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JR's Blog: Monday Update...Random Thoughts...Facebook & Twitter...Place Your Orders Today and Enjoy FREE SHIPPING

Posted: Jan 11th 2010 By: CMBurnham

Thanks for stopping by our site on a much warmer, pleasant day here in Norman, Oklahoma.

It was nice seeing a few fans Sunday night at dinner at JR's Family BBQ and, as always, the food was really good....but I'll freely admit that I am biased. Our smoked turkey is becoming one of the regular items on my diet as I have increased eating turkey, chicken and fish in the hopes of getting healthier and it is working.

Our on line business is steady and we look forward to your orders and will endeavor to get them shipped via Federal Express Ground ASAP. Order today and your delivery will be made in mere days.

Mike Tyson, as we have mentioned here before grew up as a HUGE WWWF fan as a kid in Brooklyn, was a big Chief Jay Strongbow fan as best as I remember from my conversations with the one time "Baddest Man on the Planet." Mike even told me of making his own toy wrestling ring so he could re-enact what he saw on WWWF TV. Tyson likely missed a big payday or two by not venturing into a pro wrestling ring on PPV back in the day.

Too bad to hear about the untimely death of Tony Halme aka Ludvig Borga who had a brief stint in WWE many years ago. Ludvig had a great look and was a fair hand in the ring. I do remember that we had to make sure and cover up an "SS" tattoo that he had on his calf which was not a flattering choice of ink and was extremely politically incorrect for any generation.

Oklahoma plays Oklahoma State in Bedlam hoops tonight here in Norman and that's where I will be for the game that will be televised on ESPN in prime time. My Sooners of our great, young coach Jeff Capel are struggling and might get pile driven by the Pokes tonight at home. Coach Capel grew up a HUGE Ric Flair fan in the Carolinas.

Talked recently to Stacey Carter, former bride of Jerry Lawler better known as Stacey "The Kat" Carter back in the day in WWE who is now in the real estate business in the Ft. Myers, Florida area. The Mrs and I are planning on heading to that area when it warms up there and Stacey is lending us a hand with finding us a place to stay. She said that she has a reality TV show in the works with CMT that it has a chance of being picked up. It will center around Stacey, her former career in wrestling and her new career in real estate and will feature cameos from recognizable, veteran wrestling stars. I hope that she has a hit on her hands and more importantly that the show gets a chance.

I did some "You Tubing" this weekend and if you have not checked out any of the classic tag bouts with Dr. Death and Terry Gordy either in Japan or WCW, I encourage you to do so. There was a point in time where Williams and Gordy were, without question, the best tag team in the world and are discussed in the same breath as the Funks along with Stan Hansen and Bruiser Brody as the top foreign tag teams in Japanese wrestling history.

Seems as if there are rumors floating on the 'net about Doc being inducted into the WWE HOF this year but that's news to me and as best as I know only another wrestling INTERNET rumor.

No pro wrestler in the past half century has had the success in two, division one sports that Steve "Dr. Death" Williams earned at Oklahoma University. A legit, four time All American in wrestling at OU and a man who was a 3 year starter in football, played in four bowl games, earned all Big 8 honors as an offensive guard and who was elected Captain of the team by his teammates. Doc used to tell me what a curse it was to walk into any room, know that he was the toughest man there, and seemingly always have to prove it the resident alpha male. In Mid South Wrestling, any wrestler that got whipped in a bar fight with a civilian got canned by the boss, Cowboy Bill Watts. That's one reason that Doc was always so popular to socialize with because the "boys" knew that no one was going to whip Doc in a fight. The "boys" were right.

Condolences go out to Jerry Lawler along with the friends and family of the late Jim White, who died a few days ago, and who was instrumental in helping the King learn the ropes in pro wrestling and was Jerry's first tag team partner. Along with manager Sam Bass, White was a great mentor to Jerry who credits Jim White with helping get the King started correctly in the biz. Jerry always talked fondly of both Bass and White when the King and I would travel together back in the day when we were partnering on Monday Night Raw.

