Pacman plus pro wrestling defies reason
Brian Schmitz | MAGIC CONFIDENTIAL
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/orl-schmitz3107jul31,0,817482.column
Well, apparently Adam "Pacman'' Jones has found work while in NFL exile.
According to various reports, he will join a pro wrestling circuit, something called TNA (Total Nonstop Action). Frankly, it's a sad, sad day.
Not for Pacman, but for wrestling. Why pro wrasslin' would want to sully its good name by associating itself with Jones is beyond me -- and Jimmy Hart.
"Pacman Jones?! Are you freakin' kidding me? Oh, my. It's over [for TNA]. Not Pacman Jones!" Hart screamed into the phone Monday. "They're desperate, man. They've lost their minds."
When a veteran wrestling manager and promoter such as the WWE's Hart, a.k.a. "The Mouth of the South," doesn't want you near a ring, you know your reputation is unsalvageable.
Wrestling promoters would dress up a rabid kangaroo in tights if it could sell tickets.
Jones won't actually wrestle, but he will play the part of a manager or some other buffoon in the shows. He could play a policeman -- and get a few laughs.
Hart isn't amused -- and he once managed comedian-turned-wrestler Andy Kaufman. "After what's happened to Vince [McMahon] and stuff . . . Why?" he said.
Hart, once on board with TNA, didn't finish the thought. One of McMahon's wrestlers, Chris Benoit, killed himself after murdering his wife and son in June.
Jones didn't kill anybody. But Tommy Urbanski might feel sometimes if he would be better off dead.
Last February, Jones started a ruckus in a Vegas strip club. Authorities believe that it later triggered a shooting that left Urbanski, a club manager, paralyzed from the waist down.
It was just the latest, and the most serious, of Jones' brushes with idiocy.
The NFL has suspended him for the season. Instead of trying to quietly reform, Jones makes a mockery of his situation and the NFL's ruling by aligning himself with wrestling, where everything is an inside joke.
That's a sure-fire way to regain a semblance of humility and credibility.
Is he going to throw a chair and help entertain the fans by "making it rain" (tossing money in the air as he did at the Vegas club)?
Jones excels at playing the fool, and we shouldn't be surprised he's cashing in on his notoriety in a public forum. But he's more or less thumbing his nose again at Commissioner Roger Goodell.
Jones' link to wrestling is through his attorney Manny Arora, who, ahem, also represents Phil Astin, a doctor who has been indicted for improperly distributing painkillers and other drugs to Benoit.
And here's a cruel ironic twist for Jones to ponder: The paralyzed Urbanski once performed as a 6-foot-6, 390-pound pro wrestler nicknamed "The Mad Russian."
Jones needs the attention at any cost, but he can't need the money this bad.
Here's an idea: He could try earning his way back into the NFL and into Goodell's good graces. Call me Pollyanna, but Jones could visit schools or hospitals or homeless shelters. Or volunteer somewhere. Appearing on wrestling cards isn't exactly helping to repair the league's frayed image -- or his own.
"People ask me why I didn't play football and I tell them because I didn't carry a gun or do drugs," Hart sneered. "So I had to go into wrasslin."
Pacman doesn't get it. Neither do the sycophants who surround him.
Worrick Robinson, another Pacman attorney, told The Tennessean that the Titans cornerback will sign a short-term contract with TNA. Robinson says he doesn't know what Pacman's role will be in the shows, but he won't play a villain. Uh, too late.
Brian Schmitz | MAGIC CONFIDENTIAL
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/orl-schmitz3107jul31,0,817482.column
Well, apparently Adam "Pacman'' Jones has found work while in NFL exile.
According to various reports, he will join a pro wrestling circuit, something called TNA (Total Nonstop Action). Frankly, it's a sad, sad day.
Not for Pacman, but for wrestling. Why pro wrasslin' would want to sully its good name by associating itself with Jones is beyond me -- and Jimmy Hart.
"Pacman Jones?! Are you freakin' kidding me? Oh, my. It's over [for TNA]. Not Pacman Jones!" Hart screamed into the phone Monday. "They're desperate, man. They've lost their minds."
When a veteran wrestling manager and promoter such as the WWE's Hart, a.k.a. "The Mouth of the South," doesn't want you near a ring, you know your reputation is unsalvageable.
Wrestling promoters would dress up a rabid kangaroo in tights if it could sell tickets.
Jones won't actually wrestle, but he will play the part of a manager or some other buffoon in the shows. He could play a policeman -- and get a few laughs.
Hart isn't amused -- and he once managed comedian-turned-wrestler Andy Kaufman. "After what's happened to Vince [McMahon] and stuff . . . Why?" he said.
Hart, once on board with TNA, didn't finish the thought. One of McMahon's wrestlers, Chris Benoit, killed himself after murdering his wife and son in June.
Jones didn't kill anybody. But Tommy Urbanski might feel sometimes if he would be better off dead.
Last February, Jones started a ruckus in a Vegas strip club. Authorities believe that it later triggered a shooting that left Urbanski, a club manager, paralyzed from the waist down.
It was just the latest, and the most serious, of Jones' brushes with idiocy.
The NFL has suspended him for the season. Instead of trying to quietly reform, Jones makes a mockery of his situation and the NFL's ruling by aligning himself with wrestling, where everything is an inside joke.
That's a sure-fire way to regain a semblance of humility and credibility.
Is he going to throw a chair and help entertain the fans by "making it rain" (tossing money in the air as he did at the Vegas club)?
Jones excels at playing the fool, and we shouldn't be surprised he's cashing in on his notoriety in a public forum. But he's more or less thumbing his nose again at Commissioner Roger Goodell.
Jones' link to wrestling is through his attorney Manny Arora, who, ahem, also represents Phil Astin, a doctor who has been indicted for improperly distributing painkillers and other drugs to Benoit.
And here's a cruel ironic twist for Jones to ponder: The paralyzed Urbanski once performed as a 6-foot-6, 390-pound pro wrestler nicknamed "The Mad Russian."
Jones needs the attention at any cost, but he can't need the money this bad.
Here's an idea: He could try earning his way back into the NFL and into Goodell's good graces. Call me Pollyanna, but Jones could visit schools or hospitals or homeless shelters. Or volunteer somewhere. Appearing on wrestling cards isn't exactly helping to repair the league's frayed image -- or his own.
"People ask me why I didn't play football and I tell them because I didn't carry a gun or do drugs," Hart sneered. "So I had to go into wrasslin."
Pacman doesn't get it. Neither do the sycophants who surround him.
Worrick Robinson, another Pacman attorney, told The Tennessean that the Titans cornerback will sign a short-term contract with TNA. Robinson says he doesn't know what Pacman's role will be in the shows, but he won't play a villain. Uh, too late.