Black Widow
05-03-2008, 01:31 PM
Congratulations to the WWE’s Ron Simmons, the first African American recognized as a World Champion by a major wrestling organization, for being inducted into the class of 2008 College Football Hall of Fame. This is a huge honor for Ron, who was a three time All American nose guard for Florida State University in the early 80s.FSU made a huge coup when they recruited and signed the Warner Robins, Georgia native to come to Tallahassee instead of going to the University of Georgia after being named one of the top high school players in America his senior year in high school. Oklahoma playedFSU twice in the Orange Bowl during Ron’s tenure there and both times, as best as I recall, Ron was pitted against another future pro wrestler, Steve "Dr. Death" Williams, who played offensive guard for OU. My friend, former OU and Dallas Cowboy coach BarrySwitzer, still vividly remembers game planning around Simmons, whose presence at nose guard demanded that Ron be double teamed on most plays.
Former NWA World Champion, Bronko Nagurski from Minnesota who starred in the early days of the NFL, is also in the College Football Hall of Fame, class of 1951, as is another Golden Gopher, LeoNomellini, class of 1977, who wrestled in the off season a great deal while playing for the NFL San Francisco Giants.
Speaking of football and wrestling, two of my favorite topics, it comes as no surprise that Ohio State Middle Linebacker, James Laurinaitis, is already looked at as a top ten draft pick in the 2009 draft. James’ legacy in Columbus is going to be a lifetime memory for James, his family, including his dad Road Warrior Animal, and the great fans of the Buckeye football program. I had the chance to visit with James at WM24 in Orlando and he told me that one of the biggest factors in him coming back toOSU instead of taking the millions of dollars that he could have been paid by the NFL by coming out of college early. In a nutshell, James wanted the opportunity to walk onto the football field at the "Horseshoe" in Columbus with his Mom and Dad on the annual "Parent’s Day". Classy young man for sure and one that will likely star in the NFL for year’s to come, if he can avoid injuries. Keep an eye on #33 for the Ohio State Buckeyes this fall because as his "Uncle" Hawk used to say, "Oh, what a Rush!"
Continuing on a non wrestling sports theme, check out Costas Now! on HBO where they discuss sports in the media, sports talk, the ‘net, etc. It is an interesting show and I am not a huge Costas fan, but he did a really superb job steering his ship on the live version of the broadcast. Nonetheless, Joe Buck looked a little "unique" with his hair bleacheda la some ‘rasslers . Come to think of it, Joe Buck would most likely have made a heck of a wrestling manager, after watching Wrestling from the Chase all those years growing up in St. Louis and with his natural gift of gab he inherited from his HOF father the late, great Jack Buck, one of my personal, broadcasting role models. Plus, keep a close eye on a snippet of old, vintage wrestling footage used on one of their segments.
If you have the time and inclination, check out Greg Oliver’s interview with yours truly at http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/home.htmlon their Slam Wrestling site.
Lots of talk about the talented Mick Foley replacing Jonathan Coachman as the color analyst on Smackdown, especially after Foley’s initial strong first outing on Backlash. Coach, who was mentored in broadcasting by NFLHOFer Len Dawson in Kansas City, is also doing some work with the Madison Square Garden Network (MSG) and from what I have seen is doing an excellent job in a variety of roles that MSG has Coach involved. This genre might be Coachman’s long term calling, especially considering that he is so versed in a variety of sports and can do play by play or host studio shows for the cable TV entity.
I am anxious to watch Friday Night Smackdown and see how Foley meshes with Michael Cole on a two hour broadcast, which is a much different animal than doing 3 matches on a PPV. Nonetheless, only time will tell how good Foley will be and if Mick can elevate his game over the long haul, key term…long haul, with such veteran talkers as Lawler,Ventura, Piper, and Heenan. I really like Mick’s chances in his new role and as Foley improves it should also raise Cole’s game as well.
We received a nice email from Bobby Heenan’s wife, Cindi, this week giving us the latest update on our dear friend "The Brain". Bobby is home…still going thru physical and speech therapy, has had yet another surgery to "tweak" the jaw bone and is progressing slowly but surely. Few men in this business whether it be in the ring, at ringside, or behind a mic ever had the talent that Bobby "The Brain"Heenan possessed. People ask me all the time why there are no great managers on TV any more, why no more "Heenans", etc and the answer is simple….talents like Bobby Heenan come along once in a lifetime, plus where would these future managers be trained? I have my thoughts on this matter, including if a talented but perhaps smaller individual who can verbalize and has some athleticism about them, that they should be in Tampa being schooled on the art form of being a successful wrestling manager.
