Black Widow
08-11-2008, 05:56 PM
Saturday night is a big night in Minneapolis for the UFC and for former WWE Champion Brock Lesnar as Brock meets dangerous Heath Herring in an important fight for Lesnar to win. Lesnar weighed in Friday at 265 pounds which seems like a great weight for the former NCAA Heavyweight Wrestling Champion. Lesnar is still bigger than his veteran adversary (Herring weighed in at 250) but at 265 Lesnar will likely be cat quick which will make his single leg take downs virtually unstoppable. Lesnar needs to fight in "controlled rage" mode against Herring who is far from a "push over" or a "Palooka", as my dad used to say. The 12,000 plus that are slated to attend the fight in Lesnar’s present hometown will definitely be pro-Brock which can’t hurt a thing as it relates to Lesnar’s chances of not going 0-2 in the UFC. Lesnar can easily morph into a beast and a rah-rah, college-like atmosphere may facilitate that transformation which some might consider to be costly for Brock if he takes any unnecessary chances or tries to accomplish too much too fast. Being a Lesnar fan, I have plenty of concerns regarding this fight but I do think he will win and demonstrate how much his technique has improved since his debut.
It’s really hard to see this fight going to the judges.
As much as has been said about the Lesnar-Herring fight, it isn’t even the main event. The 170 pounders meet in the main event featuring Georges St. Pierre vs. Jon Fitch in a UFC Welterweight Title Bout in what will be a physical piece of business. One of the things that I like about MMA is that a talented athlete of a buck seventy can earn his way to big money and being on top of the card. That certainly doesn’t happen very often in pro wrestling. Fitch is an overachieving athlete and has been since his days in the Purdue wrestling room and shouldn’t be intimidated. St. Pierre is simply awesome and has to be considered one of the best, half dozen fighters in the world. So sit back and enjoy this one and I’ll be right there with you watching from Norman, Oklahoma on pay per view.
Great to hear that Jonathan Coachman has started his new gig for ESPN with his first assignment being on ESPN News. I expect to see Coach’s career advance nicely on ESPN after he gets his feet wet reading the sports on ESPN News. Coachman can do play by play and has done college football along with men’s and women’s hoops which will help him move up. Specifically having experience broadcasting women’s basketball is a nice caveat for the Coach to have in his pocket. Do you think coach will ever be reminded of the "Country Whipping Match", and I use the term "match" extremely loosely, by any of his You Tubing contemporaries? I was reminded of that debacle recently by a friend and I weakened and sort of watched that train wreck again. I am trying to quit and I may need an intervention of sorts. Coach can tell his new pals that our quarter hour did get a nice rating in front of a sell out crowd in the great city of Chicago. That’s what all us "old timers" do. It is called selective memory.
BTW I do know the difference between a "Whisper in the Wind" and a "Twist of Fate" but as most humans do I occasionally have a brain freeze and mistakenly identify them. Occasionally I have been known to get a little caught up in the moment but their times when I simply fumble. Broadcasting on live TV is like working without a net and Friday Night Smackdown that airs on, duh, Friday nights is produced live to tape. If mispronouncing a hold from time to time is my biggest announcing sin, then I think I might make it in this line of work.
Friday might not have been the best day for some wrestlers to answer their cell phones or home phones or Blackberrys or emails or even answer their front doors. Six individuals, at my last count, had been "future endeavored" out of the WWE which is never a good day at the office for any one involved. These are tough pieces of news to deliver (I know of what I speak) but the individuals who are released and their families are the one’s that are obviously the hardest hit. I sincerely wish every one who got bad news on Friday the best and would encourage them to persevere and not to give up on their dreams. Getting one’s "walking papers" isn’t the end of the world…take it from me. :)
Hey, it could be worse. One could be having to sue one’s own father and uncle for almost $1M as actor Richard Dreyfuss is currently in the process of doing. This one goes all the way back to when Dreyfuss was in the first "Jaws".
Nice to see that Jeff Hardy…Twist ‘O Fate…Whisper in the Wind…is getting a shot to show his stuff at Summerslam against an equally fortunate MVP. Both Jeff and MVP are highly talented individuals and I can see the day when perhaps this match and certainly both men will be headlining PPVs. These matches for wrestlers who are hungry to continue to move toward regular, main event status are imperative to have a "great" showing not simply have a "solid match". Solid can often times mean average and Summerslam is no place for any one to be average especially two, future stars. Arguably Jeff Hardy is rapidly approaching the next level (I’m not so sure that Jeff hasn’t at least stepped foot on the Promised Land) while MVP needs to get back on the roll he had going several months ago. August 17 is a great place for both Hardy and MVP to rock the Conseco Center.
HHH was very revealing Friday night on Smackdown when he said he was going to focus on the long, perhaps suspect legs of the Great Khali at Summerslam. If "The Game" can effectively destroy Khali’s verticality then this match may be over much quicker than expected.
