It was certainly something nobody saw coming.

But despite the referee being knocked unconscious, despite “T-Bone” Jack Sloan’s shenanigans, the 5 time WCW Champion emerged triumphant, snaring the PWA Championship. Added to his World Title reign in WWE, Booker T celebrated with the PWA faithful as he became, in his own words, the “7 time! 7 time! 7 time! 7 time! 7 time! 7 time! 7 time!” Heavyweight Champion.

Certainly, the title win puts the PWA into a state of flux. Lance Storm revealed on StormWrestling.com that in order for Booker to receive a title shot, he had to agree to return to defend the title if he won, but as of press time we at PWAwrestling.ca are unaware of any set title defenses. That being said, it looks unlikely that the PWA Heavyweight Championship will be contested for at Apocalypse this Saturday in Calgary, though rumours are abound that Booker will return at PWA’s biggest show of the year, Night of Champions.

With this exciting development, it leaves much in question. T-Bone Jack Sloan is a champion that, for the time being, is denied his opportunity to invoke his rematch clause. How 2009’s Breakout Star will react to such a reality is anybody’s guess, but knowing Sloan’s temperament, the results aren’t likely to be good for anybody else on the PWA roster.

PWAwrestling.ca

(Chico, CA. April 8, 2010) The Chico Outlaws of the Golden Baseball League (GBL), the premier independent minor league in western North America, today announced that Japanese pitching sensation Eri Yoshida has agreed to terms where the 18 year-old female sidearm knuckleball pitcher will play for Chico this summer, reporting to spring training in early May.

Yoshida, 18, made headlines and impressed the baseball world last summer when she became the first female to play professionally in Japan. Equipped with a sidearm knuckleball that is considered almost unhittable when she is on, she debuted for the Kobe Cruise 9 of the Kansai League in Japan on opening day as she walked one and struck out one in front of 12,000 fans. She began playing baseball in the 2nd grade and credits Tim Wakefield as the inspiration for her 50 mph knuckleball delivered from her 5 foot 2 inch, 115 lb frame.

She went on to pitch in the Arizona Winter League in February of this year, where she had good success in the top winter development league for pro players in the U.S., including throwing 4 and 2/3 innings of shutout ball against Team Canada. She went on to spend some time at the Boston Red Sox spring training facility in Fort Myers, Florida in March and had a chance to throw with Wakefield, who gave her instruction and was very positive regarding her knuckleball. She impressed both Chico Outlaws Manager Garry Templeton (former Padre All-Star) and Team President Mike Marshall (former Dodger All-Star) who made the decision to sign her for this coming season.

“We are really looking forward to having Eri as a member of the Chico Outlaws this season,”
said Chico Outlaws team president Mike Marshall. “The Outlaws are one of the leading teams in moving players to major league organizations and will be a fine showcase for her to show her talent. In addition, it will be a treat for our fans and our community as well.”

Yoshida will be the first female to pitch for a pro team in the U.S. since Ila Borders retired over 10 years ago and the only female to ever pitch in pro leagues in two countries. The team is making special accomodations regarding separate locker room facilities and hotel rooms while traveling on roadtrips, but otherwise she will be like any other rookie pitcher starting her pro career. The Golden League will be a good test of her abilities as typical rosters are filled with major league, AAA, and AA experienced ballplayers with a few rookies per team as well. Playing a 90 game season in 100 days, the league stretches from western Canada to Hawaii, through California and northern Mexico and into Arizona and Utah as well.

“I believe that she is ready for this and has the potential to do very well,” said Chico Outlaws manager Garry Templeton. “I watched her in the Arizona Winter League and was impressed with the way she handled herself on and off the field, her determination and commitment, and her ability to integrate into a league of almost 200 pro players. Like any knuckleballer, when she was on she was very difficult to hit and when she wasn’t good hitters would tee off.

I’m excited to have her on the team and to watch her continue to improve and develop and progess up the pro ranks.”

“I am grateful for this opportunity to pitch for the Chico Outlaws,” said Yoshida. “This is a dream come true for me and I hope that I can contribute to the team to help them win and also to continue to improve as a pro baseball player.”

