Friend Encounters: Paloma Starr and Tommy Else

Friend Encounters is a weekly series featuring friends meeting celebrities.

Today, I feature two of my friends I met through our time with Resistance Pro Wrestling. While Tommy would say he is a star, even he must admit Paloma is the celebrity in this picture.

A noted fan of the San Francisco 49ers, Paloma has added the Chicago Cubs to her fandom since moving here. Once when she had an extra ticket, she invited pal Tommy to a Cubs game. He only "condition" was he had to wear his Cubs Hawaiian shirt. He readily agreed, but he probably would have worn it either way. He added a luchador mask, which 35,000 fans happy not to actually see him.

A bit to my surprise, Tommy has actually become a big fan of the Cubs. Not just a surface-level social media fan, Tommy knows his stuff.

Meanwhile Paloma recently started appearing on Ring the Belle, the daily wrestling talk show on Sirius radio. I'd like to glom a bit of credit for her media success, because of her time as the "Chica On the Beat" at Resistance Pro. The truth is she is a natural and I was lucky to have her on my interview series. Her success is all her own and she deserves all of it. Give it a listen and if you call in, mention Johngy sent you.

Paloma and Tommy in Chicago, IL-June 2015.

Celebrity Jersey Cards #802: George Meyer & Bill Rasmussen

This is a regular series in which I create virtual trading cards for celebrities wearing jerseys. Once again, we are working our way alphabetically through all of the Major League Baseball teams with today's folks providing a lot of entertainment.

Born in Pennsylvania, but raised in Tucson, Arizona, George Meyer earned his place in pop culture history for his work on The Simpsons. He was a script writer and producer. He was once president of the Harvard Lampoon and was hired by David Letterman shortly after college. I found no connection to the Seattle Mariners, but he still gets a Celebrity Jersey Card for repping the team.

Chicago native Bill Rasmussen was one of the co-founders of ESPN. Despite my opinion that ESPN isn't nearly what it once was, I credit it with being revolutionary and a huge part of sports. Still alive at 93, unfortunately a few years ago  Rasmussen announced he had Parkinson's Disease. Rasmussen tossed a first pitch for the Mariners to merit a Celebrity Jersey Card.

Cards That Never Were: Craig Kusick Topps 1976

Cards That Never Were is a recurring series in which I create virtual trading cards for players missed in various sets. It is a concept I borrowed from far to many folks to list, but I appreciate all of their efforts.

After signing with the Minnesota Twins as an amateur free agent in 1970, fist baseman Craig Kusick made his MLB debut in 1973. He remained with the Twins until he was purchased by the Toronto Blue Jays midway through the 1979 season. In 1980-81, Kusick played in the minors for the San Diego Padres and Detroit Tigers, but never made it back to the MLB. For his career, Kusick played parts of seven MLB seasons, appearing in 497 games, hitting .235 with 46 HRs, 171 RBIs and 155 runs scored.

For his efforts, Topps gave Kusick cards in sets from 1974-'80, except for 1976, despite appearing in 57 games in 1976. When U searched for a workable picture, once again Gio of When Topps Had (Base)Balls beat me to it. Gio's site has thousands of awesome card creations. Why mess with perfection? So I feature his card instead of trying to make my own.

Congratulations to New Colorado State University Softball Coach Michelle Gascoigne

Michelle Gascoigne is going from the Wildcats to the Rams. Michelle is the new head coach for the Rams softball team.

I have known Michelle since she played for the Chicago Bandits in 2014. Prior to that, I remember watching her pitch for the University of Oklahoma. She was a key pitcher as the Bandits won the National Pro Fastpitch championship in 2015. She began her coaching career as a grad assistant at Oklahoma in 2014, before joining Northwestern in late 2015. She has been with the Cats since then.

Michelle was always great for a quick picture, chat or interview. It's bittersweet, as I am happy to see Michelle get a head coaching position, but I am sad to see her leave NU and the Chicago area. 

I thank Michelle for her kindness over the years, as well as all she did on and off the field. She is a champ and I wish her much success at Colorado State. I'll be following her career there and hopefully see her again sometime. 

Go to csurams.com for more info. Also, check back here for my coverage.

Michelle Gascoigne and me in Evanston, IL-May 2022.

Celebrity Jersey Cards Special Edition 801: WWE FIFA Bianca Belair & Zelina Vega

Celebrity Jersey Cards is a weekly series featuring celebrities wearing sports jerseys. With the World Cup starting today, I produced some Special Edition WWE FIFA Celebrity Jersey Cards.

Bianca Belair made her pro wrestling debut in NXT, WWE's developmental brand in 2016. Since then, she has won multiple titles as a singles wrestler or in a tag team. She also won the 2021 Royal Rumble. She is known for her long braid, which she has used against opponents. Belair is married to fellow wrestler Montez Ford.

Thea Megan Trinidad Büdgen rose to fame as Zelina Vega (sometimes just Zelina) after making her pro wrestling debut in 2010. After a couple years in TNA, followed by several years on the independent scene, Vega joined the WWE in 2017. She is known for her uniquely colored hair. She is married to wrestler Aleister Black,

Sean Logan Pops Up at Squared Circle Expo VI

Squared Circle Expo VI featured about 100 wrestling stars and legends. We met one wrestler though, who we didn't expect, but was one of the highlights of the weekend.

We first saw Sean Logan at 2econd Wrestling. Sean has a great gimmick involved taking selfies throughout his match. Don't get the wrong idea though. He is not a comedy act. As funny as this is, his ring work is tops. Wrestling is always first. He just incorporates the selfie stuff into the act and it works beautifully.

