MONDAY, Feb 24 – DAILY PREP TEXT VERSION

MORNING SIDEKICK DAILY PREP TEXT VERSION FOR MONDAY, February 24, 2025
(Print button is at bottom of post. To print with larger type, cut and paste content into a document, and print that document.)

COMEDY MP3s POSTED ON OUR PREP SITE FOR TODAY: FIRED GOVERNMENT WORKERS – BE AN ACTOR

TODAY IS …
(All days repeat annually on today’s date unless otherwise noted; days may or may not be called “National”/”International”/”World” depending on source; sources listed often have additional info. We generally do not list special days which were created by commercial companies for the purpose of marketing – including “holidays” created by the National Day Calendar and Wellcat websites to drive traffic to their websites – or the hundreds of disease awareness listings which occur each year.)

NATIONAL TORTILLA CHIP DAY

NATIONAL TRADING CARD DAY

WORLD BARTENDER DAY

February is:

Adopt a Rescued Rabbit Month
African American History Month
Celebration of Chocolate Month
International Boost Self Esteem Month
International Friendship Month
National Bird Feeding Month
National Snack Food Month
National Sweet Potato Month
Spunky Old Broads Month
Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month

ENTERTAINMENT & CELEBRITIES

SAG AWARD WINNERS

Here are the winners of Sunday night’s Screen Actors Guild Awards:
FILM
– Ensemble: “Conclave”
– Female actor in a leading role: Demi Moore, “The Substance”
– Male actor in a leading role: Timothée Chalamet, “A Complete Unknown”
– Female actor in a supporting role: Zoe Saldaña, “Emilia Pérez”
– Male actor in a supporting role: Kieran Culkin, “A Real Pain”

TELEVISION
– Drama ensemble: “Shōgun”
– Comedy ensemble: “Only Murders in the Building”
– Female actor in a drama series: Anna Sawai, “Shōgun”
– Male actor in a drama series: Hiroyuki Sanada, “Shōgun”
– Female actor in a comedy series: Jean Smart, “Hacks”
– Male actor in a comedy series: Martin Short, “Only Murders in the Building”
– Female actor in a limited series or TV movie: Jessica Gunning, “Baby Reindeer”
– Male actor in a limited series or TV movie: Colin Farrell, “The Penguin”

WHAT TO WATCH – New and Returning Shows and Movies
Premiering Monday through Wednesday
Listings sourced from the TV Guide, EW and other websites

MONDAY, Feb 24

“Beyond the Gates”
CBS – New Daytime Soap Opera
Synopsis: Tells the story of a wealthy, powerful and prestigious multi-generational Black family in a fictional posh gated community in the affluent Maryland and Washington, D.C. area.

TUESDAY, Feb 25

“Eyes on the Prize III: We Who Believe in Freedom Cannot Rest”
HBO – New Docuseries
Synopsis: Illuminates the bold stories of people and communities who continue to work for equity and racial justice in the years since the birth of the American Civil Rights Movement.

Season Premiere:
Netflix – “Full Swing”

WEDNESDAY, Feb 26

Season Premieres:
CBS – “Survivor”
Hulu – “Shoresy”

