Rant #148: Another Wrestler Passes

I don't know if everyone saw this, but another popular wrestler just passed away.

And he passed away before he turned 40.

Known as Umaga, this burly wrestler was one of the hottest athletes in the WWE stable until a few months ago, when he was let go by the organization after supposedly many months of rehab due to assorted injuries.

He was best known as the Samoan wrestler with distinctive tattoos on his face, and he was part of the legendary wrestling family led by Chief Peter Maivia, a clan that includes Dwayne Johnson, also known as The Rock.

What is going on with professional wrestling? Why are so many of these young men dying at such early ages?

Well, we know from the Chris Benoit tragedy of a few years ago that the sport is rife with drugs, whether it be performance enhancing drugs (PED) or the other illegal kinds, everything from pot to cocaine.

We also know that the sport is bereft of health insurance for its athletes.

The schedule is grueling. The WWE is a 24 hour/365 day job that only a few can handle. Even when some move onto the other top wrestling organization, TNA, the easier lifestyle does not preclude the battering that these young men--and women--get on a regular basis.

It is clear that this beating--both physical and mental--makes many of these athletes old before their time, but the fame and wealth that can be accrued by being part of these organizations seemingly far outweighs, in the athletes' eyes, the possible health hazards.

I think it is time for professional wrestling to be regulated once again, if for no other reason than to see to it that these organizations have even stricter rules related to drugs than they already have--and the rules that they already have seem to be weak and not working.

For every wrestler that gets suspended or kicked out for drug usage--like Umaga--there are probably many others who abuse drugs yet go undetected, because the right tests are not in place.

Sure, other professional leagues have had the same problems as professional wrestling, but I believe their testing, which is in place now, is working to a certain degree.

But professional wrestling is a different animal altogether. To skirt the legal regulations, the organizations have declared themselves to be entertainers, and acknowledge that the results are often, if not all the time, fixed.

This way, they don't have to be regulated by state governments, like they used to be and like their cousin sport, boxing, is.

They are entertainers, and if entertainers need to be tested before they perform, I guarantee very few rock concerts would go on as scheduled, for obvious reasons.

That is why the time has come to re-regulate professional wrestling. Some governance and oversight is needed, because not only have the WWE and TNA created their own worlds, they have created their own rules, and that is just plain wrong.

With some rules in place, a wrestler like Umaga could get the treatment he needs, to continue his life, which I think is more important than him continuing in wrestling.

That oversight is necessary, and needed now.

Rant #147: Swine Flu By Me

What is this hysteria over the swine flue virus anyway?

Every 30 years, we seem to be inundated with reports that a new strain of the swine flu virus--in this politcally correct world, now called H1 N1 so as not to offend pigs, I guess--has come about, and that we all must be innoculated or we will spread the virus to the masses and die.

I didn't buy it then, and I don't buy it now.

I am not saying that the virus is one to shun altogether--there are certain groups that should be innoculated, including high risk groups like the elderly and those with weak immune systems.

But this mass hysteria ... well, I don't know about that. The media loves to pick up on a cause, and the cause the past few months has been swine flu.

The Obama administration is also going full tilt into this, and will be getting the innoculation word across through some new ads that we will start seeing soon.

How piggish of all of them!

I guess I am lucky. I am not in a high risk group, and it is really my choice whether I get the shot or not.

But I vote not to get the shot. I don't think I need it, and I don't think the threat is all that great.

True, I am not a doctor, but I just don't feel I should get a shot for a virus that I don't feel I am going to get. And if I do get it, I don't think that it will hamper me that much.

Admittedly, this could be a foolish decree. I could get it, and I could get very sick from it.

But I am willing to take my chances. It seems that most people who do get it recover pretty quick. There is a small minority who get it and get very sick--or even die--from it.

Just like from the regular flu.

I also don't like school children being forced to get the shot. At this stage of the game, I think it is necessary to have a parent's consent before kids get this shot.

Again, my mind could change instantly if the swine flu becomes a threat to myself and my family. But right now, I think it isn't, and thus, I won't be getting the shot.

