. . Yesterday was Father’s Day, a day that, for many dads around the world, is a cause for celebration of the laziest kind. Some golf, a tryptophan-laden feast, maybe a movie, a new tie, and just a lot of well-deserved relaxation. For my father, the day is a bittersweet reminder of just how difficult life can be, even on a day predicated by family and happiness. My grandfather, my father’s father from whom he was given the name John, died on Jan. 13, 2009 after a long and arduous battle with cancer. This is my father’s second year without a dad to celebrate the occasion with, as well as the second in which he does not have a job. Times are tough for him and his, as they are on many of us. I’ve recently seen my bank account shrink enigmatically over the past few months, so I wasn’t able to offer anything to my pops other than company. We had a good meal after he came back from church, we raided the candy section at a local Kroger’s, shoved the loot into our pockets and made our way into the 2:25 showing of “Toy Story 3” in 3D. Just like “Wall-E” and “Up” before it, if you don’t find yourself shedding or fighting off tears at least twice, you simply don’t have a heart. We collected ourselves afterward, left the theater, quickly got out of the searing sun, and went home. I didn’t get a lot of sleep the night before, so I went home and crashed. I woke up fairly early today feeling as if I didn’t do enough for my father on His day. I suddenly remembered something that I all too often forget: I’m a freaking writer. I write for a website. My dad reads that website. So, I booted the computer, got a glass of water, gathered the leftover candy I didn’t eat at the theater, placed it in front of me, and I got to work. This is for him.
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Professional wrestling is based on feuds. Rivalries between combatants are its life blood. In the current world of wrestling, almost every match has to have some kind of reason why these two men are going to tear each other limb from limb. Because the “sport” portion of “sports entertainment” has been downplayed so much in recent years, some of the reasons for the animosity are downright silly. Because the wrestlers are such larger than life, sometimes almost cartoonish characters, it is hard to really get emotionally invested in many of the story lines used these days. But that wasn’t always the case. 
