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

Happy Easter everyone and thanks for stopping by our website. We also want to thank all of you that are supporting us with your orders and who are emailing us with your feedback and with how you are using our products. It's grilling season without question and now is a great time to stock up on our BBQ Sauces and Chipotle Ketchup.  

Former NWA World Champion Gene Kiniski has apparently taken a turn for the worse and is battling to stay alive. 'Big Thunder's' cancer has spread to his brain and some speculate that is is just a matter of time for the former Canadian Football League player and respected, pro wrestling star known for being an athletic, big man who was always in awesome cardiovascular condition. Our prayers are with the family of Gene. Gene was always a gregarious guy and one old story was that he talked so much in the huddle while playing pro football that he often times had to be told to be quiet by the quarterback so their teammates could hear the play called. 

Our condolences go out to the family and friends of Chris Kanyon who was found dead this weekend in his apartment in Queens, New York. The death is being investigated as a suicide as those close to Chris say that he has been battling depression for quite some time. Chris abruptly retired from wrestling and then also declared that he was a gay American which were both major developments in his life. I never knew Chris lead an alternative life style when he was with WWE for a few years not that it would have made any difference to me one way or another. Chris was an innovative wrestler who always sought new maneuvers and holds to utilize in his matches and was a really good teacher and helped many of today's stars with a variety of in ring techniques. Chris was a guy who seemingly wanted to be a pro wrestler most of his life and embraced the fact that he made it but obviously had issues after leaving the ring. Chris Kanyon will always be considered an underrated star in my eyes and I sincerely wish his many friends and his family our heartfelt condolences during these challenging and heartbreaking times.  

We sold approximately 1,000 racks of ribs Saturday at the 4 Homeland Grocery stores in Norman where with each rack purchased one received a free bottle of JR's BBQ Sauce. The promotion was a huge success and we want to thank every one who stopped by and especially those that took advantage of the great offer from my friends at Homeland. Distribution of our products in Homeland and hopefully other grocery stores in time is potentially more lucrative than owning multiple restaurants. 

The Ultimate Fighter 11 debut last week performed well for Spike in their target demos of young males. The antics of coaches Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz will be one of the primary highlights of the series and will culminate with them fighting each other again in  UFC. Liddlell and Ortiz will have several weeks to enhance their already established personal issue to help insure that fans, especially new fans, will want to see them fight in the Octagon one more time. In this regard, UFC is no different than pro wrestling in that personal issues that are organically and clearly established equate to positive results. 

Great promo placement by CBS for the Strike Force show coming on April 17 during the Final Four on Saturday. More people likely saw those promos Saturday than watched MMA and pro wrestling combined last week on TV. CBS/Showtime seems to have enhanced their commitment to their MMA brand which is the only way that it will work. Networks that aren't totally committed to their brand, where it be NFL, MMA or pro wrestling, etc will never find the success that  might be attainable. 

Unless one is a Michigan State devotee, one has to love the fact that the underdog, Cinderella, over achieving Butler University hoops team has made it to the NCAA Title game and will face perennial powerhouse Duke on Monday night. This 'David vs. Goliath' match up will obviously earn a giant rating which will not bode well for other programming seeking males. It will be interesting to see how ESPN, etc counter programs against the NCAA Title game. Back to Butler, the essence of our human nature is that we often times love to cheer for the underdog and the theory of heroes vs. antagonists still is applicable and works today despite some in pro wrestling who declare that there is an ever dissolving line that separates good vs. evil. 

It felt great to see CBS recognize long term, broadcaster Dick Enberg who is being retired by CBS and who will assume the role as voice of the San Diego Padres as I understand it. CBS did a classy thing is their succinct albeit effective Enberg tribute during Saturday nights Final Four. Enberg had many strengths but his ability to have strong broadcasts with a variety of partners over a long, long period of time is extraordinary. Enberg is one of the great story tellers ever in broadcasting and I used to be a follower of his neck wear as no one had a better tie collection than the former teacher turned broadcaster. 

BTW...Butler was a 125-1 shot in Vegas to win the NCAA Tournament in Vegas prior to this college basketball season starting. 

Congrats to new WWE World's Champion Jack Swagger on his accomplishments as the Perry, Oklahoma native had  quite the week at WM26 and in Las Vegas on Friday Night Smackdown. Swagger was my last 'recruit' in WWE and I hope that he has a long, productive career that sees him stay injury free and becomes financial independent. I'd love to see Swagger be able to establish his Championship reign over an extended period of time but wish him the best nonetheless. We had a great, private conversation after Wrestlemania at the hotel and he knows what I personally expect of him and what he potentially can do in WWE if he catches a break, conducts himself as a professional, and works harder than any one on the roster night in and night out. 

Amateur wrestlers more often than not an uncanny work ethic that is generally beyond reproach and any one who thinks that world class athletes who survive successfully in the world of amateur wrestling and who possess charisma can't be successful pro wrestlers are kidding themselves. Granted many of these amateurs need coaching and time to reach the level one would ideally like but that 's the function and responsibility of those who are training these men. 

Just curuious....why is MMA heavyweight Roy Nelson, helluva right hand by the way, called 'Big Country' when he is billed from Las Vegas?  I'm sure that there is a logical reason but no one seems to want to tell that story on TV. It's all apart of character building. The more info that I know about an athlete the more apt I am to care for them enough to watch them on TV or PPV. 

You can follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/JRsBBQ. 

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Our conference call with the speaker's bureau folks went well last week. I am excited about the potential of this piece of business as the company looking to work with me books some of the most popular speakers in America and have been in business for years. They are extremely optimistic about the potential for this arrangement.

I have been spending ample time brainstorming potential book concepts and have come to the conclusion that I can potentially pen more than one book. This matter will be further discussed this coming week. I can also see that I am going to have to spend ample hours researching dates, etc to insure that any thing that I do is factually accurate. I have a great deal of ground to cover, career wise, from 1974 until the present.

I could probably hammer out an interesting few chapters simply on my experiences and thoughts from WM26 and the days leading into the event and following it. 

Stock up on your grilling needs that we can provide here on line. If you read the latest Q&A's you will see from folks just like you how quickly we turn your orders around and that we pride ourselves with customer service. 

Yes, our Q&A section has been updated as of Sunday so check out the new material available now for you to read. 

Big night for us Sooner fans as our Women's Hoops team takes on Stanford in the Women's Final Four in San Antonio. Two Big 12 teams, OU and Baylor, are in the Final Four which UConn is heavily favored to win. Too bad that this double header, Final Four is being played on Easter Sunday which really speaks of how the NCAA positions women's athletics. Nonetheless I will be watching ESPN tonight and hoping that our over achieving, big hearted ladies can upset Stanford. 

Be well...count your blessings...and have a great balance of the weekend. 

Boomer Sooner!

J.R.