Classic Rant #510 (May 23, 2011): So the World Didn't End ... At Least For Me

Well, the world didn't end. We are all still here.

It boggles the mind how people can get themselves involved with this, and how they can get themselves involved with that multi-millionaire nut who was promulgating this nonsense.

And, I ask, were they disappointed that the world did not end? Would they have been happy if everything went according to "plan"?

The world did end a day earlier for wrestling great Randy "Macho Man" Savage.

He died in a car accident on Friday. Although the full report is not in, it appears that he might have had some type of "medical episode" while he was driving. One thing led to another, and his car hit a tree, killing him. His wife was in the car, but somehow, she suffered only minor injuries.

Savage WAS wrestling in the 1980s. He and Hulk Hogan kept professional wrestling alive, keeping it on resuscitation long enough to make a comeback and eventually become the worldwide phenomenon it is today.

Savage's first sport was baseball, and he played in the St. Louis Cardinals' minor league system for a while. He was teammates with future All-Star Keith Hernandez during this early period.

But he moved onto pro wrestling, and his flashy personality made him a fan favorite, topped by his televised wedding to his valet, Miss Elizabeth.

Funny thing, in the ring, Savage (real last name Poffo) was flashy as a flash cube, but in real life, he was kind of conservative. In the ring, Miss Elizabeth was conservative, but in real life, she was out of control.

She later died of a drug overdose.

Savage--whose father and brother were also pro wrestlers--stayed with wrestling in the old WWF and later WCW. He achieved even greater fame as a spokesman for Slim Jim meat snacks. His raspy voice went well with those type of snacks.

He was in and out of the wrestling game for the past 20 years, but now he is gone.

My family and I had our own "end-of-the-word" episode at precisely 6:25 p.m. on Saturday.

My wife and I were watching TV in the living room, my son was on the computer in his room.

All of a sudden, we heard an explosion, and we lost all of our electricity ... as did, we discovered, everyone on our block and in the surrounding area.

To make a long story short, a transformer right across the street had exploded, and the air was full of smoke and smell.

It took about four hours, but we did receive our power back after 10 p.m.

Thus, I missed the Yankees-Mets game on Saturday, which the Yankees won. I guess the world didn't end for them, either.

And the world did not end, for us at least.

Did it end for any of you?