Vince McMahon's Newest Recruit

Normally, high school wrestling is full of grappling, referee stoppages and the occasional pin. Rarely does one of the participants execute a flashy move that wows the crowd. And honestly, I have no idea how this kid didn't hurt himself.



All it needs is a turnbuckle and a top rope, and this kid would be all set for Wrestlemania, brother!

Brandon's Wrestling Streak Has Been Suplexed

Brandon High's wrestling team had put together an amazing streak of wins over the past 34 years, but on January 5, 2008 it all came to an end.

In those three decades, Brandon High had amassed 459 consecutive victories and 468 matches without a defeat.

Brandon's streak for matches without a defeat began on November 29, 1973 when they defeated Chamberlain High 40-12. Their streak for consecutive victories began on January 28, 1974 when they defeated Robinson High 32-17. There is a 9 match differential because in between those two matches Brandon tied with Bradenton High 24-24 on January 26, 1974.

During "The Streak", Brandon produced 46 individual state champs, and they combined to win 66 individual titles. To put that in perspective, South Dade is second in the state with 38 individual titles in the entire history of their program. Brandon also put up numerous records for "most individual championships in one meet", garnering 6 three times and 5 once.

Brandon High put together an amazing streak of wins, but like all good things it eventually had to come to an end.

Pacman Just Wanted To Practice His Wrestling Moves

That lovable scamp Pacman Jones may have gotten into a little trouble again this past weekend. Because when you're not "making it rain" or "wrestling" professionally, the best way to pass the time while on suspension is to mix it up with your teammates.

Titans officials are investigating an apparent altercation between suspended cornerback Pacman Jones and defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth this past weekend, Coach Jeff Fisher confirmed Monday night.

"I am looking into it right now, but I am not going to comment,'' Fisher said after the Titans lost 34-20 to the Broncos. "We will look into it more (today).''

So it appears that something happened, but no one knows the severity of it. One thing Pacman can't afford is for the police to investigate, and ultimately charge him with a crime in connection with the altercation. However, it seems that they're at least going to check it out a little bit.

Metro police spokesman Don Aaron, in Denver on Monday night, said police did not have record of an incident involving the two players and no Titans players had been arrested. Aaron said he would explore the matter in more detail upon returning to Nashville.

That's probably what Pacman doesn't want to hear. Though, it will be interesting to see what the police uncover about this incident. My guess is that Pacman was practicing his "Superfly Splash", and that Haynesworth just got in the way.

Maybe I Should Reconsider My Non-Support of Pacman's TNA Wrestling

Just to get this out of the way, I'm not a fan of Pacman Jones. Since that's the case maybe I should reconsider my decision not to support his involvement with TNA Wrestling because I think that it might ultimately cost him even more support and success. Take his involvement with the TNA PPV event "Hard Justice" last night.

Jones entered the ring with the announcer saying:

"He is the most controversial figure in professional sports today!"

Well, Barry Bonds probably wishes that Pacman was the most controversial, but I digress. If you're trying to "rehab" your image do you really want people calling you the "most controversial"?

Then, what about when he actually made it into the ring and explained why he joined TNA?

He explained he wanted to join TNA because it "is the trendsetter and Pacman Jones is a trendsetter." When asked why he decided to wrestle, Jones said he wanted to show, "I'm the best team player that ever lived."

I'm not exactly sure what trend Pacman is setting by being partially involved with TNA wrestling matches, but I do know that he is not the "best team player that ever lived". If he was, he would have stayed out of trouble, and not forced the Titans to sign Kelly Herndon and Michael Waddell, and draft Ryan Smith. However, by saying that, he's projecting a level of arrogance that doesn't make him seem the least bit remorseful for what he's done. And he's pretty adamant about it.

"You talk a lot, know what I'm saying," Jones said. "You talk a lot. But one thing about me, I don't talk the talk, I walk the walk."

Sure, if "walking the walk" includes being implicated in a fight and triple shooting in Las Vegas, or biting a police officer.

In the end, Jones was shown backstage being carried out of the arena on a stretcher after supposedly being attacked(though, it is wrestling so I guess everything "supposedly" happens).

I understand that wrestling is scripted(there's something I have to tell you about Santa and the Easter Bunny too), and that Pacman is playing a character, but the crimes he's accused of and his NFL suspension are very real. Somehow I don't see his participation with TNA as being the best vehicle for showing that he's willing to change. But maybe that's the biggest reason why I should support his involvement with it.

PacMan Slated To Get Slammed This Thursday

In case you haven't heard about PacMan Jones' offseason plans, he's signed up to participate in events with TNA Wrestling. That's right, instead of playing on the field he'll be stepping into the squared circle for some involvement in one of the storylines(what? you mean wrestling is fake!).

PacMan is scheduled to make his debut this Thursday night, and it should be interesting to see just how involved he is. Though, he admits that he's a big wrestling fan so they'll probably try to use him as much as possible.

