Sunday Morning Coffee — Sunday Morning Scramble- April 6, 2025
By Roy Berger, Las Vegas, Nevada
Good morning. We’re a little bit groggy this morning. Went to see Barry Manilow last night. The show didn’t end until the ungodly hour of 8:40. I know what you’re thinking, how hokey going to see Barry, but the guy has one tremendous song and writing catalogue that was so much a part of our lives. So why not? At 81 his voice was a bit pebbly. Then he apologized for being on the verge of laryngitis. When I wondered why he couldn’t have come down with laryngitis the day before, he reels me right back in with Can’t Smile Without You. And when I wandered to check the score of Duke-Houston, he brings me right back with Mandy. First time I’ve seen his show. He truly did Write The Songs of our life. Once was enough, but I’m glad I went. Eyes heavy from a late night, let’s Scramble:
Yes, I will take another punch in the mouth please: we’ve said numerous times Las Vegas is a great place to live and retire, but in our opinion the financial stranglehold they have on tourists is unconscionable. However, few seem to mind. This city may now have gaming competition across the country, but Vegas has more than that—it gains momentum every year as a dining, entertainment and sports mecca. Prices are off the charts from rooms to meals to bottles of water to the mysterious daily resort fees that can run up to $50 a day for absolutely nothing. You’ll pay for parking almost everywhere. In fact, if you want to park for free the best option is to leave your car at Treasure Island or Circus Circus and hike to where you want to go. That’s about the only two free parking options left. Coffee is $6, cheap bottles of beer $10 and if you want a Goose martini that will probably set you back $25 or a green gaming chip; toss in a red one for the tip. If you thought you used to get value at the hotel buffets, well keep looking. They are few and far between anymore. And maybe the worst legal larceny by resort operators is if you arrive prior to your check-in time of 3 pm, even if your room is empty, you’ll be able to get into it for somewhere between $20-$50. If not, watch the clock until it hits three. Forbes says Vegas is now one of the most expensive places in the continental 48 to visit. Over the last five years hotel room prices have increased 47%; car rentals 61% and daily meals cost 14% more. But according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal people keep coming and they like getting smacked in the face. In fact, more than 41.6 million visited last year with 87% polling they were “very satisfied” and 54% saying it “exceeded their expectations.” Amanda Belarmino, assistant professor of UNLV’s College of Hospitality explains, “Value is one aspect of satisfaction, but price is not value. Creating value is about creating memorable experiences.” Empty pockets aside, I do think this town does that very well.
Here’s a really bad job of customer research. I got a call from a gal at a Hilton Hotels call center recognizing me as loyal member of their Hilton Honors program and offering me a free trip to Vegas to see some of their timeshare properties. “I live in Las Vegas,” I told her. “Oh” was her response. She immediately disconnected.
However, enjoying a free trip to the desert this past week were 16 college basketball teams who otherwise figured their seasons were over. Some were on the bubble for the NCAA tournament and weren’t among the 68 teams selected. Others might have been bound for the moribund NIT but turned down that invitation to participate in the inaugural College Basketball Crown (CBC). Primarily from the Big 10, Big East and Big 12, the selected Crown teams had all expenses paid by the tournament organizers— MGM Resorts, AEG Entertainment Group and broadcast partner Fox Sports. The organizers furnished charter flights for each school along with housing and meals at MGM Vegas properties. We assume they did not have to pay a resort fee or sit through a time-share presentation. At stake was $500,000 of Name-Image-Likeness monies divided among the final four of the six-day event which turned out to be Boise State, Central Florida, Nebraska and Villanova. Last Tuesday afternoon was windy and drizzly outside. No golf. So I went to the CBC first round afternoon doubleheader at MGM Grand Garden to see DePaul play Cincinnati/ UCF against Oregon State. Having nothing better to do, that folks is the epitome of retirement: schlep 10 miles to watch four schools play basketball that you can give a damn less about. Fortunately the betting windows were open. If you include the teams and arena staff there may have been 150 people at noon tip-off time Tuesday in a building that holds 15,000.. The PA system wasn’t needed; coaches didn’t have to yell and if you called the ref a bum, he turned and looked at you. But the teams played hard. FS1 and Fox televised every game. Consider year one an IPO. Hard-to-find and incredibly valuable N-I-L monies were on the line thus this event concept. If the sponsors stay with it, this tournament may have some legs down the road replacing the NIT as an also-ran destination.
Let’s go north of 90 for birthday wishes. Happy 92nd to Barbara Feldon, Agent 99 on Get Smart; 95th to John Astin, Gomez of the Addams Family and film and TV critic Gene Shalit, celebrating his 99th. A big thumbs up to all!
Sad about the passing of George Foreman at 76 on March 21. Foreman was the anti-OJ of our generation. He was tough to take early in his boxing career as a not-too-cordial bully. I don’t think I ever pulled as hard for anything as I did for Ali to improbably beat him in 1974. That loss humbled big George. He found religion. Became a preacher and then grill mogul. Through the later years of his boxing career and then beyond he became lovable. A very unlikely American hero and institution.
Another athlete whose likeability index has steadily risen over his two decade playing career in the National Hockey League is Alex Ovechkin. The Washington Capitals star tied the great Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goal scoring mark of 894 on Friday night. By nightfall tonight he could stand alone as the king. Washington plays on Long Island this afternoon. Washington hockey fans hope he doesn’t and instead waits until Thursday night when the Caps return home to get THE goal. Through the years, Ovi grew into a class act and a great ambassador for the sport. He also became my favorite player to watch. Born in Moscow 39 years ago, he has maintained his Russian citizenship but after 20 years in Washington is an Americanized Russian. He was the first overall pick in the 2004 NHL draft. When our generation thinks of hockey greatness we think of Gretzky. But Ovechkin is all of that. Consider: Through 20 seasons Ovi has played in 1,486 games; Gretzky one more at 1,487. And they each have tallied 894 goals. Gretzky was a year younger, 38, when he ended his career. If DOGE only stuck a tariff on each goal Ovi scored, we could be close to a balanced budget.
