Well, this one’s late because it’s been a rough weekend on this end.

In the past 36 hours my cell phone inexplicably stopped working, we had a family emergency and now my cat Tinsley’s run away, and we can’t find him (that little shit did do this once before, and that time he came back on his own). That being said, my night will include an appetizer course of Superbad, followed by a main course of ridiculous binge drinking. No blogging for me under these conditions. I’ll be back in full force soon, jumping back into the NFL real heavy as the season quickly approaches. I’ll also hit you with a Superbad review soon. Enjoy your weekend, errbody.

Our beloved National Football League isn’t the sports league with the most issues. That would definitely be the sports-entertainment superpower known as the World Wrestling Federation.

Monday, Brian Adams AKA Crash — a former WWE wrestler best known as the third member of the tag team Demolition, died. What led to his death has yet to be determined. “In the last ten years, 60 wrestlers under age 45 have died (America the Brave),” and this makes one more.

In my opinion, pro wrestling has a much bigger steroid problem (along with a drug problem) than either pro baseball or football. Many pro wrestlers have or used to have dangerously excessive steroid habits. The combination of those habits and constant traveling, rock star partying and taxing physical demands has proven to be a very hazardous, if not lethal, lifestyle for many wrestlers. Really, wrestlers are kind of a fusion of pro athletes and rock stars, which becomes real fucking scary when ridiculous quantities of steroids and drugs become involved.

There are other problems, too.

Pro wrestlers typically overtrain and wrestle injured. Overtraining isn’t uncommon in other sports, but it is much more prevalent in the world of pro wrestling. The average wrestler is on the road around 250 days a year, wrestling more often than not. Add in the fact that these guys are working out at least four-five days a week, not to mention wrestling hurt, and you can see what the sport does to them physically. That being said, it’s easy to see why some of them rely on prescription drugs and other substance so heavily — to cope.

Pro wrestlers also aren’t always compensated well enough, or tend to blow their money due to getting caught up in the lifestyle. Sure, there are some who do extremely well, but that’s not the case most of the time. More typically, if they are lucky wrestlers spend a few good years wrestling for the WWE or a comparable major wrestling organization, and then go back to wrestling in smalltime wrestling federations, which is where they probably started. Most of the time these wrestlers struggle to make end’s meet, so they end up wrestling forever just to survive.

Also, wrestlers get caught up in their love for their alter egos, fame and love for the game. Like many famous pro athletes — Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Muhammad Ali and Willie Mays come to mind — pro wrestlers simply can’t let go. The problem is that since wrestling is fake, not to mention based more on popularity than physical skills, wrestlers can keep on wrestling forever. The wrestling organizations don’t care about their health either, as they continue to exploit many wrestlers into their late 50s and early-to-mid 60s — i.e. Jerry Lawler, Jimmy Snuka, Ric Flair and Sgt. Slaughter.

Pro baseball, basketball and especially pro football players often play longer than they should health wise, but wrestlers are much worse. They just can’t quit.

It’s simple — pro wrestling is a mess. Despite having both way fewer alumni current participants, the sport has way more casualties and issues than any other major brand of sports or sports entertainment. Other than the few success stories like Hulk Hogan and The Rock, pro wrestlers often either end up dead or extremely messed up. If you think that NFL retirees end up fucked up, then you haven’t seen anything yet. Remember the fallen and then check out what’s going on with some of the WWE’s biggest ex-stars who are still living. At first you might laugh your ass off, but when everything sinks in you’ll realize just how sad and messed up the pro wrestling world has become. Vince McMahon should be ashamed of himself. Really, how is Vinnie Mac any better than Don King? He isn’t any better. In fact, he might be worse.

• Jake “The Snake” Roberts

Roberts’ troubles are well chronicled, yet not everyone realizes what’s going on with him. A full-blown alcoholic and drug addict crackhead, he’s struggled mightily with substance abuse for decades now. The troubling thing is that wrestling organizations continue to make money off him. Recently, the WWE dropped a Jake “The Snake” Roberts Greatest Hits DVD. Less than a year ago, Total Nonstop Wrestling — yes, the same league Pacman Jones is involved with — let him cut an in-ring interview piss drunk. He was so wasted he even fell down in the middle of the ring and had trouble getting back up. I think it’s terrible that these companies continue to make money off of him by enabling his ways and humiliating him. Maybe they have tried to get Roberts help, but regardless of those efforts know wrestling organization should touch him as long as he’s using like this. Just check out this ‘99 interview of his to see what kind of shape he’s usually in…

It gets even worse after that after the jump…

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Finally, the YouTube footage of Pacman Jones‘ appearance at TNA’s Hard Justice last Sunday. My personal highlights are when Ron “The Truth” Killings tells Pacman that he better watch his back in the shower, and when front row fans make it rain. Killings might have revealed himself as an ex-con with that statement, and you’ve gotta love those fans.

Hopefully, we’ll get to see more of Pacman inside the squared circle. I doubt he will make another appearance, however, considering both the no-contact stipulation and that he apparently has already shifted his focus towards his hip-hop career. You truly never know with The Namesake, though.

