Post by Snitsky on Apr 13, 2009 16:28:56 GMT -5
Another great weekend here in Oklahoma even though the rain put a damper on the Sunday Easter egg hunts. I attended the Oklahoma Spring Football Game Saturday along with approximately 30-40,000 fans which was a good time. As we speak, I am preparing to pack to fly EARLY Monday morning to Atlanta to be front and center for Monday night's three hour Raw which starts one hour early at 8/Central. There will no doubt be some that won't have a peaceful, easy feeling Sunday night when they put their heads on their pillows wonder what the "Draft" holds for them.
On the JR's business front, we are flipping our newest JR's Family BBQ in Moore, Oklahoma to a Louie's Sports Grill of which my business partner has 12 already successfully operating. For the BBQ biz to be successful one needs a drive thru and we were unable to build a drive thru in Moore plus we wanted to downsize in this economy. The Moore store seated about 200 and we have learned that keeping our seating to 100 or so works best for our genre. We have several other locations in the Moore area we are currently looking at as well as other locales in Oklahoma City and we still plan on expanding to the Tulsa area in due time as well. By "flipping" concepts in our old Moore location, I will be able to spend much more time in our Norman store at I-35 and Main (exit 109). Hopefully our regulars in Moore, only about 10 miles from the Norman store, will make the easy drive down to Norman and continue to enjoy the best BBQ in the State. We are also preparing to change our menu by adding 4 or 5 Mexican food items to go along with our slow, hickory smoked BBQ and country cooking. Sunday April 12 was the last day the JR's/Moore was open.
So now we own a thriving BBQ joint and an interest in one of the fastest growing sports grill concepts in the country. Financial experts call this diversifying while I simply call it making a smart business decision and not putting all of one's eggs in one basket while our professional politicos figure out how to fix our economy.
So it is all good on our end. We will continue to strategize our BBQ expansion plans and positively move forward.
Got a text Sunday from Steve Austin who is going to be down in Brazil for a few more weeks doing that phase of the movie Steve is working on with Sylvester Stallone. Steve took the book "Oklahoma Shooter: The Dan Hodge Story" with him and enjoyed reading about arguably the greatest combat athlete in America's history, Dan Hodge. Steve aptly described Danny in typical Austin fashion by telling me that Hodge was a "real badass." Indeed he was. I hope that you will check out this book as you will be amazed with Hodge's athletic feats on the world stage.
Regarding our Q&A's, I have updated a ton of new questions as of Easter Sunday. I hope everyone knows that I can't physically answer or address every question and the really long ones generally get erased. Also, the repeat questions get axed as a rule. You also should know that I likely don't have a typical/normal sense of humor and sometimes my answers can be somewhat subtle. If I offend any of you with those particular answers, then I apologize but I usually don't have a clue if I am being questioned by a young, naive kid or a wise guy. Also due to the volume of questions and my workload my answers are usually going to be on the succinct side of things. Don't take that personally and hopefully you understand the situation.
Amazing that the Lesnar-Mir fight for July 11 in Vegas sold out in advance to UFC Fight Club members with the public not even getting in the hunt. One can only imagine what the scalpers will be getting for tickets for this much anticipated fight. I'm not sure who UFC fanatics want to see get destroyed more, Brock or Mir.
MMA fighter Josh Barnett was at Wrestlemania with D.H. Smith and we had the occasion to have a nice visit. Josh is a really bright and talented young man. Well, except perhaps when he said he was "influenced" by my announcing style. Josh wants Fedor and is not intimidated by Fedor's vaunted rep.
Love the speculation on the 'net regarding the WWE Draft Monday night. Everyone seemingly has an opinion which one would think would drive Raw's TV rating up this week. I don't' know this to be a fact but my educated guess is that many of the draft decisions won't be finalized until late in the day Monday.
For the record, I have packed my bags for two nights on the road this week as I fully expect to be in Knoxville on Tuesday for ECW/Smackdown. If I go back to Raw, I would be shocked and if I were you I wouldn't take that option in the office pool.
Pittsburgh's Mark Madden's recent 'net article mentioning that "Vince McMahon should fire Jim Ross" is a really entertaining read. Madden is very creative and clever and I only wish his radio show aired in OKC. Madden was crucial in helping make the Ric Flair biography an excellent read. I don't think he personally likes me, which is cool, but the former WCW broadcaster is still an entertaining and bright guy who gravitates to controversy. Nothing wrong with that.