However, if HHH can’t get Khali on the mat and the match is essentially wrestled with both men upright for too long a time then the King of Kings could be dethroned. This strategy sounds like the same game plan many have used against The Undertaker over the years. It does make common sense.
For some inane reason, I can see the controversial Edge in the TV commercial with the unibrowed women who uses cashews for perfume and magically becomes a full figured Angelina Jolie. Women with eye brows like the late Bull Curry just aren’t that appealing to this Okie, not that there is any thing wrong with that.
If I was asked, and I haven’t been, I would suggest to the talented duo of Hawkins and Ryder, YOUR WWE Tag Champs, to study DVD’s of Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard along with the Midnight Express (pick your version) to learn the nuances that come from in ring experience of the fine art of tag team wrestling. The aforementioned veterans all had the luxury of the territory system to learn the many skills it takes to be a great tag team over the long haul which is what I see Hawkins and Ryder having the potential to do. Hawkins and Ryder have the opportunity to be one of the best teams we have seen in a long time in the WWE if they continue to improve. Study of the appropriate DVDs will speed that process along.
It is enjoyable to watch young talents develop like we are seeing now on Friday Night Smackdown with the WWE Tag Champions and Brian, er, The Brian Kendrick, for example. BTW Big Zeke Jackson is allegedly The Brian’s advisor or so we are told. Is there more to this story than meets the eye? Zeke is an impressive athlete and if he had a beard he might resemble fighter Kimbo Slice. Just thinking out loud but would it be too far fetched to think that Kimbo might get an opportunity at a Wrestlemania time some day? Perhaps the modern day Mr. T?
Yours truly went to a closed scrimmage for the Oklahoma Sooners recently and I sure liked what I saw. OU returns a great deal of talent from a team that lost another BCS Bowl game in January. If the Sooners can stay healthy, especially returning QB Sam Bradford, then this team has a chance to earn another BCS Bowl berth. 5 Big 12 teams are preseason ranked in the Top 20 so the league is going to be tough especially the Big 12 South where 4 team have a good shot at winning the division. No team has ever won the Big 12 three years in a row which is another milestone the Bob Stoops’ coached team can attain this season.
One of the team’s secret weapons is the fact that they serve J.R.’s Beef Jerky for snacks on their football, training table. But don’t tell any one.
I have seen the new website that will be launched here soon. It is really an excellent piece of business and I am excited for you to see it and for us to get your comments flowing again via our Q&As.
Both are J.R.’s Family Bar-B-Q Restaurants are having excellent summers and with school starting soon both places will get even busier. I met some great travelers Friday in our Norman store who were with a church group and were traveling back to St. Louis from San Antonio and decided to have lunch at J.R.’s. We really appreciate everyone’s business and personally invite you to visit either of our restaurants which are both located on I-35 south of OKC on exits 109 (Norman) and 116 (Moore). Both spots open at 11 a.m. daily. I hope to see you there.
I encourage you to check out my weekly Smackdown column on www.wwe.com every week and my blogs on the WWE Fan Nation site. We’ll be back soon with thoughts on the UFC Saturday night. Until then, be well.
Boomer Sooner!
J.R.
It’s really hard to see this fight going to the judges.
As much as has been said about the Lesnar-Herring fight, it isn’t even the main event. The 170 pounders meet in the main event featuring Georges St. Pierre vs. Jon Fitch in a UFC Welterweight Title Bout in what will be a physical piece of business. One of the things that I like about MMA is that a talented athlete of a buck seventy can earn his way to big money and being on top of the card. That certainly doesn’t happen very often in pro wrestling. Fitch is an overachieving athlete and has been since his days in the Purdue wrestling room and shouldn’t be intimidated. St. Pierre is simply awesome and has to be considered one of the best, half dozen fighters in the world. So sit back and enjoy this one and I’ll be right there with you watching from Norman, Oklahoma on pay per view.
Great to hear that Jonathan Coachman has started his new gig for ESPN with his first assignment being on ESPN News. I expect to see Coach’s career advance nicely on ESPN after he gets his feet wet reading the sports on ESPN News. Coachman can do play by play and has done college football along with men’s and women’s hoops which will help him move up. Specifically having experience broadcasting women’s basketball is a nice caveat for the Coach to have in his pocket. Do you think coach will ever be reminded of the "Country Whipping Match", and I use the term "match" extremely loosely, by any of his You Tubing contemporaries? I was reminded of that debacle recently by a friend and I weakened and sort of watched that train wreck again. I am trying to quit and I may need an intervention of sorts. Coach can tell his new pals that our quarter hour did get a nice rating in front of a sell out crowd in the great city of Chicago. That’s what all us "old timers" do. It is called selective memory.
BTW I do know the difference between a "Whisper in the Wind" and a "Twist of Fate" but as most humans do I occasionally have a brain freeze and mistakenly identify them. Occasionally I have been known to get a little caught up in the moment but their times when I simply fumble. Broadcasting on live TV is like working without a net and Friday Night Smackdown that airs on, duh, Friday nights is produced live to tape. If mispronouncing a hold from time to time is my biggest announcing sin, then I think I might make it in this line of work.