I take shots enought each year for my allergies--two shots each month for the past nearly 40 years--to be so brazen. I am not afraid of the shot, itself, I am just afraid that the shot is completely unnecessary at this stage of the game.

And I hope it doesn't become necessary any time soon.

I have to tell you, I survived measles when I was a child, several years before they came up with an shot for it. I remember, I must have been about two years old, being quarantined in the house. No one could see me. It was bad, but I survived.

I also had chicken pox in my late 40s. That was not fun, either, but I survived that one too.

I will survive this one, I think, so I will bypass the shot ... at least for now.

Rant #146: I Must Be Dreaming ...

I really thought I was dreaming, especially after my previous rant ...

The Knicks and Nets won on the same day, with the Nets breaking their 18-game losing streak.

Well, I thought I was in a dream-like state then, and maybe I still am, but then I was given this bit of news:

The Dave Clark Five's entire catalog is to be released, only on iTunes, but not CD.

I could swear I was dreaming, but evidently, on all accounts, I am not.

On Friday night, the Knicks beat the Hawks, 114-107 in Atlanta, no less.

During the same evening, the Nets ended their record-setting skid, beating a really sorry Charlotte Bobcats team, 97-91.

And as far as the DC5 news, you can read all about the DC5 releases at www.dc5bitsandpieces.com. And you can participate in a discussion about this announcement at my Dave Clark Five Yahoo Group at http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/DC5/.

I still swear that I must be dreaming, but since I'm not, I thought I would present to you a special Saturday Ranting and Raving entry.

And yes, I guarantee my previous entries on the Nets and Knicks and the DC5 had a major impact on these stories (oh yeah, right!).

Heck, I still say I must be dreaming. Can somebody poke me or something ...

Rant #145: Hardwood With Knot Holes

I grew up in New York City in the 1960s. I was born in Brooklyn, moved with my family to Queens when I was a toddler, and lived in Kew Gardens Hills and South Jamaica--Rochdale Village--Queens until my family and I moved to Long Island right before I was to go to high school.

Thus, basketball is in my blood.

It is the true city game. No matter what community you talk about--rich or poor, large or small, black or white--New York City kids play basketball. Even if it is just shooting a Spalding into a garbage can, kids play basketball there as much as they do anything.

It was certainly like that in the 1960s, and it evidently continues today. This is especially true in poorer neighborhoods, where basketball can be a way out for those talented enough to use the sport as a stepping stone for something bigger.

Anyway, the college game has never been huge in New York City, or at least compared to other places, for probably 40 years or more. Our regional team is St. John's, and they have had a bumpy ride the past few years. Almost every college and university in New York City and its surrounding areas have college basketball teams, but New York City is really a pro town ...

And that leads me to the sorry state of affairs of New York City's two area basketball teams, the Knicks and New Jersey's Nets.

The Knicks, once one of the proudest teams in sports with a rich heritage, are an absolutely horrid franchise, a laughing stock, run into the ground by the likes of Isiah Thomas and the current ownership and executives, including Donnie Walsh. They claim that they are looking toward next year, when numerous top-line free agents are available, to stock up their team as a serious challenger to the title. LeBron James is among a number of enticing possibilities, but what happens if these superstars look at the current state of the Knicks--including their currently dismal and sure to get much worse 4-15 record--and take a pass? What happens to your plans then, and especially since the team does not have a first round draft pick next year?

And then we come to the Nets. This vagabond team--which started out in the ABA in New Jersey, came to Long Island where it had its greatest success, and then went back to New Jersey, bouncing from arena to arena, and the team is now supposed to go to Brooklyn in a new arena in a few years if all legal challenges can be hurdled--is in the middle of perhaps the worse stretch of professional sports any team has seen in history.

The team has started off the season at 0-18, the worst start in NBA history and creeping up on the worst season start in professional sports history. The team has been decimated by injuries, recently fired its coach, and is a visitor in its own environs. There is no end in sight, and the league worst record of 9-73 by the Philadelphia 76ers in the early 1970s looks to be challenged by this team.

So the two teams combined, right now, are 4-33--and this is in a pro basketball crazy city, no less.

