DC ExtraTime: Babies and Remembrance

BY DC CUEVA                     

■ @DC408Dxtr  @ TW / IG / YT

 THE MIZ, MARYSE & MONROE 

A week from now, a man who's had one of the most successful careers after starting off on The Real World will be all over our MTV screens. Mike "The Miz" Mizanin from RW Back to New York, four Challenge seasons and two-time champion of the fifth major pro sport will host installment #2 of The Challenge: Champs vs. Stars as well as next week's reunion for The Challenge Vendettas... all as he also films a reality show at the same time as all of this. But before he proceeds into taking on a leading role of this spring cycle of the MTV schedule, there is the biggest news to occur in a life that's seen him become WWE Champion long after his MTV days have ended. And all of this takes place during the week of the biggest week in pro wrestling -- WrestleMania, and him presently holding the Intercontinental Championship belt.

   Last fall, the news was revealed on Monday Night Raw that he and his wife, fellow wrestler and star of E!'s Total Divas Maryse, revealed that they are expecting their first child, and at a birthday party that also doubled as the gender reveal event, it was announced in a cake that they would be having a baby girl. And he captioned on Instagram, "The #ItBaby is a GIRL!!!!! As soon as I saw pink I saw red for any guy wanting to take her out. Lol. If this little girl gets half the brains, beauty, confidence, and strength of her mother @marysemizanin then she’s gonna grow up to be a powerful woman. Sorry Maryse but you just became the second most important woman in my life. I love you. ❤️"

IG @MikeTheMiz

The couple brought the social media crowd into their pink-themed baby shower on Valentine's Day which, if you saw the pics and video on their Instagrams resembled those lavish parties we see on My Super Sweet 16. their family, friends, Avril Lavigne, Ryan Cabrera, fellow Total Divas star Rose Mendes and WWE star Dolph Zigler all got to do all the usual things to fete the coming new addition to the Mazanin family... that includes chugging. And during the last month of this 9-month journey to parenthood, Maryse kept a blog diary for People Magazine during the pregnancy process to provide a firsthand view of the always excruciating last few weeks before water is broken and a new era begins.
   The process of the last month of the third trimester is always the toughest part of any pregnancy, and those women who read Maryse's diary know exactly what it feels like -- and there's no need to explain that. But in addition, the family has had to juggle filming a reality docu-series, Mr. and Mrs., for WWE rights-holder USA Network, with the process of moving from Los Angeles to making the 1,500-mile, 2-day drive along I-10 to Austin, TX -- where they'll have good company with other MTV parents: Are You The One royal couple Amber & Ethan, and Madison of Real World 30.
   And one week ago at 20 minutes to midnight on Tuesday, March 27, Monroe Sky Mizanin was welcomed by mommy and daddy to everyone and was announced to the world just afterwards. The caption of a photo of them clasping around the hand of their newborn read, "Of course our little girl arrived early. Welcome to the world Monroe Sky Mizanin 3/27/18 11:40pm."
   And a further Insta photo from The Miz, which has been posted above, offered another moment of he & Maryse's first day as new parents, which he captioned: "Thank you to all of our friends, family and fans for the continued love and support. We love you. Welcome to the world, Monroe Sky. We can’t wait to be your guides through life. You will be one spoiled baby. ❤️"  Our congrats go out to Mike and Maryse and look forward to him taking over Challenge Tuesdays starting next week.

Of course our little girl arrived early. Welcome to the world Monroe Sky Mizanin 3/27/18 11:40pm

A post shared by Mike "The Miz" Mizanin (@mikethemiz) on Mar 28, 2018 at 3:02pm PDT

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 BASEBALL DAD REMEMBERED 

IG @MTV_Devin

For those who have watched the Trifecta over the years, you have seen a number of life changing moments occur not on social media as it is usually the case here, but with cameras rolling and with us watching. But there is no painful experience than losing a parent or loved one unexpectedly, and those who watched Danny on Real World Austin and Jay on RW Ex-Plosion go through this while being many miles away from home while filming, then those are the two most vivid examples of that.
   Just last week came another one of those: the last time we saw Devin was of him falling just short a few weeks ago on Vendettas, just after his biggest moment yet of taking on Johnny Bananas in an elimination, taking down the six-time champion and fulfilling his promise to take down his biggest enemy and making the final field in the Czech Republic as wide open as it is right now. He will be part of the ten players who will comprise the Champs side when Champs vs. Stars returns in two weeks, but this past week came news from the opposite side of the emotional spectrum.
   Tim Molaghan, Devin's father and a respected youth sports coach in Northampton, MA where he and his son call home, died unexpectedly last week in his late 60s as reported by the Daily Hampshire Gazette. Molaghan translated a love and passion for baseball into coaching it for 25 summers up until last year and was love by parents, kids and those who played for him, including up and coming minor leaguer Erik Ostberg who last year was drafted into the Tampa Bay Rays farm system.
   Last week, Devin posted a eulogy for his dad on Instagram @MTV_Devin:

"As I'm sure many of you know we lost my dad last week unexpectedly. I want to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart who reached out, attended the celebration of life or even thought of my family and I during this hard time. I want you all to know we are feeling the love big time and the support has truly made a world of difference. In honor of my dads impact on Northampton's youth baseball leagues our family has started the Tim Molaghan Youth Baseball Foundation. You have all done more then enough but for anyone who would like to donate I'll leave the link here as well as in my bio. Thank you in advance to anyone that donates and a huge thank you again to everyone that's taken the time to read this❤️. he was a great man and will be missed. Love you dad."

As those who are in the know and been following the rumor mill, Devin is reportedly part of the cast of The Challenge: Final Reckoning which has been filming the past month, and if that's the case at some point he will have to withdraw from the competition, just as it was when Naomi, Thomas and CT did in previous seasons when health matters with family back home led them to voluntarily take their leave with nothing but everyone's support, well-wishes and, in this case, condolences. We will, obviously, see this play out when this airs over the summer.
   As always, our thoughts are with him during this tough time, and he and his family have asked that in lieu of flowers, that donations be made to a youth baseball foundation named in honor of his late dad, located at this link.

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Last night saw the final of The Challenge Vendettas take place in the Czech Republic as eight players who both deserved to be here and those just lucky to get here took a swipe at six figures in the most medieval of settings. DCBLOG will have that all covered coming up this weekend as part of a packed several days of posts, including our look ahead at Champs vs. Stars and Ex on the Beach -- both shows for which will debut in two weeks within two nights of one another. And info on how you can get involved on our upcoming Debrief discussion is located in our last post.
   Tomorrow sees the debut of Jersey Shore: Family Vacation and DCNOW will bring you live posts of that on @DC408DxNow... and to get you in the mood for that trip to Miami, check out our ExtraTime looks at two instances where the Jersey Shore cast have met those from Real World: first, original roommate Angelina and her replacement Deena meeting the brother of Season 30's Bruno, and Pauly D. and Ronnie hanging out with Kailah, her man Mikey P., and Kevin Hart. Enjoy tomorrow's premiere, and talk to you here this weekend.

- I AM DC