• Look Back In History
• Pmessages
• Quiz
• Stump The Staff
• Top Fifty
• Close

Duggan comes "Hoooooooo-me"

Posted: Nov 12th 2006 By: CMBurnham

QUEENSBURY -- "Hoooooo!"

That was the word they were dying to hear, and "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan didn't disappoint.

In town for an autograph signing at The Fun Spot on Saturday, Duggan was barely inside the door near the snack bar of the amusement center when he let fly with the one word catch-phrase. And his fans bellowed it right back.

Duggan, one of the finest athletes to come out of Glens Falls, and undoubtedly the biggest celebrity to come out of the city, is still a commanding presence. Yesterday, he wore a tight black athletic top that revealed the same hefty muscular upper body that helped make him a professional wrestler - albeit with a fraction more heft around the middle, too.

Duggan is 52 now, has tan leathery skin and long hair that hasn't thinned. His locks seems a little blonder than they once were, perhaps kissed by all those years living with his family in the Floridian sun. Then there are the hands - those gigantic hands - which shake other hands warmly, but, honestly, seem empty if they're not holding a two-by-four.

Bridget Hinchcliffe of South Glens Falls came with her sons Matthew, 11, and Mark, 6, and they brought their own two-by-fours to be signed.

"I think they'll be part of the bedroom decor," Hinchcliffe said. "In the corner will all the other stuff."

Lisa Stein of Saratoga Springs, who brought her daughter Rachel, 7, and son Jack, 9, and his friend Michael, 10, said wrestling is a fixture at home.

"This is great," Stein said. "He's such a hometown guy."

Duggan himself said he used to come home half a dozen times a year, before his father died. Now he visits his sister Sheila a couple of times a year. His daughters like coming up to see the snow.

'Hacksaw' Jim Duggan autographed an action figure for Ron Costanzo, 27, of Glens Falls, Saturday at The Fun Spot in Queensbury. Costanzo says he has been a fan of Hacksaw since the early 80s.
"There's nothing like coming home," Duggan said.

"He was the baby," Sheila said, looking on. "He's always been fun, always very down to earth, always nice to children and older people, and very polite."

On Saturday, Duggan even stopped off at New Way Lunch for his favorite local delicacy - "dirt dogs." He only had four dogs though. Maybe he's watching his weight. Although he hasn't been in wrestling for a few years, he recently signed a two-year contract with WWE, and is back on Monday Night RAW.

On Friday, he was in Detroit doing publicity for Wrestlemania XXIII. They're expecting 78,000 people at Ford Field next April Fool's Day. Duggan was there 20 years ago, at Wrestlemania III, the site of ìthe body slam heard round the world," when he and 93,000 others watched Hulk Hogan lift up and let go of Andre the Giant.

Today, he flies to Manchester, England, where he'll be wrestling in Monday Night RAW, broadcast live to the U.S. at 9 p.m. on USA. Then he flies home to Florida to be with his kids. And in December, he'll be going across to do shows for the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.