AUDIO: HOCKEY ANNOUNCER HIT BY PUCK

Buffalo Sabres hockey color commentator Rob Ray was smacked in the face by a wild puck during a live TV broadcast on Saturday. New York Rangers defensemen Will Borgen hit the puck over the boards in the first period and struck Ray in the forehead. “Aw, FUDGE!” exclaimed Ray. Or maybe something a little stronger. The hit took out his glasses. After getting checked over by the Sabres’ doctor, Ray got stitched up and continued to call the game. Ray is a former player for the Sabres, so he’s familiar with pucks to the face. Later in the game, he showed the TV audience where the puck hit him, pointing to the golf ball-sized bump above his eyebrows. The Sabres eventually beat the Rangers 8-2.
* The puck did get 5 minutes in the penalty box.
* He’s a color commentator, so his language can be very colorful.
* Yeah, what he yelled probably rhymed with “puck.”
NOTE: This wasn’t even the first time! Here’s a story we ran in December, 2023.
BUFFALO SABRES HOCKEY ANNOUNCER TAKES A PUCK TO THE HEAD DURING GAME
Late in the third period of Monday’s hockey game between the Buffalo Sabres and Arizona Coyotes, color analyst for Buffalo and former NHL player Rob Ray took a puck to the face. Officials skated over to give the 55-year-old a towel as blood dripped from a cut between his eyes. Through it all, Ray never took off his headset and finished the remainder of the broadcast, sporting a bandage for his wound. Said Ray said patting his forehead. “A normal guy would’ve been carried out of here.” He added that he had to clean off his glasses and could not use his page of notes anymore because it was covered in blood. Ray played 900 games in his NHL career, 889 of them for the Buffalo Sabres.
CLIP: Rob Ray, also known as “Rayzor”, gets hit with a puck – again! The offending word is bleeped.
CLIP URL: morningsidekick(dot)com/prep/wp-content/uploads/HockeyAnncrGetsPucked(dot)mp3

MINDY KALING SHOW SUED BY PEPPERDINE UNIVERSITY

Pepperdine, a Christian university in Malibu, California, has filed a lawsuit against Netflix and Warner Bros. for alleged trademark infringement over Mindy Kaling’s upcoming comedy series “Running Point.” The series centers around a fictional party girl, played by Kate Hudson, who inherits her family’s Los Angeles NBA basketball team, named “the Waves.” It turns out that Pepperdine’s basketball team is also named the Waves. The university also argues that Mindy’s show uses its basketball team’s orange and blue colors, and one fictional player’s number is 37, which is also the number worn by Pepperdine’s mascot because the university was founded in 1937. In addition, the university has also expressed concerns about some of the series’ themes, substance use, nudity, and profanity — elements they say are “inconsistent with Pepperdine’s Christian values and reputation.”
* Obviously, the school officials have never visited the dorms.
* They think THAT sounds bad? Imagine if it was an Amy Schumer project.
* You idiots, the free publicity you’ll get from this show will be worth millions. Is there not a Marketing 101 course at Pepperdine?
* Look at Mindy’s TV history: her shows are enlightening and loaded with family values. The Mindy Project. Never Have I Ever. The Sex Lives of College Gir— okay I see where there might be a problem.

THE BUZZ

STUPID DARES

Reddit asked, “What is the stupidest thing you did on a dare?” some of the responses:
– “Jumped off a 100+ ft tall train bridge into a river at 17. Reward versus risk wasn’t worth it.”
– “Kissed a trash can.”
– “Licked a subway pole. I was a little too drunk to taste it (thank god) but I was VIOLENTLY ill the next day.”
– “Ran naked through a hotel. Earned the respect of my friends though.”
– “Ate a live moth in a bar. Won a pint of lager!”
– “The dare was to take the emblem off a Ferrari. Spending 3 hours with the cops while waiting for my parents ain’t the ideal experience.”
– “Rubbed tiger balm on my testicles.”
– “I ate hand sanitizer in my tenth grade English class. Because my teacher dared me to. They ended up calling poison control.”
– “I ate a worm for a cupcake and a glass of milk.”
– “I ate 30 Del Taco soft tacos. Nearly threw up. Though with 30 soft tacos, you kinda wish you would throw up.”
– “Ate a snail.”
– “Chewed on a cod liver oil capsule.”
– “Got married.”
* PHONE TOPIC: What’s the dumbest thing you’ve done on a dare? How’d it turn out?