Caveat emptor: According to the Wall Street Journal, in 2023 lonely Americans lost $1.2 billion in online romance scams. Most susceptible were Californians; least were love seekers in Vermont and Wyoming.
Also in the pages of the WSJ, this from sports humor columnist Jason Gay describing the aesthetics of the NFL’s controversial tush push: “It’s humanity pushing humanity. It looks like the remains of the C group trying to board a Southwest flight.”
I’ve maintained for a long time the most inequitable rule in American professional sports belongs to the NFL. During regular season overtime games, when the team that won the coin flip and had first possession scored a touchdown, the game was over. That happened 64% of the time. The amended rule adopted last Tuesday now gives both teams the chance to have the ball at least once in a 10-minute OT period. I have little doubt the Jets will be the first to lose by the new rule.
Something we don’t say very often but we had a really good winter sports wagering season. In the NBA son Jason, a Dean’s list NBA scholar, advised to play Oklahoma City over 56 wins. That was too easy. Through yesterday they’ve won 64. Then we eavesdropped on a conversation touting Montreal in the NHL as up and comers to top their season total point betting mark of 75. They were really entertaining to watch, exceeding all expectations and clinched the needed number last weekend. And the final one was hometown — Vegas Golden Knights going over 98 points which they did last night. A fun and profitable sports watching winter.
So we took our winning stash, piled it in a wheelbarrow, and went back to the sportsbook playing it all on baseball futures. If you are prone to bet season totals, baseball is the best— there’s steady action virtually every day for six months. My big play for the season is Tampa Bay under 81 wins. I think the AL East is too tough for them to have much success. I also have the Cubs to win the NL Central; the Mets to win the NL East and the Yankees to win the AL East. And one more. Promise me you won’t laugh; smirking is okay. I played the White Sox over 53 wins. Last season they set an all-time MLB futility record by only winning 41 games. Two reasons for the Sox this season: first, they can’t be as bad as they were last year, can they? And maybe even more compelling is Stuart Mann, a colleague and friend and a lifelong Chicago White Sox fan who died three weeks ago at age 85. He told me before he passed he thought the Sox would win 60 games this season. That was good enough for me and my money. However, it looks like it’s still 2024 in 2025 for the White Sox who have lost six of their first eight games. There’s only 154 remaining.
When the NHL playoffs begin the week after next, it will mark the 14th straight season the Buffalo Sabres sit at home. That ties the Jets for American sports postseason futility. We fully expect the Jets to be back in the lead by December.
Once again White Lotus on HBO/MAX captured our attention. The third season is climaxing tonight with a bunch of enticing story lines needing resolution. Also, we said it a few weeks ago but NBC’s The Americas is great, especially with a gummy. And we stumbled upon Escape at Dannemora on Netflix. It’s one season, seven episodes, produced and directed by Ben Stiller starring Patricia Arquette. It’s a jail story, sometimes wanders over to the other side of the tracks, but entertaining. One more — just wrapped up Zero Day on Netflix. It’s good but made even better by Robert De Niro in the lead role.
Leave it to the Jews to dip a toe into the Irish Sea. With St. Patrick’s Day just passed and corned beef and cabbage the mainstay on most Irish dinner tables, the dish is not actually a traditional Irish meal, instead an American Irish creation from the late 19th century. Irish immigrants in New York City, influenced by their Jewish neighbors, adopted corned beef as a less expensive alternative to traditional Irish (nee Canadian) bacon, bought it from Jewish kosher butcher shops and combined it with cabbage for the annual American holiday. In Ireland St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated with bacon and cabbage.
Speaking of the Jews, we make up 2.4% of the United States population. However, this weekend in San Antonio for the Final Four the percentage of Jewish head coaches was 75%. For tomorrow night’s Houston-Florida final it’s 50%.
Hooters has found out what we all know. As we get older things start to sag. Hooters, around since 1983, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection this week. The cause? Sagging sales. To say they have gone bust is tacky even for SMC.
Dwight Howard got word yesterday he was a first ballot selection to be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame this fall. He already was a first ballot inductee into the P.T. Barnum Hall of Fame, which honors suckers born every minute. Howard, 39, played in the NBA for 18 seasons. He was the number one pick in the 2004 NBA draft, chosen by the Orlando Magic as a 19-year-old right out of high school in Atlanta. He decided to forego college to turn pro. Instead Howard got his education and degree from SHK- the School of Hard Knocks. Four years ago an Atlanta conman convinced Dwight that $7 million would get him majority interest in the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream, which was up for sale. If Howard had gone to college maybe he would have taken Business Due Diligence 101. Instead, he trusted the swindler, wired him the money and found out on February 26, 2021, by watching the ESPN bottom-of-the-screen crawl that the Dream was indeed sold but not to the group Howard thought he was part of. In fact, they weren’t even bidders. It was a straight-up con. On December 8, 1985, the day baby Dwight was born he had no idea he would one day grow up to be an eight-time NBA All-Star, a future Hall of Famer and a punch line for P.T. Barnum.
And finally, MAFA = Make America Fun Again. According to something called the 2025 World Happiness Report, Finland has been ranked as the happiest country in the world for the eighth consecutive year. Rounding out the top five are Denmark, Iceland, Sweden and the Netherlands. The United States, in a free fall from 11th in 2012, is 24th this year. Maybe even lower now with last week’s stock market carnage. We need MAFA. In a hurry.
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
Go Cubbies!!!
MAFA- second that!