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JR's Blog: Lesnar-Cain..Taz in WWE..new, Mantle book..Professional Politicians..Matt Hardy..Free Shipping Near the End

Posted: Oct 17th 2010 By: CMBurnham

Beautiful Saturday here in Norman. It's game day with the Sooners' Homecoming game against Iowa State kickoff a little after 6 tonight. I'll be on the Sooner sideline, black hat in tow, on the game televised by Fox Sports Southwest.

Lots of random thoughts, feedback on recent Q&A's, Tweets, etc so let's get rolling...

Brock Lesnar is reportedly at 265 as we speak so there will be no cutting weight for the UFC Heavyweight Champion for next Saturday's eagerly anticipated title defense against undefeated Cain Vel?squez. I see this as good for Lesnar fans because already being at the required fighting weight will prevent Brock from having to tweak his diet or training regime prior to the fight in Anaheim. Even though Lesnar will fight lighter than he originally fought in UFC, the former WWE Champion, NCAA All American and National Champion is still beastly strong which could be an key factor in his next encounter in the Octagon. Point is that Lesnar has lost no strength with his lesser weight plus Brock's cardio, one would assume, will be enhanced by not having to carry so much mass in what is expected to be an extremely competitive fight. If Vel?squez's camp thinks that Lesnar is going to 'gas' after a round or two then they need to re-evaluate their strategy because that isn't happening. Brock only took two weeks off after defeating then undefeated Shane Carwin and went right back to serious training mode for the Vel?squez fight. Lesnar won't be coming off a near one year layoff for this fight either. I could see this PPV doing between 750,00 and one million buys unless the economy is weaker than many perceive.

Emailer...biggest ever ECW star? Very arguable...very subjective...to me it was Taz in the ring but the MVP outside the ring was obviously Paul Heyman who captained a 'pirate ship' of eclectic personalties. Taz would have been the biggest star from ECW to hit it big in WWE if injuries had not derailed him in a WWE career that started with Taz tapping Kurt Angle in Madison Square Garden. I always thought Taz could have been a major player in the ring for WWE.

Emailer....I have no crystal ball, I wish that I did as it would make my football life easier, so I don't know how Jeff Hardy will do in his new persona. Does anyone conclusively know? Probably not but time will certainly tell. New roles require different skills and nuances which some talents master and some don't. It all comes back to presentation and execution over an extended length of time.

Some on Twitter and Email asked if I was going to read the new book on Mickey Mantle that is allegedly going to paint my boyhood hero with a negative brush. It won't be the first time and nor was #7 a choir boy. Abusing alcohol and having the notion that his life was going to end early can make the best of people make bad decisions. Mantle admitted he was not the person he should or could have been and largely one could look at his abuse of alcohol as a primarily culprit. I'll likely read the book but it won't change my mind as to my image of the Commerce Comet.

Old school radio voices, the guys who painted great stories with their words and exploited the theater of the mind on radio, are so much better broadcasters than the vast majority of TV broadcasters today. Virtually every sports fan can relate to an old school voice who was the long time broadcaster for their favorite college or pro team at some point in their lives. I've got many including the St. Louis Cardinals Jack Buck & Harry Caray, Oklahoma's Bob Barry along with the Legendary Voice of the Georgia Bulldogs, Larry Munson.

Recipe idea...if baking something like chicken in the oven, use our sauces to baste the chicken during the baking process to add some awesome flavor. If broiling meat in the oven, apply our sauces of choice the last 3-5 minutes of the broiling process. My wife broils salmon and we apply the JR's BBQ Sauce the last couple of minutes or so to the salmon and it rocks.

BTW....our newest product, JR's Main Event Mustard, got cleared Friday with the nutritional facts and we should now be able to accelerate the process of getting the 'sweet and spicy' honey mustard with personality in stock sooner than later. For most folks, this will be a very healthy condiment.

Emailer...no I did not see the Bill Maher Show Friday night as I was tailgating but I've seen myself be 'kicked' south of the border before. BTW I'd enjoy being a panelist on Bill Maher but the worn out footage from an old RAW episode has never bothered me as it was merely a pay off to a fictional skit on a TV show. However, professional politicos love to take the voter's eyes off the ball and the legit issues of an election to focus on nonsense like my punted Spauldings which has seemingly made just about every 'news' show on TV. That's another reason that I'm not a fan of politics in general and particularly those that involve professional politicians who try to hide behind the moniker of 'lifetime public servants.' Stop the pain.

Speaking of not so bright politicians, the USA doesn't have the franchise on that matter. How smart are the political decision makers in Vancouver who have essentially made it impossible for a WWE or a UFC to promote events in their beautiful city due to insane tax requirments?

Fred Wilpon, owner of the New York Mets among other valuable holdings, is apparently, according to several emailers and the beloved internet, going to attempt to start a pro wrestling company. Run, Fred, run as far as you can from this ill conceived idea. Seriously, if Mr. Wilpon's group, who are obviously well funded, can find a team of objective, businessmen with extensive product knowledge and can obtain a viable clearance on national cable it might have a chance but not a good chance. BTW the issue of finding 'objective, businessmen with product knowledge' is an issue in today's marketplace.

Here's wishing Matt Hardy well as he navigates the next phase of his career. Matt will likely have some time to reflect on his career and intensely prepare for the next phase. Matt had a great run in WWE where he gained notoriety and earned a fine living. Matt wanted to move on from WWE after being there for over a decade which is pretty amazing once one thinks about it. I remeber hiring the Hardy's back in the day and even remember that they designed and physically made their own wrestling attire. How many wrestlers can you picture working away at a sewing machine?

The Q&A's on the site have been updated as of midday Saturday.

Former Texas QB Colt McCoy makes his first start of his NFL career against the Steelers in Pittsburgh Sunday. We'll be watching that one for sure as Big Ben returns to the field after being nailed w/ a 4 game suspension by the NFL for alleged, hideous behavior toward women. Interesting sub plots all but McCoy will likely have a violent day dealing with the Steel Curtain defense. (BTW we still make better ketchup than Heinz...field...get it?)

We expect that this will be the last few days of our across the board FREE SHIPPING here on the site so if you are so inclined you might want to hit us with an order this weekend to take advantage of that matter. Thanks for the business and please keep us in mind for your holiday shopping needs.

When we make the tweaks to the store here at this site, we will be launching the newly packaged, larger, resealable bags of our custom made JR's Beef Jerky.

I need to hook up with "The Kings of Leon' guys who are all OU Football fans. Maybe they need a 'guest roadie' for a tour or two.

Raw from Calgary should be fun Monday night. I would assume Bret Hart will be on hand if for nothing else to say hello to everyone. I called hundreds of events in my career but none was likely more intense or organically exciting than the WWE PPV we produced in Calgary during the Stampede that culminated with the 10 man tag featuring the Hart Foundation. For pure passion and for a live audience to make such an emotional investment in an event, this one will stand the test of time.

Have a great day and remember that any orders you place this weekend will be shipped on Monday via Federal Express Ground....FREE.

Boomer Sooner!

J.R.