U.S. NEWS

WOMAN DIVORCES HUSBAND FOR BOOING TAYLOR SWIFT

A 28-year-old woman is divorcing her husband because he participated in the booing of Taylor Swift at the Super Bowl. Taylor was booed by Philadelphia fans as cameras zoomed in on her while supporting her boyfriend, Travis Kelce, who was playing against the Philadelphia Eagles. The woman, Louisa Melcher, said in the viral video, “I’m divorcing my husband because he booed Taylor Swift at the Super Bowl, and I still don’t think he believes me. I’m not just doing this because of the action of booing; I am doing this because of everything that it represents in our relationship.” Melcher says she had been a fan of Swift since she was 12 years old, and that her husband, whom she married two years ago, also came to enjoy the singer’s music. But when it came to the booing: “It just tells me everything I need to know about that man because he didn’t care that that would hurt my feelings. He just wanted to fit in with his boys. He didn’t even care that that’s not even how he actually feels. He just, like, wanted to look cool, I guess. And that’s not a man, that’s a boy, and when you see that, you can’t really unsee it, so I’m divorcing him.”
* What … a … MONSTER!!!
* It’s just as well. The list of things she wouldn’t be able to unsee being married was just gonna get worse and worse.
* The husband doesn’t care, he’s says he’s actually more of a Korean Boy Band fan.
* How could this happen? Did he skip the Taylor Swift section of the pre-engagement questionnaire?
* It’s not the first time a relationship has ended because of boos.

BUILD-A-BEAR HAS AN ADULT BEAR OPTION

You know Build-A-Bear, the store where kids can build and dress their own little teddy bear for $60 or so? Did you also know that Build-A-Bear has a special line of adult-themed bears? They first rolled it out in 2019, and they bring it out each Valentine’s Day. They call it the Build-A-Bear’s “After Dark” collection. It includes:
– A bear wearing a silk robe like Hugh Hefner (ask your grandparents).
– A bear in a bikini eating chocolate-covered strawberries.
– A series of “cougar” female bears.
– Bears in leather skirts.
– Bears in T-shirts with mildly suggestive slogans on them, like “on the prowl” and “Zaddy” written on them. (“Zaddy” means ‘hot dad.’ We had to look it up, too.)
The company notes that the “After Dark” collection is available exclusively online via the “Bear Cave,” a microsite that is gated to visitors who are 18+. Your kids are not going to see these bears if you take them on a family outing to the Build-A-Bear workshop.
* Wow – the number of “Furries” out there must be higher than I thought.
* How many of you listening are mad you didn’t hear about this BEFORE Valentine’s Day?
* And these are supposed to be naughty how? Do they come with little bear bondage masks? Do they leave holes in the stitching?
* At least they’re not life-size. THAT would be REALLY creepy.
* This isn’t nearly as bad as the time they came out with that “50 Shades of Lego” set.
* Or the “My Little Pony Makes More Little Ponies” collection.

THE FLORIDA MAN GAMES

The Florida Man Games are returning for its second year. The athletic event, inspired by the “Florida Man” internet meme, will be held on March 1st at the St. Johns County Fairgrounds in Elkton, Florida. Teams from across the state will battle it out for a snakeskin championship belt by participating and competing in multiple Florida Man events, including:
– Human beer pong
– Eat the butt challenge
– Mechanical gator riding
– Evading arrest obstacle course
– Florida sumo cage match
– Weaponized Pool Noodle Mud Wrestling
– Lawnmower Racing
– Hurricane Party Prep/Grocery Aisle Brawl
* To be eligible for the games you must be… insane.
* And no, I don’t what the “Eat the butt challenge” is, and I don’t want to.
* If you’re a Florida Man currently in jail for any of these, do you get Honorable Mention?
* It’s the only athletic event that actually attracts tornadoes.
* Instead of an Olympic torch, they just do fart lighting.

HOOTERS MIGHT BE HEADING FOR BANKRUPTCY

Hooters, the restaurant built on dressing its waitresses in tight-fitting T-shirts, is said to be preparing for a potential bankruptcy filing to restructure its debt with creditors, according to Bloomberg News. Hooters’ struggles reflect the broader challenges facing casual dining establishments, as economic conditions shift and consumer preferences evolve” (* apparently, continuing to present female employees as sex objects in 2025 is not an issue). While no final decision for seeking Chapter 11 protection has been made, a filing could take place within the next two months.
* You might expect me to make a tasteless joke here, but it’s not really fair to pick on a business that has done so well over the years, now that they’re flat-busted.
* Let’s see … boobs … boobs … Ah! Boy, management must really be a bunch of boobs for them to ruin THIS business!
* Sometimes, a company just has to take its lumps.
* Strange that a business known for its gals in short shorts can’t get control of their assets.

