J.R.'s Family Bar-B-Q

I enjoyed visiting with Paul Bearer in Mobile Monday prior to RAW. PB is a funeral home director in Mobile and dabbles in wrestling a little, but just for the fun of it. At one time Paul weighed in at 525 pounds before he had gastric bypass surgery (I think that is what it is called) and now tips the Toledos at approximately 300. Paul is a great example of what I preach more often than not and that is any one wanting to get in the wresting business should have their college degree or have an established trade that they can fall back on when their wrestling days have ended.

A guy in the DFW Airport asked me Tuesday morning if Britney Spears was coming to the WWE to be a Diva. In a rare moment of clarity and before I blurted out “Hell, No,” I simply said that one never knows what is going to happen in the WWE and that if Britney made an appearance somewhere down the road, how could any of us be totally shocked. What if she came between Edge and Vickie Guerrero?!

It’s nice to see the announcement on RAW that some Wrestlemania tickets are being released, especially for those that want to attend the March 30 event in the Citrus Bowl in Orlando and thought that it was too late to get tickets. I am also anxious to see how the 2008 Hall of Fame event sells, as it is one of my favorite nights of the entire year and if you have never attended a WWE HOF Induction Ceremony, I encourage you to consider it this year. The HOF will be on Saturday night March 29 and one would expect tickets to go on sale soon. I am also curious as to who gets inducted this year, not to mention who will be the presenters as it could/should be some great stuff for all us fans. I’m pulling for Gordon Solie and the Brisco Brothers, among others, that I will keep to myself for now.

NBC has renewed the American Gladiator for a second season based largely, one would assume, on the fact that the writers are still on strike and new programming is needed for the fall. I have to admit that I haven’t watched the new version yet, but some that have seen it have provided mixed reviews.

I will be traveling to Norfolk, Virginia this Sunday for Monday’s RAW in Hampton, Va. which will be the WWE’s maiden voyage into HDTV. With the WWE going to HD it most likely means that you have seen the last of yours truly and my erstwhile partner doing many on cameras during RAW.

The bad thing about traveling this Sunday is that I will miss virtually all of the NFL playoff games which sucks pond water. You can bet a slab of J.R.’s Family Bar-B-Q ribs that the TV people are praying that New England and Green Bay win the game simply because of the Pats chance to run the table and make history and the Packers and #4 Brett Favre getting a shot at a Cinderella-like Lombardi (Vince, not Steve) Trophy. I realize that the Giants represent the biggest TV market in America, but the Favre story seems to have more “sizzle” than does the New York Giants playing for a Super Bowl title. Now, if you are a Giants’ fan you will obviously sing a different story. I am a Favre guy from our days in Atlanta together, his rookie year in the NFL, so I am pulling for the former Fabulous Freebird fan to get one more shot at winning the big one.

Nice to see Congress and Major League Baseball getting on with their business of addressing steroids, etc in MLB. I do think all entities with drug issues among their athletes should be able to police themselves and govern their people in a proper and safe manner. Ideally, that is what would and should happen, and hopefully Congress will be able to help that matter along. However, I never hear what the government is going to do about the makers of these drugs who obviously know that they are being used for purposes other than what they were approved by the FDA to do. Education and zero tolerance will work wonders in cleaning up all organizations that have problems of this nature. Plus when HGH, a rumored drug of choice in the NFL, can be detected accurately via urine tests, it will deter the abuse of that particular drug…..that is until someone comes up with a way to mask these tests. What are the penalties for people who create masking agents to beat drug tests anyway? One would assume that it would mean prison time, right? If HGH was created to treat dwarfism, why are so many people who do not suffer from dwarfism using it, including entertainer Suzanne Somers, who talked about her regular use of the drug recently on the Larry King show? Obviously there must be more benefits from the drug than only treating dwarfism, but that doesn’t give everyone a free pass to “cheat.”

How can Pacman Jones be so unintelligent? Or is the suspended NFL star just a by-product of a defiant, young society? Jones allegedly got into trouble at 3 a.m. in an Atlanta strip club earlier this month, which is absolute insanity. What is the allure of being in a club at 3 a.m. anyway? Plus, I would bet you a J.R.’s Family Bar-B-Q Valentine package that Pac was with a “posse” all of whom had less to lose than the gifted cornerback of the Tennessee Titans.

