Mexico has a new breed of professional wrestler:

Maximo, Mexican professional wrestling's latest sensation, then delivers a crowning blow — a kiss on the lips of his macho opponent — to the delight of a roaring crowd. Maximo is one of the "Exotics," a group of effeminate fighters in the testosterone-fueled world of Mexico's Lucha Libre, . . . Known casually as "gay" wrestlers, Exotics have been around since the 1970s but are experiencing a wrestling revival. Their characters are strong, yet sensitive good guys overcoming evil, they say. But showing your soft side in the ring isn't as easy as it might look, Maximo says. "It's kind of hard playing this part, no? Especially because the sport is about being tough, rude and violent," he said. "But as long as the public loves us, we'll be there."

Maximo may be a bit creepy, but his quote illustrates an important lesson I learned once from a Quebecois cell-mate foreign exchange student. You can get almost anything you want by speaking in a foreign accent and adding an inquisitive "no?" at the end of all your sentences. Example: "You want I should stick this here, no?" -KD

You probably thought you saw the last of WWF wrestler Owen Hart when he fell to his death from a catwalk at Kansas City's Kemper Arena in 1999. Well, he's back:

The talk began after a column in a student newspaper in Rhode Island suggested that there have been sightings of the ghost of Hart in Kemper’s rafters . . . “Employees (at Kemper Arena) have claimed to have seen (Hart) in the rafters wearing the costume he was wearing for his gimmick,” the newspaper wrote, “as well as the cable before he began the descent. There have also been reports of flickering lights and other power sources that seem to go on and off in some areas of the arena.” . . . Supernatural “experts” suggest that even ghosts need a power supply, which may explain the flickering lights at Kemper.

Mental note: remember the "but the ghosts are siphoning my electricity" line the next time Commonwealth Edison threatens to turn off the juice. This story might get some college kids from Rhode Island excited, but I doubt any true professional wrestlings fans will find it credible. Wrestling fans rely on reason, evidence, and deduction and are much too intelligent to avidly believe in hoaxes or fake happenings. -KD     

The Chief appears to have taken a personal day, to which he is certainly entitled. He fought for his country while the rest of us (i.e. me) were back in the States drinking large amounts of Jameson. I'm sure he's fine, and I'm also sure his version of this story from the Subcontinent would be much funnier:

India have scrapped a training camp for this month's Thomas and Uber Cup qualifiers because of a lack of shuttlecocks, badminton officials said on Thursday. The federation sent home over 30 players due to start training on Thursday, blaming the state-run Sports Authority of India (SAI) for not supplying the stock or allowing them to import . . . "It is a very lackadaisical attitude," Badminton Association of India (BAI) president V.K.Verma told Reuters on Thursday. "They're supposed to provide shuttles, but are doing the game a great disfavor. "We can't have our 30 best shuttlers, juniors and seniors, twiddling their thumbs with only five tournaments left to qualify for the Olympics." 

Perhaps if they referred to them as 'cocks' instead of 'shuttles', they wouldn't be in this predicament. But I wouldn't help them and travel to India no matter what kind of cock shortage they're having there. You know it's the only country that still has the Plague. I mean the Plague, please! -KD  

I really wanted an air hockey table for Christmas, but I guess Santa heard about that incident behind the gentlemen's club. Anyway, here's a video of some expert paddle skills: 

Ah, an alcoholic humiliating a child – that makes me nostalgic for the holidays of my youth. -KD  

Guess what? Even one of the best women's college basketball teams is having trouble attracting fans, so they're trying to lure fans to the arena with free tuition:

"One of the things we have always heard from students is that they have so much going on. So I said, 'What can we do to entice you?'" said Jimmy Delaney, the [Tennessee] Lady Vols' marketing director. The promotion Delaney and coach Pat Summitt came up with? Free tuition . . .  "This is a win-win situation!" said Anna York, student body vice president and a student member of th University of Tennessee Board of Trustees. "The students can enjoy our amazing Lady Vols while also having the chance to win free tuition and other prizes." The other prizes include two tickets and hotel accommodations to the Women's Final Four in Tampa, Fla., assuming the Lady Vols are in it. The winners will fly down with the players. "Some people are more stoked about traveling with the team than getting free tuition," Delaney said.

Hmm, that is a tough choice. Whether to be trapped on a plane with a women's basketball team or to receive a free tuition at a university in Tennessee that's not Vanderbilt? Of course, you must be accepted to Tennessee first. Ha! That's a good one. Seriously though, make sure you know ho to spell your name. A simple "X" won't work in Knoxville – it isn't Arizona State. -KD 

"Ambulance!":

Obviously, this lad did not read the Principia of Sir Isaac Newton thoroughly, or he would have realized this was a fictitious centrifugal force.  That is, if skateboarders could read. -KD