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USA Today
06-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
The live 2025 NHL Draft Lottery was an absolutely confusing disaster
The live 2025 NHL Draft Lottery was an absolutely confusing disaster The 2025 NHL Draft Lottery flopped like a dead catfish on the Nashville ice on Monday night, as a previously typical lottery process turned into 30 minutes of bad Game Show Network reject nonsense. As ping pong balls fluttered about in an air machine, NHL fans across the globe looked on in utter confusion as the fate of their team's draft status depended on an unnecessarily complicated process. 2025 NHL Draft Order: Where each team will pick in the first round. Apparently, the sequence of balls drawn somehow sent the New York Islanders to the top of the NHL Draft and the Utah Hockey Club to the fourth pick. We're sure fans of those teams are thrilled, but the rest of the world had to watch this bewildering hodgepodge of airballs decide the order of the 2025 NHL Draft. Like... what is this?!?! Look, if this is really how top draft picks are decided, this just makes the process look all that much worse. Draft lotteries are inherently evil, but this process just made it all the more confounding. Plus, it was just bad television. 2025 NHL Draft: 5 top prospects in this year's class, including Matthew Schaefer. It was just too hard to understand how the live draft lottery worked in the moment, zapping any of the intrigue out of the process. You were left scrambling to figure out what each result meant, and the Islanders winning the first pick just made the whole ordeal that much more bizarre. The NFL does a lot wrong, but its draft process is at least simple to understand and doesn't rely on floating ping pong balls pumping out the serial number from the Lost hatch. What are we doing? Lots of fans really didn't like this, and it's hard to blame them. This was a confusing disaster for ESPN and the NHL, and it's really hard to see this coming back next year. This is the New Coke of draft lottery television; NHL commissioner Gary Bettman needs to make an executive decision to rework this for the future... or just get rid of the lottery system, for goodness' sake. They even lost a guy who loves math. A literal math nerd! Please, for the love of all that is good in hockey, just go back to the big cards next year. This stunk.
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
The live 2025 NHL Draft Lottery was an absolutely confusing disaster
The 2025 NHL Draft Lottery flopped like a dead catfish on the Nashville ice on Monday night, as a previously typical lottery process turned into 30 minutes of bad Game Show Network reject nonsense. As ping pong balls fluttered about in an air machine, NHL fans across the globe looked on in utter confusion as the fate of their team's draft status depended on an unnecessarily complicated process. . Apparently, the sequence of balls drawn somehow sent the New York Islanders to the top of the NHL Draft and the Utah Hockey Club to the fourth pick. We're sure fans of those teams are thrilled, but the rest of the world had to watch this bewildering hodgepodge of airballs decide the order of the 2025 NHL Draft. Like... what is this?!?! New York Islanders have won the 2025 NHL Draft lottery. They had the 10th-best odds of winning at 3.5%. — Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) May 5, 2025 Look, if this is really how top draft picks are decided, this just makes the process look all that much worse. Draft lotteries are inherently evil, but this process just made it all the more confounding. Plus, it was just bad television. 2025 NHL Draft: 5 top prospects in this year's class, including Matthew Schaefer. It was just too hard to understand how the live draft lottery worked in the moment, zapping any of the intrigue out of the process. You were left scrambling to figure out what each result meant, and the Islanders winning the first pick just made the whole ordeal that much more bizarre. The NFL does a lot wrong, but its draft process is at least simple to understand and doesn't rely on floating ping pong balls pumping out the serial number from the Lost hatch. What are we doing? Lots of fans really didn't like this, and it's hard to blame them. This was a confusing disaster for ESPN and the