The Big W

Hello July. We got the Fourth of July this Thursday. The MLB All-Star Game break in a couple of weeks. And Hurricane Beryl on the move, err barreling.

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Up until recently, Kirk Bohls was a journalist covering sports for 51 years for the Austin American Statesman. Recently, I read that he had retired. I picked up this past Saturday’s hard copy of the Chron and Bohls is now a columnist for the Chron Sports Section, writing about all things UT Austin athletics.

He had two columns in Saturday’s edition. One to introduce himself to Chron readers and the other on how the Longhorns snatched the head baseball coach of the Aggies. Yesterday, Bohls had an extensive column on the state of the Longhorns athletic program. All three columns were interesting and informative reads.

Bohls has a column today on the Longhorns partying yesterday as they got ready to join the SEC. With the Longhorns now official members of the SEC, more coverage is warranted, I guess. We will see.

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On “What’s Your Point” yesterday, the 12-year-old little girl’s murder was bought up and of course President Joe Biden’s policy on immigration was blamed. It got me to thinking about all the tens of billions of Texas taxpayer dollars that Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, and the GOP Texas Legislature have spent on border security the past few years. I caught myself though. All the billions of dollars spent on this for guard troops, DPS troopers, razor wire, and those orange floaties isn’t about apprehending folks and keeping out violent actors. It is about photo ops for Gov. Abbott, Lt. Gov. Patrick, Donald Trump, the GOP U.S. House Speaker, and all the other GOP elected fools who trot down to Eagle Pass and blame President Biden. Sad.

I was also waiting for the “What’s Your Point” folks to explain to me Trump’s claim on jobs migrants are taking from Black folks.

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Commentary has mentioned that “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World” is a flick Commentary likes a lot. It is one of my all-time favorite comedies.

The last action scene on the fire escape, Mickey Rooney, Buddy Hackett, and Jim Backus on the private plane, and Jonathan Winters destroying a gas station are a few of the hilarious scenes throughout the flick. I saw this on the internet this weekend:

Eddie Murphy plans to remake “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World” with a star-studded cast of comedians, including Martin Lawrence.

The original film, a beloved ’60s comedy, was nominated for six Oscars and featured iconic actors like Spencer Tracy.

Murphy’s mixed ensemble approach could lead to a successful remake, with Lawrence as a seasoned comedic talent in the cast.

The original film is a 1963 screwball comedy about a group of motorists in California who go on a quest for a hidden fortune after they witness a deadly car crash, wherein the driver’s last words hint at the location of some mysterious loot. “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World” was directed by Stanley Kramer and featured a leading cast including Spencer Tracy, Milton Berle, Ethel Merman, Mickey Rooney, Sid Caesar, Buddy Hackett, Dick Shawn, and Phil Silvers.

As per ET Online, Murphy reveals his plans to remake “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.” According to the comedian, he has been “developing [the script] for years.” Said script will be for a film with “a cast of all the who’s who of comedians,” including Martin Lawrence, though it is unclear exactly who else would star in the film. Check out the full quote from Murphy below:

“I got this other idea for something with Martin [Lawrence]. I’ve been developing it for years. Did you ever see a movie “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World?” Well, I got a script, it will be delivered any minute now written by Jez Butterworth and I’m trying to do a remake of that movie.

It’s one of my favorite movies of all time and if I do it, if the script turns out right, it’s gonna be a cast of all the who’s who of comedians. Anybody that was funny over the last 30 years is going to be in this movie.”

The late and great Jimmy Durante is in the 1963 flick. The Big W refers to a line Durante says as he is dying and it references where his ill-gotten $350,000 is buried, under a big W in a park in California. I will follow this and see if a remake develops. The featured photo is from the 1963 promotion of the flick.

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My Beatles wall calendar for July is a circa early 1960s black and white photo with the four wearing collarless suits and ties, standing on a platform riser, with George Harrison playing a Rickenbacker guitar.

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42-41. First time above .500 this season. After 83 games, I will certainly take it. We are down to four functioning starting pitchers and yesterday was a bullpen game where we trotted out seven relievers. Oh, yeah. Kyle Tucker is still dinged up.

Today’s game in Toronto starts at 2 pm because July 1 is Canada Day, a national holiday in Canada.