On Today’s Show
➢ A woman in the Ottawa area was walking her dog last week when she had a seizure. And the dog intentionally blocked traffic until someone stopped to help. A security camera got it on video, and luckily the woman’s okay.
➢ A Florida couple had a brilliant idea to make friends after moving into a new neighborhood. They sat in the driveway next to a cooler with a sign that said “Free Beer”.
➢ Have you ever driven over 100 miles per hour? City of Overland Park, Kansas, police recently pulled over a driver for going 149 miles per hour. Reportedly, when an officer asked if she knew how fast she was going, she replied, “When I looked down at the speedometer, I was only doing 128 mph.” Her speed of 149 mph is more than double the legal speed limit.
➢ An assistant district attorney in Pennsylvania was just demoted . . . after his bosses caught him making DoorDash deliveries during work hours. (The demoted guy is Gregg Shore, and here’s District Attorney Matt Weintraub talking about how angry he is.)
TODAY IS……………….
- “International Waffle Day” (“Vaffeldagen”), a holiday that originated in Sweden
- “Pecan Day”, an annual salute to the only nut tree native to North America. The word comes from Algonquian language, meaning a nut requiring a stone to crack. The proper pronunciation is ‘peh-CAHN’ not ‘PEE-can’.
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COUNTRY MUSIC NOTE
Garth Brooks made his chart debut with “Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old)” in 1989.
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NHL REF FIRED
Referee Tim Peel will no longer work NHL games “now or in the future” after his comments about a Nashville penalty were heard on a hot mic during Tuesday’s Detroit / Nashville game.
Peel was due to retire at the end of the season with his final game scheduled for late April.
He has worked more than 1,300 regular-season games and 90 playoff games, according to the NHL Officials Association website.
“He told our bench that, so I mean, really bizarre. I just think it can’t happen,” Predators forward Matt Duchene said. “Imagine the scenario where they score on that power play, we lose the game and we miss the playoffs by a point. Imagine that scenario. That can happen, right? That can happen based on — that’s not out of the realm of possibility. I don’t think there’s a place in hockey for that. You’ve got to call the game. I’ve always been frustrated when I see even-up calls.”
Asked for his reaction to the overheard comment Wednesday morning, retired NHL referee Kerry Fraser called it “unfortunate.”
“There are so many hot mics around in a rink now that officials can’t have any sort of private conversation, because somebody’s always listening,” said Fraser, whose career spanned 30 years. “As an officiating crew, and ever since we’ve gone to the two-referee system, there’s times in a game when the two referees consult with one another about the flow of the game, the requirements that each game needs. No two games are alike. The good referees — the great referees — have a feel for the game.”
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Is Netflix Bailing on “Binging”?
Netflix reinvented TV . . . not just through streaming, but BINGING. They started the idea of releasing an entire season of a show at once, so you didn’t have to wait a week between each installment.
Well, now they’re experimenting with a more gradual roll-out.
Netflix announced that the second seasons of the unscripted shows “The Circle” and “Too Hot to Handle” will premiere in April and June, respectively.
When “The Circle” first premieres on April 14th, there will only be four episodes . . . with additional batches coming on April 21st, April 28th, and May 5th. “Too Hot to Handle” will follow a similar pattern, but the exact dates haven’t been announced.
In a blog post, Netflix said, quote, “We’re experimenting with the release format so you have time to dissect and dish on every step of the competition as it unfolds.”
(I’m not sure how much “dissecting” is necessary for reality shows, and Netflix didn’t hint at what they may be trying to accomplish. But it’s hard to believe that they’re actually moving away from binging altogether.)
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GOOD NEWS
A woman in Detroit says her faith in people is restored after two 15-year-old kids found her dog running around . . .
They brought it to her house . . . and sat on her porch for 45 minutes to make sure she got it back. She realized they were there because of her Ring doorbell camera.
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BIRTHDAYS
[78] Paul Michael Glaser, actor (‘Starsky’ on “Starsky and Hutch” 1975-79)
[74] (Sir) Elton John/sold over 250 million albums & 100 million singles
[56] Sarah Jessica Parker, actress
[39] Danica Patrick, retired auto racing driver
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WHO’S THE NICEST CELEBRITY YOU’VE EVER MET
A former child actor who was in the movie “License to Wed” says Robin Williams was “the funniest, sweetest, smartest person on the planet.” Robin even gave him a copy of the book “The Groucho Letters”, signed by Groucho Marx himself.
A guy who worked at a high-end clothing store says Robert Downey Jr. came in to Christmas shop wearing an awesome jacket, and he complimented him on it. After Robert was done shopping he GAVE the guy his jacket, and said “Merry Christmas.” (Here’s a clean clip from the uncensored video.)
People are sharing stories of meeting celebrities who turned out to be really cool. Like a young woman talked about being in the audience for the “Tonight Show”. She said that during a commercial break, Jimmy Fallon came up to her and her friends and just had a really sincere, genuine conversation with them. (She’s the one who asked others to add their stories.)
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DOG NAMED ‘JAKE FROM STATE FARM’
A dog named “Jake from State Farm” really needs a good neighbor. The eight-year-old dog is up for adoption at the Burlington Animal Shelter in North Carolina after ending up back there four times in the last three months.