It was surprising to see that Ohio State middle linebacker James Laurinaitis is staying in Columbus for his senior year and not testing the waters of the NFL, where #33 was thought to be a first round pick this April if he had declared. The son of Road Warrior Animal and the nephew of Johnny “Ace” Laurinaitis is a really cool kid who was reportedly “relieved” when he finally made the decision to return for another year of college football. I would assume that James will get a personal insurance policy to “protect the investment” in case of a career ending injury during his senior year with the Buckeyes. One could only assume that policy will not be with Lloyd’s of London, but that’s another story for another time. Seriously, I applaud James’ decision and hope it was the right one as only time will tell. Bottom line, if the young man is happy then every one else should be too, but I damn sure would have been really tempted to take the cash, which would have been in the guaranteed millions for a first round pick.

While we are on the subject, Oklahoma’s middle linebacker Curtis Lofton declaring for the NFL draft is a crushing blow for the Sooners. This news should make all Texas Longhorn fans pleased, as it brought a partially hidden smile on the face of Dusty Rhodes when we spoke of it Monday in Mobile. I am sure when I walked away from “The Dream” he had a good chuckle at my consternation. Wait until Dusty hears that our ace cornerback Reggie Smith has just decided to pass on his senior year to go to the NFL as well. OU goes from being a preseason #2 ranking to probably a low top ten pick with all the defections.

The Presidential race is so uninteresting to me, which is a damn shame, as the election for the leader of the free world should be of keen interest to every American. The candidates simply seem to be just more of the same professional politicians that run for office year after year. Plus, the media generally drives me away from the topic as they make news stories that “Mitt is too handsome,” “Hillary broke down and cried,” “Fred Thompson has a young wife,” “Oprah is endorsing Obama” and on and on. I will be happy when Bill Maher’s show returns to HBO, which I thoroughly enjoy as he dissects politics as well as anyone. How entertaining would it be to see Mr. McMahon, working on about 3 hours sleep, guest on Maher’s HBO talkfest?

By the way, I still miss “The Sopranos” and “Deadwood” on HBO. But I digress.

Speaking of “Deadwood,” I received a cool as hell gift pack from actor Earl Brown, who played Dan Dority, Al Swearingen’s right hand man on Deadwood, that included some awesome swag. We traded stuff as Dan now has a good stash of J.R.’s Family Bar-B-Q Sauces and Beef Jerky. Earl is a wrestling fan and has been since he was a kid in Kentucky. Earl is the proud owner of an “I’ve Got Big Nuts!” T-Shirt from J.R.’s and you can too by visiting our store. Our friendly staff is waiting to assist you as we speak.

Breaking news!!! A wrestling website reported that several WWE Superstars were spotted at FRIDAY’s in Mobile Monday night after RAW! Most of them ate CHICKEN! (Gasp)

Jeff Hardy may be “insane,” but he is the hottest thing in the WWE right now for my money. The Hardy-Orton match at the Royal Rumble seems to be stealing everyone else’s thunder for the annual event. It’s gonna be a memorable night in the World’s Most Famous Arena on pay per view.

Say a prayer for Bobby Heenan, who has undergone three surgeries over the past few weeks to rebuild his jaw. As soon as I hear from Bobby’s wife Cindi I will provide an update.

Remember when NBA star Allen Iverson went off at a press conference a few years ago about missing “PRACTICE”? “It’s just “PRACTICE”, man!” I kind of felt that way when HBK had to qualify for the Royal Rumble. “QUALIFY!?”

The WWE must have had a pyro coupon based on the amount of fireworks that were utilized for JBL Monday night in Mobile. The smoke filled, Civic Center on the Redneck Riviera resembled the old pool hall I used to own in Westville, Oklahoma, with the layer of smoke that permeated the arena essentially the rest of the evening. It might have been like seeing Cheech and Chong in concert way back in the day or attending a Grateful Dead concert.

My vote to broadcast the Royal Rumble match this year on PPV is Joey Styles and Jonathan Coachman. Do I hear a second??

I have not seen as many low blows as we saw used on RAW Monday since I was a sophomore in high school when seemingly every freshman was getting nailed with a low blows at least once or twice at every football or basketball practice. Maybe I should lobby for the athletic cup concession if the low blow stream of consciousness continues.

We will have more Q&As for you soon here on our site. Please keep your comments coming. Thanks for stopping by and for those of you that shop with us. We appreciate your support. Have a great day and get ready for HD!

BOOMER SOONER!

J.R.