GENEPOOL GIVES HOUSTON A PROBLEM. DAY FOUR. 

After not having slept Friday night, my Saturday started with wrestling stuff at 7 a.m. and ended with the UNC-Villanova game. Quite the day. Take a look at what we got. 

At noon, there was a session called Midday Madness in which people who bought a travel package have a special autograph session with some of the wrestlers. We got to the line at 11:50 a.m., and it didn't look too bad. That assessment, however, was wrong. 

When we got to the front of the line, we went into another room where the line was really big. Four hours later (yeah, I waited in a line for four hours), I added five autographs to my collection. And I didn't know the identity of the wrestlers in the session until the third hour. 

I wasn't the only one. Wrestling fans are a crazy, dedicated group. I didn't see one person give up and leave. 

My new girlfriend. I kid. No, that's Sunny, a wrestling chick mostly famous from the 1990s. She's 36 but still smoking hot. I told Paul I was going to kiss her when he went to snap the photo, but I chickened out. I blew it. 

This is one of the secondary champions signing. He had his iphone out and had the music on full blast. I couldn't decide if that was cool or a douche move. Anyway, the iphone had a crack in it. 

Woman in front of me: You do that to your phone?

Jack: Yeah. I dropped it. 

Woman: Apple isn't fixing that for you?

Jack: No. It's been a hassle. 

Me: Didn't you tell them who you are?

Jack: They never heard of me. 

After the four-hour wait and autograph session, we came back to the hotel and got ready for the night. After setting up the VCR to tape the Heels, Paul and I went to the House of Blues down the street for dinner. 

Back in September, Paul and I made a dinner bet in relation to this show. I won. Easily. 

Ah, the sweet taste of victory: filet mignon with crawfish (some long word that starts with B). It was my only meal of the day, and I gobbled it up. Pretty darn good. The crawfish flavor was sweet.

 

The house where the Rockets do business. On this night, the Toyota Center was the host to the Hall of Fame. We rushed dinner a little because our time schedule was tight. We walked in at 6:48 p.m., thinking we were so awesome because we made it in time.

We then found out that the show started at 6 p.m. Oops. No real biggie, though, because I only needed to see the induction of Stone Cold Steve Austin. His speech was disappointing. As was the whole ceremony. Last year, it was right over four hours. Including the part we missed, Saturday's show was barely over two hours. WTF. 

Austin was inducted by Vince McMahon, which is funny because Austin used to beat the crap out of Vince, his boss, every week on TV. I was surprised he didn't stun Vince right there. A handshake? Lame. 

I said wrestling fans were dedicated. I didn't say they could correctly place a comma. 

Austin finished his induction speech the only way he could: with a couple of cold beers. He got the beer all over his suit. Not that he cared.

Oh, hell yah!  

THE TINA CURSING CORNER

On Wednesday, I sat down to watch the fourth disc of Season 2 of Lost. My mom joins me for the first episode. The menu screen comes up. "They changed the fucking music. It's Hawaiian." 

Mom has all kind of wires with our home entertainment system. Depending on what and how she's watching something, she has to switch some wires. On Wednesday when I hit play, the volume only came out of one speaker. "Sometimes, it fucking works, and sometimes, it don't." 

The other speaker begins playing but then stops again a few minutes later. "Aw, fuck. It was just playing." 

ONE MORE TO GO

Besides that run where Villanova cut it to five, the Heels were in control Saturday night. Much better than last year's semifinals. The VCR turned out to be pointless. Besides the fact that it didn't tape correctly, I was back at the hotel with nine minutes left in the first half. 

I really like our incredible 3-point defense right now. I hope this missing foul shot thing doesn't come back to haunt us in the championship. I'd feel a lot better if the title game vs. Michigan State was in the Superdome and not the state of Michigan. 

THE DAILY TOP LIST

My top five WrestleManias. Will tonight's show crack the list?

5) WrestleMania 12. 1996.

I went to a party at a friend's house to watch this one. Lopes did the same. Of course, his favorite won and mine lost. Waaaa. Waaaa.

4) WrestleMania 3. 1987.

93,173 watched at the Silverdome in Michigan. An insider told me Saturday morning that they probably fudged the number by 1,000.  

3) WrestleMania 24. 2008.

Was in the 12th row. 

2) WrestleMania 17. 2001.

Signaled the end (though not on purpose) of the wrestling boom that started in the late 90s. 

1) WrestleMania 21. 2005. 

Saw this one at Hooters.