Oh Happy Days!

It's official. Winnipeg is back in the NHL. Pending an approval vote by the other owners, Winnipeg's True North Sports and Entertainment has purchased the Atlanta Thrashers and will move the team to the Manitoba capital for the 2011-2012 season. I can't really believe I am able to type these words because just like that, after 15 years of heartbreak and torment watching other Canadian cities, or worse, southern American cities that don't know the game, are not passionate about it and couldn't care less are given franchises that are destined to fail; playing at the start of every October and enjoying a playoff run forLord Stanley's Grail if they're lucky.



I do feel for the hockey fans in Atlanta. This is exactly what happened to my Jets in 1996. There was no owner to step up and absorb the losses and to have a new arena built. Without deep pockets and a state-of-the-art arena, you simply can't survive in today's NHL. Let's hope upon hope that the new owners in Winnipeg can be different, better. That's not a shot at former owner, Barry Shenkrow; he did everything he could and then some. He had warned the city for years that a new arena would be needed to be feasible and competitive in the NHL, but no one listened until it was much too late. This is the second time Atlanta has lost a team. In 1980, the Atlanta Flames headed north to Calgary and went on great success, becoming one of the power-house franchises in the 1980s and won the Stanley Cup in 1989. Even this current Atlanta/Winnipeg team has a promising future with a good nucleus of young, talented players such as Evander Kane, Andrew Ladd and Rob Schremp. More than a few of these players are excited about the future of playing in front of an actual audience, despite what you've heard in the media about their concern for the weather. As lame as an excuse that is.

Unless you're from places like Atlanta or Quebec City, you can't possibly fathom what it's like to lose your team. The old Jets franchise (or team, to be exact) really was the heart and soul of Winnipeg. You can tell that by all the Jets jerseys you see being worn today...and yesterday and the day before that and the week before that and the years before that. They never went away in the mind of Jets fans world-wide. And I do mean that...world-wide.

Even fans of other Canadian teams in other cities wanted a team back in Winnipeg.
Nathan Jacobson, a Winnipeg-born businessman who now lives in Israel, the announcement brought back warm memories of the city’s past – the entry into the old World Hockey Association, the signing of Bobby Hull to the sport’s first million-dollar contract, the team’s entry to the NHL and its rivalry with Wayne Gretzky’s Edmonton Oilers. He received e-mails from around the world yesterday from former Winnipeggers excited about the team’s return."

"He recalls doing business in Russia where people may have known little about Canada but they knew the Winnipeg Jets."

Either way the thousands of ex-Winnipeggers who still consider the city home once again have a team they can call their own.

“You never leave it. You never do.”

And that's what it is to be a Jets fan.

WOO HOO! Go Jets go!

P.S.

I told you so.

Randy "Macho Man" Savage Dead at 58

Randy "Macho Man" Savage,the iconic wrestling superstar from the 80s and 90s died Friday morning after he suffered a heart attack while driving with his new wife, and collided head-on with a tree. He was rushed to hospital, where he later died of his injuries. His wife survived with minor injuries.

This one is personal. Not personal like I knew him, but personal in the fact that I grew up watching wrestling (still do actually) and the Macho Man was my boy. When Eddie Guerrero died it sucked. When Chris Benoit shocked the wrestling world with the details surrounding his death, it sucked worse. But I grew up on the Macho Man. While all the other rabid fans of 1980s and 1990s were digging Hulk Hogan (whom I still consider to be public enemy #1) I was cheering on Macho. In fact, you could say that I was one of the few fans who actively cheered on a "heel" before it was a cool thing to do (read: Stone Cold Steve Austin or the nWo).
I remember sitting in math class in grade eight when I was 13, only paying attention to my drawing in my notebook of Savage flying off the top rope onto another down and out, defeated victim.

I remember that one particular Saturday morning I was watching WWF Superstars and the news came that Savage had beaten Tito Santana for the Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship. It was February 8, 1986 in the Boston Garden. That's the day Macho Man forever cemented himself as my all-time favorite wrestler. I admit, I was a Hogan mark when he was in the AWA, but when I saw Savage and the way he perfected his art of the "bad guy," I knew he was for me. He was cocky. He was arrogant. He was fast, tough and he could go. With anybody.