Those at the shelter say the dog with a unique name has gone from one tragic situation to another. The first was in January, when first responders found him trapped in a home for days with his dead owner, and the dog was brought to the shelter for the first time. A family adopted the dog, but then lost their home and had to return him.
He was later taken in by two different foster homes, but was returned by both because they had cats, and Jake “does not care for cats.”
If you have any interest in adopting the dog, who is said to be “mellow” and “house trained,” you can contact the shelter via [email protected].
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38 Years Ago, on March 25th, 1983: Michael Jackson Debuted the Moonwalk
Michael Jackson didn’t invent the moonwalk . . . the name, yes, but not the dance move . . . but he perfected and popularized it to such an omnipresent extent no one else could do it in the future.
The night Michael Jackson debuted the moonwalk was also, symbolically, the night he finally and definitively separated himself from the Jackson 5.
The brothers reunited for the Motown 25 event on this day in 1983 to perform together, as Jermaine had left the group and Michael was already the biggest pop star in the world. Despite his meteoric rise, however, Michael still had one foot back in the Jackson 5.
When you watch the performance of the Jackson 5 at the event, you can see Michael having to hold himself back as to only overshadow his brothers by about 10,000% and not 100,000%. He handles pretty much all of the singing and the camera almost never leaves him.
And then, after the Jackson 5 performance is done and Michael gets the solo spotlight to perform Billie Jean, he moonwalks for the first time.
The crowd erupts. The symbolism of him gliding away backwards . . . across the stage and, really, away from his original family band . . . was unmistakable.
This wasn’t the last time the Jackson 5 would ever perform together, but it was clear they were done. They’d have one more album and tour together, mixing their songs and Michael’s solo stuff . . . really, it was a Michael Jackson tour with the Jackson 5 along for the ride.
After that, Michael left the group for good.
THURSDAY MARCH 25TH
- OTT 3 – CGY 1 MIN 3 – ANA 2 PIT 5 – BUF 2 WPG 5 – VAN 1
SJS 4 – LAK 2
NHL referee Tim Peel was fired after he got caught on a hot mic admitting he purposely called a lame penalty against the Nashville Predators.
- A single mom at a restaurant in Florida recently gottwo big tips on the same day. First, someone left her $1,300. Then one of her regulars heard about it . . . got competitive . . . and left a $1,500 tip. (She’s using some of the money to buy her son some new ice skates.)
- Here’s comedian Brian Regan describing his different pains to his doctor. (From his 2021 Netflix special, “On the Rocks”.)
- A four-year-old girl from Ireland named Emma Sophia Ryan has gone viral with her cover of “Danny Boy”. You can listen to it, here. (It was shared on St. Patrick’s Day but is still racking up playsaround the world.)
KANE BROWN HONORED WITH PLAQUE MARKING TWO BILLION STEAMS ON PANDORA
Kane Brown was surprised at his home in Nashville this week with a plaque commemorating his more than two billion streams to date on Pandora. He is currently nominated for an ACM Award for Album of the Year for Mixtape Vol. 1, as well as Video of the Year for his anthem, “Worldwide Beautiful.” The ACM Awards will air on CBS on Sunday, April 18th.
His Mixtape Vol. 1 EP, which has 565M on-demand streams to date, features the platinum-certified hits “Cool Again” and “Be Like That,” featuring Swae Lee and Khalid, as well as “Last Time I Say Sorry” with John Legend.
Mixtape Vol. 1 also includes Kane’s anthem “Worldwide Beautiful,” proceeds from which recently led to a $100,000 donation on behalf of Kane to The Boys & Girls Club. A long-time Boys & Girls Club supporter, he was asked earlier this year to become an honorary member for life.
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TRAVIS DENNING ‘BLOWN AWAY’ WITH ACM NOMINATION
Life is good for Travis Denning and he’s looking forward to next month’s ACM Awards. Along with Cody Johnson, Hardy, Jimmie Allen, and Parker McCollum, he’s nominated for New Male Artist of the Year. Travis tells us more: [“Absolutely just totally blown away and honored to be nominated for New Male Artist. I’ve always thought that category is such a motivator for a lot of artists, and it definitely is for me. And for someone like the ACM, which is just an amazing organization and they love country music, I’m truly blessed and honored. I mean, this is a cherry on top to an already awesome life and a great career that I’m blessed with, so I’m very excited. I hate that it ain’t gonna be in Vegas, but we’re still gonna have a lot of fun.”]
FAST FACTS
The awards show will air live from Nashville April 18th on CBS.
His new single, “Abby,” goes for adds at radio March 29th.
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Why Does Ashley McBryde Keep Her Awards in the Bathroom?
If I ever win an award . . . let’s say a Nobel Peace Prize or Super Bowl MVP trophy . . . I have several places in mind of where I’ll put it. But none of them would be where
ASHLEY MCBRYDE keeps her awards.
She has all of hers in the bathroom, and the reason is because she wants you staring at them. She talked about it in a recent interview.
Quote, “Initially, I thought everybody has to eventually use that room. Whether you’re coming by for brunch or you’re coming to stay the night. You eventually have to go in that room.
“I feel like it’s a really good thing to recognize when awesome things happen. So, there they are, sitting in the restroom.”
