Sunday Morning Coffee — May 10, 2026 — Sunday Morning Scramble
By Roy Berger, Las Vegas, NV
Good morning and Happy Mother’s Day—the most special day of the year. If you still have your Mom give her a hug—virtual ones count too. If you don’t, then remember fond and happy moments. And if you are a Mom, your family are the luckiest people on earth. And Moms, I know what you’re thinking—Let’s Scramble:
Payroll processing giant ADP tells us that even though the job market for recent college graduates and young professionals is challenging, the best spots in the country for landing jobs are in the Sunbelt. In fact, the hottest is Birmingham, Alabama, where we lived for 20 years before retiring in Las Vegas. Next is Tampa while Raleigh, Tulsa, Nashville and Charlotte are also in the top 10.
Well, the U.S. penny is all but extinct and now go ahead and short the nickel. The five-cent piece has been in circulation since 1866 but probably not for much longer. It costs the United States Mint almost 14 cents to produce each nickel. See ya President Jefferson.
Let’s go Knicks! Speaking of gone like a cheap penny, how about championship parades in New York City? The capital of the world in finance, fashion, food and high living just can’t seem to figure out a way to win on the playing field. The graphic below, despite payrolls higher than the Empire State Building, is pretty eye-opening. With the Rangers, Islanders and Nets eliminated from winter sports season playoffs, the ticker-tape parade hopes now fall on the Knicks in the midst of a post-season run who haven’t won a title in 19,698 days, but that’s not the longest gap. Every Knicks fan of course thanks the Jets for that.
With the four-part Hulk Hogan documentary now charting on Netflix (and it’s not bad), the tally from WrestleMania 42, a two-night event in Las Vegas a couple of weeks ago is in — 106,000 former Hulkamaniacs attended live at Allegiant Stadium with attendees coming from all 50 states and 69 countries. Digitally, the Wrestlefest had 1.3 billion, that’s billion, social media views. The fan following ‘professional’ wrestling has, even though they make no bones anymore about the fact it’s scripted, is really beyond belief. The Hulkster, who died last July, became a victim of his character as the documentary reveals, believing outside of the ring that he was Hulk Hogan, and not really Terry Bollea.
If you didn’t have a chance to see the April 26 CBS 60 Minutes broadcast featuring former Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse with Scott Pelley, try and find it. Senator Sasse, with terminal stage 4 pancreatic cancer, spoke candidly about faith, mortality and the future of America. It’s streamed and worth the 15 minutes.
Reverse nepotism? When former Yankee great Don Mattingly, 65, was hired as the Philadelphia Phillies field manager on April 28 he went to work for his 38-year-old son Preston, who is the Phils general manager. Perhaps some stern son-father talks in the offing?
Why did potential presidential assassin Cole Thomas Allen take the train from his California home to the Washington DC Hilton on April 25? Well, that’s not a riddle. Amtrak does not do TSA passenger screening before boarding their trains. Allen knew his bag filled with artillery wouldn’t be inspected nor questioned unlike the airlines. With the rails’ free-style boarding, we have a disaster waiting to happen one of these days. I want to be wrong but sadly it’s just a matter of time.
Ready, aim, fire! When the Vegas Golden Knights opened their second round Stanley Cup hockey playoff series last Tuesday night, they wanted to give the home fans a very unique opportunity to express their opinion of the opponent, the Anaheim Ducks. Every urinal throughout T-Mobile Arena had a target for the home fans to perfect their aim.
Legacy is a word tossed around too loosely at times. However, it’s rare to find someone who leaves a greater legacy and impact on the world than Ted Turner, who died on Wednesday at 87. Mr. Turner was an entrepreneur, philanthropist, conversationalist, victorious America’s Cup sailing captain, baseball manager for a day, rancher, landowner (over two million acres in six states) multi-sports franchise owner, restaurant chain impresario, Jane Fonda husband, a kook at times and of course a media mogul. He changed the world in 1980 with the founding of CNN. It has impacted all of our lives, stretching far beyond the international borders of his Atlanta, Georgia, home. And it will continue for generations and generations. That’s leaving a true legacy.