I hope to go to Tampa in the next few weeks to drop in and observe the training at the WWE’s developmental facility. I am a firm believer that these men and women are in "college" and should be physically tested, mentally tested as in written exams, and there is something to be said about their personal lifestyles if they are "on scholarship". This would include issues with alcohol and cavorting around Tampa after midnight. Someone once told me that nothing good happens after midnight and thinking back on some of my own personal, less than stellar moments most if not all of them occurred after midnight. The long term success of any wrestling company is the development of new stars. Wrestling fans want to see new wrestlers "in the mix".
The Atlanta Journal Constitution newspaper recently released the telephone messages left on the home phone of Chris and Nancy Benoit. Like many, I read the transcripts, but when I finished I really don’t think I learned anything new, nor did I feel better about the tragedy. Point here is that I don’t fully comprehend why this information had to find its way into the generalpublic’s hands. Unfortunately, some will continue to garner some sort of profit from this unthinkable tragedy utilizing things such as these personal phone messages. The further study of wrestlers with concussion issues may be a silver lining in this matter as that issue should be added to the list of matters that should be monitored for all wrestlers.
Raw had approximately 5 million viewers Monday night which slam dunked the NBA Playoffs on TNT. Not a bad number for the WWE’s flagship broadcast but, as always, it will be said that was last week and what are "you going to do for me this week" and the obligatory "the rating should have been higher as it was back in the day."
Do you think that for ECW’s 100th broadcast this coming Tuesday night on Sci Fi that there will be broadcasters sitting in their usual spots at ringside? Got to be, right? But who will it be? Could Joey Styles return to handle this particular broadcast? Would the WWE bring back PaulHeyman to be a part of the festivities? I know that I’ll be watching, but I also am a big fan of NASCAR and their occasional "car wrecks" too.
I received a nice test message this week from Ric Flair who is staying really busy as a "Good Will Ambassador" for the WWE and attending a wide variety of functions around the country. Ric humorously said he was goingthru "Post Wrestlemania Withdrawal ," but was really enjoying his new role. When his schedule permits, I would suggest that Ric get to spend some time in Tampa with the youngsters just as we have suggested that Bret Hart do as well. If the training camp is "college" then having guest lecturers seems to a good idea.
Thanks for checking out our blog and I wish I had great news about when we will start accepting your feedback again but I am told it won’t be too much longer. Hang in there with us as we love the Q&A aspect of our site and will get back in the middle of it ASAP.
Anxious to arrive in Toronto as Monday’s Raw, after all that has happened on WWE TV this week, should start off with a bang and get better from there.
Boomer Sooner!
J.R.
jrsbarbq.com
Former NWA World Champion, Bronko Nagurski from Minnesota who starred in the early days of the NFL, is also in the College Football Hall of Fame, class of 1951, as is another Golden Gopher, LeoNomellini, class of 1977, who wrestled in the off season a great deal while playing for the NFL San Francisco Giants.
Speaking of football and wrestling, two of my favorite topics, it comes as no surprise that Ohio State Middle Linebacker, James Laurinaitis, is already looked at as a top ten draft pick in the 2009 draft. James’ legacy in Columbus is going to be a lifetime memory for James, his family, including his dad Road Warrior Animal, and the great fans of the Buckeye football program. I had the chance to visit with James at WM24 in Orlando and he told me that one of the biggest factors in him coming back toOSU instead of taking the millions of dollars that he could have been paid by the NFL by coming out of college early. In a nutshell, James wanted the opportunity to walk onto the football field at the "Horseshoe" in Columbus with his Mom and Dad on the annual "Parent’s Day". Classy young man for sure and one that will likely star in the NFL for year’s to come, if he can avoid injuries. Keep an eye on #33 for the Ohio State Buckeyes this fall because as his "Uncle" Hawk used to say, "Oh, what a Rush!"
Continuing on a non wrestling sports theme, check out Costas Now! on HBO where they discuss sports in the media, sports talk, the ‘net, etc. It is an interesting show and I am not a huge Costas fan, but he did a really superb job steering his ship on the live version of the broadcast. Nonetheless, Joe Buck looked a little "unique" with his hair bleacheda la some ‘rasslers . Come to think of it, Joe Buck would most likely have made a heck of a wrestling manager, after watching Wrestling from the Chase all those years growing up in St. Louis and with his natural gift of gab he inherited from his HOF father the late, great Jack Buck, one of my personal, broadcasting role models. Plus, keep a close eye on a snippet of old, vintage wrestling footage used on one of their segments.
