OUR MONTHLY DEATH-IN-WRESTLING FEATURE: Legendary WWF wrestler and manager Fred Blassie, one of the most hated (yet beloved) villains in the history of sports entertainment, passed away earlier today at the age of 85.

(Yes, someone involved in wrestling lived past his forties. It happens.)

Blassie had been hospitalized for a few weeks with kidney and heart problems, and his condition had been grave for the past week.

If nothing else, Blassie will be remembered as the man who coined the insult "pencil-necked geek". He also co-starred with Andy Kaufmann in the 1981 film My Breakfast With Blassie, which you can read more about here.

You can learn even more about Classy Freddie Blassie -- The Hollywood Fashion Plate -- via this link. Or this one. Rest in peace.

SERIOUSLY THE NICEST THING ANYONE HAS SAID IN A LONG TIME: From a blog simply titled "My Ramblings":

I don't know why I think this is so amazing. That Adam Bonin (the "guy" that I mentioned above and yesterday) could be married to Jennifer Weiner. It's like I just found out that two of my best friends are married to each other and I didn't even know it. I was so excited to find out that two people who entrance me with their writings are actually married to each other! How fitting! And how bizarre that I should even care, eh?

More here. Wow. Thanks.

[blushes]

THE CURSE: Twenty years ago Saturday, the Philadelphia 76ers won the NBA championship, and as the Daily News' Rich Hoffman reviews, no Philadelphia team has won a major professional title since.

As I wrote back in January, there is no better explanation than the Curse of William Penn.

RES IPSA LOQUITOR: From Saturday's Washington Post:

The last name of National Spelling Bee winner Sai R. Gunturi was misspelled in a May 30 KidsPost article and on the front-page promo and caption.

I'M CURIOUS ABOUT THAT MYSELF: I enjoyed Showtime's new narcissistic miniseries Out of Order last night. Dealt with mental illness in a realistic way, and, in general, felt true despite all the showy and self-conscious cinematic language used to depict these characters' emotional reality.

That said, what I really can't get over is how much Eric Stoltz, our stoner bud from Fast Times at Ridgemont High, is starting to look like Kenneth Branagh. Take a look:

WOLF IN HEAT: Phillies pitcher Randy Wolf may be the subject of a future Vows column, but he needs your help. From the New York Post:

"There was just something in the way we looked at each other," he said in a telephone interview from Montreal, where the team is playing a weekend series against the Expos.

"I was smitten. Even though we spoke for maybe 30 seconds, I could tell she had a great personality and was really cool. She just caught my eye."

Their paths crossed on the No. 7 subway train platform at Grand Central Station about 9:15 a.m. as the lefty hurler and a few teammates headed to Shea Stadium for an afternoon game against the Mets.

"She appeared lost so I asked her if she was OK," Wolf recalled.

"She asked me which train goes to Times Square, and I told her it's the No. 7."

Lovestruck by the brown-haired, brown-eyed twenty-something beauty, Wolf missed the next Queens-bound train.

So the ballplayer turned around, and saw the confused woman hesitating to get on a westbound train.

"She decided not to get on the train, so I walked up to her and asked, 'Are you going to be OK? I could stay here,' " said Wolf.

"And she said, 'No, you could take the train.' "

So the 6-foot, 198-pound California native caught the next Queens train - before he even had a chance to get the woman's name.

The pitcher, whose record this season is 5-2 with an ERA of 3.13, said he'd love to play the dating game with the woman, who he said was wearing brown suede bell bottoms and a black coat.

"I wish we had more than 30 seconds on a busy subway platform," said Wolf.

"I've been thinking about her a lot. You never know what could happen. She just had this innocence. She really put me at ease. I would just like to see where it could lead."

Should this unknown passenger wish to contact Wolf, a 6-0, 198-pound left-hander whose hobbies include music, movies and a Southern California lifestyle, she has been directed to contact the Phillies public relations department at pubrel@phillies.com.

People all over the world . . . join hands . . .

THE TIMES LETS US DOWN: Here's one of the wedding announcements from today's Sunday Styles section:

Pamela Dawn Baker and Henry G. Miller, lawyers, are to be married today at the 200 Fifth Club in Manhattan. Judge Albert M. Rosenblatt of the New York Court of Appeals will officiate.

The bride, 32, is known as Dawn. She is an assistant corporation counsel for the City of New York. She graduated from the University of South Carolina, from which she also received a law degree. Her father, Dr. Edwin N. Rowley of Kingsville, Tex., is the chairman of the communications department at Texas A&M University there. Her mother, Pamela McDaniel, lives in Bishopville, S.C. The bride is the stepdaughter of Edward Baker of Columbia, S.C., and uses his surname.

The bridegroom, 72, is a partner in Clark, Gagliardi & Miller, a law firm in White Plains. He is on the board of Pace University. He received undergraduate and law degrees from St. John's University in Queens. His parents, the late Anne and Henry A. Miller, lived in Brooklyn. His father was an office manager at the New York Life Insurance Company in Manhattan.

The bridegroom was a widower.

Wait -- she's 32, he's 72 and you're not going to tell us how they met? What they see in each other? What her parents think? Whether any life insurance policies have been taken out recently?

So, in the absence of good Times reporting, we go to old reliable, WeddingChannel.com, where we learn:

--They met a Westchester County Bar Association function;

--He proposed over a romantic dinner at La Caravelle; and

--They've registered at Bloomingdales, Macy's, Williams-Sonoma, Neiman Marcus, Pottery Barn, Restoration Hardware and Fortunoff, showing a particular overlapping, redundant fondness for Bernadaud Louvre china and crystal.

On a happier note, a Reader's Note in today's section indicates that beginning next week, Lois Smith Brady will have a weekly column tracking the lives of couples whose marriages were highlighted in the Vows column. If it's as good as this week's quintuple update, we're psyched.