Friend Encounters: Heather, Ed and Troy

Friend Encounters is a weekly series featuring friends meeting celebrities.

It's hard to say who the biggest celebrity is in this picture. I would say they are all celebrities. Depending on the day, they might say none are or they might debate who is the biggest.

Married couple Ed and Heather were staples of the independent wrestling scene. Now they are mostly retired. I am inclined to say Heather is the biggest celebrity (because she is the toughest lol).

Troy is a staple on the convention scene. The man goes to more shows than I do.

Together, this trio is a huge part of Squared Circle Expo, the great wrestling convention in Indianapolis on March 27-28. This picture was a foreshadowing of things to come, as it happened before the SCX I, but even then, they were all heavily involved in conventions.

Heading into SCX VI, Ed and Heather are two of the promoters and Troy manages the volunteers. Together with Adolfo, Carrie and a staff of volunteers, they run a fantastic event. The trio is a lot of fun, along with being very hard-working. 

All three will be surrounded by more than 75 wrestling legends and current stars, along with thousands of fans. SCX is the best wrestling convention and I can't wait to see all of them.

For more info, go to squaredcirclex.com. Also, check here for my updates.

Ed, Heather and Troy in Fort Wayne, IN-October 2019.

Celebrity Jersey Cards #785 William Macy & Frankie Torres

Celebrity Jersey Cards is a weekly series in which I create digital trading cards for celebrities wearing jerseys. Today I feature two celebs repping the Minnesota Frost of the Professional Women's Hockey League.

Born in Miami, William H. Macy a two-time Emmy Award and four-time Screen Actors Guild Award winner. Macy dated actress Felicity Huffman for a while before marrying her in 1997. He plays ukulele and is a woodturner, a craft utilizing a lathe. Macy is a big fan of the Minnesota Wild and the Frost. Now I need to find a picture of him in a Wild jersey. Until then, this is the first Celebrity Jersey Card featuring the Frost or any PWHL team.  

A native of Minnesota, singer Frankie Torres compete on Season 26 of The Voice. Although she did not win, her career is blossoming. She sang the National Anthem for the Minnesota Vikings and is the official singer for the Minnesota Frost. My interview with Frankie is at Talking Travel with Frankie Torres on Global Traveler. Frankie's Celebrity Jersey Card obviously came from one of her performances for the Frost.

Congratuations and Thanks to Loyola Coach Guth and the Ramblers

Yesterday, the Loyola Ramblers women's basketball team lost 71-64 in a quarterfinal game of the Atlantic 10 tournament. They won their first round game, a gritty 61-59 win over St. Bonaventure. Unfortunately, Rhode Island was just too tough yesterday.

I have written several times about my respect for Loyola Head Coach Allison Guth. Intense, positive, engaging are just a few of her positive traits. She is a real pleasure to know and to cover. 

A three-year letterwinner at the University of Illinois, Guth began her coaching career as an assistant at Loyola. Among other coaching stints, Guth completed the Chicago trifecta with stops at Northwestern and DePaul, before becoming Head Coach at Yale in 2015. Guth joined Loyola as Head Coach in the spring of 2022. 

After a rough 6-24 first season, Coach Guth has led the Ramblers to flirt with .500 overall each season. The Ramblers finished 14-17 this season, but went 9-9 in Atlantic 10 Conference play for the second straight season.

I have seen firsthand how Gentile Arena has become increasingly louder and more positive. That starts with Coach Guth. After every home game, Coach Guth takes the mic and thanks all the fans and gives a few thoughts on the game. It doesn't matter if it is an edgy one point loss, a crushing blowout loss or any win, Guth faces the crowd and speaks from the heart.

She is the same in post game press sessions. She goes out of her way to thank each reporter. I cannot speak highly enough about Coach Guth.

For more info on the team, go to loyolaramblers.com. Check here for my recurring coverage.

Allison Guth and me in Chicago, IL-April 2022.

Madusa Returns to Squared Circle Expo

Wrestling legend Madusa is one of a kind. At Squared Circle Expo VI, she will be one of about 90...and knowing her, she swill still stand out.

Whether she is called Madusa, Madusa Miceli, Alundra Blayze or any other of her wrestling names, Madusa is a legend and a pioneer. Perhaps she was even ahed of her time. Beautiful, talented and solid on the mic, she would work well in today's wrestling.

When Madusa debuted in the 80s, the competition was thin. There were no women's divisions in the big wrestling companies. AWA, WWF and WCW would have to bring in various challengers. Madusa would win and the league would have to bring in new challengers. Longterm feuds were not possible.

Madusa also was involved in monster trucks. I am sure she stood out there, too.

I have met her several times, but I will meet her again at SCX VI. I can't pass on meeting this legend.

Of course, I will also meet many other wrestling legends and current stars. The lineup has about 80 stars and it seemingly grows weekly. This is just one reason why SCX is the best. During the two-day convention, there are also panels, Q&As, photo ops, vendors and more, including two nights of wrestling.

For more info on Madusa and SCX, go to squaredcirclex.com. Check back here for my recurring coverage.

Madusa and me in Indianapolis, IN-March 2018.

Meeting the Legend Diana Taurasi

When we received our press passes for The National last year, I circled Diana Taurasi as my main focus. With a lineup stacked with Hall of Famers and legends, you can't see them all. With no disrespect to the others, Taurasi stood out.

To list all of her accomplishments would take more space and time than I have. She was an elite basketball player at UConn. She also is the most decorated Olympic athlete in any team sport, winning six gold medals with Team USA. She then played 20 seasons with the Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA, winning three titles and an MVP award. She is one of the greatest of all-time. Some would say top five and I would not disagree.

