Devils sign Anthony Mantha

    The New Jersey Devils wanted a top-six forward during the offseason, and after the Utah Mammoth matched the Devils' offer sheet to Barrett Hayden, New Jersey's shopping for that player continued.

The Devils found their new addition in right wing Anthony Mantha, who signed a two-year, $ 9.5 million contract to move to New Jersey.

The soon to be 32 year old Mantha is coming off the best season of his career, scoring 33 goals with 31 assists (both career-highs) with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Devils will be the sixth team for Mantha (Detroit, Washington, Las Vegas, Calgary, and Pittsburgh) after a career that has been solid but somewhat disappointing for a player with his size (6'5 240 pounds) and skills.

A first-round pick by Detroit in 2013, Mantha looked to be a potential star when he notched 48 points in back-to-back seasons with the Red Wings, but until his one season with Pittsburgh, Mantha never lived up to his potential.

Mantha has good hands, is a strong skater, and plays with more finesse than a player of his size should; he is likely to be on the first or second line next season.

If Mantha can match his production with the Penguins, the Devils may have found exactly the player that they needed on the wing, but it's fair to question if Mantha isn't coming in at his highest value after a career season.

I'm tentatively optimistic with this signing, but it could go either way.

Cleaning out the Inbox: Non-Sports Edition

    I continue catching up with tributes to those who have recently left us with this edition from the non-sports world.

Goodbye to Anthony Head at the age of 72. 

Head was famous for his acting and singing in the United Kingdom, but his two most memorable roles for me were his recent role as West Ham owner "Rupert Mannion" in the Apple series "Ted Lasso", and of course as "Rupert Giles", the "watcher" in "Buffy The Vampire Slayer".

He also had many roles in voice work, including narrating documentaries and voice work for audiobooks, video games, and animation.

Goodbye to Charles Cioffi at the age of 90.

The long-time character actor was known as the police lieutenant in the 1971 film "Shaft" and appeared in more television series and movies than I can note.

Cioffi also had supporting roles in two of my favorite 80s films as Tom Cruise's father in "All the Right Moves" and as the lead villain (George Grove) in "Remo Williams".

Goodbye to Donald Gibb at the age of  71.

The hulking Gibb was usually cast in roles that made effective use of his size, such as bouncers, bikers, and athletes.

Gibb's most recognized role was as "Ogre" in the Revenge of the Nerds movie series, but he also played linebacker "Dr.Death for all seven seasons of the HBO series "First and Ten".

Goodbye to Joe Negri at the age of 99.

A long-time music teacher at various universities in the Pittsburgh area, Negri's claim to fame was in his recurring role in Mister Rogers ' Neighborhood as "Handyman Negri" in the program's "Land of Make-Believe".

Negri appeared on the program first in 1968 and was a regular until the show's final episode in 2000.

Goodbye to Claudine Longet at the age of 84.

Longet was a singer and actress who appeared on many network television shows in the sixties and seventies, and was a singer who had two top forty hits.

Longet was married to singer and television host Andy Williams before a 1970 divorce and a controversial role in the death of Olympic skier Spider Sabich in 1976.

Longet was convicted of negligent homicide but would only serve thirty days and pay a small fine. 

Cleaning out the Inbox

      We clean out the inbox with some interesting articles from around the world.

We begin with the Athletic's piece on former ABA players who are still trying to receive some pension payments from the NBA, fifty years after the NBA absorbed four ABA franchises.

The current list of twenty-three former ABA players who don't qualify for the "recognition payments" that ABA players agreed to four years ago includes Artis Gilmore, Julius Erving, Rick Barry, and Dan Issel, and they won't get the extra payments because the NBA says they already receive an NBA pension.

The four players I mentioned likely don't need the money, but I'd bet some of the others could certainly use the supplemental help.

The Smithsonian writes of an attempt to help the Eastern Box Turtle by radio telemetry.

The strategy is to track, capture, and release turtles to see how far they travel, and what are some of the issues they face in the wild, to try to figure out a strategy to stop the population decline.

I remember as a child seeing box turtles all the time, but I haven't seen one in the wild for years.

My favorite potato chips in the world used to be Jones Potato Chips, located in Mansfield, Ohio, but a 2017 regulation change forced the company to stop using partially hydrogenated oil, and it changed the flavor.

When I visited Ohio after the change, the chip that catered to Jones's fans was Ballreich's, but in recent years, Ballreich's disappeared from the shelves when I visited and was replaced by Conn's from Zanesville, Ohio, which I thought was even closer to the old Jones flavor.

I buy plenty of Conn's to bring home (Original Wavy for the Boss, Salt and Vinegar for me) on trips, but a Facebook post about an article from the Richland Source grabbed my interest.

Commenters on the article said the old taste was back with Jones (as referenced in the article), and I'm anxious to buy some to see if the former champion has a chance of reclaiming their crown as the best chip in the world!

Our next note comes from the Athletic, which discusses the future of the Seattle Kraken as the NBA expands to the Emerald City in the coming years.

The Kraken have missed the playoffs in four of their five seasons and haven't managed a foothold as an organization, as the Las Vegas Golden Knights have done in their existence.

Seattle is a basketball city first, and the Kraken's best chance was to grab success before the NBA returned.

Boxing Challenge: Mason stops Bell in final round

    On a night that saw boxing's return to cable television on TNT, Abdullah Mason saved a less-than-exciting show and his WBO lightweight title with a twelfth-round stoppage of Albert Bell in Cleveland.

