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

TGIF here in Norman, Oklahoma and I hope that everyone is having a great day and will have an even better weekend.

Saturday night at midnight is the deadline to get your orders in on two specific offers in our on line store. The $15.60 The Game Blitz Package and the personalized, autographed JR's Cookbooks.  You still have time and of course we will have our other specials still available throughout the holidays but to avoid shipping issues you might want to act sooner than later. Many offers come with FREE SHIPPING domestically via Federal Express and the variety of JR's products make unique, affordable holiday gifts.

Here's some BBQ'ed Feedback:

 My Smackdown blog is currently up over at www.wwe.com which also features my favorite of their site, WWEClassics.com. If you want to see my TLC predictions and more, check out the blog located on the Smackdown page. why my blog is still on the SD page,  I don't know. I'm no longer on the Smackdown announce team but I realize that I won't make the home page unless I become a Diva. 

This Saturday in Norman I will be making a couple of personal appearances for Homeland Grocery. From 10-noon I will be at the Homeland store on Lindsey and from 2-4 I will be at Homeland's Main Street location. This is in support of Homeland carrying J.R.'s BBQ Sauces, Chipolte Ketchup, and Beef Jerky. If you're in this neck of the woods, please drop by and say "howdy."

BTW...for those of you that keep writing me about how to get a job in WWE please cease and desist. I can't help you get a job in WWE no different that I can help you get a job at General Motors. If one isn't smart enough to understand how to go to the corporate website or to go about the function of learning how to submit a resume, etc then it's likely that one might not be ready to make this move to a corporate entity. Plus, I question the judgment of any one who wants to be in the "creative team" of any wrestling company....unless one has a passion for being constantly second guessed and working long hours with rarely an "attaboy."

Honestly, asking me how to obtain work in WWE especially at this particular point is time is humorously ironic.

Wonder how kind Dennis Miller, with his caustic wit and fabulous vocabulary, will be to WWE after Miller hosts the three hour Slammy Awards this Monday night in the Slammy Capital of the World, Corpus Christi, Texas? Miller does a fair amount of observational humor and he will certainly observe some unique things this Monday....and that's just in catering.

Do Miller and Matt Striker use the same type of dictionary...curious minds might want to know...but then again.

If I had to put one wrestler at the top of my wish  list to go into the WWE HOF this March at WM26 it would be the greatest living wrestler, in my opinion of which I can share as this is my blog, Dan Hodge. The Perry, Oklahoma native represented the USA in two Olympic games, was on the cover of Sports Illustrated, never lost a match at Oklahoma University,  was a three time national champion before freshmen were eligible to compete for national titles, won the United States Golden Glove Heavyweight BOXING Title, and wrestled professionally for close to three decades as the greatest NWA Junior Heavyweight Champion of all time. Of all the Okies that are in WWE's HOF, The Briscos, Bill Watts, Mae Young and yours truly, no one deserves it more than the amazing Danny Hodge. College football will present their top annual award, the Heisman Trophy, this Saturday. Collegiate wrestling's "Heisman" is called the Dan Hodge Award.

Hodge makes any HOF better and I would love to see him, now in his 70's, get the acknowledgment that he deserves. I hope the proper folks are paying attention regarding this suggestion.

Mark Cuban did a nice job on one of my favorite shows, ESPN's PTI,  this week further discussing his appearance on Raw last Monday in Dallas. Cuban came off well as he explained that he had fun, was a little sore from being driven thru a table and looked at being associated with pro wrestling as a positive experience. His ego seemed to be in the right place plus he did not come off as an insecure, elitist as many celeb's and those in the media do when speaking of pro wrestling. 

Pro Wrestling is not pro sports but it is an amazing entertainment entity featuring highly skilled athletes. It's designed to entertain the audience and in my view that entertainment comes most viably in the ring during the wrestling bouts which should be accentuated verbally by those that have the viable skills to execute controlled ad-libs. 

Speaking of talking or cutting promos, UFC heavyweight Frank Mir is a fantastic talker and could earn a bundle in pro wrestling if he's still healthy when his MMA run concludes. Mir has a natural delivery that one listens to especially when he is verbally taking down his opponent. The UFC,  PPV preview show was really good thanks to Mir.
Mir's next opponent, Cheick Kongo, doesn't speak great English which put a small damper on his retorts to the intelligent Mir who, BTW, is keeping his issues alive, vibrantly verbal, with the ill but still UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar.

Bobby Lashley has reportedly signed with Strikeforce and will fight on the Herschel Walker card in late January on Showtime. I have many thoughts on this matter including that Lashley has a superb upside in MMA and the opportunity to make huge money competing and traveling a few times per year IF he gets really good at the craft. How Lashley can double dip and do both really well should a concern. Advice to the gifted athlete might be to devote all his time to MMA as he can come back to pro wrestling when that aspect of Lashley's athletic career ends. Plus, Strikeforce is making a mistake not having Herschel fight for the first time on CBS and not on premium cable.

Potentially, Lashley vs. Fedor might be huge for this group that will likely and forever be chasing UFC.

In today's world, for one to truly be great in their chosen field, especially an in ring performer, the extra work away from the arena or simply on show night is absolutely necessary. "Musts" include regular gym regimes, watching one's diet full time, and studying one's business via DVD's, etc. 

There is so much money to be earned in the world of pro wrestling and MMA that if an athlete manages their money wisely meaning they receive professional help and live within their means they can establish a nice level of security to last them the rest of their days. Unfortunately, many competitors and performers forget to save their dough, they forget to file their income taxes, but they certainly remember when the new, luxury cars and Rolex's become available.

I expect the TLC PPV this Sunday in San Antonio to be a sleeper of an event and regret that some folks may miss it due to holiday matters and/or a crowded PPV marketplace. 

Personally, and as the former head of talent for WWE, these types of shows concern me because of the dangerous element that comes with the use of inanimate objects like tables, ladders and chairs. I hope that everyone stays as healthy as possible during this unique event. I know that I will be watching from the "comfort of my own home." 

On the health front, I have been feeling much better and expect the results of my blood work from the Rheumatologist to come back next week. Hopefully, that info will be good news, I refuse to think otherwise, and I will continue to get better and take one more step toward returning to work. 

Working on one's contract, as I have been focusing on for the past few days isn't one of my favorite things to do particularly at the 11th hour and especially due to issues regarding my health not to mention that it's the holiday season. I expect something to be worked out regarding this matter in the next week or so but I am not going to stress over it one way or another. 

Been getting a few emails from fans in the El Paso area about my attending the Sun Bowl there on December 31 when Oklahoma plays Stanford. I am planning to be there unless, as I have mentioned, my health, the weather or travel issues occur. I love being around my Sooner family who are genuine and deal with me without any agendas.

I hope that you will take a moment and hit our store and place your orders. I have been signing many cookbooks this week and our business has been good. Remember that a couple of our specials will end Saturday night at midnight eastern time. You still have time to place your orders and still get FREE SHIPPING via domestic, Federal Express ground before the holidays.  We truly appreciate your business.

Hope to get to the Q&A section of the site for some updates much sooner than later so stay tuned for that. 

Be well and Boomer Sooner!

J.R.