NHL, and it's really hard to see this coming back next year. This is the New Coke of draft lottery television; NHL commissioner Gary Bettman needs to make an executive decision to rework this for the future... or just get rid of the lottery system, for goodness' sake. That NHL Draft lottery was one of the most confusing things I've seen — Cameron Peters (@CamDawg1988) May 5, 2025 'Gary, the fans think the draft is rigged. They'd like more transparency.'Gary: 'Ok. How about the most convoluted draft lottery ever, but we do it live.''Uhhhhhh….' #NHLDraftLottery — Ryan Turner (@rturner17) May 5, 2025 The #NHLDraftLottery is the perfect example of how bad the @NHL is at marketing and content. Convoluted system. Cutting to a commercial mid draw. Team branding removed from the balls so they can't go viral after. Just incredibly bad all around. — Fentoozler (@forevermusing) May 5, 2025 We don't get it 🤷♂️ — Michigan Hockey (@umichhockey) May 5, 2025 What the hell is this NHL draft lottery??Anyone else just totally lost? — Jacob Pacheco (@JacobPacheco6) May 5, 2025 Trying to understand the NHL Draft lottery — Odds Shark (@OddsShark) May 5, 2025 me tryna figure out how this nhl draft lottery works — Evan Marinofsky (@EvanMarinofsky) May 5, 2025 The NHL Draft lottery is literally the most confusing thing in the world — jacob (@jacobnyr) May 5, 2025 Everyone watching this NHL Draft Lottery right now and trying to figure it out — Dan Colucci (@coluccid2) May 5, 2025 Trying to figure out this NHL Draft Lottery: — theScore Bet (@theScoreBet) May 5, 2025 THIS MAKES NO SENSE!!Weirdest draft lottery in all of professional it up to the NHL to confuse its fan base even more. #NHLDraft — Jacob Pacheco (@JacobPacheco6) May 5, 2025 The NHL Draft lottery should have stayed behind closed doors. This is awful television. — Sam Ali (@SamAliSports) May 5, 2025 Me: trying to understand this NHL lottery format... — SHAAAAAAAAAARKS (@shaaaaaaaaaarks) May 5, 2025 Trying to figure out how the NHL draft lottery works — 105.9 The X (@1059thex) May 5, 2025 Turned on the NHL draft lottery and have no idea what's going on. — OBVIOUS SHIRTS® (@obvious_shirts) May 5, 2025 The NHL Draft Lottery: — Jake (@313Hockey) May 5, 2025 This is the WORST draft lottery format I have ever seen. I have watched & watched and have not learned a single flipping thing on how it works. @NHL what the damn hell is this 😭 — 𝕃𝔼𝔸𝔽𝕊 𝔽𝕆ℝ𝔼𝕍𝔼ℝ (@BlueBuds34) May 5, 2025 I'm not sure I've ever watched a dumber, more convoluted, over-dramatized production than the 10 minutes of the NHL draft lottery I just hey, the @NYIslanders won the top pick, so … — Ralph Vacchiano (@RalphVacchiano) May 5, 2025 NHL draft lottery is the dumbest, most complicated way to decide a draft order I've ever seen. — Rob Gallik (@CoachGallik) May 5, 2025 Me watching this NHL draft lottery: — Joseph Zita (@josephdzita) May 5, 2025 Me watching the #NHLDraftLottery — courtney⸆⸉ (@nyrswift) May 5, 2025 Me trying to understand the rules for the #NHLDraftLottery — MT-Yes (@emptyess512) May 5, 2025 This is painstakingly bad television. Do we really need to see 14 ping pong balls being dropped into the machine? #Isles #NHLDraftLottery — Gil Martin (@IceWarsNYRvsNYI) May 5, 2025 The NHL Draft Lottery is absurd. Get rid of it. #NHLDraft — Arthur J. Regner (@ArthurJRegner) May 5, 2025 They even lost a guy who loves math. A literal math nerd! As a math nerd, the #NHLDraftLottery was cool until they cut away from the last ball. Now I'm just skeptical of it all over again — Nick Gratton (@thenickgratton) May 5, 2025 Please, for the love of all that is good in hockey, just go back to the big cards next year. This . This article originally appeared on For The Win: The live 2025 NHL Draft Lottery was an absolutely confusing disaster
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Wink Martindale, Host of ‘Tic-Tac-Dough' and ‘Gambit', Dies at 91
