So Long, Captain Lou!

Written by Sid BridgecloseAuthor: Sid Bridge Name: Sid Bridge
Email: sid@thesidagency.com
Site: http://www.theendive.com
About: Sid Bridge, APR is Senior Editor for Parcbench. He is also Editor-in-Chief of The Endive, an online humor magazine for conservatives. As Parcbench's Senior Editor, Sid enjoys working with a diverse team of writers, each with his or her own unique personality. Sid is a happily married father of four, and a rare breed - an orthodox Jew who likes muscle cars and wears cowboy boots.See Authors Posts (73) on October 15, 2009

Wrestling legend Captain Lou Albano passed away Wednesday, according to an official announcement from WWE.com. He was an icon from an era that’s long gone – the era when it was socially acceptable to watch and enjoy professional wrestling.

Lou knew how to entertain us, as a good guy or a bad guy, he had a knack for sensationalizing everything around him – and that’s what the faux-sport of Pro-wrestling is all about.

In fact, he was so good at it, that his crossover fame with Cyndi Lauper led to an acting career. A good number of 20-somethings might know him less for wrestling and more for his portrayal of Super Mario in Nintendo’s “Super Mario Super Show” cartoon.

Sure, you could make fun of him. He participated in a fake sport. He glued rubber bands to his face. He wore unbuttoned Hawaiian shirts. But all the while, he was entertaining you.

He was making you cheer for the good guy and boo for the bad guy, all with some basic ring-side acting. The ringside manager doesn’t even exist in today’s iteration of pro-wrestling (now called Sports Entertainment). It would be nice if we still had them today.

Could you imagine how much more fun Pelosi would be to watch if Bobby “The Brain” Heenan stood next to her in the House chamber, telling her to hit people and trying to trip her opponents before running away?

How about if Kim Jong Il enlisted the services of Mr. Fuji? I would pay to see Fuji and Kim distract Bill Clinton with negotiations while The Magnificent Don Muraco sneaks up to hit him with a chair.

Albano had the art of the manager perfected, and that era dies with him. That’s for the memories, Lou. Enjoy your time in the afterlife, urging Big John Studd to tighten his choke hold on Andre the Giant.

Sid Bridge, APR is the Senior Editor for Parcbench and the Editor-in-Chief of The Endive, a satirical newsmagazine at www.theendive.com. He also still ties shoe strings to his upper arms in an attempt to look like The Ultimate Warrior.