7/12/06--My wife meets Abdullah the Butcher

So its Thursday, and we spent the better part of the day (10am-ish until around 7pm) at the Georgia Dome.  Of course, the fact that neither of our children were competing is beside the point.  Its all about getting out to support the other kids on the team.  And of course, since we got there at 10am.....the one kid competing that day has his match....at
around 6:30.  I think I was beginning to hallucinate at one point it was so boring.  Kim and I had decided afterwards that we were going to make a BBQ run, and the kids wanted to go back to the hotel and get in some training with their teammates (as a matter of fact--Kellie was becoming downright obsessive about it) so we got them some fastfood (naturally more KFC for the now fried chicken obsessed Andy) and headed out looking at the mapquest for the next BBQ joint.
Abdullah the Butcher was a pretty big deal in wrestling for about 20 years.  I say that literally and figuratively, since the guy is about an order of peach cobbler shy of 500 lbs.
Abby (as he was known) was what the wrestling industry like to refer to as a gimmick performer, meaning that his matches were usually less than 5 minutes long....almost always featured someone bleeding (Abby being the most likely choice) and usually involved Abby being chased around the building by someone like Dusty Rhodes or Bruiser Brody.  It was all big fun, made even more amazing by the fact that Abby never did an interview.  His gimmick was that he was a bloodthirsty cannibal from the Sudan.
Now, you might remember the Sudan from the movie "Blackhawk Down", which was a terrific and bloody film about a terrible incident that took place there.....but I can't remember the locals in the film being, ya know....actual cannibals.  Anyway, I'm bringing all of this up because after his retirement, Abdullah the Butcher....real name "Larry Shreeve" (you have no idea how much his real name made me laugh when I discovered it after watching the guy absolutely live the gimmick for 20 years) moved to Atlanta and opened up his own restaurant, called....here's another classic:

Abdullah the Butcher' s House of Ribs......and Chinese Food.

No, really.  That's the name.  So as we pull up to the restaurant, Kim says:

"I don't wanna eat here."
"Why?"
"Ribs and Chinese food?  What sort of combination is that?  Yeech."
"Honey, yesterday we had lunch at a restaurant that advertised chicken and waffles.
All of a sudden you have a problem with ribs and chinese food?"
"I just don't wanna eat here."
"Okay, okay....let me at least take a photo and see if they have any shirts for sale."

So we get out of the car....walk up to the front door of the restaurant.....and who is sitting at a table having a conversation?

The wildman of the Sudan.

I go up to the front counter....no shirts for sale.  Damn!  We're heading for the exit, and I stop by where Abby is sitting and ask very politely if he wouldn't mind letting me get a snapshot since I had traveled all the way from Ft. Lauderdale.  He couldn't have been more gracious.  Then, after we had taken the photo....he says....

"Here, you get a photo too." (pointing at Kim)
"Oh that's okay, I'm not much of a wrestling fan."
"That's okay...come over here and pose for a photo."

Kim moved.  Fast.  Maybe she thought he'd chase her around the building.

He told us to go and get something to eat, but I lied and told him that (cough, cough) we had just eaten and were full and that I really only wanted to get some shirts.  He gave me a couple of menu's to go and was really a nice guy.

And then we drove a few miles down the road and had dinner at a BBQ joint that did not have Chinese food on the menu....but did have biscuits made from scratch.  Mmm.
The BBQ Kitchen.  It was good stuff, even if we were sitting next to a guy who didn't have a foot.

That sort of stuff happens ONLY to me.

Later,
Jeff

PS....FINALLY, FINALLY tomorrow.....the kids compete.  Yep, its go time.