Sports & Entertainment Beat

Welcome back to the Spotlight and happy Fathers’ Day to all those celebrating (or celebrated) this weekend. If you’re a dad like me, you’re probably very tired, but also remarkably proud. Undoubtedly, the dads of the players for the Las Vegas Golden Knights and Denver Nuggets are especially proud of their having won the championships in their respective leagues (NHL and NBA) for the first time in history this past week (…maybe(?) a little less proud of celebratory debauchery, but that’s another story entirely).  One most valuable dad (MVD) who played a notable role in his child’s championship run is that of NBA Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP), Nikola Jokić.  Were it not for Branislav Jokić’s fatherly wisdom to shirk becoming a horseman in favor of focusing on becoming a basketball player, the 6’11”, 284 pound Serbian superstar may not have shone as bright. Certainly, the NBA world would not have been able to tell a Jokić apart from a skin condition commonly treated with a medicated powder or ointment.

As it is, the people of Denver (and presumably the horses) are grateful for Jokić’s path, going from an afterthought (having infamously been drafted while ESPN was airing a Taco Bell commercial) to one of the best players in the world—all the while remaining humble, just as dad would have wanted. And just as you would have wanted, a few other highlights from this past week:

• • Phil Mickelson’s LIV Golf team, the Hyflyers may have flown too close to the Sun, as they face a trademark infringement lawsuit from an established skateboard apparel brand, Fallen, for having a confusingly similar logo.  The logos in question appear to be very similar designs of the letter “F” backwards and forwards—which is incidentally the grade that the Hyflyers’ legal counsel must have gotten in their law school trademark law class.
     
  • The Beatles’ Paul McCartney announces that artificial intelligence was used to re-create the late John Lennon’s voice to complete a final Beatles record. Some human intervention was needed to correct the recording as the AI model became confused and kept inserting noises of a walrus.
     
  • Twitter gets hit with a massive copyright infringement suit from major music publishers. Yet another lawsuit for Elon Musk to grapple with, hastening his plans to go to Mars.
     
  • Longtime Wheel of Fortune host Pat Sajak announces that he is R_T_R_NG.
     

If there are topics you’d like to see featured, parenting advice or any combination thereof, please feel free to contact me.