National media’s attention focused on Tennessee about a week ago when Governor Bill Lee signed into law a bill potentially stripping protesters of their ability to vote. At least that was the attention-grabbing narrative during an election season rife with incessant screeching about voter suppression. The context of SB 8005 adds no shine to the law and blunts that narrative’s credibility.

As interest and energy waned in Seattle’s “Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone,” talk of establishing a similar community in Nashville started briefly on social media. Governor Lee wasn’t keen on a similar “summer of love” in Music City, warning protesters Nashville would never allow a Volunteer State version of CHAZ. Continue reading →

This week I’m telling you my all-time favorite “crazy but true” story. It’s about the time “The Tennessee Stud,” Ron Fuller, wrestled in the Bahamas.* I first heard Ron tell it a couple of years ago and this unbelievable yarn still tickles me to this day. My problem is any written version of this won’t nearly do it as much justice as if you heard it from the man himself. Check the link at the bottom of the post to remedy that.

“Dynasty” is an excellent term to describe the Fuller/Welch family’s impact on the wrestling world. Their influence spans 90 years across four generations. Countless grapplers learned the business from the family.** Ron’s grandfather, Roy Welch,*** was a master promoter with a knack for turning a dying town into a cash cow for the wrestling business.**** Continue reading →

Dear readers, we gather this week to mourn the death of Stuart Baker’s career.

Baker was until recently a voice actor on the Adult Swim cartoon “Squidbillies,” and booked musical acts as “Unknown Hinson,” where he sings “his own hilariously politically incorrect songs” while dressed like “Dracula’s nasty little brother.”*

His career death came last week when he did something no one with a soul, and no red-blooded redneck, could tolerate: he spoke ill of Dolly Parton. Continue reading →

Happy Friday, everyone! I decided this week we’re going to make a bit of a departure from the usual material here, so today we’re going to discuss a movie: “Hudson Hawk,” the 1990s ensemble action/comedy film starring Bruce Willis.

I’m not going to even attempt to sell you on the strengths of this movie, because there are none. In fact, held against the scope of Bruce Willis’s works, “Hudson Hawk” might be the worst Bruce Willis film ever. Every great artist has an occasional flub, and in the case of “Hudson Hawk,” the flub is so spectacular you absolutely must take a couple of hours out of this weekend and view it. Continue reading →

This week Federal agents arrested American Ninja Warrior star Drew Dreschel. Charges against Drew range from “manufacture of child pornography” to “travel with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor.” According to TMZ, Dreschel will be held without bail until his trial in New Jersey as a judge found him to be a flight risk and danger to the community.

Drew is well known in the Parkour/Freerunning world in addition to his appearances on NBC’s famous obstacle course competition show. I’ve trained with Drew on a couple of occasions. At the time TMZ broke the story, I made a rather bland social media statement. Continue reading →

Today we’re going to visit a story about America’s national pastime, cultural insensitivity, and how one determined lawyer can fuck everything up. In other words, this is about as American a story as one can tell.

Baseball is a game played all over the world. It’s common to see players in Major League Baseball from all nationalities. Even though it’s referred to as “America’s National Pastime,” there are leagues in places like Japan and Korea where games draw huge crowds of enthusiastic fans. These days, if someone in a league overseas wants to play in MLB, it’s not hard for agents to negotiate a deal for that player to come to the states. Continue reading →

The New York Times, a former newspaper*, ran an article last week with the apparent goal of making average Americans feel bad for ultra-wealthy New Yorkers slumming out the pandemic in second homes. I am not making this up.

Some passages in the article are so mind-numbingly tone deaf one wonders how this ever made print. Emphasis in all this is mine.

“I’m working more than normal, and there is no downtime,” Ms. Smith said. “I used to leave the office and go to Starbucks for a vanilla latte, or just take a walk around the block. Now, if I want coffee I have to walk by my son into the kitchen, so there is no break between work and being a mom.” Continue reading →

Mixed Martial Arts, or MMA, is a uniquely American sport developed in our lifetime. It’s a billion dollar business these days, and the biggest name in the game is the Ultimate Fighting Championship, or UFC. Today’s fight cards, however, are a far cry from the batshit insanity that was the first Ultimate Fighting Championship.

The idea of a used car salesman turned ad executive, the Ultimate Fighting Championship was envisioned as the ultimate test of various fighting styles. Art Davie loved the idea of seeing who would win an actual fight between a boxer and a wrestler, for example.* Everyone he pitched the idea to turned him down. Davie’s idea finally caught on with a guy who had a vested interest in making such a tournament happen. Continue reading →

Deputy Ernesto Miranda saw a lot during his law enforcement career. From his time as a DEA agent to his current post at the Mud Lick Sheriff’s Department, the veteran cop thought he’d come across just about every unusual encounter possible.

Nothing compared to what was happening in the Driftwood County Circuit Courtroom right in front of his eyes.

He was a witness for the District Attorney’s office on a case, patiently waiting for the call to the witness stand. The case currently before Judge Daniel Spaulding was bizarre in its own right. Continue reading →

This week’s post is going to be completely different from anything I’ve ever tried here. Today, I proudly assume the mantle of consumer critic. Yes, I’m still a motivational speaker, but I have to hone various talents while venue bookings are finalized.

Like far too many of us, I am addicted to my cell phone. Whether acting like a fool on Twitter or engaging in a few levels of “One Finger Death Punch 2,” that little black rectangle commands way too much of my attention. My self-awareness led me to check out a device called the “Palm Phone.” Continue reading →