Wink Martindale, a pioneer of game show frontmen and the host of 'Tic-Tac-Dough,' 'Gambit' and 'High Rollers,' died Tuesday. He was 91. The news was confirmed through his official Facebook page. In a post sharing an obituary for Martindale, the page wrote, 'It's with a very sad and heavy heart that we here at Wink Martindale Games have to report the passing of the legendary Wink Martindale. Wink was amazing, funny and talented. Truly a LEGEND! More to come soon.' More from Variety 'Tic Tac Dough' Revival, 'Beat the Bridge' Adaptation Among New Originals Set for Game Show Network Martindale spent 74 years in the radio and television business, starting his career at 17 as a DJ before making a name for himself at Memphis-based station WHBQ. Famosuly, in 1954, DJ Dewey Phillips aired Elvis Presley's debut record, 'That's All Right' for the first time. Upon hearing the track, Martindale called Presley's mother to see if he could come to his station for a chat. The conversation is thought to be instrumental in launching the career of a young Presley. Martindale himself released a number of successful records, including the spoken-word track 'Deck of Cards,' which peaked at seventh on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and sold more than one million copies. In the early 60s, Martindale moved to Los Angeles and became a host for KHJ. He would go on to work for several stations in the greater L.A. area, including KRLA, KFBW, KGIL-AM and KMPC. In 1964, he landed his first gig as a game show host on 'What's This Song?' He would later move on to shows like 'Gambit,' 'Words and Music' and 'Tic-Tac-Dough.' His other hosting credits include 'The Last Word,' 'The Great Getaway Game,' 'Trivial Pursuit,' 'Headline Chasers' and more. Best of Variety New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week What's Coming to Disney+ in April 2025 The Best Celebrity Memoirs to Read This Year: From Chelsea Handler to Anthony Hopkins
CBS News
16-04-2025
- Entertainment
- CBS News
Wink Martindale, host of game shows "Tic-Tac-Dough" and "High Rollers," dies at 91
Game show host Wink Martindale, known for "Tic-Tac-Dough," "High Rollers" and "Gambit," has died, according to his official Facebook page. He was 91. "Wink was amazing, funny and talented," the post on his Facebook page reads. "Truly a LEGEND!" The host, born Winston Martindale, had a 74-year career, according to Nashville Publicity Group, which also confirmed Martindale's death. A cause of death was not given. "The entire Game Show Network family mourns the loss of Wink Martindale, the host of the original "Tic-Tac-Dough" and a true legend of television game shows," the Game Show Network posted on social media. "His charm and presence lit up the screen for generations of viewers and he will never be forgotten." Martindale's professional career began when he was just 17, according to his Hollywood Walk of Fame biography. The Jackson, Tennessee, man worked as a disc jockey for several years and even had his rendition of the spoken-word song "Deck Of Cards" chart on the Billboard Hot 100 . His television career began at WHBQ-TV as the host of "Mars Patrol," a science-fiction program for kids, according to the Hollywood Walk of Fame, which Martindale earned a star on in 2006. While at WHBQ-TV, Martindale began hosting "Teenage Dance Party," where he was joined by Elvis Presley. The two were long-time friends ; Presley dated Martindale's wife, Sandy, before they married. In 1964, Martindale landed a job hosting NBC's " What's This Song ." Other hosting credits include "Words and Music," "Can You Stop This" and "Headline Chasers." He hosted more than a dozen game shows, according to his 2000 autobiography. He hosted "Tic-Tac-Dough" on CBS from 1978 until 1985, according to IMDB. Martindale hosted 185 episodes of NBC's "High Rollers" between 1987 and 1988. His show "Gambit," based on blackjack, was produced by Heatter-Quigley Productions. "I remember that they auditioned practically every possible host. It came down to Dick Clark and me, and this is one time I beat Dick Clark," Martindale told the Television Academy Foundation in 2018. He also told the Television Academy Foundation that he liked getting to meet so many different people while working on game shows. "I enjoy finding out what makes people tick," he told the Television Academy Foundation . "As you play a game, you see why one person is more successful than another. But I just love working with people, and I love talking." In recent years, Martindale made appearances on such programs as "Most Outrageous Game Show Moments," "The Chase" and "The Bold and the Beautiful," according to his publicist. He also appeared in commercials for Orbitz and KFC. Martindale is survived by his wife, his daughters and his sister.
