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

It's a rainy Friday in Norman but it's going to be an exciting weekend nonetheless. Miles to go before I sleep for this die hard sports fan.  

Our webmaster is working diligently on our on line store and we should have the new look, new pricing, new shipping info done by the first of the week. I can accurately say that if you are keen on free shipping that you order before Monday. 

We're now working on the label and the FDA info for the new 'JR's Main Event Mustard' which we will be adding to the site in time for your holiday shopping. The product is spot on and delicious and is a very healthy condiment. I'm hooked on it. Great on a turkey sandwich among many other uses.

Heading to the Oklahoma vs. Missouri showdown of unbeaten teams in the Big 12 in Columbia on Saturday night on ABC. I'll be the dude in the black hat on the Sooner Sideline sweating it out in hopes that Oklahoma can escape Columbia with a win. Avoiding turnovers and senseless penalties likely will be the key for a game OU is favored by 3 or so points. The table is certainly set however for a Tiger upset of the BCS #1 ranked Sooners.  

Sunday morning I'm off to Minneapolis to attend the WWE Bragging Rights PPV. It's always nice to reconnect with old friends at WWE PPV's. Bragging Rights has an unpredictable air to it in my opinion. Wouldn't it be a shocker if Wade Barrett upset Randy Orton via John Cena assisting to become one of the most unlikely WWE Champions ever? That would certainly be a departure from the norm and launch a variety of potential, new storylines. 

The announcers will be challenged to tell a viable story in the 'Buried Alive' match featuring the Undertaker vs. Kane for the World's Title. Speaking from experience, these novelty bouts are tough to call for any broadcaster as one really has to let the match come to them and try and embellish what is seen. I like Kane in this one. 

Got an email from a fan who had just watched a bout from 1991 between the Steiner Brothers vs. Hase and Sasaki from Tokyo that I called with Tony Schiavone as I recall.  Great tag team match, very athletically executed and the four men told a great story. Check it out some time as it is arguably as good a tag bout as I can remember seeing in the 90's. I always thought Hase was one of the best Japanese wrestlers that I ever saw.  

My first trip to Japan was memorable especially when one is traveling with Ric Flair and the Horsemen. Take my word for it, never a dull moment. Our Japanese hosts were gracious and let's just say that I met some very intriguing 'sponsors' during that week. I do remember getting a ride back to the hotel from a late night function in a Rolls Royce convertible that the driver and body guard insisted that we travel with the top down. That's what their boss wanted and I had no argument. Felt like I was in a scene from a Japanese produced episode of 'The Sopranos.'

Got a great call earlier this week from Shawn Michaels and we spent some time catching up on a variety of things. HBK is happy, healthy and not missing the wrestling business at this time. Shawn is busy working on a hunting show for the Outdoor Life Network, I think, that will likely begin airing next year. We discussed some upcoming hunts and yours truly night actually go on one of these taped hunts somewhere down the road. I might be better suited to be the camp 'cook' as my hunting skills aren't at the level of say a Brock Lesnar, Steve Austin, or Dusty Rhodes. But the 'camp fire' talk would be entertaining.  

Speaking of Austin, some fans have emailed me and adamantly feel that the ideal match for the Undertaker to have at WM30 would be Austin vs. Taker. WM30?? Sounds provocative on paper but it's not going to happen. I'm much more interested in who Taker is going to face at WM27 which appears to be a wide open matter. Steve will generally always say the old wrestler cliché of "Never say never" when asked about another match but no one would be more shocked than me to ever see Austin don his tights again. What does he have left to prove plus Austin is well on his way to establishing himself in Hollywood as an action adventure movie star.  Plus, would you really want Stone Cold to return to Wrestlemania and lose because the smart money is on Taker NEVER losing a Wrestlemania bout? And never means never.

Paul Heyman's EA Sports work has been impressive including the latest piece that Paul voiced over. MMA, in general, can use all the help they can gather from those who know how to market and make stars via using vignettes, etc.

Heyman is in Anaheim with Brock Lesnar as we speak in preparation for the Lesnar-Velásquez UFC Heavyweight Title Bout on PPV Saturday night. I'll be hoping that my Blackberry can get reception during the OU-Mizzou game. Perhaps some of you that will be watching the fight can keep me abreast via Twitter @JRsBBQ. 

I don't know Cain Velásquez but I have great respect for his body of work, athleticism, and work ethic. Velásquez is seemingly fighting for an admirable cause that some consider even greater than winning the coveted UFC heavyweight Title and the financial rewards that accompany such. Becoming the first Hispanic, UFC Heavyweight Champion is an admirable goal and with that comes a great deal of pressure. For my money, simply stepping into the Octagon against Lesnar with the express purpose of attempting to take away the magnificent athlete's livelihood should be pressure enough. 

Even though I do not personally know Cain Velásquez,  I do know Brock Lesnar...very well. In over four decades of being around world class athletes in a variety of arenas, I have never encountered an athlete quite like Brock Lesnar. Unless one is privileged enough to be around Lesnar on a somewhat regular basis as I was when he was in WWE, one cannot appreciate how freakishly quick, sudden may actually be a better description, and explosive this God gifted athlete truly is. Now that Brock's health is good, and who knows how many fights Brock actually had when he wasn't healthy and didn't even know it, and his 'walking around weight' is 265, the UFC heavyweight limit, my instincts say that we haven't even come close to seeing the best of Lesnar as of yet. 

The biggest thing that Brock has going for him though isn't his physical make up, his brute strength, the refined, amateur wrestling skills, or even his ability to weather seemingly insurmountable storms such as he did against Shane Carwin their memorable first round. 

Brock Lesnar's greatest gifts are his mental approach to competing. No matter if it was in OVW in Louisville where Brock went to learn the art form of pro wrestling, grinding it out in a wrestling room in his amateur days, or having the drive to be the best WWE entertainer LONG before he should have been, Brock Lesnar pushes himself harder than any other man or entity ever could. 

Plus, Lesnar is a hunter. He loves to track and harvest big game. Hunting and the strategy of a hunt seems to be in the South Dakota country boy's DNA. Saturday night Brock Lesnar goes hunting and his 'prey' is a formidable animal. Lesnar's heart and will to win will hopefully allow the vaunted, UFC Champion to reap a successful harvest in a physical war that will take an enormous toll on both hunter and the hunted. Great hunters are strategists who have no issues closing the deal with their prey finds itself in the hunter's cross hairs. Good luck Brock on Saturday night.  I'm pulling for you.  

Be sure and say hello if our paths cross this weekend whether it be at the OU game or at Bragging Rights on PPV. 

BTW I've updated your Q&A's here on the site. New dirt. 

Follow me this weekend on Twitter @JRsBBQ. 

Boomer Sooner!

J.R.