Mason gave away the first half of the fight to Bell, who fought somewhat cautiously but effectively in picking Mason apart from the outside, but Mason began to work the body of Bell, and it was Mason dominating the second half of the fight.

Mason led on the three official scorecards entering the final round, but I had the fading Bell ahead by one point, with his early lead being whittled to a point.

Mason would drop Bell twice in the first forty seconds, with the referee ending the fight without a count after knockdown number two.

The stoppage was thought to some to have been a little early, but I don't think Bell had the legs to survive for another two and a half minutes anyway.

Mason has become a can't-miss champion with his explosive punching power, somewhat questionable chin, and ability to rally from behind.

Top Rank still shouldn't be in a hurry to match him against the elite in the division, but I think they have a coming star in Abdullah Mason.

In the co-feature, touted Bruce "Shu Shu" Carrington made his first defense of the WBC featherweight title a successful one with a unanimous decision over Rene Palacios, but didn't dazzle in the victory.

In fact, the most exciting part of a dull twelve rounds was when Palacios buzzed Carrington in the eighth round, with Carrington hitting the floor after what was ruled a punch to the back of the head.

Carrington was the easy victor 118-110, 117-111 (my score), and 116-112, but he may have caused more questions than answers.

Boxing Challenge:

TRS: 70 Pts (3)

Ramon Malpica: 58 Pts (4)
Vince Samano: 44 Pts (0)

Devils sign David Rittich

      When the New Jersey Devils traded Jacob Markstrom to the Florida Panthers, it was assumed that the Devils would be adding someone to the goalie group, and they did just that when they signed veteran David Rittsch to a one-year contract valued at one million.

The Devils will be the seventh team in the soon-to-be thirty-four-year-old Rittsch's career, and he's generally been the second or third goalie on the roster, as he is expected to be in New Jersey.

Rittsch started last season well with the New York Islanders, but faded as the season progressed.

The fast start helped Rittsch's statistics, finishing with a record of 14-10-3 with two shutouts in thirty games.

Rittsch finished with a goals allowed average of 2.76 and a save percentage of .894 for the 2025-26 season.

Rittsch joins veteran Jake Allen and prospect Nico Daws in the Devils goalie room, and honestly, I'm not confident that is enough to get it done between the pipes.

If I'm New Jersey, I'm not giving up on adding to this position because I think it needs it.

Boxing Challenge

   Boxing debuts on TNT from Cleveland on July fourth with young powerhouse Abdullah Mason defending the WBO lightweight title against fellow Ohioan Albert Bell.

Bell replaced former IBF junior lightweight champion Joe Cordina, when Cordina wasn't allowed to enter the country due to a previous criminal conviction.

Mason is entering this fight off a tremendous victory in a war over Great Britain's Sam Noakes last November.

Bell is unbeaten but is stepping up in quality competition, and in his twenty-eight wins, he has stopped only nine opponents.

I think Bell will win a few rounds and show his skill, but eventually Mason's power will wear Bell down and stop him in the late rounds.

Bruce "Shu Shu" Carrington will also be making the first defense of his title, the WBC featherweight champion, against unbeaten Rene' Palacios.

Carrington stopped Carlos Castro in nine rounds in January to win the vacant title.

The unbeaten Palacios won his biggest fight last time out with a split decision win over Suliaman Segawa.

Boxing Challenge

WBO Lightweight Title. 12 Rds 

Abdullah Mason vs Albert Bell

Ramon Malpica; Mason KO 8
TRS: Mason KO 10
Vince Samano: Bell Split Decision

WBC Featherweight Title. 12 Rds

Bruce Carrington vs Rene' Palacios

R.L: Carrington Unanimous Decision
TRS: Carrington KO 8
V.S Palacios Split Decision

Cleaning out the Inbox: Passings

     We've fallen behind on our tributes due to personal issues, so I'm working on another post to catch up.

Goodbye to Bob Horner at the age of 68.

The power-hitting infielder was the first overall pick in the 1978 draft by the Atlanta Braves from Arizona State and was moved directly to the majors without playing in the minors.

Horner not only avoided struggling, but he was also named National League Rookie of the Year, hitting twenty-three homers in eighty-nine games.

Horner would hit 218 homers in nine years with the Braves before a contract dispute saw Horner sign with the Yakult Swallows for one season before returning with the St.Louis Cardinals. Still, shoulder injuries held him to only sixty games in the final year of his career.

Goodbye to Dave McGinnis at the age of 74.

McGinnis was a long-time assistant coach before taking the head job with the Arizona Cardinals midway through the 2000 season.

Despite an overall record of 17-40, McGinnis was popular with players and fans with his exuberance and energy. McGinnis was fired following a 4-12 season in 2003.

McGinnis would be an assistant with the Titans and Rams from 2004-2016 before moving into the color analyst position on the Titans radio network.

Goodbye to Charle Young at the age of 75.

Young made the Pro Bowl in his first three seasons after the Eagles took him in the first round of the 1973 draft from USC, and was named either first or second team All-Pro in those years.

Young's receptions were never the same after the Eagles traded him to the Rams before the 1977 season for Ron Jaworski, but he was a solid player for the Rams, 49ers, and Seahawks in the final ten seasons of his career, winning a Super Bowl with the 1981 49ers.

Goodbye to Tony Davis at the age of 73.

Davis left Nebraska in 1976 as the school's all-time leading rusher and in 1973 became the first 1,000-yard rusher under Tom Osborne.

Davis was taken by the Bengals in round four of the 1976 draft and spent three seasons with the Bengals, three with the Buccaneers, and one with the USFL's Boston Breakers.