It's hard to believe that the WGN Superstars of Wrestling program debuts this Thursday. All fresh bouts from all three WWE brands will hopefully make this an entertaining show and will likely utilize all three broadcast teams....who ever they may be.
Last week we had some guests in our BBQ joint in Norman from the UK that flew into Dallas, drove north 3 hours to come to our place to eat and then turned around and went back through Dallas and drove to Houston for Wrestlemania. Norman is 8 hours north of Houston. True story.
Thanks for checking in and, please, if you are a youth writing us on our Q&A please denote such so that I don't make a jackass out of myself any more than I do on a normal basis.
My sincere thanks for those of you that shop with us and help us keep this site alive and well. If you're in our neck of the woods, I hope to see you in person at JR's in Norman.
BTW Backlash has apparently sold out for later this month in Providence. Take Care.
Boomer Sooner!
J.R.
On the JR's business front, we are flipping our newest JR's Family BBQ in Moore, Oklahoma to a Louie's Sports Grill of which my business partner has 12 already successfully operating. For the BBQ biz to be successful one needs a drive thru and we were unable to build a drive thru in Moore plus we wanted to downsize in this economy. The Moore store seated about 200 and we have learned that keeping our seating to 100 or so works best for our genre. We have several other locations in the Moore area we are currently looking at as well as other locales in Oklahoma City and we still plan on expanding to the Tulsa area in due time as well. By "flipping" concepts in our old Moore location, I will be able to spend much more time in our Norman store at I-35 and Main (exit 109). Hopefully our regulars in Moore, only about 10 miles from the Norman store, will make the easy drive down to Norman and continue to enjoy the best BBQ in the State. We are also preparing to change our menu by adding 4 or 5 Mexican food items to go along with our slow, hickory smoked BBQ and country cooking. Sunday April 12 was the last day the JR's/Moore was open.
So now we own a thriving BBQ joint and an interest in one of the fastest growing sports grill concepts in the country. Financial experts call this diversifying while I simply call it making a smart business decision and not putting all of one's eggs in one basket while our professional politicos figure out how to fix our economy.
So it is all good on our end. We will continue to strategize our BBQ expansion plans and positively move forward.
Got a text Sunday from Steve Austin who is going to be down in Brazil for a few more weeks doing that phase of the movie Steve is working on with Sylvester Stallone. Steve took the book "Oklahoma Shooter: The Dan Hodge Story" with him and enjoyed reading about arguably the greatest combat athlete in America's history, Dan Hodge. Steve aptly described Danny in typical Austin fashion by telling me that Hodge was a "real badass." Indeed he was. I hope that you will check out this book as you will be amazed with Hodge's athletic feats on the world stage.
Regarding our Q&A's, I have updated a ton of new questions as of Easter Sunday. I hope everyone knows that I can't physically answer or address every question and the really long ones generally get erased. Also, the repeat questions get axed as a rule. You also should know that I likely don't have a typical/normal sense of humor and sometimes my answers can be somewhat subtle. If I offend any of you with those particular answers, then I apologize but I usually don't have a clue if I am being questioned by a young, naive kid or a wise guy. Also due to the volume of questions and my workload my answers are usually going to be on the succinct side of things. Don't take that personally and hopefully you understand the situation.
Amazing that the Lesnar-Mir fight for July 11 in Vegas sold out in advance to UFC Fight Club members with the public not even getting in the hunt. One can only imagine what the scalpers will be getting for tickets for this much anticipated fight. I'm not sure who UFC fanatics want to see get destroyed more, Brock or Mir.
MMA fighter Josh Barnett was at Wrestlemania with D.H. Smith and we had the occasion to have a nice visit. Josh is a really bright and talented young man. Well, except perhaps when he said he was "influenced" by my announcing style. Josh wants Fedor and is not intimidated by Fedor's vaunted rep.
Love the speculation on the 'net regarding the WWE Draft Monday night. Everyone seemingly has an opinion which one would think would drive Raw's TV rating up this week. I don't' know this to be a fact but my educated guess is that many of the draft decisions won't be finalized until late in the day Monday.
For the record, I have packed my bags for two nights on the road this week as I fully expect to be in Knoxville on Tuesday for ECW/Smackdown. If I go back to Raw, I would be shocked and if I were you I wouldn't take that option in the office pool.
