Sports & Entertainment Beat

Welcome back to the Spotlight! You may recall from a few weeks ago that I bemoaned the playoff exit of the New York Knicks. This week, I am doing the same after the Knicks’ roommates, the New York Rangers met a similar fate. You might think that the silver lining is that less time in front of the TV watching 2 of my favorite teams will get me to spend more time outside to enjoy the weather. And ordinarily you’d be right. However, my time in the Sun will be short-lived (and my medicine cabinet full of vitamin D supplements), as I just recently read that an invasive species of hand-sized “flying” spiders known as “Joro Spiders” will be descending on New York this Summer. You truly can’t make this stuff up anymore.  Not a great stretch for the Empire State. The good news for those (like me) whose skin crawls at the very thought of these critters, a nice and sheltered air-conditioned room provides the perfect ambience for reading the Spotlight without threat of interruption of parachuting arachnids. If you do happen to see me out, it will be at Yankee Stadium with one of those umbrella hats, wearing a firm pair of steel-toe boots. For now, you can find me on the Web (lest I be found in a web).

• • Dallas Mavericks point guard Kyrie Irving will be, as he has all season, wearing Anta brand sneakers on the court during the NBA Finals. The Chinese athletic apparel brand will seemingly be well-represented in the stands as well, with Irving offering an endorsement deal for his father. My boys have to step up their game for Father’s Day.  
    
    
  • Country Music star Morgan Wallen’s branded restaurant “Morgan Wallen’s This Bar and Tennessee Kitchen” in Nashville just ahead of the CMA Fest. With a fully stocked bar, three stages for live performances and down-home menu options, the restaurant seems likely to be a hit – just as long as the wait staff doesn’t take cues from his last album and serve “One Thing at a Time.”
    
    
  • Former members of Rock & Roll Hall of Fame band Earth, Wind & Fire will need to pony up $750,000 for infringing the band’s trademark rights. The judge ordered payment by no later than the 21st night of September.