So, what is the cause? Why have I been silent?

Mostly it's been because there isn't anything worth saying. (I can already hear it. "Hey, that never stopped you before!").

OK, so that and a mild case of writers block. I was toying with the idea of writing a simple children's story here, but it just never came together.

However a couple of things have been ruminating in my somewhat fertile gray matter, so I thought I'd let this flow and see where we end up?

First, where does professional wrestling go from here? I have read over and over how "this weeks RAW didn't blow me away. It was passable, but it just didn't get me off.", or comments to that effect.

What the hell do you want? There can't be mountains without valleys. It's all yin and yang. Up and down. There have to be lower points in order for us to appreciate the high spots. Yeah, I'd like to be up on top of the world all the time, but after a while, that wouldn't satisfy any more and I'd be looking for something new to get a new thrill from.

Beside that point, where would we go to "push the envelope"? Live sex acts in the middle of the ring? Active duels? Audience participation? Come on, let's be a bit realistic here and realize that the envelope does have a real, finite limit.

When I was young, and T.V. was black and white (and there were all of 3 channels to pick from), there were very stringent regulations as to what could be put on. Married couples were not allowed to be shown sharing a bed. In fact, married couples slept in twin beds on T.V. (even though I knew that mom and dad shared a bed, so what was up with that?).

There was no such thing as a swear word on T.V. In fact, George Carlin had a very popular routine that is fast becoming obsolete with the 7 words you can't say on T.V. I think that number may be down to 1 by now. That envelope has not only been pushed, but been blown apart.

Violence was implied. A shot may have been fired, but the death invariably took place off camera. Now we are treated to all the gory details. What's next? Do we get to witness the autopsy too?

Wrestling was once about two men (or two women, or two teams) going up against each other in a simulated athletic contest. (Actually, once upon a time it was an actual athletic contest). Now it's about who has the better catch phrase, who can say the word "ass" more times, and who can work the mic best.

I am getting a glimmer of hope, though. The WWF is finding that what's old is new again in their return to the roots of wrestling. Announcers who actually call a match, matches that involve real wrestling, and a slow, but steady, move away from the Crash TV aspect.

Darwinism states that natural selection allows for the evolution of a species. Adapt or die is another way of saying it. The WWF and ECW both seem to be learning the lesson here.

The jury is still out on the WCW.