Welcome back to the Spotlight! You may recall from a few weeks ago that I bemoaned the playoff exit of the New York Knicks. This week, I am doing the same after the Knicks’ roommates, the New York Rangers met a similar fate. You might think that the silver lining is that less time in front of the TV watching 2 of my favorite teams will get me to spend more time outside to enjoy the weather. And ordinarily you’d be right. However, my time in the Sun will be short-lived (and my medicine cabinet full of vitamin D supplements), as I just recently read that an invasive species of hand-sized “flying” spiders known as “Joro Spiders” will be descending on New York this Summer. You truly can’t make this stuff up anymore.  Not a great stretch for the Empire State. The good news for those (like me) whose skin crawls at the very thought of these critters, a nice and sheltered air-conditioned room provides the perfect ambience for reading the Spotlight without threat of interruption of parachuting arachnids. If you do happen to see me out, it will be at Yankee Stadium with one of those umbrella hats, wearing a firm pair of steel-toe boots. For now, you can find me on the Web (lest I be found in a web).

• Women’s shapewear brand SPANX teams up with newcomer (not to be confused with Newcomber) League One Volleyball (or LOVB) in an apparel sponsorship deal that marks SPANX’s first sports marketing  endeavor. The brand is sure to be tested as its shapewear may be no match for volleyball’s bumps.
• New Jersey became the first state to legalize wagering on “Car-Jitsu,” a sport in which people fight each other in a sedan.  Little did I know, growing up the youngest of three brothers, on long car trips, I was training to be a prize fighter and/or punching bag.
• Battle rap competition series Verzuz, gets exclusive distribution through X (formerly known as “Twitter”) – which is great news for those hoping that the social media platform’s insults be by way of poetry rather than prose.