The Who - Amazing Journey/Sparks (Cap Center 1976)

This version of "Amazing Journey/Sparks" gets double billing. It's going up on my other blog, Who Zeppelin here. The "Sparks" portion starts around the 4:42 mark. The Who begin to go into the Tommy section of their concert and so Keith Moon does the introductions. The audio comes from a concert that took place at the Cap Center on August 3, 1976 in Landover, Maryland.

Mike Francesa Erupts Over Joba

Back in June 2009, a caller really gets under Mike Francesa's skin over the role of Joba Chamberlain.

The Best of Prison Yogi

The man known as "Prison Yogi" has made some really memorable calls to Mike Francesa's radio show on WFAN. Let's start with the call - that earned him his nickname - where he tells Mike that listening to his show got him through some tough days in prison:



Next "Prison Yogi" tells Mike he is disappointed that he can no longer listen to him while taking a shower:



He then quit his job so he could listen to Mike Francesa all day:



Next, "Prison Yogi" pranks Mike consecutively over Pee-wee Herman's return:



Finally, Mike thinks a "Baba Booey" call from "Prison Yogi" has been dumped:

Mike Francesa Quiet Remix

In following up my previous post here about the "quiet" call to Mike Francesa, I had to post the remix. Great work out of the YouTuber that put this together.

Quiet Quiet Quiet Call

A caller discussing the Wilpons, Madoff and the Mets leads to Mike Francesa repeatedly telling him to be quiet around the 3:31 mark of the video.

Manny's Restaurant

Mike Francesa and Bill Parcells doing a commercial for Manny's Restaurant. Not much more to say than that.

Anorld Prank Calls

Some of the best prank calls done by a YouTuber using an Arnold Schwarzenegger soundboard:

The CM Punk Promo

While wearing a "Stone Cold" Steve Austin t-shirt, CM Punk at the end of last night's Monday Night Raw cut one of the best promos I have ever seen! Punk's rant targeted many people including Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Hulk Hogan and the McMahon family and said after he wins the W.W.E. Championship at the Money in the Bank pay-per-view on July 17 he will defend it in either the New Japan Pro Wrestling or Ring of Honor wrestling promotion. Classic stuff.

Shortly after the show went of the air WWE.com announced that Punk has been "suspended" indefinitely. I read a couple of comments from some on Facebook that believed this was an outright "shoot," which is another way of saying it wasn't scripted. C'mon folks, nothing gets on W.W.E. t.v. without Vince McMahon's approval. Punk's last day is supposedly July 17 and if he leaves it will be a big loss. But I would imagine that he probably will return sooner rather than later.

Pro Wrestling USA Theme

In 1984, several promoters, including those from the National Wrestling Alliance and the American Wrestling Association teamed up to form Pro Wrestling USA, which aired weekly on WPIX channel 11 here in the New York metro area. The idea was to fight off Vince McMahon and the expanding W.W.E. Not surprisingly the promoters couldn't get along and thus Pro Wrestling USA was short-lived. But it still lives on in the glorious annals of Wikipedia here.

E.C.W. First TV Theme

The very first theme for E.C.W. when the company opened in 1992. At that time the promotion was known as Eastern Championship Wrestling. It's kind of cool to see the old SportsChannel logo.

A.W.A. All Star Wrestling Theme

This is actually the closer to the American Wrestling Association's All-Star Wrestling t.v. program. I vaguely remember this show. Andre the Giant appears in the video so it must have been around 1980 or 1981.

A.W.A. Theme

The American Wrestling Association (A.W.A.) had its heyday in the early 1980s until it was raided by the W.W.E. and the N.W.A. The company didn't close down until 1991 even though the product during its last few years of existence was really, really bad. You can still watch the show on ESPN Classics late at night. For more on the promotion click this.

The Best E.C.W. Theme?

Of the different theme songs E.C.W. used for its t.v. show, I would say I am partial to this one, which was used probably around 1995.

E.C.W. Theme

One of several different openers the company used for its weekly E.C.W. (Extreme Championship Wrestling) television show.

N.W.A. World Championship Wrestling Theme

The National Wrestling Alliance (N.W.A.) theme to its show World Championship Wrestling, which aired every Saturday night at 6:05 during the 1980s. The N.W.A. is still around although it is much different and doesn't have the same visibility it enjoyed up until about 1988 or 1989. It's a bit convoluted to get into the whole history in this blog post, so check out the Wikipedia page here for more.

World Class Championship Wrestling Theme

World Class Championship Wrestling (W.C.C.W.) was one of the great territories back in the 1980s. The promotion is notable for some tremendous wrestling matches, which included Ric Flair against Kerry Von Erich and the legendary feud between the Von Erichs and The Fabulous Freebirds. Cool opening theme to their t.v. show.

Midnight Express Theme

There was nothing like the old theme music wrestlers used in the 1980s. The top video is the music that played when Jim Cornette's Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton, pictured on the right in the video, and Stan Lane pictured on the left in the video) came out to the ring during their heyday in the National Wrestling Alliance. It's a variation of Giorgio Moroder's "Chase" from the 1978 Midnight Express film. That song is also used as the opening for the Coast to Coast AM radio show.

Al Pacino Calls a Furniture Store

A classic job by a YouTuber who uses an Al Pacino soundboard to call a furniture store. Definitely not suitable for work.

Michael Savage Classics

A couple of ways not to call in to Michael Savage's radio show The Savage Nation.

Batista and Fan Incident Backstage

Dave Batista was getting ready for a match when a fan runs by during a Monday Night Raw in August of 2008. Pretty funny, but definitely staged.