Pittsburgh's Mark Madden's recent 'net article mentioning that "Vince McMahon should fire Jim Ross" is a really entertaining read. Madden is very creative and clever and I only wish his radio show aired in OKC. Madden was crucial in helping make the Ric Flair biography an excellent read. I don't think he personally likes me, which is cool, but the former WCW broadcaster is still an entertaining and bright guy who gravitates to controversy. Nothing wrong with that.
It's hard to believe that the WGN Superstars of Wrestling program debuts this Thursday. All fresh bouts from all three WWE brands will hopefully make this an entertaining show and will likely utilize all three broadcast teams....who ever they may be.
Last week we had some guests in our BBQ joint in Norman from the UK that flew into Dallas, drove north 3 hours to come to our place to eat and then turned around and went back through Dallas and drove to Houston for Wrestlemania. Norman is 8 hours north of Houston. True story.
Thanks for checking in and, please, if you are a youth writing us on our Q&A please denote such so that I don't make a jackass out of myself any more than I do on a normal basis.
My sincere thanks for those of you that shop with us and help us keep this site alive and well. If you're in our neck of the woods, I hope to see you in person at JR's in Norman.
BTW Backlash has apparently sold out for later this month in Providence. Take Care.
Boomer Sooner!
J.R.
Hey guys! Now that I've had enough March madness & have experienced (I'll get to that later) that painful excuse for a 25-diva battle royal, it's officially time for "MCCOOL MADNESS!"
Before I get ahead of myself, let me start with several quotes. I haven't blogged in quite some time (I'm sorry for that, but to be honest I've been scared that I my hands might type before my head starts thinking. Know what I mean? There's lots of things that have been bothering me that I'm pretty sure I shouldn't blog about!) Who knows....I may do it anyway - as Michelle McCool inside the ropes of course?!?!
"Be so preoccupied with good will that you don't have room for ill will!"
"Hope is the feeling that you will succeed tomorrow at what you failed in today!"
"Big shots are only little shots that kept on shooting!"
"Faith is necessary to victory!"
McCool Outside the Ropes: Happy Easter to everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful day and were able to celebrate such an amazing day with family and friends. I was! It's been a whirlwind the past month....preparing for WM25, doing media and appearances for WM, actually participating in WM, etc.... Though it was extremely tiring, it was (once again) a dream come true.
This was my first "in-ring" experience and I feel so honored to have shared it with some true veterans who have always had and continue to have true passion and respect for a business I love so much. That's few and far between these days. We always get the question of which diva would we like to have faced from the past? My answer has always been the same: Molly Holly. I have nothing but respect for her ability, her passion, her character and talent. I can't even put into words what an honor it was to have been competing with her.
My parents were also present again this year at WM. That's always fun. They've been to a gazillion shows and they seem to have more and more fun every time they come. It's always an added bonus when you can share your dreams with the ones you love, the ones who have always supported you and encouraged you to chase after your dreams.
Ok, here we go..........(though I'm not sure where I'm going)
McCool Inside the Ropes:
Let's start with the draft. Who knows what the heck is going to happen tomorrow night in Atlanta during the 2009 draft? I for one have no idea. I do know this though. I don't care where I go or who goes where. All I care about is retaining gold in the very near future. It seems as if I have a lot of unfinished business with girls from every show now, but I'm going to touch on the ones you all seem to keep asking about.
Mickie James: I wouldn't mind being able to kick her butt around a bit on Smackdown. I've only really been in the ring twice now (for very short periods of time both times) and I can tell she has some spunk. Enough spunk to handle me....I doubt it? But, it would be nice to have a new challenge. If you watched WM, you saw that we got eliminated at the same time. Point being, I need to show her (and I'm sure it will be simple) that I am better than her!
Maryse: I could care less where she goes. She seems to become more selfish, self-centered and self-absorbed as the day goes by. Agree with me or not, I don't really care. There comes a point that things get REALLY personal and it has gotten to that point for me. I made her look good for a long time whether you and/or she want to admit it or not (and I'm not talking aesthetically...if you don't know what that means, look it up). This is a give & take business and I'm tired of giving to her. However, before she leaves I do plan on taking one thing from her...my championship. That's all I have to say about that. Next.....
