Corunna, Michigan 8/26/2006

Another night of great memories was had at the McCurdy Park Community Center. The card was loaded with just about all the talent in the Great Lakes area that had come to pay their respects to Olympian Bob Roop.

I had begun the day rising at 6 a.m., and, after a wondermus breakfast, I headed out on the road towards Lansing, Michigan. At roughly 10:30, I arrived in Williamston, a small community that was home to The Original Sheik. I stopped because I wanted to pay my respects to him at his final resting spot not far from the city limits.

I then ventured down Grand River Road, where a lot of familiar sights to me were. I lived there for nearly two years while working for World Wide Sports, a conglomerate owned by The Sheik and his wife Joyce. They had a huge office in the downtown area with a ring set up in the lower section where a lot of their video library was held.

About nine miles down the road, I turned and headed towards Bob Roop’s home, in a secluded area. Bob had just recently redone the lower area of the home so that his sons would have a little more privacy to themselves. The upper floor has many rooms decorated in an array of different motifs from around the world.

Bob's computer room and office that he conducts business out of for his internet ventures also has a king size water bed on one side. Bob told me that, if he gets tired of his work on the net, he can take a quick power nap without leaving the room.

We sat at the kitchen table, which has a wonderful view of his front yard encased in nearly $60,000 worth of landscaping. He has many different kinds of flowers and trees that project more than beauty from within.

We began to play cribbage and talk about some of the old days in the business. I called Ox Baker on my cell phone, and he and Bob began a 10-minute talk. They were friends in Florida and the Carolinas.

I decided to pull a prank on Bob and called Rhonda Orton and didn't tell him what I was doing. He knew her from when he used to go to the Bahamas to wrestle. They were friends that had been separated by many years. Bob began the call by trying to figure out who it was that I had called. He was stumped until she mentioned "Dealing", then he asked where at??? She said Vegas, and it suddenly hit him who he was talking to. They had a lot to speak about, and he was so happy that I had made the contact for him.

We played a few more games of cribbage before heading out to Corunna for the matches. It had been a wonderful day for both of us so far, and we looked forward to the rest of the evening with our other family.

Corunna was only a 45-minute ride for us, and we had more time to talk about road stories. Bob kept me laughing a lot with some great memories. He spoke about a mutual friend, Killer Karl Kox. I had to tell him the story about the time J.J. Dillon stuck a baby nanny goat in my car seat in Odessa, Texas while we were in eating.

Karl ended up taking the goat to the matches and tying it to a ring post while he wrestled. He would go outside every so often and talk to the goat, and it would BAAAAAAAAAAAAAA at him as if it was giving him advice. Those are memories that are etched in my mind and will go to my grave with me.

We also talked about Mack Quinder, a young man that came to Amarillo from Florida. Bob and Mack were good friends while working for Championship Florida Wrestling.

I stopped for a few minutes at Jellybean's in Corunna. It is a resale shop for books, magazines and music, as well as video. Bob was very impressed with the amount of stuff they have and selected some books to add to his library at home.

To be continued ....

Percival A. Friend, Retired
The Epitome of Wrestling Managers

2003 BWC Hall of Fame Inductee
2004 CAC Hall of Fame Inductee
2006 LWA Hall of Fame Inductee