Not That There's Anything Wrong With That

Seinfeld: "The Outing"

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

I debated writing this blog, because I wasn't exactly sure what the point of it was going to be.  But after I started writing it, I realized what I want you to learn from it. Think before you speak, whether it's a racial slur, comment about someone's sexuality, or an insensitive comment. It might be just a word to you, but it can destroy the self esteem of the person you're saying it to.  There needs to be more uplifting in the word and less tearing down.  Parents, we owe it to our kids to lead the way.

Long before Jerry Seinfeld tackled the subject of homosexuality with the now famous phrase "Not that there's anything wrong with that.", I found myself saying it and quite a bit.  If you haven't seen the episode in question, it's called "The Outing",  and you can read a review of it here.  Long story short, a reporter overhears Jerry and George talking and comes to the conclusion that the friends are actually partners.  Things are taking out of context and it just adds to the hilarity of the situation.

Interviewing Buff Bagwell

I'm 41 years old, married with three children.  People still ask those who know me if I'm gay.  It doesn't bother me anymore, but back in the day it did.  I guess I understand why someone who didn't know about my family might question my heterosexuality. I'm obsessed with a sport that involves muscle bound guys covered in baby oil and rolling around in skin tight shorts.  Heck, I've even done it myself. Then there's my love for The Golden Girls and don't forget that I never missed an episode of Desperate Housewives during its run on ABC.

8th grade... WOW

The questioning of my sexual preference started in the 8th grade and by someone who might surprise you.  It was a teacher who made a comment to me in front of the class questioning whether I was gay.  Some of my classmates laughed at the statement, which I can't even remember anymore.  What I do remember I was embarrassed and humiliated and couldn't wait for the bell to ring. I also remember the kind words of the girl who sat in front of me in that class.  She told me not to listen to the teacher or the laughter.

The college years...

All through high school I had several classmates and coworkers ask me if I was gay, despite the fact that I had a crush on several girls and made my infatuations obvious (I'll refer you to this blog) Looking back on it now, I'm not bothered by the fact that people assumed I was gay.  It bugs me that it bothered back then.  Like Jerry and George said, there is nothing wrong with being gay. But to a teenager with an already poor sense of self and fragile ego, being different, even when you're really not can be devastating.

This may not help my case...

Fast forward to adulthood.  I've lived in this community for more than a decade. Recently, a friend told me a mutual acquaintance thought I was gay when we first met.  I laughed about it and made an inappropriate joke, but it was okay, because we were with a friend who really is gay.  That makes it better, right?  Another friend refers to me as the gayest straight person he knows.  Twenty years ago, that would have bothered me, but today I take it in stride.  

Kids (back then and today) hurl insults at our friends, calling them "gay" or worse.  While we didn't think the person in question was really gay, it was certainly meant to be an insult.  The thing I still don't get is, WHY is being gay an insult?  Do homosexuals call each other "hetero" or "straight" when they're fighting?  

Get Well, Buff

Hanging with Buff Bagwell circa 1998

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

Marcus "Buff" Bagwell continues to recover from a near fatal car accident.  The former WCW star crashed his Jeep after possibly suffering a seizure.

TMZ has released the 911 call from his wife, Judy.  She explains that Buff has been on medication.  You'll also hear from other witnesses to the crash.  Click this link to listen.

From the reports I've read Buff broke his neck in the accident.  I hope and pray that he makes a full recovery from this.  We all know he broke his neck several years ago while wrestling Rick Steiner.  I have seen no updates on his condition today (April 26) or if there has been an official ruling on the cause of the crash.

I had the pleasure of meeting Bagwell in 1998 when I was working as a news reporter in Alabama.  WCW was doing a live episode of Thunder in Huntsville.  A couple of coworkers and I headed over to do some pre-show interviews.  I had no idea who we were going to get to talk with, but Buff was one of the guys on the list. Right before we started rolling, we had a brief conversation.  He decided to do the entire interview in character, which was quite entertaining.  This was during his feud with the Steiners after Buff joined the nWo.  I felt like he played that cocky heel role nicely.  I know some people in the Internet Wrestling Community hate on Bagwell, but I found him to be a pretty cool guy.  We talked after the interview too, and I really enjoyed the experience.

Below is link to that interview too.  There are others on the video, including Bobby Heenan and Ray "the Big Bossman" Traylor.  We'll post updates on Bagwell's condition on our Facebook page when we get more details.

Flashback Friday: Thunder (No Lightning)

The late 1990's served as a boom for the wrestling business.  In 1995, Eric Bischoff who was leading the charge for WCW started the so called Monday Night Wars when he and others within the Turner company created Monday Nitro to compete with the WWF's Monday Night Raw.

After much success with that formula and a growing talent pool, it was time to expand.  WCW would launch "Thursday Night Thunder" in January 1998.  The first episode aired on January 8th of that year.  It's live format offered fans another two hours of wrestling action each week.

Probably the biggest shocker (no pun intended) from that first episode was "Gentleman" Chris Adams pinning "Macho Man" Randy Savage.  Of course, there was interference from Lex Luger that night, and the decision was eventually reversed.

The show stayed on the air through the Monday Night Wars which also became Thursday Night Wars when WWE added Smackdown! to its schedule.  I think when the E took the upper hand in the war, WCW executives moved Thunder to Wednesday nights.  It stayed on air until WWE bought the company in 2001.

Me & the Brain circa 1998.

I wasn't a regular Thunder watcher, but I did check out the show.  About 3 weeks into the show, I actually attended a live edition in Hunstville, Alabama.  I was a young reporter at the time working in nearby Florence.  Because of my job, I was able to get a media pass and interview several of the stars of the day.

Buff Bagwell, Goldberg, Ray Traylor, and Bobby "the Brain" Heenan all joined me for a few minutes to talk.  It was a very memorable experience.  You can see the clips on My 1-2-3 Cents on YouTube.

That night was interesting, because when we arrived at the arena in Huntsville we were greeted by the WCW staff.  They were all very nice to us.  Then they brought over our first interview, Goldberg.
The interview wasn't very eventful though.  Goldberg had just started with his winning streak.  This was still about 3 months before he was red hot.

Then there was a lull in the activity.  There were 3 other TV stations there at the time, and the wrestlers were just hitting us one at a time.  So in the downtime, I decided to shoot some video of the ring as the crew was setting it up.  This turned out to be a huge mistake.  Doug Dillinger, who was WCW's security guy (sorry I don't remember his exact title), approached me and asked what I was doing.  I told him getting "b-roll" (video) to go along with the story.  He proceeded to yell at me and tell me I had no right getting shots of the ring.  Keep in mind NO ONE said getting video of the ring was off limits.  Then he demanded my tape.  I assured him that I would not use the material, and I didn't want to give him my tape because my interview with Goldberg was on there.  He insisted and took the tape and said they'd erase only the footage of the ring and "try" to save the interview.

Me & Buff Bagwell

Dillinger gave me the tape back a short time later, but the interview with Goldberg was gone.  I was disappointed by that.  The only thing I can think that set him off was the fact that the Giant (aka the Big Show) destroyed the ring that night as the Outsiders stood inside it.  My guess is that the crew was rigging it to make it collapse easier.  I didn't have a problem with being told not to shoot the ring, but the way Dillinger came at me, yelling and embarrassing me in front of everyone else indicated to me that he's a class a douche.

The rest of the night went well.  The interviews were entertaining, especially the Bagwell and Heenan ones.  I was young and nervous and trying not to mark out the whole time.

Those are my memories of Thunder, which entered our world 13 years ago this week.