One Last Drive to Minneola

I’ve been putting off writing this for a few reasons. One, I wanted to attend all that needed to be attended, and two, I wanted to give time and space to others to express their views before I express mine. I don’t mind bringing up the rear, and in their world, they go first.

Fifteen years ago, there was very little development northbound on State Road 27 between I-4 and Minneola City Hall. Once you got off the interstate and past the truck stops, there were a few lights in Clermont and a whole lot of nothing before arriving at Minneola’s one traffic light. The nothingness was so expansive that in February 2009, the first time I drove up SR 27 to Minneola, I thought I was lost. After a few minutes of nothingness, I turned around and drove back to Tampa.

True story.

Once I figured out where I was going, Minneola City Hall became a regular drive. Although many times I took a friend or two, and even once took a legendary pro wrestling manager, I often made the journey solo.

While friends were always nice company, the reason I drove to Minneola City Hall was to see World Xtreme Wrestling, the famous federation run by Afa Anoa’i and his family.

In the beginning, my reason for driving to Minneola was simple, to support my brother, Bryan Maddox. If Bryan was in a show, I drove to see him. Prior to wXw, following his career led me to matches all over Florida. I saw matches in roller skating rinks, VFWs, bars, television studios, and the occasional civic center. Once he settled on wXw, I settled on wXw.

As the commercial says, wXw is better than the rest.

Over the years, I became a wXw regular. I was the heckler with the afro wig. A cheerleader, one with a three-foot afro wig instead of pom-poms. A tradition that started with the Afro-Squad at Florida Championship Wrestling travelled to Minneola and found a new home. Whereas I was part of a crew at FCW, at wXw I was the only afro-clad super fan. In wXw, the afro wig got bigger and I got louder. I developed a reputation as the guy who jeered the bad guys and started chants for the good guys.

“Perfect Loser!” – to Richard “Perfect Creation” Criato. Still one of my favorite chants.

“No one likes you!” – to any and all bad guys. Especially the arrogant type.

“Get up! I have money on you!” – always funny when a good guy is getting pummeled.

“You got him right where you want him!” – when a good guy wrestler is getting beaten by a bigger bad guy.

“WXW! WXW!” – when wXw was invaded by FCW and years later, Battlefield Wrestling.

And so many more. Whenever I brought a friend, I would warn them of my reputation and antics. Sometimes they joined the trash talking. Sometimes they got caught in the heckling crossfire. But it was always good fun and always clean.

Being a wXw regular and Bryan Maddox’s brother introduced me to so many great people at wXw. First and foremost, the Anoa’i Family. From Pops to Momma Lynn to Vale to other family members who occasionally visited, the entire family treated me like family. Whether it was giving me a warm welcome when I returned from Afghanistan, allowing me to visit their home after a show, sending me emails when I was in Qatar, asking about my brother during his times away from the ring, coming to my book signing, or being at my Dad’s Celebration of Life, I am forever thankful for their kindness and support.

Before I discuss the regular roster, I want to mention that because of wXw, I have some amazing Haku stories. Haku is a legend of the ring. A former king and one of the toughest men in pro wrestling history. But I never approached him as an awestruck fan. His daughter, Vika, was at FSU the same time I was. Her college roommate was friends with my college roommate. When I first approached Haku, I asked about his family. We talked about life in Orlando versus Tampa. He paid my tab at Buffalo Wild Wings one night after I complained about lack of service. He sent me a birthday video last year. He gave me a hug and chop to the chest at the last wXw show. Haku is the man. Getting to know him wouldn’t have been possible without wXw.

Because of wXw, I also broke bread and drank beer with Jey Uso in a Tampa sports bar. When I explained to Jey that his family has treated my family like family for many years, he asked me who. When I told him I knew his Uncle Afa, Aunt Lynn, Cousin Vale, etc, he invited me to hang out with him and also paid my tab. We closed down a few bars when WWE was holding temporary residency at Tropicana Field. That never would have happened without wXw.

Other people I crossed paths with because of wXw include Harry Smith at the same sports bar I met Jey, Tamina Snuka at a Qdoba in Tampa, and two women on a nature trail in Hawaii who commented on my “Anoa’i Strong” t-shirt and told me about their own Samoan lineage.

Now to the wXw roster. I have a lot of respect for the wrestlers of wXw. I have only been in a wrestling ring twice in my life. It is not my place. My place is outside the ring with a big afro wig on my head. But to those who put their bodies on the line at wXw, thank you. To my brother, Bryan Maddox, to his longtime tag partner, Ethan Essex, to his former manager, Rico Moon, to Nick Nero and Ace Radic (aka Justin Bieber), Maluta to Mandrake, Vertigo to Deathrow, Hound Dogg to Hudson, Gus Money to Gariston Spears, Mercedes to Sarona, Sugaa to Shawn Spears, TNT to Tony Ice, D-Ramos to E.R.A. to Alex G to the Big O, and many, many others, thank you for years of dedication and entertainment. I hope to see you at other shows soon.

