News From Cook's Corner 12.21.06
Posted by Steve Cook on 12.21.2006
I think I threw up my Christmas spirit in the bathroom of the RCA Dome Monday night.
You haven't lived until you've pissed in a parking lot and thrown up in the bathroom of a major sporting venue. That, in a nutshell, sums up my trip to Indianapolis to watch the Bengals lose to the Colts. We all had a blast...the only downside was that the Bengals didn't show up for the game. Somebody showed up and wore the orange and black, but it wasn't the Bengals that we know and love. Other than the game sucking, much fun was had by all. Yay massive drinking!
It's just enough to take my mind off the really bad sports week I've had. My Louisville Cardinals got whipped by damn Kentucky in college basketball action on Saturday, then the Bengals lost on Monday and all three of my fantasy football teams that were still in the playoffs lost. Bad times.
As you probably noticed, yesterday there was no Ask 411 Wrestling column...that was due to me being really busy over the last week and not having the time to properly do the column the way it should be done. Ask 411 will return next week, you can still send questions to scook411@hotmail.com if you'd like. Or you could send me love advice. Either way.
What?
You can vote for the 411 Wrestling Zone Writers Awards right now! I expect to do about as well in the voting as Ralph Nader does in presidential elections.
One more thing before we start it off...
Ohio Valley Wrestling Presents a night of Professional Wrestling coming to Cincinnati, Ohio!
Jan 6th @ the Lincoln Community Center
1027 Linn Street
Cincinnati Ohio
Don't miss an Amazing night of action and see all your favorite OVW stars live and in person!
Doors open at 6:30pm and Bell time is 7:30pm
ALL tickets for this 1st ever OVW Event in Ohio is only $5 (usually $12) Bring the whole family at the great LOW Price.
Tickets available @ the Lincoln Community Center. For more Info call Sharon at 513-721-6514
OVW is an OFFICIAL training center for WWE (WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT)
Watch OVW every every Saturday afternoon @ 1pm on the new CW in Cincinnati.
www.OVWrestling.com
All you readers in the Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky area should come out to this thing, it should be one hell of a show. Right down the road from my place of employment, too. I'm looking forward to it and you should too!
Time for the news...
And people say Angle's insane...
Dave Meltzer reports that TNA Entertainment head Dixie Carter actually believed that WWE would accept the Million Dollar Challenge from the Voodoo Kin Mafia.
You know, there's not even anything I can say afterwards that would make that news item any funnier than it already is. Sorry folks, if that costs me a few votes in the writer awards so be it, but I'm just not that funny.
New WWE road agents/producers/whatever
Steve "Dr. Death" Williams and Robert Gibson are the latest additions to the producer team. What you need to know is that Steve Williams was apparently "aghast" at the state of things in OVW. To be fair, this was after he walked into "Fearless" Jack Bull's locker room and saw Jack's "training methods" for his matches. I'd be aghast too after seeing that.
The Condemned receives great praise
The Condemned, starring Steve Austin, will be released April 27th and is said to be the best production by WWE films thus far. Isn't that like being the skinniest kid in fat camp? Or the best song on Kevin Federline's album?
Konnan gets hip replaced, Joe takes time off due to knee injury
Konnan finally had hip replacement surgery yesterday in Mexico, and will remain in the hospital for the next few days. There is no word yet on when he will return to action in TNA or Mexico.
Samoa Joe will not be wrestling at the ROH shows this weekend due to the aggravation to his knee injury he suffered at the Impact tapings 2 weeks ago. He will be wrestling at Final Resolution, and you can probably guess who he's wrestling against.
I don't think the ROH fans will miss Joe too much because this weekend's all about Homicide finally winning the ROH Title. Right, Ari?
Ari: BROOKYLN, BROOKLYN!
Exactly.
JP & JT: Hey Cook, quit stealing our gimmick!
Sorry guys, I gotta fill space somehow, and I don't have enough time to dig up Traci pictures.
Csonka: Because they're too sticky, right?
Larry knows me way too well.
This ain't right
To quote my dad: "What the fuck?" You gotta feel bad for Joey Mercury...unless they end up pushing him because of all this. Then you just slap him on the back and say "Job well done, kid." Let's hope he does get a push, Mercury's a heck of a wrestler. This is the result of a broken nose and 14 stitches to the outside of the nose and 4 inside. That doesn't sound like a whole lot of fun.
I don't like the new TNA interview girl
Why? From an article on TNA's website...
Degree: Graduated from the University of Kentucky in 2002, with a psychology and finance degree.
Fuck that shit. The only good thing that ever came out of UK was Rick Pitino, and even he was smart enough to leave.
No, I'm not bitter about the loss last Saturday. Why do you ask?
In related TNA news, you gotta watch the Director's Cut of the PCS Pushup Challenge from Impact last week. It is absolute gold.
Jay Lethal: Why do I have to go first?
Kevin Nash: Because you're black.
Tremendous!
WWE SHOOTS on Angle
The latest edition of WWE Magazine takes a shot at Kurt Angle by giving him the "Good Riddance Award" and writing about him "What's the best way to re-invent yourself? Walk out at the peak of your career! Worked wonders for Lex Luger and Randy Savage." It's good to see that WWE isn't bitter at all about Kurt Angle leaving them, much like I'm not bitter about Louisville losing to Kentucky. Not at all.
Plugs
We've got some newbies coming in thanks to 411 hiring...let's take a look at two of them!
Dan Wilcox writes Schmozzes and Screwjobs, a column that talks about different...schmozzes and screwjobs. I remember him writing in to Ask 411 Wrestling, so he's obviously good people and deserves your attention.
Zac Calhoun brings us The Ripple Effect, which is probably a cousin to The Butterfly Effect. Whatever happened to that column anyway? Anyway, this guy's not a pretentous asshole...yet. We all get to the point where we become one, and I expect no different from him.
This doesn't have much of anything to do with wrestling, so you can go ahead and click on Dunn's latest Spiderman review (those things rule, go check out the 411 blogs for that stuff if you haven't already) or Fact or Fiction if you like.
I had a friend in preschool that I never saw again afterwards. Shortly after the school year ended, he suffered brain damage...a tree fell on his head. For the rest of his life, he pretty much remained in a vegatative state...he was able to do some things, apparently he was an artist in the Special Olympics, but he couldn't do much. He died this week at the age of 22.
I never really thought about him too much, to be honest. I remember my mom telling me about what was happening with him a couple times...I thought it sucked, but like most things in life that suck, I just said "damn, that sucks" and moved on. I never saw him again after preschool, and never really thought about seeing him. I think I was too young to think about matters of life and death like that, and I wouldn't have been able to handle seeing him in that kind of condition. He obviously wouldn't have remembered me, and I can't think of any reason his family would have either. I haven't had to deal too much with death in my life...with the exception of two of my former teachers and a friend of the family, I've been blessed in that the people that have been closest to me are still alive.
But this whole thing has made me think a little bit...for all the complaining I've done in the past 17 years of my life, at least I've gotten to have a life. I might not have everything that I want, but things really aren't bad at all. For all the bad days I've had...at least I've gotten to have days.
Some people aren't that lucky.
You have to live life to the fullest of your capabilities. Nobody's situation is perfect, but there's always somebody worse off than you are who would love to be in your shoes. And as bad as things might seem sometimes, they can always be worse. Be happy with what you do have, and make sure you realize how lucky you are to have those things every day.
While his death does make me sad, it also makes me realize how lucky I am to be where I am today. To have a roof over my head, a steady job, people that care about me, a platform to spread my views to millions of people...I can only imagine how much he would have loved to have all of those things.