NEW YORK YANKEES TO ALLOW BEARDS AGAIN

The New York Yankees dropped their ban on beards last Friday, 49 years after it was imposed by owner George Steinbrenner. He announced the policy in 1976, mandating no long hair or beards — although mustaches were allowed. Current owner Hal Steinbrenner, son of George, announced the new policy. He says it is aimed to improve player recruitment as the team tries to win its first World Series title since 2009. Hal said, “My dad was in the military. He believed that a team should look in a disciplined manner. But again for my father, nothing is more important than winning and that’s in the back of my mind.” One example of the policy: Outfielder Alex Verdugo was forced to trim his long hair when he was traded to the Yankees ahead of the 2024 season.
* Who’s the poor guy on the Yankees janitorial staff who now has to clean all the hair out of the shower drain?
* Look for the new Roto-Rooter sponsor logo on the scoreboard this year.
* Taking the place of Gillette.
* They’re doing it to “improve player recruitment.” ‘Cause last year, Juan Soto signed with the Mets for $765 million – but what really sealed the deal was he could have a beard.
* Next year, the Yankees might even try Casual Friday for the players.

TRENDING

BETTY WHITE STAMP COMING MARCH 27

The U.S. Postal Service will honor the legendary Betty White with a new stamp. The stamp features the beloved actress in a purple polka-dotted blouse against a violet-colored background. Her name is printed in white text underneath her portrait and “FOREVER USA” is printed below her name in violet text. Yes, it’s a Forever stamp. The stamp will be available on March 27.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE (Feb 21-23)

1. Captain America: Brave New World – $28.2 million
2. The Monkey – $14.2 million
3. Paddington in Peru – $6.5 million
4. Dog Man – $5.9 million
5. Heart Eyes – $2.8 million

ALMANAC

NOTABLE DATES, UPCOMING U.S. OBSERVANCES

March 4, Tuesday – Shrove Tuesday/Mardi Gras
March 9, Sunday – Daylight Saving Time Begins
March 17, Monday – St. Patrick’s Day
March 20, Thursday – Spring begins, Spring Equinox is 5:01 a.m. EDT
April 1, Tuesday – April Fools Day
April 15, Tuesday – U.S. Tax Day
May 11, Sunday – Mother’s Day
May 26, Monday – Memorial Day

BIRTHDAYS

Daniel Kaluuya (actor, “Nope,” “Get Out,” “Black Panther”) … 36
Floyd Mayweather, Jr. (boxing promoter, former championship boxer) … 48
Bonnie Somerville (actress, “Code Black”) … 51
Billy Zane (actor, “Titanic”) … 59
Paula Zahn (TV news journalist) … 69
Debra Jo Rupp (actress, “That 90s Show,” “The Ranch,” “That 70s Show”) … 74
George Thorogood (rock singer, musician, “Bad To The Bone”) … 75
Edward James Olmos (actor, “Agents of SHIELD,” “Battlestar Galactica” reboot) … 78
Rupert Holmes (singer-songwriter, “Escape – The Pina Colada Song”) … 78

Today’s Birthdays grade: It’s Monday, a blah day with – if not blah birthdays – kind of unspectacular birthdays. It happens. Grade: C.

[Want to try something different with the daily birthdays? Try grading them! Some days have “good” celebs, some have “great” celebs, some have “lousy” celebs. For fun, give the group an arbitrary grade: A-plus through F-minus. Sidekick will give you our take on it; you can to take the concept and run with it.]

BIRTHDAY QUOTE QUIZ – Ask your listeners “Who said it?” HINT: Today’s their birthday!

“Having something that makes money changes everything.”