He signed a contract with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and will make his in-ring debut on Thursday, the company said Monday. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Jones' first appearance will be for its iMPACT! show on Spike TV, and he'll appear in a pay-per-view show on Sunday. TNA films at Universal Studios in Orlando, Fla.

"I am a big fan of wrestling, so I wanted to give it a try," Jones said in a statement. "I respect wrestling and I'm not coming in like it's just a show. I want to prove that I am the greatest team-sport athlete."

The greatest team-sport athlete eh? Riiight, because you're really helping your team right now. You remember, the Tennessee Titans, the team that drafted you to be their starting cornerback, but was forced to bring in some replacements due to your suspension. No matter what Jeff Fisher says, I have a feeling he wouldn't mind seeing PacMan get powerbombed through a table.

Chris Benoit Was A Former Customer Of Signature Pharmacy

Back in February when I first wrote about Signature Pharmacy in Orlando being raided as part of a steroid investigation I said "stay tuned because I have a feeling that more and more athletes are going to be named in the coming weeks". At that point, L.A. Angels outfielder Gary Matthews Jr. and Richard Rydze, a physician for the Pittsburgh Steelers, were the biggest names tied to Signature Pharmacy. Since then, Jason Grimsley, Jose Canseco and Evander Holyfield had been the only other athletes tied to Signature. Until today.

It was reported today that Chris Benoit, the WWE superstar that killed his wife and child then hanged himself over the past weekend, was a customer of Signature Pharmacy.

"After learning about the tragic deaths over the weekend, we were able to confirm that professional wrestler Christopher Benoit received packages from Signature Pharmacy and MedXLife," Albany County District Attorney P. David Soares said in a written statement.

It hasn't been made public yet how long Benoit was a customer of Signature, or how many "packages" he received from them. Though, it's been stated that officials knew that Signature was a steroid supplier since 2004, and they suuposedly did $40 million in business last year, so Benoit could have been involved to a large degree.

This isn't going to help Signature's case at all because a large amount of the media coverage so far has focused on whether "roid rage" caused Benoit to commit these horrible acts. Here's a sample of what the various major news outlets are reporting with regard to the Benoit tragedy:

CNN: 'Roid-rage' questions surround Benoit murder-suicide

FOXNews: Wrestler Chris Benoit Double Murder-Suicide: Was It 'Roid Rage'?

MSNBC: Cops eye 'roid rage' in wrestler's murder suicide

As you can see, the media is hitting the steroid angle pretty hard, and after asking the question of "was it 'roid rage?" they'll probably move on to "where did Benoit get his steroids?". Especially if toxicology reports come back showing large amounts of steroids in his system at the time of the murders. None of which bears well for Signature Pharmacy's founders.

College Wrestlers, Still Dirty. Concussions, Increasing.

The NCAA released their findings of a study that covered 16 years of data, and a couple of items were pretty interesting.

First the humorous, then we'll get to the more serious ones.

"In men's wrestling, skin infections proved to be a larger problem than previously thought, with about 20 percent of practice injuries related to skin infections. The report recommended better hygiene, for wrestlers and the mats."

Remember that the next time someone tells you they were a wrestler in college, and then shakes your hand or gives you a hug. Purell, stat!

The study also concluded that "more than half of all injuries were to the lower extremities", "injury rates were two to three times higher during preseason practices than during the regular season" and that the rate of concussions has increased dramatically.

"Rates of concussions increased from .17 per 1,000 athlete exposures in 1988-89 to .34 per 1,000 exposures in 2003-04. An exposure is every time an athlete participates in a game. Authors attributed the increase in part to improved reporting and identification of concussions."

Wow, the rate of concussions has increased twofold over the past 16 years. Yes, advances in medicine that have led to better detection has probably bumped the rate up a bit. However, with athletes becoming stronger and faster every year, and equipment staying relatively the same, something obviously needs to be done. The NCAA might want to follow the NFL's approach, and make this a priority in the near future.

Maybe Tony Stewart Wasn't So Wrong

When Tony Stewart compared NASCAR to professional wrestling a little over a week ago I bet he had no idea how right he really he was. Stewart got in trouble because he implied that NASCAR races had become like pro wrestling matches where caution flags were being used to shape the outcome. Obviously the NASCAR bigwigs didn't appreciate those comments and made their displeasure clear to everyone, especially Stewart.

However, if he would have just compared a large segment of the crowds that attend both "sporting" events he wouldn't have had any problems. The video below is how NASCAR fans helped Jeff Gordon celebrate his record breaking(previously held by Earnhardt Sr.) 77th win.



Now tell me that after watching that video you can't picture a squared circle in the infield with Macho Man snapping slim-jims, Rick Flair yelling out "woooo" and the Hulkster putting his hand up to his ear. I know you can, brother!