I also remember being in the third row on the floor-on the aisle-at the old Winnipeg Arena watching Macho Man and Miss Elizabeth walk down the aisle in an attempt to regain the WWF Intercontinental Championship from Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat in a steel cage match. Yeah. Dig that. It was during their "WrestleMania Revenge," tour after WrestleMania III. Yes, they had the "Revenge" tour back then too. By the way, the cage was one of those chain-link kind, not the big blue steel cage, they usually climbed out of, made famous on Saturday Night's Main Event. I hate those blue cages.

Macho Man eventually lost the match, when victory was attained by escaping the cage, when he tossed Steamboat into the door and Steamboat fell out of the cage. Sounds suspicious huh? Well, I actually had a honest to goodness picture of the exact moment Steamboat's head hit the cage before it flew open and you can clearly see that the lock on the cage wasn't fastened. When I got that picture developed (Uh huh, remember, this is 1987) I was like, WTF?! I actually thought of sending the picture to the WWF to dispute the victory. I didn't of course. But I was that pissed that Mach got ripped off. I can't believe I lost that picture. Best shot ever. Actually the other one I had was better. It was a great shot of Macho Man slumped on the stairs, exhausted and bloody. And yep, I don't have that one either.

It was the little things Savage did that was magic to me. From his beautiful manager, Miss Elizabeth (Elizabeth Houle, who eventually became his real-life wife) to his, what the late Gorilla Monsoon coined as "intestinal fortitude," to of course his in-ring skills. His pulling Elizabeth in front of him to stop his opponents from advancing on him when action spilled out onto the floor, to his cat-like move of hopping back into the ring between the first and second rope to of course; his one-of-a-kind flying elbow drop. Nobody did it better. Nobody. His jabs were lightning quick, he sold better than anybody and his interviews were the stuff legends were made of, which of course he is and will continue to be. His improv interviews with Mean Gene Okerland and Gorilla Monsoon will never be duplicated. If this doesn't put him into the WWE Hall of Fame, Vince McMahon is a total jagoff, regardless of his past with Savage. To that end, it saddens me that if Macho Man does get into the Hall, we will never the less never get to hear that acceptance speech from Randy himself. That bothers me. It's bad enough that the WWE took forever to release a savage career DVD, but when they finally did with the "Randy Savage Ultimate DVD Collection," they had no interviews with the Macho Man or any of his past opponents. It was hosted by...Maria and Matt Striker?
Although here will be no speech, I cannot fathom the crowd not chanting "MACHO!, MACHO!, MACHO!" several times. But sadly and regrettably, there will be no "Oh Yeaahhhs" from the man himself. I personally regret never having the chance to meet the man. That would have been a thrill of a life time for me.

Randy "Macho Man" Savage was a six-time World Heavyweight wrestling champion. Twice in the WWF (World Wrestling Federation) and four times in the WCW (World Championship Wrestling) as well as holding the aforementioned WWF Intercontinental title, which he lost at WrestleMania III to Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat in what many consider the best match in WrestleMania history if not WWE history. Certainly one of the best in wrestling history, period. There's a legacy for you. He was also a United States champion in WCW and held several regional titles including his father, Angelo Poffo's ICW heavyweight title and Jerry "The King" Lawler's Memphis-based USWA (United States Wrestling Association) heavyweight title.

Savage started his career (after being scouted by Major League baseball and was in fact in the St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds and Chicago White Sox minor league system for a short time) in the ICW (International Championship Wrestling) with his father Angelo and brother Lanny.

His life and career can be found here from Wikipedia.


Behold the awesomeness of the Macho Man!



































God bless you Macho Man. The greatest professional wrestler that ever lived. Rest in peace.

Behind the Madness

The greatest ever! The Behind the Madness documentary from World Championship Wrestling.

There's Still Hope

And this one is looking even more promising.
However that's all for now, since I learned my lesson about getting too excited until there's real confirmation. That would be in the form of a press conference by Mark Chipman announcing that Winnipeg indeed has been awarded a franchise by means of relocation of the Atlanta Thrashers.

Well, I Guess They're Staying Put.

