The Morning Tailgate

It looks like Randy “The Ram” Robinson will be making his triumphant return to professional wrestling at the highest level. The Ram, of course is the fictional beaten down wrestling legend played by Mickey Rourke in the aptly title movie, “The Wrestler."

With the success of the movie and Rourke being nominated for an Oscar, the ultimate publicity-hound has sniffed him out and made sure to tap into his success. Rourke announced recently that he has been propositioned by Vince McMahon, and has accepted an invitation to the annual crown jewel of the professional wrestling world— Wrestlemania. 

Some in the industry think that the decision may cost him his Oscar. Not surprising, since the Oscar voters clearly have a grudge against wrestlers. Seriously, how else could they have ignored the transcendent performance from Roddy Piper in 1988’s They Live in favor of Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man?

Personally, we have never been all that impressed when celebrities take their turn in the Wrestlemania spotlight. Everyone from Pete Rose to Lawrence Taylor to Mr. T have taken their turn in the ring, with loads of other celebs ranging from Burt Reynolds to Alex Trebeck having participated in the festivities in some capacity.  

The celebs typically fail to deliver anything but an easy headline leading up to the event—the obvious exception being William "the Fridge" Perry’s appearance in Wrestlemania two of course. That ruled.

But, while his presence may not convince us to fork over the $60 for the pay-per-view, we can at least respect that Rourke hasn’t conceded to the Hollywood elites that scoff at events like Wrestlemania. That kind of loyalty to the people who are going to see "The Wrestler" is bratwurst worthy in our eyes. 

January 27

1894: The 1st college basketball game takes place between the University of Chicago and Chicago at a local YMCA. The University of Chicago beat Chicago 19-11, and all of the players collaboratively showered with a group of old, naked, men in the YMCA locker room after the game.

1959: Cris Collinsworth, former wide receiver for the Cincinnati Bengals and current analyst for NBC Sports, is born.

1984:  Wayne Gretzky’s current NHL-record 51-game scoring streak is halted by, oddly enough, the Los Angeles Kings.

1992 - Mike Tyson goes on trial for rape. He was eventually found guilty (duh), and spent the next three years in the clink.

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Suzy Kolber/WWE Smackdown General Manager Vicki Guerrero

You should (um, play golf) because (Bill Clinton) says so…

Bill Clinton recently played a round at the Michael Jordan Celebrity Golf Invitational in Paradise Island, Bahamas. We’re not quite sure what is going on in the picture below, but we’re leaning towards a turtle head poking a little too far out after crouching down.

[Quickies Redux]

The Return of the High Fade

Last summer, Patrick Imig took a look back at that classic hairstyle made famous by hip sports personalities of the late '80s and early '90s. The column was written as a result of high school basket-baller and high fade proponent Brandon Jennings making headlines for skipping college in favor of $1.2 million to play in Italy. As it turns out, Jennings isn’t loving basketball in Europe per his insight via the New York Times.

As for the High Fade column, here’s an excerpt…

Jennings’ involvement in the push to bring back the fade (or box, if you prefer) did not go unnoticed here at JSF headquarters. In fact, it gave me every reason to go back in time to revisit some of the sports world’s more recognizable high and low fades. Along the way, I didn’t forget the flattop—better known as high and low fades for white people.

Fan of the Week: A couple of pretty humorous, passive aggressive, fans in Arizona during last week’s NFC Championship remind us that not "everyone" is a Kurt Warner fan.

Dr. Aaron stops by talk NBA depth. How deep should you go? Those questions answered and more later today on the afternoon news.