Friday might not have been the best day for some wrestlers to answer their cell phones or home phones or Blackberrys or emails or even answer their front doors. Six individuals, at my last count, had been "future endeavored" out of the WWE which is never a good day at the office for any one involved. These are tough pieces of news to deliver (I know of what I speak) but the individuals who are released and their families are the one’s that are obviously the hardest hit. I sincerely wish every one who got bad news on Friday the best and would encourage them to persevere and not to give up on their dreams. Getting one’s "walking papers" isn’t the end of the world…take it from me. :)
Hey, it could be worse. One could be having to sue one’s own father and uncle for almost $1M as actor Richard Dreyfuss is currently in the process of doing. This one goes all the way back to when Dreyfuss was in the first "Jaws".
Nice to see that Jeff Hardy…Twist ‘O Fate…Whisper in the Wind…is getting a shot to show his stuff at Summerslam against an equally fortunate MVP. Both Jeff and MVP are highly talented individuals and I can see the day when perhaps this match and certainly both men will be headlining PPVs. These matches for wrestlers who are hungry to continue to move toward regular, main event status are imperative to have a "great" showing not simply have a "solid match". Solid can often times mean average and Summerslam is no place for any one to be average especially two, future stars. Arguably Jeff Hardy is rapidly approaching the next level (I’m not so sure that Jeff hasn’t at least stepped foot on the Promised Land) while MVP needs to get back on the roll he had going several months ago. August 17 is a great place for both Hardy and MVP to rock the Conseco Center.
HHH was very revealing Friday night on Smackdown when he said he was going to focus on the long, perhaps suspect legs of the Great Khali at Summerslam. If "The Game" can effectively destroy Khali’s verticality then this match may be over much quicker than expected.
However, if HHH can’t get Khali on the mat and the match is essentially wrestled with both men upright for too long a time then the King of Kings could be dethroned. This strategy sounds like the same game plan many have used against The Undertaker over the years. It does make common sense.
For some inane reason, I can see the controversial Edge in the TV commercial with the unibrowed women who uses cashews for perfume and magically becomes a full figured Angelina Jolie. Women with eye brows like the late Bull Curry just aren’t that appealing to this Okie, not that there is any thing wrong with that.
If I was asked, and I haven’t been, I would suggest to the talented duo of Hawkins and Ryder, YOUR WWE Tag Champs, to study DVD’s of Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard along with the Midnight Express (pick your version) to learn the nuances that come from in ring experience of the fine art of tag team wrestling. The aforementioned veterans all had the luxury of the territory system to learn the many skills it takes to be a great tag team over the long haul which is what I see Hawkins and Ryder having the potential to do. Hawkins and Ryder have the opportunity to be one of the best teams we have seen in a long time in the WWE if they continue to improve. Study of the appropriate DVDs will speed that process along.
It is enjoyable to watch young talents develop like we are seeing now on Friday Night Smackdown with the WWE Tag Champions and Brian, er, The Brian Kendrick, for example. BTW Big Zeke Jackson is allegedly The Brian’s advisor or so we are told. Is there more to this story than meets the eye? Zeke is an impressive athlete and if he had a beard he might resemble fighter Kimbo Slice. Just thinking out loud but would it be too far fetched to think that Kimbo might get an opportunity at a Wrestlemania time some day? Perhaps the modern day Mr. T?
Yours truly went to a closed scrimmage for the Oklahoma Sooners recently and I sure liked what I saw. OU returns a great deal of talent from a team that lost another BCS Bowl game in January. If the Sooners can stay healthy, especially returning QB Sam Bradford, then this team has a chance to earn another BCS Bowl berth. 5 Big 12 teams are preseason ranked in the Top 20 so the league is going to be tough especially the Big 12 South where 4 team have a good shot at winning the division. No team has ever won the Big 12 three years in a row which is another milestone the Bob Stoops’ coached team can attain this season.
One of the team’s secret weapons is the fact that they serve J.R.’s Beef Jerky for snacks on their football, training table. But don’t tell any one.
I have seen the new website that will be launched here soon. It is really an excellent piece of business and I am excited for you to see it and for us to get your comments flowing again via our Q&As.
Both are J.R.’s Family Bar-B-Q Restaurants are having excellent summers and with school starting soon both places will get even busier. I met some great travelers Friday in our Norman store who were with a church group and were traveling back to St. Louis from San Antonio and decided to have lunch at J.R.’s. We really appreciate everyone’s business and personally invite you to visit either of our restaurants which are both located on I-35 south of OKC on exits 109 (Norman) and 116 (Moore). Both spots open at 11 a.m. daily. I hope to see you there.
I encourage you to check out my weekly Smackdown column on www.wwe.com every week and my blogs on the WWE Fan Nation site. We’ll be back soon with thoughts on the UFC Saturday night. Until then, be well.
Boomer Sooner!
J.R.