Chicago Tribune from Chicago, Illinois • 28

4 Section 2 Chicago Tribune, Wednesday, November 30, 1977 5 Seminars help wrestlers get their heads on straight Dear i. Abby By Abigail Van Buren 4 i i yoa asr, he will just have to answer i 1 i Continued from first Tempo page do it tor money, sure. Some do it for prestige. And some just want to have the feeling they're the toughest man in the world, and that's what wrestling gives." It also drives fans wild in the seats. In fact, pro wrestling has hit an all-time attendance peak, promoters say.

The International Amphitheatre. Madison Square Garden, Atlanta's Omni and hundreds of small town armories and gyms draw standing-room-only throngs to stomp and cheer and throw things as the behemoths clash. (The next Amphitheatre match is Dec. 3.) The audience isn't just blue-collar workers, but white-collar marrieds from 20 to 40. and Sabre thinks he knows why wrestling holds them in an unbreakable ham-merlock.

We're living in a violent age." he says, and the closest thing to a live riot is professional wrestling. When the main event EAR ABBY: I am going with a man who is very intelligent, articulate, and inlormed. The problem is, lie hardly opens his mouth when we're in the cumpany of othors (espe two rather slim young men, "we'll put some weight on you. All you have to do is eat a lot of spaghetti and drink beer. Would you believe that beer is the best way to put weight on? You can drink more beer than any other liquid." (Sabre blames television again for overemphasizing heavyweight wrestlers.

He'd like to start a lighter division, but so far there's not much interest.) AS SABRE EXTOLS the virtues of hrew. two young women peek in the door. "Is this the wrestling seminar?" one asks shyly. "Sure, come on in," he replies." "What are you interested he asks They smile at each other, and giggle. "We want to be wrestlers." Sabre is decked.

"You know, this is the first time I've seen two girls come in and say they'd like to wrestle. Usually we have to drag them out of a bar and put them on a ship to China to train them." (If there's a shortage of men wrestlers, it's nothing compared ith women, who number only about 15 in the country, Sahre says.) EVERYBODY LAUGHS. "Well, that's just the way it is," Sabre says. "Everybody thinks it's, ah, unladylike. But start looking at the money.

It's better than go-go dancers make." "Are you girls serious?" Sabre asks again. Yes, they are serious. "I trained two sisters four years ago," he recalls. "I don't know where they are now. I think they got married.

The big downfall of women wrestlers is they get in the business, and it's glamorous, they attract a few people, then they get married." The girls aren't concerned about that. One is a recent DePaul University graduate with a psychology degree and no job. The other studies special education at Wright College. Neither has wrestled before, but both are de-, voted pro wrestling fans. "It looks like a lot.

of fun," one says. "So we decided to try it." They haven't decided whether to make it a career. t', I cially strangers). I wish he would speak up so others would know how bright he is, but he just sits there as though he has nothing to contribute. When the two of us are alone, his dialog is brilliant, but in company, he clams up.

I'm sure some people think he's shallow, and others probably think he's stuck up, but he's not. How can I get him to enter into the conversation when we're in a group? Uptight Dear Up: Your friend conld be shy. (Many intelligent, well-read people are.) Or perhaps he's too well, mannered to Interrupt others who enjoy dominating the conversation. Yon can help draw Mm into future conversations by asking him some direct questions. Try it.

DEAR ABBY: How can I get it aeross to my hairdresser that I wish she would keep quiet when she is working on me? I have changed beauty operators four times in the last voar because all these girls do is talk 1 am not interested in their private affairs, and 1 have no desire to talk about mine. I would appreciate total silence so much while I'm getting my hair done that 1 would gladly pay a double tip for it. How can this be accomplished? No Gossip Dear No: Offer your hairdresser a double tip to button her Dp, and the only words you are likely to hear before a long silence will be, "Yon just made a deal, lady." DEAR ABBY: I am a middle-aged woman who hasn't been to my gynecologist for six years. With all this talk about cancer, I know I should go, but I've been putting it off because I'm afraid I might have VD. I had a few symptoms six years ago, but they went away.

