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JR's Blog: Chris Jericho Thoughts...'New Look'...Yahoo Sports Radio...Hitman Calls...JR's Cookbook Great For Beginners and Old Pros.

Posted: Jan 5th 2012 By: CMBurnham

I appreciate all the birthday wishes we received on January 3 for my 60th. One is only as old as one feels and I'm feeling great. It must be all those great products from http://www.wweshop.com/JimRoss. Here we go....

The return of Chris Jericho to Monday Night Raw in Memphis as the mystery person in the series of vignettes that aired on WWE TV has been met with a great deal of discussion from fans and pundits.

For the record, I liked it. Also, to be honest, about half way through the presentation, I was having my doubts. Then I saw what I perceived that Jericho was attempting to accomplish and thought that his presentation was unique and certainly unpredictable.

The theory behind producing an episodic, entertainment program like Monday Night Raw is to always provide some measure of a pay off, don't give away the farm, and to always make sure that the broadcast leaves the air with the fans wanting more and willing to return next week to see the 'rest of the story.'

Even though, like many fans, I would have enjoyed hearing what Y2J had to say about why he has chosen this point in time to return, I fully understand the episodic nature of the beast. I am interested in Jericho's return and will tune in next Monday night to hopefully learn more of this storyline.

By saying absolutely nothing and by using facial expressions and body English, Jericho actually said volumes. At least that's how I felt after the segment ended. The fans in Memphis seemed to be getting peeved at Jericho who they had just cheered moments earlier. Was that the intent? Stay tuned.

Many more questions were figuratively asked than answered and when all was said and done I was left wanting more. In my view and as someone who has helped produce weekly TV for many years, that's a win.

Today's fans, specifically the younger ones, seem to want instant gratification and seemingly are uncomfortable waiting for stories to evolve. Some even complain when two, skilled talents have multiple matches. Those types of fans would have had a tough time of it back in the territory days when some rivalries between main event level talents lasted, at times, a year.

I now have a specific reason, based on what I saw this past Monday, to invest my time in Monday Night Raw this coming week. This time will Y2J speak or communicate in yet another unique and unpredictable manner?

Onto another crazy topic and one that has zero impact on the big picture in sports entertainment...my 'new look.' I showed up on Fox Sports Oklahoma's TV broadcast of the @okcthunder game Tuesday night sporting a new, gray goatee. Why? Well, the gray aspect is easy...I'm a 'mature gentleman.' (No jokes please.) The reason I grew the goatee was simply because I hadn't shaved in about a week or so during the holidays and when I decided to shave I thought, what the hell, let's see what a goatee would look like as I have never displayed any facial hair to speak of in my life.

My appearance, which was simply a cameo to promote the OKC RAW on February 6 in the arena in OKC, made the late edition of ESPN's Sports Center of which you can find likely on line and on our Twitter timeline @JRsBBQ. (By the way, it was fun attending an OKC event and not getting 'fired.')

The goatee likely isn't going to last long term, too high maintenance, but it surprisingly has folks talking. I guess it has been a slow, news week. For the record, I call it my "Rooster Cogburn" look.

Our family business at WWEShop.com remains brisk and you can easily browse our page there by using this link: http://www.wweshop.com/Category/JimRoss. Most folks know that all our products are just as efficient indoors as on a grill but if you need help with recipes then you might want to consider buying JR's Cookbook which are personally signed by me and are available to be shipped any where via WWEShop.com. The packages with the signed swag make great gifts for any occasion.

I'll be on http://www.yahoosportsradio.com this Saturday morning at 10:30 central time with my friend Sean Pendergast and we will talk WWE, MMA, Football and more for about half an hour. This is a national show on approximately 200 stations and can be accessed on line as well. Tune in if you have the time. Sean is a big fan and always provides me with some great questions and topics.

Had a really nice, post birthday call today from Bret Hart who is enjoying the weather at his home in Kona, Hawaii. Bret is feeling great and I always enjoy visiting with the Hitman.

The list of folks from within the biz who reached out to me on my landmark birthday with personal phone calls, text messages and via Twitter @JRsBBQ was humbling. It was like a who's who within the business and their acts of kindness were sincerely appreciated.

Remember that tomorrow comes with no guarantee and while I hope to have many more birthdays I take none of them or even a single day of my life for granted.

Thanks for the visit and the support. Be well and count your blessings daily.

Boomer Sooner!

J.R.