OP/ED

SETH HERROLD

THE SQUARED CIRCLE

Last Saturday, at the tail end of a long-awaited family vacation to Colorado, I found myself in Kansas City with the wife and kid awaiting Monster Jam, which was no doubt going to be the highlight of the whole trip for one Cash Herrold.

But, Grave Digger and company weren’t planning on launching 12,000-pound machines through the air at Arrowhead like a Patrick Mahomes pass to Travis Kelce until 7 that night so, we had time to kill. As it has many times in its life, the Herrold family crossover found itself in the Target parking lot.

Any man who has had a wife or a girlfriend in the past decade has no doubt found themselves inside a Target. It is, especially for 90’s babies like my wife, their sanctuary. So, like a good husband, I took Cash, let mom go to work, and plotted my revenge for the next time we were remotely close to a Bass Pro Shop.

So Cash and I headed back to the toys so I could pull an ultimate dad move — buy him a Monster Jam truck at Target to take to the show so one: I didn’t have to wait in the undoubtedly long merch line and two: I didn’t have to pay that stadium mark-up price. I’m pretty proud of that.

But on the way back to the toys, something caught my attention in the men’s clothing section. Neon colors jumped off a black t-shirt. Images of the Ultimate Warrior, Macho Man Randy Savage, the Hart Foundation and more were emblazoned on the front. It was over-the-top late 80’s, early 90’s pro wrestling and it went straight into the cart.

That’s right, you’re getting a wrestling column!

So, most of my childhood wrestling memories revolved around the Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin, but I’m old enough to remember the guys on this shirt. Looking at this shirt it’s funny now to think how over the top wrestling was back then. I mean the Ultimate Warrior and Randy Savage* are almost cartoon characters with their appearances. In addition to the guys I already named, the shirt also features Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts holding a boa constrictor and Brutus ‘The Barber’ Beefcake with an abnormally large pair of scissors. The bits these guys ran with back then were so far fetched and, at that time, most people still weren’t sure if these guys were actually out there brawling or if it was just an act. I know as a young kid watching I 100 percent thought these were real fights. * Sidebar here, but I want to take this opportunity to say I think Randy Savage is the greatest professional wrestler of all time. The guy could match anyone on the mic, he had the presence and draw power of a Hulk Hogan and he could work the ring as well as anyone, Ric Flair included.

I do want to point out, though wrestling is an act, I’m not here to say the moves aren’t real. Watch Hogan, Flair or any retired wrestler try to move around and you can see first hand what they put their bodies through. They are absolutely athletes. Though the matches are pre-determined, the bumps taken and injuries incurred are very much real.

I don’t watch wrestling very much any more. I haven’t watched it consistently since the Rock and Stone Cold wrestled the main event at Wrestlemania 19. A quick Google search tells me that was 18 years ago. But I will turn it on every once in a while for nostalgia’s sake. The last time I did, though, you wouldn’t even think the current wrestlers and the wrestlers on the shirt I bought existed in the same universe. Guys in regular clothes with regular names are battling it out. Don’t get me wrong, there are still bits and angles here and there, but nowhere near the level it was back then. It would be far more believable now that these were real fights, but social media has exposed everything. Guys who are fighting in the main event are drinking together on a private jet on Instagram two hours later.

It is a little crazy how much things have changed in that industry, but, it’s also been 30 years or so since the characters on that shirt were headlining wrestling events. Really, compare any professional sport now to what it was 30 years ago and you are going to see a massive contrast.

Change has probably been good for wrestling. Some would probably argue that, but good grief, you have to see this shirt. Once you do you might back track your argument.

But, you are nothing without your history and the history of wrestling, and this shirt deserves to be celebrated.

As always, thanks for reading. A couple of quick recommendations for you: If you like the grilled chicken and rice at El Nopal, you should try it with the shrimp instead of the chicken. Also Fast and Furious /checks notes/ 9?! is out. Save your money and just go rent Fast Five... That is still far and away the best film of that franchise.

What Others Are Saying...

THINK YOU HAD IT ROUGH DURING THE PANDEMIC?

If you think you had it rough for the past year, consider local nursing home residents.

“It’s a lot better.”

As COVID-19 wanes, that’s how Dolores Knernschield, 92, described life in StoneBridge at Oak Tree Senior Living in Jefferson City.

If you think you had it rough for the past year, consider local nursing home residents.

Not only did they have little to no access to their loved ones at times, but Knernschield and many other residents of nursing homes were sometimes confined to their rooms.

As we reported in a June 19 story, Knernschield said emotions ranged from the fear of the unknown to frustration at being confined and having limited connection to family members outside facilities and elation as pandemic-caused restrictions eased.

Mary Gant, 85, who resides in the independent living portion of Primrose Retirement Community of Jefferson City, said there was confusion at times. She said residents had to be creative in coming up with things to do in their rooms.

Gant and others who lived to tell their stories are the fortunate ones — not everyone survived. Of the 270 COVID-19 cases in the county’s long-term care facilities, 56 died. That’s a mortality rate far above the general population.