In my 15 years of wXw fandom, one of my favorite moments happened in Summer 2023 when Battlefield Pro Wrestling “invaded” wXw. I arrived at Minneola City Hall wearing my afro and a wXw t-shirt. Before I could make my way to a seat, the wXw wrestlers sitting ringside chanted “One of us” to me. I was representing wXw and they wanted me to sit with them. Of course, I didn’t attack Battlefield wrestlers when they did, but I did join them in booing and jeering the invading roster. For them to acknowledge me as “one of them”, even in the crowd, was super cool.

Now to the fellow fans. Through wXw, I became family with many other regularly attending fans. We would always chat and catch up every month. From the Clacks to Santa Claus to everyone who bought my book to the kids who thought my afro was real to the kids who swore it wasn’t, thank you for making wXw more enjoyable. I can’t count how many new fans at wXw asked me if I was part of the show or told me that I added to their enjoyment. Thank you to the fans who laughed at my heckling and thank you to the fans who joined my chants. I also hope to see all y’all at other shows soon.

wXw provided me with 15 years of entertainment and introduced me to so many good people, but the best thing wXw did was make me that much prouder of my brother. I saw Bryan win titles, lose titles, get cheered, get booed, get a stinkface from Rikishi, meet his idols, and eventually make the wXw Hall of Fame. I’ll admit I cried a little when he received his well-deserved Hall of Fame plaque.

Weeks ago, when I started writing this essay, I thought I was making my last drive to Minneola. Afa the Wild Samoan announced April 13 was the last wXw show. Twenty-seven years, to include fifteen in Florida, was coming to an end. I was ready to tear up. During the show, however, Afa Junior took the mic and announced he was going to continue hosting wrestling shows in Minneola. We don’t know when, we don’t know who, and we don’t know how. But we are going to hold Junior to his word.

Instead of saying good-bye to Minneola, the wXw Grand Finale was instead the closing of a great chapter. It was end of the shows hosted by Afa, his wife Lynn, and their daughter Vale, the central nervous system of wXw. They have to circle the wagons and take care of Pops, who has been battling health issues lately. The Grand Finale was their finale.

These days, countless condos and complexes line State Road 27 from I-4 to Minneola City Hall. The nothingness is gone. The area is growing and more things are happening. City Hall itself is getting a massive upgrade. But after April 13th one thing will be missing.

World Xtreme Wrestling.

Thank you, Afa, for putting on such great shows for 15 years. Thank you, Mom and Vale, for all you did. Thank you to the wrestlers and the fans. I love you all and I will see you soon.

P.S. After the second-to-last show, someone asked me if the afro wig will be retired if wXw closed. I don’t think it will be. The Afro-Squad started in FCW and has been at many different organizations statewide. I also don’t think my WXW or Anoa’i Strong shirts will be retired either. As a matter of fact, they will probably be my regular attire to all wrestling shows from here on out. Although I will be at whatever show in wherever, Florida, my heart will always be at wXw.

P.P.S. I still can’t believe I missed The Rock.

Signing Books at the Ale and the Witch - Sunday April 21 2024

 

I am very happy to announce another book signing! 

On Sunday, April 21, 2024, I will be at The Ale and the Witch beer garden in beautiful St Petersburg, Florida from 5pm to 8pm.

This will be my first signing at The Ale and the Witch and I am excited. They do a Blues Jam on selected Sundays and I am signing while the band is playing, which is always great synergy.

Come on out and say hi!

Not so Serious Movie Review: Damn Yankees

 

I finally watched the movie Damn Yankees. In March of 2023, I read the novel The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant by Douglass Wallop, the book from which Damn Yankees is based. The movie and the musical took the novel to another level as most people now associate the story with the Damn Yankees title and not the book's original title.

Several of the reviews for Curveball at the Crossroads have mentioned Damn Yankees, inspiring me to find the movie and the book. There are some similarities, although my novel is based more on blues music and southern folklore. Damn Yankees is a more generic Faustian tale.

What I liked:

• As far as I remember, the movie stuck pretty true to the novel. 
• It's light, quick, and fun - an easy watch. 
• The Yankees lose. Which is always a good thing.