At least for one more year. D'OH! I guess the city of Glendale/Phoenix don't mind keeping a team that can't draw flies and hasn't made a profit in 16 plus years. Oh, and hasn't made it past the second round of the playoffs since 1987. Where was the team then? Oh yeah, where they shouldn't have been moved from in the first place!

Jerry Lewis to Retire from MDA Telethon

After 45 years, Jerry Lewis is retiring as host of the Muscular Dystrophy Association’s Labor Day Telethon.

I remember watching this as early as the mid-1970s. Back then you had all the same stars of the day as you would see on the Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson (the only real host that's ever been on that show. There will never be another Johnny) and Dean Martin's Celebrity Roasts. At any given time on the Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon you wouldn't be surprised to see the likes of Frank Sinatra, Jimmy Stewart, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, Even Dean Martin appeared after the "Chairman of the Board" got he and Lewis talking again after years of not doing so during one of Sinatra's surprise appearances.

Every year the telethon would beat its own final tally of contributions sent in by the American public. One year would see $25-$30 million dollars. The next year would be $35-$40 million. The year after that would be $45-$50 million and so on. International donations based on regional telecasts would go to local MDA affiliates. 2010's telethon raised almost $60 million for Muscular Dystrophy research.

Lewis has been doing this since 1966 when one local New York television station broadcast the event that raised in excess of $1 million. He ends every telecast with his rendition of "You'll Never Walk Alone."

They've Killed Obi Wan, Those Bastards!

Lord Vader has announced the killing of Obi-Wan Kenobi at the Imperial Palace on Coruscant.

Another KISS Show in Windsor, Another Show to Get Excited and Blog About

Yeah, that's right. I'm posting to let everyone who doesn't care one iota that I'm going to another KISS concert in Windsor, Ontario.

When KISS last appeared at Caesar's Windsor in 2009, just prior to their October release of "Sonic Boom," I though maybe it was a mistake. Perhaps a booking faux paux that somehow landed the Hottest Band in the World right in my own back yard; much like what happened when I was still living in Winnipeg in 1993 when Paul McCartney was booked to appear at Winnipeg Stadium due to a scheduling conflict somewhere in North Dakota. Now, after purchasing tickets to an upcoming show at the same venue (the Coliseum at Caesar's Windsor) I'm thinking, wow, these guys will really indeed play anywhere their fans want to see them!

I won't go into my love of the band or how I got into them (that can be found here) but suffice to say, I am once again jacked! This will be the fifth time seeing them and the first since back in September of last year at the DTE in Clarkston, Michigan. On 9/11 to be precise.

I will be posting about the show, per usual, about one or two days later. Hopefully some pics to follow as well. This show is going to be about a month before the release of their yet un-named 20th studio album. At a great KISS fan site (aptly named KISSfansite.com) of which I am a member, of course, they asked the community there what in their opinion should be the name of the new album? There was everything from "Destroyer II" to "Annihilator" (with the cover of the band laying waste to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame-which the HOF so richly deserves. Not just because they have continually failed-on purpose-to induct one of the most influential and successful bands of all time, but also because the idiots at the "Hall" put in "artists" such as Madonna, ABBA and rappers) although I believe ZZ Top's juggernaut of an album-the one with Sharp Dressed Man, Legs, etc-had that name already. My personal favourite of names for the new album was "The Return of Abner Devereaux." If you've seen the crappy, but oh, so awesome KISS television movie of 1978, "KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park," you'll understand the reference.

The tickets cost me $268 Canadian. Which is only slightly cheaper than the last Coliseum show in July of 2009. But now, just as then, I don't care. As long as the tickets aren't in the neighborhood of $250 each (which may be in the next couple of years) I'll pay whatever. More over, if no one wants to go with me (and for the love of God, how could they not?) I'll go by myself if I have to. In this case, my roommate is going to go , because he never turns down a party. Holly, my usual road/concert buddy, who went with me the last two times at the Coliseum and the DTE, can't go this time due to previous engagements. BOO! Ah, I'm sure she'll hear all about it. And I'm sure she's sure, too.

So, as of this writing, 78 days till Paul, Gene, Tommy and Eric rock Windsor like it's 2099!

Did I mention KISS rules!?

Yeah, Really! WTF!?!?

How does this happen? How can this be legitimately recognized?