Harold Lepper, 86, came down with COVID-19 but survived. The Primrose resident said he’s lucky to have family in the area.

“I was in the hospital New Year’s. I had double pneumonia. I had food poisoning,” Lepper said in our story. “They thought I was going to die. The two nurses that saw me leave didn’t expect me to come back.”

Doctors told Lepper he may require six months to a year to fully recover. He still feels unsteady on his feet and walks with a walker.

Rose Marie Bogdan, an 84-year-old resident of Jefferson City Manor, a JMS Senior Living site, said residents felt they were cared for. Staff found creative ways to keep the residents active, she said.

“Being in here, I didn’t have to worry too much. (Jefferson City Manor Administrator Brandon McIntire) and everyone else in the staff was very much up on everything,” she said in our story.

The pandemic has been rough on nursing home residents, many presumably members of “The Greatest Generation.”

They’ve collectively seen a lot over the years and have overcome many tough situations while creating a better nation for the rest of them. We commend them for making the best of a tough situation once again.

We also commend the staff of the nursing homes. Like other front-line workers, they sacrificed their own health and safety and went above and beyond to protect their residents. —The Jefferson City News Tribune

GUEST EDITORIAL

DELTA VARIANT SPIKING, BOOSTER MAY BE NEEDED

Infectious disease experts say those who received the one-dose Johnson & Johnson COVID19 vaccine may need a booster shot of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, particularly to fight off the more contagious delta variant that’s raging here in Missouri.

Though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is not yet recommending such boosters, some doctors who specialize in infectious disease and got the J & J vaccine are already getting them. Stanford professor Dr. Michael Lin is among those arguing that getting one not only makes sense but is a “no-brainer.”

“The 40% expected breakthrough in J&J recipients exposed to delta is a big contrast to the 12%” expected for those who got the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine, he tweeted. “Why not bump the protection against illness from (and transmission of) delta from 60% for J&J recipients to (tilde)90% like the RNA recipients have? This can be easily accomplished with a RNA booster for existing J&J recipients.”

Not surprisingly, COVID-19 infections are rising where the vaccination rate is low — that’s us — and falling where more people have been vaccinated. Right now, we’re leading the country in both COVID-19 infections and in the delta variant.

“There’s really no excuse anymore for not getting vaccinated,” says Dr. Rex Archer, director of health for Kansas City. “The problem is, when people don’t, then the virus has a chance to continue to mutate. And we will see something much worse than this delta variant if we don’t get this virus under control.”

The delta variant is likely to become the dominant strain here, Archer says, and one-shot vaccinations won’t be enough to ward it off or keep it from spreading. It won’t stay in rural areas, either, so urban areas will be paying a price for the lack of vaccinations and precautions in rural Missouri.

Archer says it’s absolutely essential for those who’ve only had one Pfizer or Moderna shot to get their second. He said he’s awaiting word from the feds on whether they recommend that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine be boosted by a Pfizer or Moderna shot. But in the meantime, he recommends extreme caution for those folks, who he says should really be wearing masks in most indoor situations.

An Associated Press analysis of data from last month shows that nearly all deaths from COVID19 — over 99% of them — are now in unvaccinated patients. Fully vaccinated patients account for only 0.1% of hospitalizations.

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly continues to encourage Kansans to do the right thing for themselves and their communities: “The delta variant is rapidly spreading in neighboring states, and the best way to protect yourself, your community, and get our state back to normal is by getting vaccinated,” Kelly said in a statement Monday. “Kansas is moving in the right direction, but we can’t let our guard down now.” She urged people to go to www.kansasvaccine.gov to find a vaccination site.

Unfortunately, in keeping with his “do whatcha wanna do” response to the whole pandemic, Missouri Gov. Mike Parson is doing just the opposite, pronouncing himself “comfortable” with where the state is in fighting COVID-19.

“The one thing we’re very comfortable with is, one, we continue to do the testing every day in the state of Missouri,” Parson told KMIZ. “We know what our hospitalization rates are, we know that they’re not climbing at an extreme rate like they were before and we’re going to deal with that. We’re going to deal with COVID-19 for a while, we just got to make sure we’re testing and we got the vaccine available.” If it’s available but not getting into the arms of Missourians, what good is that?

This leisurely approach, summed up perfectly by the governor’s “If you want to wear a dang mask, wear a mask” comment, is exactly the attitude that got us here.

The delta variant, first seen in India, is more contagious and is leading to spikes in hospitalizations across Missouri — where fewer than 40% have been fully vaccinated.

The CDC said that in a recent sampling of 309 Missouri specimens, 29% were the delta variant. But many places both here and in Kansas aren’t even testing for the delta variant, so its incidence can only be guessed at.

And it’s best not to guess when it comes to life and death. Choose to be safe rather than proud. Continue to take precautions such as wearing a mask, washing hands and social distancing to the extent possible.

Above all, get vaccinated. This scourge isn’t over. If you want to change that, you’re going to have to do your part.