Archive for April 2010
Hockey, Wrestling and Me
Recently on the chlforums site, a Bucks fan went off on a rant about Brian Benway – the “Voice” of the Laredo Bucks. The fan called Benway “Gay Pee Wee” [as in Pee Wee Herman] and talked about how his play-by-play sucked and how Laredo needed a new media guy. [Here, why don't you just go look at the thread yourself?]
Anyway, I decided to chime in on this subject because I too find Benway to be pretty annoying and un-professional. I can’t stand to listen to the guy on the radio and I’ve stopped reading his blog a long time ago. For a professional broadcaster and public relations rep, he can’t speak or write for shit. Now, I wouldn’t personally insult him like the Laredo fan, but I don’t think he’s fit for his job. That’s my opinion.
Then I brought up wrestling.
You see, Benway is a huge wrestling fan. He has mentioned it numerous times in his blog and I’ve heard him talk about it during his broadcasts [hey, sometimes CHL TV leaves me no choice but to listen to him]. I think it’s pretty immature for a grown man to be a wrestling fan. It’s entertainment for tweens and teens, not adults with jobs. I also think that this immaturity shines through in what he does on-the-job for the Bucks.
Well, Rich Bocchini, the broadcaster and media guy for the Killer Bees, read those comments and felt the need to come to Benway’s defense. let me quote him directly here:
As far as Benway being a WWE fan, what does that have to do with anything? I am a big fan of pro wrestling. I’m not embarrassed about it one bit and neither should Benway be. I watch it and often read the autobiographies wrestlers have written. I also read a lot of political books. During the course of the season, I find watching and reading about wrestling a fun, mindless escape from the day-to-day grind. Now, maybe some people expect that play-by-play guys just go home and watch more hockey. Sometimes I do. But I get tired of it. I love the game, just like I love steak. But if I worked at Morton’s Steakhouse I doubt I’d want to go home and eat a ribeye every night (OK, maybe I would). According to the posts about Benway, somehow being a ‘rasslin fan equals being immature. Really? How is it any different than going home and watching Lost, or American Idol or Ghost Hunters? Yes, it’s “fake” (by the way, try telling a wrestler what they do is “fake”) and it’s silly, but it’s fun. I think some of the stuff they do is pretty amazing (check out this move) and to be honest, they can incur some pretty serious injuries.
There is a particular group of Lost fans who call themselves “shippers,” because they support a particular relationSHIP on the the show. You have your Jaters who want Jack and Kate together. Then you have your Skaters who want Sawyer and Kate. There are other factions, but you get the idea. These factions spend a lot of time back and forth in discussion forums arguing about which ‘ship is the best, which characters have the best chemistry, which characters made love, etc, etc, ad nauseum. These are not teenagers, for the most part. These are mostly women in their 20′s and 30′s. To me this behavior is not to far from that of wrestling fans; very immature.