Gentlemen, I’m not sure where to go with this one but with costs rising everywhere, it appears being single just got more expensive. Malaysia’s Karex just announced that due to supply chain disruptions, their specialty product will cost anywhere from 20-30% more. Karex produces over five million condoms annually including leading brands Durex and Trojan. Or as the New York Post headline succinctly told us, it’s a “Condom Price Thrust.”
It only took about 18 months for the Las Vegas Sphere to be in the black. The $2.3 billion 18,000 seat concert wonder that opened in the fall of 2023 lost $325 million in its first year, but with all the opening overhead accounted for and wrinkles ironed out, the Sphere showed a profit of $33.4 million in the fiscal year just completed. Phish, just played a three-weekend/nine-show sold out run at the spectacle located behind the Venetian Hotel. Phish can lay claim to the highest ticket resale price of any act to take the Sphere stage. Phish’s secondary market sales averaged $798 a seat while U2 was $754 and the Eagles, still going, are $639. If you haven’t visited yet, it should be on your to-do list. I’ve said this many times but Sphere is the only concert venue you’ll go to where the act is secondary to the special effects. It’s that good.
And if a visit to Vegas for a Sphere show isn’t in the cards, you can hang on for a little while and wait for a smaller version, 6,000 seats, which is being planned for the National Harbor in Maryland, projected to open in 2030 just about the time Phish will be completing their second song from last weekend’s set. Also on the drawing board is a Vegas duplicate facility one day in Abu Dhabi.
A final Sphere note about the talent that has played there and people that keep these statistics— the aforepictured Phish, the four man jam/improv band who have been together since 1983, have headlined 13 Sphere shows and played 162 different songs. Dead & Company is next with 48 shows and 117 tunes; U2 40 shows, 40 songs; Backstreet Boys 35 appearances, 25 songs and The Eagles with 22 Hotel California hits over their 58 and still counting, scripted performances.
Watch out for the flying turkeys. That only means something to those who remember Andy Travis, Arthur Carlson, Dr. Johnny Fever, Herb Tarlek, Venus Flytrap, the luscious Jennifer Marlowe, Bailey Quarters and of course newsman Les Nessman, who had to report the 1978 Thanksgiving promotion that went terribly awry. They were the not-so-crack staff of mythical radio station WKRP in Cincinnati which ran on CBS from 1978-82. Well, WKRP is making a return—but this time as a legit radio station. WKRP premiered to listeners last Monday in the radio markets of northern Kentucky, Dayton, Ohio, and of course Cincinnati. It’ll be interesting to see the promo they cook up for November 26.
And finally, let’s not forget the legendary places and people who celebrated birthdays this past Wednesday, May 6. The Eiffel Tower, first opened in 1889, turned 137. The Channel Tunnel aka Chunnel, delivering rail service between London and Paris, a relative youngster at 32. Bob Seeger, 81; Tony Blair, 73; George Clooney, 65; Camp Impala Hall of Fame counselor Ted Sirota, 76 and Roy Berger, 74. Seventy-four? Whoa. How did that happen? But here I am and so grateful for the many different phases and stages of my life and all the people I’ve befriended. On Wednesday I received literally hundreds of texts, phone calls, and social media acknowledgements from friends and acquaintances through the years. Sure, with time a few cherished relationships have expired and I miss them, but that is the cycle of life. For those who remembered thank you all. It’s incredibly humbling.
I’m proud that Medjet is sponsoring Sunday Morning Coffee. I spent 20 wonderful years with Medjet in Birmingham, Alabama, and can tell you unequivocally they are the standard-bearer for medical assistance membership programs. A talented staff, who cares about its members, is at the forefront of the company’s success. Whether you are traveling for business or pleasure, domestic or international, a Medjet membership should be an important part of your travel portfolio before you leave home. Check out the Medjet website at medjet.com or just tap on the Medjet logo and you’ll be able to get a look at Medjet’s services, rules and regulations, pricing, and an overview of the organization. And remember, any opinions expressed in Sunday Morning Coffee content or comments belong to the author and not the sponsor. Safe travels with your Medjet membership! — Roy Berger