France since the 1997-1998. It was the beginning of what would be the final year of the team’s 1990’s dynasty as they captured their sixth championship in eight years.

Here’s one way to stay in the game. Former Oakland Raiders linebacker Mike Morton, was recently named one of the NFL’s officials for the upcoming season. Morton, who was drafted by the Raiders and played for them from 1995 to 1998, is a dentist in Charlotte who has worked his way up from calling youth games. He will be an umpire this season. 

“My dad was a high school official when I was a kid,” Morton said in a phone interview, “and when I was finishing up dental school, there was a push by the league to get former players started in officiating.”

One person had a winning ticket on Justin Thomas winning the PGA Championship over the weekend. He spent $200 and won $50,000 according to Barstool Sports.

Isaiah Lee, the Los Angeles man charged with assaulting Dave Chappelle during a stand-up show on May 3 has revealed why he tackled the comedian in a jailhouse interview with the New York Post. Lee, 23, said he  became “triggered” when Chappell came on and joked about the LGBTQ2 community and homelessness.

I wanted him to know what he said was triggering,” Lee told the New York Post on Saturday. The paper reported that his right arm was still in a sling after Chappelle’s security team beat him up following the on-stage attack. The paper reported that his right arm was still in a sling after Chappelle’s security team beat him up following the on-stage attack.

During the attack, Lee was armed with a replica handgun that can eject a knife blade, but he alleges that the knife was never used. Lee is a rapper who goes by “NoName_Trapper” and said that he carries the weapon as protection because he is a “minor celebrity.”

A new and expanded Elvis trailer dives deeper into the movie’s storyline and reveals star Austin Butler’s ability to match Elvis Presley’s singing voice.

The film’s first trailer, released in mid-February, skimmed the icon’s rise to fame, but the new trailer reveals much more. The Elvis story spans 20 years of Presley’s life and career, including his complicated relationship with his manager, Col. Tom Parker, who is played by Tom Hanks. 

Elvis opens in theaters on June 24.

Sammy Sosa wants the Cubs to retire his #21 jersey. “That number should be untouchable because of the things that I did for that organization,” Sosa said. “That right there shows me that they don’t care about me and they don’t want to have a good relationship with me.

Regardless of what the Cubs think or what fans think about Sosa and his achievements, he was the best player on the Cubs for a decade. After the disaster that was the 1994-1995 MLBPA strike, attendance was down by 20 percent. However, the 1998 home run race between St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Mark McGwire and Sosa were something that, arguably, saved baseball.

Back in 2018, Cubs owner Tom Ricketts told the Chicago Sun-Times that Sammy Sosa won’t even be welcomed back at Wrigley Field until he comes clean and apologizes for his PED transgressions.

Bruce Springsteen announced this morning that they will be embarking on another world tour with the E St. hand in 2023 no date set yet but you can almost guarantee that he will play Cleveland

Today is Tuesday, May 24, 2022

Today in Sports and Pop Culture 

1878 – The first American bicycle race was held in Boston. (By your cousin in Boston!)

1935 – The Cincinnati Reds played the Philadelphia Phillies in the first major league baseball game at night. The switch for the floodlights was turned on by President F.D. Roosevelt. 

1967 – The AFL granted a franchise to the Cincinnati Bengals. 

37 years ago – In 1985, the Bond movie “A View to a Kill” was released . . . featuring Duran Duran’s title track.   It was Roger Moore’s final turn as 007.

A couple Comedy Legend Birthdays  today:

Tommy Chong is 84 (“Cheech & Chong,” “That 70’s Show”)

John C. Reilly is 57.  Comedy superstar . . . especially when paired with Will Ferrell in “Talladega Nights” and “Step Brothers”.