Being a musical and made in the 1950s, the movie doesn't get too deep into the dark side of a deal with the Devil. Ray Walston keeps the Devil humorous and mischievous. He is evil, but with a quick wit. After working with the Devil in my novel, I like seeing how the Devil is portrayed in other works.

My biggest critique of the movie has to be why "Who's Got the Pain" was part of the production. While impressive for its dancing, it doesn't advance the story at all.

If it wasn't a musical, the movie could have dove deeper into the characters. I thought Lola was especially overrated. She is a side character at best and definitely doesn't deserve to be the focus of the poster. But Gwen Verdon is an amazing dancer and steals the show in her dancing scenes, and that's the focus of musicals, hence she is the biggest face on the poster. 

On a related note, no offense to Gwen Verdon, but she doesn't come off as a temptress very well. The fake accent scene didn't make sense and not until the end does the viewer get the idea that Joe Hardy might even like Lola. She is more concept than character. The novel version of Lola is a bit more tempting. Neither are as seductive as Kim Bassinger in The Natural, however.

Overall, Damn Yankees is recommended. Especially if you have read Curveball at the Crossroads. I also recommend reading The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant, which I like to think is Curveball at the Crossroads's spiritual predecessor.

Side note: I realized after watching Damn Yankees that the song "Heart" is from the musical. I have seen the video of the 1969 Mets on the Ed Sullivan Show performing the song many times but never knew where it was from. Mystery solved.

By the way, could someone look less excited than Nolan Ryan being forced to sing on late night television?

Signing books at Magnanimous Brewing in Bradenton

 

In what has now become an annual tradition, I am again doing a book signing at Magnanimous Brewing in Bradenton, Florida. This is one of my favorite locations to sign books as it is directly across the street from LECOM Park (formerly McKechnie Field), spring training home of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

You can't get a better place for the baseball environment than across the street from the stadium. And even better, my book signing is on Sunday, March 17th - St. Patrick's Day - from noon to 5PM. Yes, I am signing books at a brewery on the holiday of the Irish.

Should be a great time.

So come on out and say hello. If you haven't purchased either Curveball at the Crossroads or The Man Makes You Work, check them out. If reading isn't your thing, support local breweries.

See you there!

Interviewed by The Gilded Page Bookstore

I forgot to post about this a few months ago, but the kind folks at The Gilded Page Bookstore in Tarpon Springs, Florida interviewed me on their website. I really liked this interview as they asked some really good questions.

Here is a sample:

Here is the link to the rest of the interview:

Author Spotlight: Interview with Michael Lortz

Book Signing at Grindhaus Brew Lab in Clearwater, Florida

 

I will be selling and signing my books at Grindhaus Brew Lab in Clearwater, Florida on Sunday, March 3rd from 3 to 6 pm. Grindhaus is located at 1650 N Hercules Ave, Unit I, Clearwater, FL 33765.

Grindhaus is an awesome funky local brewery with a movie theater in the back of the establishment. There is a good chance they will play some baseball movies for us during the event. Baseball is back!

A Video Tribute to My Dad

 

As part of my Dad's celebration of life, I volunteered to make a video slideshow. Making the video was a feat. I had to scan old pictures, label pictures, find dates, and sort through hundreds of pictures spanning from 1952 to 2023. I had to make some tough decisions on what to include and what ended up on the cutting room floor. But in the end, I think the final product turned out pretty good.

I try not to think about it like this, but this is the final thing I did for my Dad. I like to think that I had the honor and the pleasure of telling his life story. As a creative person, that's the best gift I can give.

George's Journey - A Tribute to George Lortz from JordiScrubbings on Vimeo.

A Tribute to My Dad

On December 23, 2023, I joined a club few if any want to join. Unfortunately, in the course of life, time makes many of us members. Now in my mid-40s, many of my friends have lost a parent or two. And as much as I feel comfort knowing I have people who are there for me and have felt this loss, it’s still hard.

My Dad is gone. I’ll never talk to him again.

My Dad was proud of me. Of that there was no dispute. I followed close enough in his footsteps that he knew the route, even if I walked on different paths.

My Dad was a complicated man who wanted the world to be simple. He enjoyed Jeopardy, Jim Beam, and James Bond. He thought there were too many dinosaurs. He could be obstinate. He could be argumentative. He was quick with what is now appropriately called “a Dad joke”. He taught me to drive as fast as I wanted, as long I didn’t endanger anyone. Seventeen speeding tickets later, he would tell me not to speed.

I learned a lot from my Dad. Most of it true, some of it not. For years, I thought the bungee cord was invented by a man named Arthur J. Bungee. According to my Dad, Arthur J. developed the bungee cord in 1942 to preserve rubber for the war effort. My Dad told me that Mr. Bungee’s new cords were used on aircraft carriers and helped America win World War II. Of course I believed him.