Can you name the top 4 heavyweights in pro boxing or amateur boxing for that matter? Neither can I. Pro Boxing, in general, is on life support and the proposed Mayweather-Pacquiao fight, which I still think will eventually happen, is the only fight on the horizon that can universally excite the boxing fans and get them to emotionally invest in the genre and purchase PPV's in a big way. Sad to see the "sweet science" fall so far. Sleazy promoters and a lack of exposure of the product on free TV has helped destroy the game.

MMA is killing boxing simply because MMA are creating new stars, having exciting fights and using various TV vehicles to expose their product for sampling to prospective, new fans.

Good to see Urijah Faber, the California Kid, become MMA relevant again Sunday night with a much needed victory in his home town of Sacramento. Faber has a load of charisma and is extremely marketable and talented. UFC is missing the boat by not getting this Kerry Von Erich lookalike on PPV.

Strikeforce's show featuring Herschel Walker is an attraction driven event to many in the general public but for MMA purists the CBS broadcast should feature plenty of legit action. Walker's inclusion on the network broadcast is akin to the old days in a pro wrestling territory when Andre the Giant was brought in for the once a year battle royal or a wrestling promoter bringing in women wrestlers for a rare appearence...in other words these performers were "attractions." How can the 47 year old Walker be considered anything else but an attraction? I expect that CBS uses Herschel and Cris Cyborg as their promotional hooks for the show that airs from Miami during the Super Bowl festivities and should garner a great deal of press from the media who will be in Miami for the Super Bowl. I actually think that Strikeforce can maximize the female side of MMA with the likes of Cyborg and Gina Carano along with other athletic women that the promotion can develop. This provides Strikeforce with a degree of exclusivity vs. UFC.


We have updated your Q&A's here on the site as of Monday afternoon. I invite you to check them out. Some discussed my return to Smackdown which I do not perceive to be a lock. Any thing can happen in any negotiation that one does in any profession. Plus, why would any one feel compelled to breakup Grisham and Striker?

Gray Maynard, who was on the same high school wrestling team as Dolph Ziggler, will be tested big time Monday Night against Nick Diaz, one of my favorite fighters, on UFC's Fight Night.

We are getting a fair amount of orders from folks buying our products as gifts for others which is really cool and very much appreciated. Our products are already at the top of their category in our local Homeland Grocery stores by the way. If they can continue to do well we hope to have them in over 70 Oklahoma Homeland stores this spring.

The personalized, autographed JR's Cookbooks make a great gift for the wrestling fan in the family and I will be happy to inscribe whatever you choose to the recipient. It's only $18.88 and that includes shipping and handling.

Follow us on Facebook at http://facebook.dj/jrbbq/.

I've been doing some Twittering here and there including mentioning recently that listening to Joe Buck, who's hair color is somewhat mysterious and seemingly ever changing, and, specifically, to Troy Aikman provide commentary on NFL games is challenging with which to listen. Buck is solid but he's not close to his Dad, the late Jack Buck, but young Joe is "hip and cool" and that's seemingly all that matters these days to many TV producers. Aikman seems to be in his chair because of his playing exploits and doesn't measure up to Cris Collinsworth or Phil Simms as former player turned broadcasters.

If these broadcasters are trying to "tell me a story" with less emotion and less personality then it's working.

To show you how far broadcasting football has fallen over the years because of the overexposure of the product, ESPN's Craig James still has a job.

We are still getting several emails regarding the imaginary "Monday Night Wars" of which I am still confused as to just who is warring. When opposing shows go head to head every week and that occurs over several months, please get back to me on how the war is going. Until then, I have no knowledge of what many of our emailers are discussing. Don't get me wrong, I love to see keen competition on any level and competition makes everyone better but until the players go head to head in the same game on the same field then the "War" hasn't begun in my view.

Thanks for stopping by and for keeping those orders rolling. Be well and count your blessings.

Boomer Sooner!

J.R.