Melina: I'd really like to be on the same show as her at this point! One reason, the women's championship. I WILL go down in history as not only the first ever divas championship, but the first diva to ever hold both the Women's title and Divas Championship. Mark my words...it will happen! Not only that, it's been almost 4 years since Melina and her 2 cronies at the time delivered the "snapshot" on me that put me out of action for several months. I can forgive, but I don't forget!
Anyway, I don't feel like wasting anymore of my time on the other divas tonight. I have an early plane to catch, so I need to get some shuteye! I'll just wait until later this week when everyone has been drafted to give you my two cents.
"Believe it, you are a real find, a joy in someone's heart. You are a jewel, unique and priceless. God don't make no junk!"
Continue to cherish each day as if it were your last. Faith to fight the good fight, heart to believe and soul to search within...
Love, mm
Before I get ahead of myself, let me start with several quotes. I haven't blogged in quite some time (I'm sorry for that, but to be honest I've been scared that I my hands might type before my head starts thinking. Know what I mean? There's lots of things that have been bothering me that I'm pretty sure I shouldn't blog about!) Who knows....I may do it anyway - as Michelle McCool inside the ropes of course?!?!
"Be so preoccupied with good will that you don't have room for ill will!"
"Hope is the feeling that you will succeed tomorrow at what you failed in today!"
"Big shots are only little shots that kept on shooting!"
"Faith is necessary to victory!"
McCool Outside the Ropes: Happy Easter to everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful day and were able to celebrate such an amazing day with family and friends. I was! It's been a whirlwind the past month....preparing for WM25, doing media and appearances for WM, actually participating in WM, etc.... Though it was extremely tiring, it was (once again) a dream come true.
This was my first "in-ring" experience and I feel so honored to have shared it with some true veterans who have always had and continue to have true passion and respect for a business I love so much. That's few and far between these days. We always get the question of which diva would we like to have faced from the past? My answer has always been the same: Molly Holly. I have nothing but respect for her ability, her passion, her character and talent. I can't even put into words what an honor it was to have been competing with her.
My parents were also present again this year at WM. That's always fun. They've been to a gazillion shows and they seem to have more and more fun every time they come. It's always an added bonus when you can share your dreams with the ones you love, the ones who have always supported you and encouraged you to chase after your dreams.
Ok, here we go..........(though I'm not sure where I'm going)
McCool Inside the Ropes:
Let's start with the draft. Who knows what the heck is going to happen tomorrow night in Atlanta during the 2009 draft? I for one have no idea. I do know this though. I don't care where I go or who goes where. All I care about is retaining gold in the very near future. It seems as if I have a lot of unfinished business with girls from every show now, but I'm going to touch on the ones you all seem to keep asking about.
Mickie James: I wouldn't mind being able to kick her butt around a bit on Smackdown. I've only really been in the ring twice now (for very short periods of time both times) and I can tell she has some spunk. Enough spunk to handle me....I doubt it? But, it would be nice to have a new challenge. If you watched WM, you saw that we got eliminated at the same time. Point being, I need to show her (and I'm sure it will be simple) that I am better than her!
Maryse: I could care less where she goes. She seems to become more selfish, self-centered and self-absorbed as the day goes by. Agree with me or not, I don't really care. There comes a point that things get REALLY personal and it has gotten to that point for me. I made her look good for a long time whether you and/or she want to admit it or not (and I'm not talking aesthetically...if you don't know what that means, look it up). This is a give & take business and I'm tired of giving to her. However, before she leaves I do plan on taking one thing from her...my championship. That's all I have to say about that. Next.....
Melina: I'd really like to be on the same show as her at this point! One reason, the women's championship. I WILL go down in history as not only the first ever divas championship, but the first diva to ever hold both the Women's title and Divas Championship. Mark my words...it will happen! Not only that, it's been almost 4 years since Melina and her 2 cronies at the time delivered the "snapshot" on me that put me out of action for several months. I can forgive, but I don't forget!
Anyway, I don't feel like wasting anymore of my time on the other divas tonight. I have an early plane to catch, so I need to get some shuteye! I'll just wait until later this week when everyone has been drafted to give you my two cents.
"Believe it, you are a real find, a joy in someone's heart. You are a jewel, unique and priceless. God don't make no junk!"
Continue to cherish each day as if it were your last. Faith to fight the good fight, heart to believe and soul to search within...