The Kansas City Chiefs signed Arena Football League star wide receiver Bobby Sippio this week. Don’t know Sippio? Well, he’s a 6-foot-3, 214-pound gazelle who had 125 receptions and 53 touchdowns despite missing three of 16 regular season games. He also lead the Chicago Rush to the AFL Championship last season.

I already know the question: If he’s so good then why hasn’t he made an NFL team before now? My brother and I have been going back and forth on that one for days.

I have a few good answers.

First off, he’s still only 26, the same age as blossoming NFL star receivers Andre Johnson, Anquan Boldin and Lee Evans. Second, he played at Western Kentucky University before the AFL. He’s never really played against top notch competition, which likely has caused scouts to undervalue his talents. I don’t see how that’s possible — considering that he’s big and ultra athletic, and this is the age where off-the-field testing means more than on-the-field results — but they’ve slept on him nonetheless. Third, he never thoroughly dominated until last season, when he finally put everything together and enjoyed the best individual season statistic wise in league history.

The guy is big bodied, lightening fast and, most importantly, catches everything thrown to him, in or out of traffic. Considering that Eddie Kennison is a glorified No. 2 receiver, Dwayne Bowe is a rookie and the rest of the Chiefs wideouts couldn’t catch herpes from Derek Jeter, I don’t see how he doesn’t end up as the team’s third receiver at worst. Maybe I’m crazy, but I’m kind of hoping that he can eventually replace Kennison and form a nice one-two punch with D-Bo.

Before you rule him out, consider his stats and watch this jaw-dropping video. I guaran-damn-tee that you’ll surf away impressed.

(daps: Arrowhead Pride)

• After his pro wrestling gig flopped, Pacman Jones is now turning his attention to hip-hop. The Namesake’s label is National Street League Records, and his rap group is called The Posterboyz. His first single drops August 27, so mark your calendars. I’m still wondering who this guy is trying to emulate — Ron Artest or Tupac Shakur? - USA TODAY

• Did Jared Allen get preferential treatment because of the color of his skin? KSK certainly thinks so. I don’t know, though. Maybe Jared used to be a drunk, but nobody’s ever accused him of living the kind of lifestyle that guys like Pacman have. - Kissing Suzy Kolber

• All of Michael Vicks’ co-defendents are dogpiling on him. Basically, Ookie is fucked. He better not lose his scrambling skills — he might need those in the shower once he’s in the can. - 100% Injury Rate

• Some of the weirdest hairdos in the NFL. I love what a commenter said, “I think I saw Cory Ohnesorge on that To Catch a Predator show.” - Blown Coverage

• Peter King prefers Vince “Rulebreaker” Young right now over Carson Palmer and Marc Bulger. Damn, I wish I was in his fantasy football league. Windy City Gridiron

• A great post about local anesthesia being used in the NFL. I honestly had no clue. I honestly have no clue how you could play on that stuff, because it makes me woozie as hell. - Riggo’s Rag

• Even if Brodie Croyle doesn’t make it was the Kansas City Chiefs quarterback, at least he has a hot wife right? Tune into Hard Knocks at 9 PM tonight on HBO to see more of Kelli Croyle. - Arrowhead Addict

• For all of you who are considering nabbing Donovan McNabb to be your fantasy football quarterback, this Friday will be your first opportunity to see him in action. Philadelphia Eagles head coach Andy Reid has made it official that he will start against the Carolina Panthers. - Bleeding Green Nation

• Previewing those suddenly sexy Detroit Lions. Well, seeing that the prediction is a 6-10 overall record, maybe the perception of those cowardly Lions hasn’t changed. Nah. I’m going with a 9-7 prediction, myself. - Epic Carnival

• I hate when the NFL gets all No Fun League on us. I also hate Shawne Merriman, but I still think he should be allowed to celebrate as long as he doesn’t taunt other players or use props. NFL fans pay handsomely to be entertained, so let the players entertain, Goodell. - Bolt Beat

I just got a call from P.J. contributor The Green Blazer, who was at Wal-Mart scooping Madden 08. When he got home he gave me another ring asking for help picking a team for franchise mode since he’s going to post on that topic later, and, well, also because he’s a Madden franchise junkie. Our first thought was that he should take on one of the worst teams in the league — the Buffalo Bills, Cleveland Browns or Houston Texans. Then we remembered that Pacman Jones is still a member of the Tennessee Titans, and that the Titans are likely going to blow this year. Playing with Vince Young was also appealing to the Blazer since he prefers playing with mobile quarterbacks, and since V.Y. is on the cover.

He then went and checked out the Titans’ roster, and guess what — no Pacman! Then he went and checked the free agent cornerbacks. Again, no Pacman. After that he went and made sure that Chris Henry, Michael Vick and Tank Johnson were all still on the game, which they all three were.

What’s up with the double standard, EA Sports? I understand that Pacman can’t play this season (NFL commissioner Roger Goodell will not change his mind after 10 games… NBA head honcho David Stern acted the same way about Ron Artest… Goodell is just trying to keep Gene Upshaw and Pac’s lawyers off his ass), but can’t gamers at least use him in years 2008 and beyond while playing franchise mode? After all, he is one of the best corners and return specialists in the NFL.

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