As always at SCX, Tony and I are busy trying to meet all the talent. Early Saturday morning, eagle-eye Tony spotted Sean roaming the room. There as an attendee and not part of the wrestler lineup, Sean was there just like we were. We all wanted to meet some of our favorites.

The difference is Seam is one of our favorites. After some chatting, we had to ask for a selfie with Sean and he happily obliged.

While he is one of our favorites, I like to think we are two of his favorite fans. Part of his routine is taking selfies during his ring entrance. After one show, we mentioned we would love to be part of that. The next show, he remembered and took a selfie with us as he circled the ring. After seeing that, others made requests, too. Ever the heel, Sean declined. We had been his fans from his debut. We weren't just jumping on the bandwagon.

If you get a chance, see Sean in action. He will definitely impress.

Sean Logan, Tony and me in Indianapolis, IN-March 2026.

2026 Bandits Taylor McQuillin

The second season of Athletes Unlimited Softball League starts today. The Chicago Bandits play in Utah.

The AUSL is the newest league of Athletes Unlimited, which started with a fantasy points-based softball league. The actual details are a bit confusing, but are better explained on auprosports.com. That AU softball is still around, but is now called the Championship Cup which is played after the AUSL season. Confused yet?

Anyway, AUSL has six teams, with the Chicago Bandits among them. This isn't the former Bandits, but is more of a nod to them. Either way, it is good to have real softball and a hometown team back!

One of the Bandits this year is pitcher Taylor McQuillin. My interview with McQuillin is at Talking Travel with Taylor McQuillin. In addition to being a pro player and an Olympian, McQuillin is an inspiration for another reason. The star pitcher is blind in one eye. It's hard enough living with half your vision, but playing softball at such an elite level is amazing. 

She had to learn depth perception by experience. She has to work more closely with her fielders than most pitchers. She talks freely aboutthis in our interview. Hopefully, those folks with vision impairments will take some inspiration or hope from McQuillin.

On a personal level, McQuillin was as nice as could be when I finally met her. We chatted for a few minutes after I thanked her for the interview.  I am very happy McQuillin will be pitching for the Bandits.

For more info on this league, go to the ausl.com. Look here for my recurring coverage.

Taylor McQuillin and me in Rosemont, IL-August 2024.

Friend Encounters: Ted Irvine and Ty

Friend Encounters is a weekly series featuring friends meeting celebrities.

My late friend Ty was a big wrestling fan. Usually, I would feature him meeting a wrestler. Today though, Ty is featured with a hockey legend.

Why is wrestling fan Ty with former hockey star Ted Irvine? It really has more to do with Irvine's son, than his hockey career. Irvine is the father of Chris, better known by his ring name of Chris Jericho.

Irvine made his NHL debut in the 1963-64 season by laying one game with the Boston Bruins. After time in the minors, he returned to the NHL in the 1967-68 season with the Los Angeles Kings. After two and a half seasons with the Kings, Irvine was traded to the New York Rangers. He played through the 1974-75 season with the Rangers, before two seasons with the St. Louis Blues to finish his NHL career.

The younger Irvine has carved a Hall of Fame career with WCW, WWE and now AEW. He is a legit legend. His accomplishments are even more impressive when you look at how poorly he was booked in WCW. He somehow managed to get himself over, despite bad storylines and being overlooked.

Ty met Irvine on the Jericho Cruise, a poular sea cruise led by Chris. It is the perfect setting for a fan like Ty.

Sadly, Ty died a couple years ago. His humor and smile are missed at every event. I always think of Ty as I enter any event. I hope I am helping keep his memory alive for our mutual convention and wrestling friends. RIP Ty.

Ty and Ted Irvine -July 2024.

Celebrity Jersey Cards #800: Kevin Hickey & Takaaki Ishibashi

Celebrity Jersey Cards is a weekly series featuring celebrities wearing sports jerseys. We continue marching alphabetically through all MLB teams. Today, we feature two actors from Major League II.

Kevin Hickey was signed by the Chicago White Sox after an open tryout. The relief pitcher spent six seasons in the MLB with the Sox and Baltimore Orioles. He is one f several former MLB players to appear in Major League II. After returning to Chicago, Hickey became a batting practice pitcher for the Sox until he died from a bin injury in 2012. Although he had several baseball cards, his acting earned him his first Celebrity Jersey Card.

Born in Tokyo, Japan, Takaaki Ishibashi is a Japanese actor, singer and comedian. He played Isuro Tanaka in Major League II and Taka Tanaka in Major League: Back to the minors. Early last year, he announced he was taking a break from the entertainment world because he had esophageal cancer. Obviously, his Celebrity Jersey Card also comes from one of the Major Leauge films.

Cards That Never Were: Carl Yastrzemski Topps 1984

Cards That Never Were is a recurring series in which I create digital trading cards for players missed in various sets. I borrowed this concept from far too many to thank, but I appreciate all of their efforts.

Carl Yastrzemski signed by the Boston Red Sox as an amateur free agent.in 1958 and made his MLB debut in 1961. After 22 seasons all with the Red Sox, Yaz retired in 1983, before being inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1989. All told, Yaz played 3,308 games, compiling aa .285 batting average with 3,419 hits, 452 HRs, 1,844 RBIs and 1,816 runs scored.

For his efforts, Topps gave Yaz cards in every set from 1962-1983, leaving out his career-capper card. As I have previously written, all players, especially HOFers, should have a card after their final season. Once again though, Gio of When Topps Had (Base)Balls beat me to this creation. Knowing I can't improve on his creation, I featured his, instead of trying one myself. I also encourage everyone to check his site for hundreds (thousands) of other creations.