I CONFESS

I don't remember when it happened but at some point in my life this video went from the thing I most dreaded seeing on Saturday mornings to the thing I waited impatiently to see. It went from being the image that ended my morning in front of my beloved cartoons to being the image that announced the beginning of my favorite hour of the week. Yes my name is Bo and I am a professional wrestling fan.

I do realize that fewer things can destroy your credibility quicker in some circles than this admission but I am coming out. I can not deny who I am. I still sneak a peek at what is going on in the wrestling world when I get a chance despite the not so subtle judgement in my wife's voice when she asks, "What are you watching?" (I knew I should have put that TIVO in the basement)

There is no doubt that wrestling in not the highest intellectual form of entertainment. Many of the stories are way over the top or just plain stupid but that is true for a lot of the world's popular entertainment and you don't have to worry about people thinking you are a complete idiot if you admit you watch American Idol. But tell them you watch wrestling and wait for the reaction.

Doesn't matter. I can not deny that many of my absolute favorite memories of my childhood that did not occur in a Disney Park occurred near a wrestling ring. I will never forget the night Hulk Hogan came to Commonwealth Convention Center and pointed to the sign we had made to taunt his opponent as we sat in our ringside seats. Of the many Tuesday nights we spent at Louisville Gardens the one I will never forget is when Randy Savage first became a "good guy" back when those things really mattered and teamed up with Jerry "The King" Lawler against King Kong Bundy and Rick Rude. It was a great night ending with Lawler piledriving Rude on the stage as Savage dropped the elbow on Bundy in the ring.

My fond memories of wrestling are the reason why I hate when something happens to bring the mainstream media into the "sport". It always ends up being a full scale attack to condemn the activity and belittle its fans. This has been the case with the tragic death of the Benoit family. I think every station on TV settled for the same headline after it happened "Roid Rage?" Why I don't dismiss the idea that the drugs could have played a role in Benoit's actions should we dismiss all other explanations even before the toxicology reports are in. I have no doubt it will show Benoit had steroids in his system, but does that mean they caused him to kill? I am pretty sure Benoit has looked about the same the last ten years I have seen him in the ring, meaning he has probably been abusing steroids for a decade, why now do they cause him to murder his family? Plus if you pay attention to the news at all, how many murder suicides do you hear about a week? Are all these people on steroids? It was the easy story so the media jumped on it.

My favorite ridiculous media attack was committed by an ESPN Page 2 columnist named Jemele Hill. Her first criticism was of a WWE story line where they had killed off the owner Vince McMahon. She tries to connect a press release promoting the death in the WWE storyline to what actually happened. She writes, "The WWE got its wish, all right. The pro wrestling world was indeed leveled by a major death, creating the nationwide buzz it so desperately sought. Only this death wasn't staged, it wasn't McMahon's and it pointed to a much more significant problem in the "sport." WHAT? First I am going to guess that when the McMahon story line was introduced they had no idea one of their own was going to commit a gruesome murder-suicide. And I am prety sure they were not happy with their new "nationwide buzz". And to its credit the WWE immediately abandoned the fake death when real death became the story. Second it is entertainment. What is wrong with them killing a character on their own TV program. Ms. Hill does realize that even hardcore wrestling fans quit pretending this was real years ago doesn't she. That means everyone who knows the deal realizes it is just a story. Law and Order has stories "ripped from the headlines" all the time, killing off people in episodes that are "fictional and does not depict any actual person or event."(yeah right) But when WWE does it on their ENTERTAINMENT program something is wrong.

Then Ms. Hill makes one more arguement I can not ignore when she thoroughly researches an entire industry involving hundreds of people by watching a two hour documentary. She writes " Based on the things in "Beyond the Mat," we should almost be surprised when a pro wrestler doesn't die tragically." REALLY ? Based on one film about three wrestlers, one of whom was an idiot crackhead slowly killing himself in crappy hotel rooms, we should make this conclusion. Using that logic we could watch a few episodes of "Hogan Knows Best" and be completely shocked that all wrestlers don't live in multi-million dollar estates and help their children become pop stars. Either conclusion is ridiculous.

The one point we can agree on is too many wrestlers die at a young age. It is a physically demanding profession with too many nights spent away from home. One list I found shows 80 deaths before the age of 60 since 1985. That seems high and McMahon and his company should look into how to help reduce that problem among the people he makes millions of dollars off of each year. But here is another fact. Before Benoit killed his wife and child and then himself that number would have only been two less. (his wife worked in the ring at times as a manager) Where was the outrage then? Only when they had a sensational story to tell did the media suddenly care about the well being of professional wrestlers.

So the Benoit story is sad but don't use it to paint every wrestler as a roid rage maniac who lives a life of lonely drug abuse waiting for his tragic death. I hope the sport takes measures to stop some of these tragic deaths because it is sad to know that Rick Rude, Hawk, Junkyard Dog, Mr. Perfect Curt Hennig and many others who entertained me as a child are already gone. I wish they were still here. I am a wrestling fan.

BO KNOWS I have never wanted to be a black French guy named Tony so much in my life. Multiple NBA titles and Eva Longoria. My teachers were right life is not fair.

BO KNOWS naming a baby is a big decision but I saw a story this week that people now pay hundreds of dollars for consultants who choose a list of potential names for them. How ridiculous is this? I guess it does keep you from naming your child ridiculous things like Apple, or Kal-el, or 4real or my favorite Autumn Sullivan Corbett Fitzsimmons Jeffries Hart Burns Johnson Willard Dempsey Tunney Schmeling Sharkey Carnera Baer Braddock Louis Charles Walcott Marciano Patterson Johansson Liston Clay Frazier Foreman Brown. What did happen to Mary?

BO KNOWS I was never really a comic book fan but more of a lover of the cartoons made using comic book heroes. So I wonder when they will quit messing around and make the film I really want to see.

BO KNOWS most of you on the internet have already seen the last clip here, but if you haven't give it a look and have a good week.