The two teams meet on Sunday afternoon at Madison Square Garden for the second time this season. Obviously, the Knicks won the first contest, but it might actually be the best chance that the Nets have to break into the win column before the end of the year.

What a sorry state of affairs for both teams!

With the Giants and Jets having up and down seasons, and the area's hockey teams still trying to prove their potency, the New York area is going through the basketball jitters.

Thank goodness the Yankees are still around--heck, watching the Mets during this past season had to be an easier exercise than watching the Knicks and Nets right now!

Rant #144: Not Out of the Woods, Yet

This is supposed to be the holiday season. Everybody is supposed to be happy, anticipating the end of the year, and the joyous celebrations that are about to come.

It's been a slow news week, or weeks, but one story just keeps on giving:

Tiger Woods!

Yes, Mr. Perfect has shown himself to be anything but.

Every day, new revelations come out about who he was supposedly involved with, what happened during his car accident, why he ran from his home in the first place ... and we, as the news-hungry public, are eating this up like it was Christmas dinner.

Women are also coming out of the woodwork, saying that they had affairs with Tiger. In fact, one woman, with the appropriate name "Grubbs," has said that she had a multi-year romance with the golfer, and has emails and photos and such to prove it.

Well, bully for her! I am sure that Playboy will be calling on her soon, as well as all the other floozies who are chiming in on this major media event.

Tiger, himself, has offered something of an apology, saying that he was a bad boy and will make up for his transgressions.

Heck, it it wasn't for this story, what would we do with our lives? There is nothing really going on now, and the public does not seem to be infatuated with the President's Afghanistan plan yet.

Just think ... if it wasn't for this story, the top story of the day might be that Meredith Baxter came out of the closet!

It's a wonderful time of the year, isn't it?

Rant #143: I Don't Like Country Music, But Campbell Had the Soup, Nesmith the White-Out

Country music is ingrained in our country's rich musical heritage. Some call it white people's soul music, but whatever it is, it is, from Hank Williams all the way up to the latest country stars.

Country music was often thought about as "hillbilly" music by many, and this thought was perpetuated by many of the popular country acts of the late 1950s and early 1960s, such as Tennessee Ernie Ford. It wasn't his fault, he and others were just perpetuating this stereotype to get their music heard.

Ford was probably the first real country music performer I can ever remember seeing on TV, and I am not just talking about his appearances on "I Love Lucy." For some reason, I do remember watching his TV show as a young child--I must have liked the way he talked, which was so different than anything I was hearing around my Queens, New York, neighborhood.

Anyway, country music has always embraced television as a platform to get its music heard. Who can forget "Hee Haw," the CBS castoff that lasted for two decades as a syndicated show? It made Buck Owens, Roy Clark and the rest of the ever-changing cast pretty big stars in the late 1960s and 1970s.

But, to finally get to my point, with country so much a part of our musical landscape, I have never been much of country music fan, as a kid or to this day. Maybe I just don't get it, but I just don't like the music, whether it is traditional country music or the watered down, pop-oriented stuff (heavily influenced by the Eagles) that we hear today.

But I always liked Glen Campbell and Michael Nesmith.

Campbell was one of the most sought after session guitarists in pop music in the 1960s. He almost seems like a Zelig-like figure. He played on so many hit singles before the general public knew who he was--everything from the Beach Boys to the Monkees--and he also put out a slew of interesting albums before he became a megastar.

And yes, he became a megastar through the medium of television, as did Nesmith.

The "Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour" ran for just a few seasons, but the music that came out of that show was substantial. Campbell had his biggest across the board hits during this period--"Gentle On My Mind," "Galveston" and "Wichita Lineman" come to mind--and the playing on that show was legendary.

Sure, a lot of purists probably thumbed their noses at Campbell, but he was one of the people who helped bring country music to the mainstream.

In the intervening years, he has had numerous hits--remember "Rhinestone Cowboy"--and a lot of tabloid coverage due to his herky jerky personal life, but Campbell is, and will always be, the real thing, at least to me.