I wrote in the dedication of my novel, Curveball at the Crossroads, that my Dad introduced me to baseball and the Blues. I remember when he took me to my first Major League Baseball game, Back to School Day at Shea Stadium, 1985. I received a free Mets school binder that day that I still have. My Dad religiously watched those mid-80s Mets, descendants of the ‘69 Mets he witnessed win the World Series. In that year in which the second most amazing event was a man on the moon, my Dad was selling programs and scorecards from Shea Stadium’s upper deck.

One of my Dad’s favorite stories about his time as a vendor was when the Mets won the division for the first time in their history. When the final out was recorded, bedlam erupted and the fans rushed the field to celebrate. As an employee, my Dad was supposed to stay in the stands, but on this day he joined the jubilee in the grass. When a policeman grabbed him and asked why he was on the field, my Dad told the officer that in order to sell his stuff, he had to be where his customers were.

I remember when my Dad introduced me to the Blues. I was a hip-hop kid in the 90’s, much to my parents’ chagrin. During one my first visits home from the Army, however, I asked my Dad if he could make me a cassette of Jimi Hendrix songs. As he recorded most of the classics from his vinyl collection, he asked me to listen to “Red House” before he copied it. Red House is Hendrix’s most bluesy song. I wanted that song on the cassette. That lead to me finding a CD entitled “Jimi Hendrix Blues”, one of my favorite albums of all time.

My Dad taught me that most music is influenced by something earlier. I remember him listening to Dr Dre and immediately recognizing Parliament-Funkadelic samples. He challenged me to find the source of my music. In my growing Blues fandom, that led me to Clarksdale, Mississippi, and the legendary crossroads where Robert Johnson allegedly made his deal with the Devil.  If that sounds familiar, then you understand my Dad’s influence on my novel.

Throughout the years, my Dad and I went to a lot of events together. In 2008, I took him to his first World Series game in 39 years. I took him to see Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, and almost every year from 2000 to 2010, we saw the legendary BB King play the Blues. 

Sometimes our events required long drives. For a few years, he would journey to Tampa and join me in trips to Tallahassee to see FSU football. As part of those weekends, I introduced him to the Bradfordville Blues Club, a small music venue outside of Tallahassee that was one of the last juke joints in America.

Besides music and sports, I understood my Dad professionally. After a few years with various other defense contractors, he worked for Northrop Grumman for over 30 years. In my career, I have worked for over a dozen different defense contractors, to include Northop Grumman for a year. My Dad was very excited I joined his company, but not so excited when I complained about my time with the company and left after nine months. I had to tell my Dad that although the company is the same, my division and my experiences were vastly different. Whereas he worked on a Northrop Grumman campus, with Northrop Grumman equipment, in Northrop Grumman buildings, I’ve always worked on military bases, surrounded by military people, doing military things. In my Northrop Grumman job, that base was in Doha, Qatar, where I enjoyed being until it was time to come home. When I came back, the company had no stateside positions for me so I moved on.

For someone who never put on the uniform, my Dad had a love for the military that went above and beyond. The equipment he worked on in his forty-plus years in defense contracting saved lives and helped win wars. And when I left for basic training on August 21, 1995, it was my Dad who drove me to the recruiting station in his pearl white, 1971 Datsun 240z. If you knew my Dad, you knew that car only came out for special drives. When we got to the recruiting station, he cried, gave me a big hug, and told me how proud he was.

I am going to remember a lot about my Dad. Although he could be a pain in the ass, we had a lot of good times. But time moves on. Shea Stadium is gone, leveled in 2009. BB King passed away in 2015, and the Bradfordville Blues Club closed its doors early last year. Many of the people and places I shared with my Dad are gone. Now he is gone as well.

I’m gonna miss you, Dad.

Buy Curveball at the Crossroads from Ingram Spark

Curveball at the Crossroads

Lortz, Michael and Anderson, Grego "MojoHand"

Buy Now

Buy Curveball at the Crossroads directly from my distributor for only $13.64! 

That's almost $4 off the cover price!

Open the link via QR code!

Ahead of my time with a chili submission

Longtime readers of this blog might remember a post I wrote way back in 2012. In the post, "When Victory Tastes Like Wendy's", I wrote about how I entered a chili contest using Wendy's chili and an added dabble of hot sauce.

Last week, I saw this tiktok/instagram reel/youtube short. It had over 7 million total views.

Apparently, I was ahead of my time by 10 years. And I should have videoed my experience - from making the chili to submitting it to the winning announcement. That might have gotten some views. I could have been a social media superstar.