New York Times
27-01-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Trump Explodes Out of the Gate
Bret Stephens: Gail, Donald Trump has been back in office for a week though it seems like a decade. Do you feel (a) outraged and ready to do battle; (b) disoriented and listless; (c) eager to read, finally, all 12 volumes of Anthony Powell's 'A Dance to the Music of Time'? Gail Collins: Bret, my normal ritual when I've got a little bit of down time is to just call up a TV news channel to catch up on what's going on. Since the election, I've had so much trouble dealing with reality I call up the Game Show Network and listen to ordinary Americans trying to guess the name of the governor of Utah or which breeds of dog have no tail. Bret: Who is Spencer Cox? And what is the English bulldog? Gail: Bravo. You've put your finger on the challenge of American citizenship in 2025: Don't let Donald Trump push you into despair. Bret: He isn't. Dirty little secret, Gail: I'm feeling mostly OK, even with Pete Hegseth at the Pentagon and threats of stupid trade wars with our allies. Trump may be a very blunt instrument, but we're a country in need of disruption. The important conversation we should have now is how to disrupt wisely, not how to defend norms for norms' sake in the face of Trump's norm bending. Gail: Bret, if we'd elected some virtuous Republican like — oh, I don't know, it's your job to pick one — we would be talking about finding ways to improve education, health care, support for the needy that actually involved making services more efficient. But the folks we're watching here want to slash taxes, creating huge deficits that would, by design, increase pressure to slash services. Bret: Slash taxes? Slash services? Gail, I think you're describing me. Federal spending was just north of $4 trillion eight years ago, when I joined the Times. Now it's over $7 trillion. That's a 75 percent increase. Where does all that money go? Is all of it being well-spent? Do agencies that expect their budgets to grow year-in, year-out no matter how they perform have any incentive to manage costs or improve performance? Does anyone with a government job ever get laid off, as they do in the private sector, simply because a department has grown too bloated? Have people's needs really increased by that much in a few years — especially if the Biden economy was as terrific as Joe Biden claimed it was? Or is this just out-of-control spending and an establishment that refuses to apply the reins? Gail: Ah, Bret, we're back to our oldest argument. The budget hikes are partly the effect of the Covid pandemic, and we can hope that'll fall off — if the economy continues to recover the way it did under Biden. People's needs are rising because the population is aging. A responsible administration would be obsessed with finding ways to pay for the inevitable increasing need for services. Bret: I was in California over the weekend, where residents pay the highest state income taxes in the country and get mediocre services at best. Americans would rally to a serious Democrat — think of Gavin Newsom and then conjure the exact opposite — who acknowledges that incompetent government and exorbitant taxes are serious problems while also insisting there's a better way to tackle it than the blow-it-all-up approach that Trump seems to want to adopt. Speaking of which, any thoughts on Trump's orders ending D.E.I. programming in the federal government? Gail: The idea that government agencies should try to stress Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in hiring decisions was heir to the historic fight for desegregation in civil service. Reformers argued that Americans of all races tended to do well if they came from middle-class families with ties to their communities, and that the next step should be programs to open up educational and employment opportunities for everybody else. Seems very appropriate that the administration pushing back is one that tends to regard political loyalty as the most important criteria for almost any job. Bret: The central problem with D.E.I. is neither diversity nor inclusion. It's the word 'equity,' which in theory ought to mean simple fairness but in practice meant pervasive racial and gender gerrymandering based almost exclusively — and unconstitutionally — on considerations of group identity rather than individual qualifications. It also led to the creation of D.E.I. bureaucracies in thousands of institutions, from universities to corporations, whose employees too often acted as Soviet-style political commissars, enforcing all kinds of intrusive orthodoxies that tried to dictate not only how other employees or students were supposed to act, but also how they were supposed to think and speak. Anyone who