Rey Mysterio Confronts Taz

Another great moment in Extreme Championship Wrestling history. Rey Mysterio Jr. confronts Taz!

The Dudleys Are Born

One of the best moments in the history of Extreme Championship Wrestling. I was a huge fan of the Dudleys and the many members of that "family."

Dudleys Promo Almost Causes Riot

The Dudleys cut a promo that really gets the fans upset. Stuff like this makes me so glad YouTube is around to watch the old E.C.W.

Pro Wrestling Torch

If you ever get a chance check out the Pro Wrestling Torch website and also their show on Blog TalkRadio which you can find by clicking this.

I particularly enjoy every Tuesday's show when Jason Powell of ProWrestling.net joins Wade Keller (WadeKeller.com) to discuss what's going on in the world of wrestling.

Al Pacino Calls Best Western

Al Pacino strikes again! This time it's a phone call to a Best Western Hotel.

Nathan LaFayette Hits The Post

The New York Rangers encountered some tense moments on June 14, 1994 in their game 7 against the Vancouver Canucks. One of them was when Nathan LaFayette took a shot and hit the goaltender's best friend: the post! Funny enough, LaFayette would have a cup of coffee with the Blueshirts during the 1995-1996 season.

Ray Manzarek - The Crystal Ship

The Doors' Ray Manzarek and Roy Rogers have been touring together after making an album, Translucent Blues. The two made a stop last week in Ridgefield, Connecticut at the Ridgefield Playhouse where Ray did a moving solo version of "The Crystal Ship" in tribute to Jim Morrison who passed away in Paris on July 3, 1971. Manzarek has some dates scheduled in Europe this summer with his former Doors' bandmate Robby Krieger and have a show schedule in Paris on July 3.

Good Reading

I've read some very good books recently, but I particularly enjoyed New Dawn: The Battles for Fallujah by Richard S. Lowry. He takes the reader inside everything that led up to and occurred during the two battles inside what was Iraq's most dangerous area at the time. Lowry gives the reader a very vivid description of the fighting and the strategy of the military. This was a book I could not put down! The soldiers that took part in these battles are people I would like to meet and THANK! The ones that were killed deserve our prayers.

I could name all of the soldiers that are mentioned in the book - because they are all incredibly brave- but one that stands out is a former U.S. Marine and that is Gunnery Sergeant Nick Popaditch. He was wounded in the first battle of Fallujah in April 2004 and lost his right eye and hearing in his right ear as a result of getting struck in the head by a rocket propelled grenade (RPG). Some may remember the picture of Popaditch on a tank smoking a cigar as his unit pulled down the statue of Saddam Hussein in April 2003.

As I was reading New Dawn and Popaditch's story was described, I stopped and thought and appreciated how great he and his fellow soldiers are. Inspiring is an understatement. This was something that happened for me several times while reading New Dawn; I would read a few pages and then just let the feeling set in that this was not a motion picture and was real life with real people.

Popadtich wrote a book entitled Once a Marine: An Iraq War Tank Commander’s Inspirational Memoir of Combat, Courage, and Recovery. I think I'll put that on my summer reading list.

I also finished reading the following:

Strange Days: My Life With And Without Jim Morrison by Patricia Kennealy-Morrison; a good book even though it took a while to get going. There is virtually no mention of the other band members which is a bit odd.

The Essential Rumi, new expanded edition, poems written by Sufi poet Rumi, translated by Sufi scholar Coleman Barks; I couldn't put this one down either.

Currently, I am reading Don Rumsfeld's memoir, Known and Unknown. Having read about 100 pages, it's too early for me to give an assessment of the book.

W.W.E. Signs Averno

The W.W.E. has signed Averno who currently works in Mexico with the CMLL promotion. Sin Cara was asked what wrestler in Mexico he would most like to work with and he suggested Averno. Averno's final match with CMLL will be on June 17 in a mask vs. mask match (which Averno presumably will lose) against La Mascara. Averno eventually will be put on Smackdown to work with Cara, but I would imagine he will first stop off in developmental and F.C.W. I wonder if he will face Peter Orlov, who formerly wrestled as Alex Koslov. The videos below show a tremendous match between Averno-Koslov.

Alberto Del Rio Entrance

I'm a big fan of Alberto Del Rio, mostly because of his entrance. First off, the guy has his own ring announcer and second he pulls up in a Bentley or some other very expensive car. Finally and most importantly, the guy can go in the ring. He also does a great job getting under the fans' skin.

Old School Wrestling Theme

It doesn't get much better than this. The video is of the theme used as the intro to all Coliseum Home Videos that the W.W.E. (W.W.F. at that time) put out during the 1980s. Highlights include The Cobra vs. the Black Tiger at Madison Square Garden for the vacant W.W.F. Junior Heavyweight Championship; Andre the Giant bodyslamming Kamala inside a steel cage; Ken Patera putting a swinging neckbreaker on Tito Santana (although on second look that may be Jim Powers) and Mike Rotundo giving an airplane spin to the Iron Sheik. Classic stuff!

Bryan Danielson vs. Kaval

This match is wrestling to me. T.N.A., which foolishly paid for "Wrestling Matters" billboards in the Stamford, Conn. area should take note and for that matter the W.W.E. should realize just how great wrestling can be. Before Bryan Danielson joined the main W.W.E. roster he spent some time in its developmental association, Florida Championship Wrestling (F.C.W.). Danielson and Kaval put on a classic match in the above videos which are from July 2010. Kaval was completely misused by W.W.E. during his stint last year where he won season two of NXT. Danielson has also not been utilized the way he should. In my opinion, Danielson, now known as Daniel Bryan, is one of the five best wrestlers in the world.