A press conference and signing ceremony is set for Tuesday, April 13th in Tokyo. The Outlaws open on the road in Tijuana and return for their home opener on Wednesday, May 26th.

I’m sure no one cares about this but I find it very interesting and hopefully I’ll get a chance to see her pitch this summer.

Former Sex Pistols manager, musician and businessman Malcolm McLaren has died of cancer at age 64.

Britain’s The Independent reports McLaren died Thursday (April at his home in New York after battling cancer for “some time.” His body will be flown back to Britain, where it will be buried in London, England.

McLaren was a divisive figure amongst music fans, who both loved and hated him in equal measure. Some saw him as a brilliant artist who helped birth punk, while others thought he was a cynical opportunist who fed off the Sex Pistols’ infamy and used it to his advantage.

Rather than dwell on the sadness of this man’s passing, we here at CHARTattack prefer to remember what made McLaren such an important figure in musical history.

Here are 12 reasons why Malcolm McLaren was cool:

1. After being expelled from art school, McLaren and designer Vivienne Westwood opened a clothing shop called Let It Rock in London. It sold “Teddy” clothes, but was the basis for McLaren founding another more infamous boutique later.

2. McLaren began providing the New York Dolls with outfits after he saw them live in New York in 1972. His leather costumes, which featured shocking (for the time… this was the ’70s and the middle of the Cold War) imagery like the Soviet hammer and sickle, were the first inklings of the designs that would come with punk.

3. McLaren renamed his boutique to SEX in 1975 and in a blatant attempt to shock, began selling S&M clothes, to many people’s disdain. SEX also became notorious for selling shirts with the swastika imprinted on them and other Nazi regalia, which is not cool, but anyway… (It should probably be noted McLaren was of Jewish ancestry.)

4. That same year, McLaren met and began managing The Strand. The band later morphed into the Sex Pistols after Bernie Rhodes, McLaren’s assistant, ran into Johnny Rotten in the street. Rotten’s clothes so impressed Rhodes that he brought him to meet McLaren, who got him to join the group.

5. The Sex Pistols’ moniker was McLaren’s idea. He said it fit the group because he wanted them to sound like “sexy young assassins.”

6. While the Pistols’ attitude was all their own, their clothes were provided by McLaren and he helped them achieve notoriety they might not have able to attain on their own.

That was particularly the case in 1977, after the Sex Pistols released “God Save The Queen” to coincide with Elizabeth II’s Silver (25th anniversary) Jubilee. McLaren got the band into a boat to go down London’s Thames River to the Houses Of Parliament at Whitehall, where the band would perform the tune. But police stopped the boat and arrested McLaren. That, along with the Pistols’ infamous appearance on Today with Bill Grundy, made them infamous and hated throughout Britain and the world.

7. Many people loathe McLaren because the Pistols accused him of withholding payment from them. Rotten (who went by John Lydon at this point) sued McLaren for the rights to the Sex Pistols’ contract in the 1980s and eventually won control over the Pistols’ music in 1987. Perhaps McLaren would have agreed with the “there is no such thing as bad publicity” adage.

8. McLaren launched a solo career in 1983, releasing Duck Rock. It mixed hip-hop with rock and African music, and gave him two top 10 hits in the U.K. with “Buffalo Gals” and “Double Dutch.”

9. Again proving he wasn’t just all about punk and sex, McLaren released “Madame Butterfly,” an electronic single based on Giacomo Puccini’s Madama Butterfly opera, in 1984. McLaren again experimented with other genres in 1989, when he released Waltz Darling, which blended funk and disco and featured guest spots from Bootsy Collins and Jeff Beck.

10. McLaren’s music has been used in films like Kill Bill 2 and Paris.

11. McLaren also attempted to write films of his own. Alan Moore (V For Vendetta, Watchmen) scripted a film called Fashion Beast in the mid-’80. Unfortunately, it was never made. McLaren did produce the 2006 adaptation of Eric Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation.

12. Despite the Sex Pistols’ allegations of mismanagement, McLaren was asked to manage the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 1985. But he decided not to after he was unimpressed by the band’s live performance and asked singer Anthony Kiedis if he could change the band’s sound. They refused. That one’s probably a point in the good taste column for McLaren.
by Kate Harper (CHARTattack)