(A) James Cameron
(B) Paul Rudd
(C) Daniel Kaluuya

ANSWER: (C) Daniel Kaluuya

THIS DAY IN HISTORY

2022 – Russia invaded Ukraine in a full-scale pre-dawn invasion by land, air and sea, with bombings in several cities amid international condemnation. Vladimir Putin called it a “special military operation” to “demilitarize” the country.
* And the world called Putin a “lying, murdering, insane S.O.B.”

1981 – Buckingham Palace announced the engagement of Britain’s Prince Charles to Lady Diana Spencer.
* A match made in THE STEAMING PITS OF HELL!

1965 – The first Tupperware party was held.
* Back before it took two spouses with paychecks to live a decent life, women had all kinds of free time.

1936 – Toothbrushes changed forever when the first nylon bristle toothbrush was made in Arlington, NJ.
* It was a big improvement over scrubbing your teeth with metal files, horse’s tails, or sandpaper.

1914 – Clarence Crane invented “Life Savers.” He called his confection, “a hole encased in candy.”
* Much like a cavity from too much candy is “a hole encased in tooth enamel.”

1582 – Pope Gregory XII established the “Gregorian calendar,” the system of days, months and years used on modern calendars by most of the world.
* He did a pretty good job, if you don’t count that pesky leap year and the extra “r” in February.

THIS DAY IN MUSIC HISTORY

2010 – 50 Cent was being sued over claims he unlawfully distributed a homemade sex video. Lastonia Leviston (mother of 50 Cent rival Rick Ross’s daughter) filed legal action in Manhattan, saying she made the private video with a lover in 2008 and alleged that 50 Cent posted the video on his website the previous year after blurring out the lover’s face – and editing himself into it as narrator. In January 2014 a judge ruled the lawsuit could proceed. In 2015, 50 Cent was ordered to pay a total of $7 million to Leviston. He then filed for bankruptcy. In 2016, a Connecticut judge ordered him to appear in bankruptcy court to explain his recently posted photos showing him with wads of cash.

2010 – Promotions company MCD launched a $2.3 million lawsuit against Prince for pulling out of a concert in Dublin, Ireland in June, 2008, just ten days before it was to take place. Prince eventually settled out of court for an undisclosed sum.

2009 – The United States Mint launched a new coin featuring American composer, pianist and bandleader Duke Ellington, making him the first African-American to appear by himself on a U.S. coin.

1999 – Hip Hop artist Eminem released his first major record album “The Slim Shady LP.” It won the 2000 Grammy for Best Rap Album.

1998 – Elton John was knighted by Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace.

1998 – Motley Crue’s Tommy Lee was arrested and charged with hitting his wife Pamela Anderson Lee.

1992 – Kurt Cobain married Courtney Love in Waikiki, Hawaii. The press reported that the couple was expecting a baby on Sept 10th.

1976 – “The Eagles Greatest Hits” became the first album ever certified “platinum” for sales of over one million copies.

1973 – Roberta Flack had her second U.S. No.1 when “Killing Me Softly With His Song” started a five-week run at the top. The song was written about “American Pie” singer-songwriter Don McLean.

1973 – The Byrds made their final live appearance when they played at The Capitol Theater in Passaic, New Jersey.

1963 – The Rolling Stones started a job playing Sunday nights at The Station Hotel in Richmond, Surrey, England. They were paid $41 and appeared on the first night to an audience of 66 people.

X-TREME TRIVIA CHALLENGE

Every installment of X-Treme Trivia Challenge includes three mystery factoids. Create your own “Impossible Question” contest – great for listener giveaways and phone interaction starters! Also a perfect sponsorship opportunity!

1. About 1-in-6 people polled admit they’ve fallen asleep HERE. Where is it?
In the bathroom at work

2. 75% of companies say their average employees waste 2 hours a day, and 9% of those workers waste time doing THIS. What is it?
Spacing out

3. The average executive spends about 45 minutes a day doing THIS. What is it?
Looking for things on their desk

(c) 2025
MORNING SIDEKICK RADIO SHOW PREP & COMEDY
8062 West Massey Circle
Littleton, CO 80128
USA
morningsidekick(at)gmail(dot)(com)
Tel: 303-727-9111