When we met Taurasi, she was very gracious. Time is limited, but Taurasi made it special. She asked our names and thanked us for being there. That might sound standard, but it isn't especially when someone like Taurasi is very much in demand.

On the topic of the WNBA, the players and league are in a negotiation for the upcoming seasons. While many argue over who is right and predict no season for the league, I am stating here there will be a season. After years of losing a lot of money (not unusual for a startup league), the WNBA enjoyed its best season last year. I don't know the real numbers, but it was a major improvement and the new television deal will make things even better. There is no way either side will give up that money and momentum.

Tony, Diana Taurasi and me in Rosemont-August 2025.

Meeting DePaul Hall of Famer Nicole Wondaal

I have always had a fascination with multi-generational athletes. A few weeks ago, I added a new one to my list.

Maya Wondaal is a second-year infielder. Om chatting with DePaul parents, I learned her mother is DePaul Hall of Fame softball player Nicole Wondaal. Of course, I wanted to meet her, but our schedules conflicted. I was fine with that, because I knew I had plenty more chances since Maya's career was just beginning.

That meeting didn't take long. I met the HOFers before the first game of this season. Nicole was very nice as we chatted a bit about Maya and the upcoming season.

For whatever reason, I have found DePaul parents to be the best. Many of them have embraced me over the years, making me part of their contingent. I'm like an unofficial uncle (perhaps grandfather?). Whatever the reason, I am grateful for the hospitality. It makes the experience that much more fun.

I look forward to watching Maya's career develop. I also look forward to seeing Nicole and all the other parents.

For more info on the team, go to depaulbluedemons.com. Check back here for my college softball coverage.

Nicole and me in Rosemont, IL-February 2026.

Talking Travel with Annie Pezza

My latest guest on Talking Travel was travel advisor Annie Pezza. That interview is at Talking Travel with Annie Pezza on Global Traveler.

Like a lot of others who started businesses, Annie saw a void in the travel advisor space and decided to fill it. Thus Pinerary was born.

Despite sounding like a mashup of Pinterest and Itinerary, Pinerary's name came from a brainstorm session. That is just the first of many information bits Annie gave in the interview. Of course, the others were more relevant to actually helping folks with travel. Still, I like a good name origin story and Annie had one.

Pinerary is a place for folks to leave their travel thoughts and gather those from others. It's like a big travel community and it is getting bigger. Annie stated it was more (or perhaps originally more) focused on women, but one look at the site and you can see it is helpful to all.

Watch the interview and please subscribe to the Global Traveler YouTube channel. It's free, easy and helps me pay my bills. Also, check pinerary.com for more info on Annie and her platform.

Friend Encounters: Jerry Lawler and Scott Romer

Friend Encounters is a weekly series featuring friends meeting celebrities. 

Scott Romer is a legendary wrestling photographer. He has had an amazing career and is still at it.

His book When It Was: My Life on Both Sides of the Camera should be on every wrestling fan's shelf. Even if you aren't a wrestling fan, you'll enjoy stories of presidents, heads of state, U.S. Supreme Court justices, athletes, movie stars and more.

Scott still appears at wrestling conventions selling his book and talking wrestling. He can talk wrestling with the best of them, because he has met pretty much everyone. Did I mention he is the son-in-law of Dick the Bruiser? That's just one of so many fascinating stories in his book.

Although wrestling is the backdrop, this book is the story of a man who had a drream as a youngster and made it happen. It's a great read, with the wrestling stuff being a bonus.

I usually see Scott a couple times a year. One of those times was last year at SICW FanFest where Romer took the picture with Hall of Famer Jerry "The King" Lawler. I see two kings in that picture.

Look for Scott's book at When It Was. If you see him at a convention, stop by to talk a bit of wrestling.

Jerry Lawler and Scott Romer in St. Louis, MO-May 2025.

Celebrity Jersey Cards #784 Megan Eugenio x 2

Celebrity Jersey Cards is a weekly series in which I create digital cards for celebrities wearing sports jerseys. I worked "overtime" making these cards.

Born in Massachusetts, but relocated to New York, Megan Eugenio rose to fame as Overtime Megan. At just 26, Megan has built an empire based on podcasting, brand partnerships, sports and pop culture analysis and other such social media content. Not just a talking head, Megan built a strong foundation for her media career starting at Pace University.

Megans makes her Celebrity Jersey Card debut repping two of her home town teams. Her #17 Knicks jersey could be the year of her graduation from Pace, but it was most notably worn by Henry Bibby. With hockey and basketball on her Celebrity Jersey Card debut, Megan needs to add baseball and football to completer her Grand Slam of sports jerseys. Knowing how active and popular she is, Ithink we will see that sometime.

Finally Met Abby Trott

 I interviewed voice artist Abby Trott for Global Traveler at Talking Travel with Abby Trott. Then I saw she was appearing at a comic con in Milwaukee. Obviously, I had to make the trek to actually meet her.

As usual, we arrived early and things were just getting organized. After giving her a bit of time to get settled, we went to her booth. She was a bit surprised (hopefully positively lol) to see me. We talked for a few minutes and I thanked her again for the interview.

I admit I was a bit disappointed she did not remove the mask for our picture or at least slide it down, since this was years after the initial pandemic. I had seen she was maskless at other conventions. Still, I understand there could be many reasons and I respect her right to do as she chooses. It was still fun to finally meet her.

Trott has done voice work on many cartoon series, video games, anime and more. Her career in voice acting started when she moved to Tokyo after high school. She has since moved to Los Angeles where her career really flourished.

AbbyTrott and me in Milwaukee, WI-August 2025.