has sat through a D.E.I. training seminar — by turns saccharine and scolding, treacly and tendentious — knows what I mean. It just turned people off, including a lot of well-meaning people who are all for inclusivity as a value. Trump getting rid of it is the best thing he's done in office so far, as far as I'm concerned. What would you say is the worst? Gail: So many options. But for something whose awfulness transcends regular partisan politics, I'd have to go for pardoning the Jan. 6 rioters, some of who assaulted police officers and brought guns into the Capitol. You? Bret: You're right, the list is so long. The Jan. 6 pardons were awful. So was the pardon of Ross Ulbricht, founder of an online drug market. Withdrawing Secret Service protections for Mike Pompeo and John Bolton and other former members of his administration is disgraceful and will haunt him if Iran makes good on its efforts to kill them. The sale of Trump crypto tokens is tawdry and unethical at best, though very much on brand for the purveyor of Trump Steaks. Gail: Love that one … Bret: The effort to revoke birthright citizenship and overturn 160 years of jurisprudence on the 14th Amendment is abominable — though I was glad to see a Reagan-appointed federal judge immediately denounce the move as 'blatantly unconstitutional' and temporarily block it. Looking forward to the Supreme Court following the judge's lead, 9-0. Gail: Yes! Yes! Bret: We should not have Hegseth as defense secretary; in fact, we should never have a defense secretary who can't get a single member of the opposing party to vote for him. And the idea that Elon Musk has an office in the White House when he has billions of dollars of business before the federal government is appalling. I'm probably forgetting something but, yeah, there's a lot not to like. And yet …. Gail: Oh no, don't 'and yet' me. Bret: Two things about that 'and yet…': First, I don't think everything Trump has done is terrible by any stretch. As I said, I'm happy to see D.E.I. done for in government. I'm glad he'll do more to support domestic energy production. (Among other good effects, it hurts Vladimir Putin.) I think Marco Rubio is going to be an effective secretary of state. I'll cheer if the Trump administration sanctions the kangaroo court known as the I.C.C. If the Department of Government Efficiency gets rid of failing government agencies, so much the better. And if Trump can ensure American dominance of the artificial intelligence industry — and the energy we need to supply it — great. I want to be open to the possibility of good things. Gail: We're gonna be fighting about the energy thing forever, but I continue to be sure that future generations, trapped in an overheated, air-polluted, water-short world, will look back with horror on the time an American president said he didn't believe in global warming and ginned up oil drilling. I suspect you have a second … Bret: Second, I just don't think all the po-faced disapproval of Trump achieves anything. Like it or not, you and I and the rest of America are locked into this movie theater for the next four years. Pass the popcorn. Gail: We may be stuck with him, but we've got to keep fighting the good fight. Have to admit I've started just going off to movies on my own, in the middle of the afternoon, to avoid Trump-think. Watching the Bob Dylan biopic was a great distraction from the cabinet nominees. Seen anything good lately? Yes, I'm trying to change the subject. Bret: On the flight to California I made myself watch 'Reagan,' a biopic starring Dennis Quaid as the 40th president. The film was so cringingly conceived, so badly acted, so imbecilically scripted and so moronically executed that it briefly turned me, a Reagan fan, into a communist. But I am keen to see the Dylan biopic, along with 'The Brutalist,' which I hear is terrific. And speaking of terrific, Gail, be sure to read Andy Webster's obituary for Jules Feiffer, the great Village Voice cartoonist who died earlier this month at 95. I can't say I was always in tune with Feiffer's politics, but I always loved his honesty, his originality, his artfulness and playfulness. He captured my kind of people: smart, neurotic, concerned, confused, unmistakably Jewish New Yorkers. And he never quit. When he was asked last year after the publication of a graphic novel for middle-schoolers whether he had a new project, he replied: 'What a foolish question. Of course.' Gail: Oh Bret, I have to tell you — when I was named Opinion editor back in the day, Feiffer sent me a drawing of a very happy Feifferesque ballerina with the title 'A Dance to Gail.' Not sure we had ever even met in person, but that picture has been on my wall ever since. Thanks so much for letting me finish with 'A Tribute to Jules.'