Campbell, along with Nesmith--for his country-rock in the guise of pop that he did while he was very high profile with the Monkees--are, to me, the unsung heroes of bringing country music to the real mainstream of American music. You can say the same for Ray Charles, whose legendary country/soul/pop crossover albums are certainly part of the equation--but both Campbell and Nesmith used television to get their musical points across, each and every week.

Nesmith has often been derided as a phony, every since his days with the Monkees and the controversy surrounding the musicianship on their early recordings. But starting with the first Monkees album, Nesmith knew exactly what he was doing. Not only did he write, play and produce his own tracks, but, as the Monkees fame grew, he was able to use both his bandmates and top sessions performers to make his music viable.

Although he never had a huge hit on his own with the Monkees, his tunes adorn Monkee albums from the first LP to the next to last one the group produced: "Sweet Young Thing," "Good Clean Fun," "You Told Me," "Salesman," and "Tapioca Tundra" are just a few of his Monkees tunes.

His music also ventured into other areas, such as psychedelia, but I think he was always true to his country music roots. The incredible popularity of the Monkees enabled us to hear country music because it wasn't country music with the Monkees, it was pop. So we heard an evolving country music almost through osmosis.

Nesmith has done so many other things since his Monkees years that it would take another post to list them all, but he is certainly one of the forefathers of modern country music, even though few would acknowledge that fact. His early non-Monkees albums embellished him as a ground-breaking musician, and his hit "Joanne" solidified his legacy during that period.

So, for you Carrie Underwood and Taylor Swift fans, go into your parents' record collections and find their Glen Campbell albums, and Monkees albums, and listen up--you will see where your roots really are.

Rant #142: Is Jeter the Only One Left?

With the Tiger Woods incident turning into a public relations fiasco for the world-famous golfer and his family, a bit of news crossed the wires yesterday that gave me hope that perhaps all of our sports heroes aren't as tarnished as they appear to be.

Sports Illustrated announced on Monday that it will honor Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter with its Sportsman of the Year award.

Jeter is the first Yankee among the magazine's honorees, dating back to 1954. This is remarkable in itself, because during the past 55 years, the Yankees have had a slew of stars play for them, including Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, Whitey Ford, Reggie Jackson, Don Mattingly ... the list goes on and on.

And in this world of athletes taking advantage of their celebrity to do stupid things, Jeter appears to be a throwback to a different time, when athletes did their talking on the field and that was about it. No, athletes were not angels during previous generations--certainly Babe Ruth, for one, was not Mr. Perfect by any stretch of the imagination--but at least their transgressions weren't paraded around for all to see.

Jeter does it all on the field, he does it through his charitable foundations, and, of course, he can fill one hand with the championship rings he has earned. He is a winner in all respects, comes from a good, solid family (which I think is part of the reason his swagger is so limited), and he has been blessed to play on teams that were outstanding, including this year's World Series winner.

Yes, as everyone knows, he has also been linked to some of the most beautiful and famous women in the world, but somehow, that part of his life has never been exploited. He has never married, has not fathered children out of wedlock, and pretty much does his "kinoodling," so to speak, away from the cameras.

And as one of the real "rock stars" in sports, it is amazing that the whim of young females has not been part of his life.

And in this star-obsessed world that we live in, his "clean living" is something to be commended.

Look, I know that Mickey Mantle was portrayed by the media of his time as an angel, and it was only toward the end of his career that we found out he was a heavy drinker, a carouser, an adulterer, and many other things about this athlete. Who knows, somewhere down the road we might find out that Jeter is not the person we thought he was.

Look at what happened to the late Kirby Puckett in Minnesota. He also was portrayed as an angel, and we later found it that he was pretty much the devil in disguise.

But somehow, with this guy, I just doubt that he is anything different than the Jeter that we all know.

The Dec. 7 issue is scheduled to hit newsstands on Wednesday, featuring Jeter on the cover, leaning against the 161st Street Yankee Stadium subway stop in full uniform, a photo that was taken after the World Series.

You just have to admire this guy. He is still in his mid-30s, still plays a great game--he not only hit .334 this year, but won a Gold Glove for outstanding defensive play--and his future appears to be a bright one, even when he decides to hang it up.