If you have the time and inclination, check out Greg Oliver’s interview with yours truly at http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/home.htmlon their Slam Wrestling site.
Lots of talk about the talented Mick Foley replacing Jonathan Coachman as the color analyst on Smackdown, especially after Foley’s initial strong first outing on Backlash. Coach, who was mentored in broadcasting by NFLHOFer Len Dawson in Kansas City, is also doing some work with the Madison Square Garden Network (MSG) and from what I have seen is doing an excellent job in a variety of roles that MSG has Coach involved. This genre might be Coachman’s long term calling, especially considering that he is so versed in a variety of sports and can do play by play or host studio shows for the cable TV entity.
I am anxious to watch Friday Night Smackdown and see how Foley meshes with Michael Cole on a two hour broadcast, which is a much different animal than doing 3 matches on a PPV. Nonetheless, only time will tell how good Foley will be and if Mick can elevate his game over the long haul, key term…long haul, with such veteran talkers as Lawler,Ventura, Piper, and Heenan. I really like Mick’s chances in his new role and as Foley improves it should also raise Cole’s game as well.
We received a nice email from Bobby Heenan’s wife, Cindi, this week giving us the latest update on our dear friend "The Brain". Bobby is home…still going thru physical and speech therapy, has had yet another surgery to "tweak" the jaw bone and is progressing slowly but surely. Few men in this business whether it be in the ring, at ringside, or behind a mic ever had the talent that Bobby "The Brain"Heenan possessed. People ask me all the time why there are no great managers on TV any more, why no more "Heenans", etc and the answer is simple….talents like Bobby Heenan come along once in a lifetime, plus where would these future managers be trained? I have my thoughts on this matter, including if a talented but perhaps smaller individual who can verbalize and has some athleticism about them, that they should be in Tampa being schooled on the art form of being a successful wrestling manager.
I hope to go to Tampa in the next few weeks to drop in and observe the training at the WWE’s developmental facility. I am a firm believer that these men and women are in "college" and should be physically tested, mentally tested as in written exams, and there is something to be said about their personal lifestyles if they are "on scholarship". This would include issues with alcohol and cavorting around Tampa after midnight. Someone once told me that nothing good happens after midnight and thinking back on some of my own personal, less than stellar moments most if not all of them occurred after midnight. The long term success of any wrestling company is the development of new stars. Wrestling fans want to see new wrestlers "in the mix".
The Atlanta Journal Constitution newspaper recently released the telephone messages left on the home phone of Chris and Nancy Benoit. Like many, I read the transcripts, but when I finished I really don’t think I learned anything new, nor did I feel better about the tragedy. Point here is that I don’t fully comprehend why this information had to find its way into the generalpublic’s hands. Unfortunately, some will continue to garner some sort of profit from this unthinkable tragedy utilizing things such as these personal phone messages. The further study of wrestlers with concussion issues may be a silver lining in this matter as that issue should be added to the list of matters that should be monitored for all wrestlers.
Raw had approximately 5 million viewers Monday night which slam dunked the NBA Playoffs on TNT. Not a bad number for the WWE’s flagship broadcast but, as always, it will be said that was last week and what are "you going to do for me this week" and the obligatory "the rating should have been higher as it was back in the day."
Do you think that for ECW’s 100th broadcast this coming Tuesday night on Sci Fi that there will be broadcasters sitting in their usual spots at ringside? Got to be, right? But who will it be? Could Joey Styles return to handle this particular broadcast? Would the WWE bring back PaulHeyman to be a part of the festivities? I know that I’ll be watching, but I also am a big fan of NASCAR and their occasional "car wrecks" too.
I received a nice test message this week from Ric Flair who is staying really busy as a "Good Will Ambassador" for the WWE and attending a wide variety of functions around the country. Ric humorously said he was goingthru "Post Wrestlemania Withdrawal ," but was really enjoying his new role. When his schedule permits, I would suggest that Ric get to spend some time in Tampa with the youngsters just as we have suggested that Bret Hart do as well. If the training camp is "college" then having guest lecturers seems to a good idea.
Thanks for checking out our blog and I wish I had great news about when we will start accepting your feedback again but I am told it won’t be too much longer. Hang in there with us as we love the Q&A aspect of our site and will get back in the middle of it ASAP.
Anxious to arrive in Toronto as Monday’s Raw, after all that has happened on WWE TV this week, should start off with a bang and get better from there.
Boomer Sooner!
J.R.
jrsbarbq.com