Love, mm
Tantrums, Tiara's and Anvilettes
Sunday, April 12, 2009, 11:15 AM EST [General]
Maybe it's a little late to talk about WrestleMania, but who can forget walking out and performing in front of over 70 thousand people? Plus, after the show, Kid Rock ended up in the Sharpshooter...or atleast he dreamed of it:)
This was a very cool moment for me, to be part of a Battle Royal at an anniversary WrestleMania, because my dad's first WrestleMania (WM2) was in a Battle Royal over twenty years ago. Looking back, Bret and Owen went nose to nose at Wrestlemania 10 in a brother vs brother match. That fight between my uncles, in that very historical match, proved their passion, perserverance and excellence.
Now for the 25th Anniversary of WrestleMania, I felt like I took it full circle for my family...I represented the third generation of Harts, and carried the torch my grandfather passed on to his sons, and now to his grandchildren. I did it, and I never doubted I would.
When I started, I don't think anyone would have ever expected me to make it as far as I did...and here I am doing extroardinary things, every single day. Just competing, performing and entertaining in a ring, with some of the greatest women wrestlers in the world, made me really proud of myself, how far I have come...and how far I am about to go.
Some people go there whole life without ever touching their dream, and I am able to live a dream life almost every day. It's incredible, really.
At Mania, I also sported a necklace, that was a gift from my dad...it is of an Anvil. I remember when he gave it to me, I thought it was really gaudy and tacky. It was huge and heavy and I told him it looked like something a crazy biker chick would wear (no offense to any crazy biker chicks out there)...but then I realized it was beautiful. It's an anvil, dipped in chrome, with a big chain holding it. I thought it would look more feminine, like Chanel, if I put a little pink ribbon into the chain.
I know how much it meant to my dad for me to have this, and I can't believe I didn't like it at first. It's strong, powerful, bold and different! Actually, it's very symbolic in a lot of ways. I don't think any other diva could pull it off, and I am just fine with that:)
...plus, it's a good foreign object, when the time calls for me to be a little nasty. Tyson agrees with me, too. Or atleast he better...
Until next time, I will allow the Universe to unfold as it should...the very best is yet to come.
Natalya
fans.wwe.com/natalya/blog/2009/04/1..._and_anvilettes
Sunday, April 12, 2009, 11:15 AM EST [General]
Maybe it's a little late to talk about WrestleMania, but who can forget walking out and performing in front of over 70 thousand people? Plus, after the show, Kid Rock ended up in the Sharpshooter...or atleast he dreamed of it:)
This was a very cool moment for me, to be part of a Battle Royal at an anniversary WrestleMania, because my dad's first WrestleMania (WM2) was in a Battle Royal over twenty years ago. Looking back, Bret and Owen went nose to nose at Wrestlemania 10 in a brother vs brother match. That fight between my uncles, in that very historical match, proved their passion, perserverance and excellence.
Now for the 25th Anniversary of WrestleMania, I felt like I took it full circle for my family...I represented the third generation of Harts, and carried the torch my grandfather passed on to his sons, and now to his grandchildren. I did it, and I never doubted I would.
When I started, I don't think anyone would have ever expected me to make it as far as I did...and here I am doing extroardinary things, every single day. Just competing, performing and entertaining in a ring, with some of the greatest women wrestlers in the world, made me really proud of myself, how far I have come...and how far I am about to go.
Some people go there whole life without ever touching their dream, and I am able to live a dream life almost every day. It's incredible, really.
At Mania, I also sported a necklace, that was a gift from my dad...it is of an Anvil. I remember when he gave it to me, I thought it was really gaudy and tacky. It was huge and heavy and I told him it looked like something a crazy biker chick would wear (no offense to any crazy biker chicks out there)...but then I realized it was beautiful. It's an anvil, dipped in chrome, with a big chain holding it. I thought it would look more feminine, like Chanel, if I put a little pink ribbon into the chain.
I know how much it meant to my dad for me to have this, and I can't believe I didn't like it at first. It's strong, powerful, bold and different! Actually, it's very symbolic in a lot of ways. I don't think any other diva could pull it off, and I am just fine with that:)
...plus, it's a good foreign object, when the time calls for me to be a little nasty. Tyson agrees with me, too. Or atleast he better...
Until next time, I will allow the Universe to unfold as it should...the very best is yet to come.
Natalya
fans.wwe.com/natalya/blog/2009/04/1..._and_anvilettes