I've noticed my eyesight is not as good as it was, and my memory seems faulty. I read somewhere that VD symptoms usually disappear, but the disease continues to do its damage. I don't want to go to my regular doctor in case I have it. I've considered going to a strange doctor and using a phony name, but I hale to go through all those examinations and give him a whole medical history when I know I'll never see him again. I just want to find out if I have VD so I can either take care of it or forget it.

I've never been intimate with anyone except my husband, but there is a good chance that he had it and I got it from him. What should I do? Concerned in St. Paul Dear Concerned: Call your Planned Parenthood Clinic and make an appointment for a gynecological examination. It will include blood tests and urinalysis. No phony name is necessary.

All their records are strictly confidential. v. Wrestling instructor Bob Sabre imparts his reason: "You got a whole hour to wrestle. That's a long time, so you make yourjown rest. You either jump out of the ring and strut around, or let a guy get a hold on you and lay down and rest." Besides, every sport needs a gimmick, he says.

(He blames television for that. Before television, wrestling was straight, no-holds-barred. But TV encouraged gimmicks and showmanship to attract viewers.) Sabre knows about gimmicks. His "claim to fame" happened in 1964 when he grew his hair unfashionably long, donned gold trunks, strapped on a gold-painted guitar, and entered the ring as George Ringo, the Wrestling Beatle. "I came in with this silly little outfit on," he recalls, "and the arena in Los Angeles had been drawing maybe a thousand before that night.

I got up, and there were 15,000 people. I never saw so many little kids in all my life. They were screaming and ripping my jacket off, licking my arm you wouldn't believe it. I never knew I could become an overnight sensation." 5, wMn si Si-7. if If i (p-' i "We're living in a violent age, and the closest thing to a live riot is professional wrestling.

When the main event comes onf everybody's yelling, 'We want comes on, everybody's yelling. 'We want It's like the old gladiators. They don't yell that for any other sport." Sabre doesn't particularly approve of that much fan enthusiasm "Wrestlers don't like to hear them yelling for blood'' but it's just part of the game now. "The most dangerous thing in wrestling is the crowd," he says. "They're more violent than the wrestlers.

You could" be a mild person, but when you get to the Amphitheatre, all of a sudden you're Dick the Bruiser." If wrestlers are nervous, though, the referees are petrified. "The hardest job is being a referee," Sabre says. "No matter who wins, everybody hates the ref. At the Amphitheatre, about 20 policemen walk the wrestler to the ring. But they're not really walking the wrestler.

They're walking the ref. He's in danger; the wrestler can take care of himself." The recruits sat quietly as Sabre continued reeling out his spiel, asking and answering his own questions. "Forget what you learned as an amateur," he says. "It's completely different in the pros. New ways of falling, different rules, everything.

"Yes, I train wrestlers myself. We find a concrete floor with a mat over it. It makes you tough. Then when you go into the ring, you'll find it's almost like a trampoline." A THICKLY MUSCLED young man interrupts: "A lot of people say wrestling is faked and rigged." "Well," Sabre replies, "so is the taxi fare increase. Don't worry about it.

As long as you're making money." There is "showboating" a lot of strutting and grunting, "agitating" the crowd, Sabre calls it. But there is a End State Street open Sunday 12 Sat. all other stores open 116. on famous 03) COOICWEF. Tribune Pholo by Ead Gust professional ring savvy to Harris Kinsler.

THAT LASTED about a year. He reminisces for a moment, then returns to the present. "Wrestlers do get hurt," he warns them. "We don't have pads, and if a 265-pound guy falls on you, even if it's fake, it can hurt." Training takes two or three months, he says, and the rewards at first may not be overwhelming. A green grappler can expect $50 or so for the first matches, depending on attendance.

But'salaries for top veterans average $30,000 a year (usually wrestling at least once a night), with a select few pulling down $500,000 or more. The sport has no unions or athletic counsels, and wrestlers rarely sign long-term contracts, preferring to negotiate with promoters for work. "Wrestling is the last of free enterprise sports' Sabre says. In Wisconsin, for example, "you can go up with $25 for posters, 10 guys, rent a hall, and you're in business. You can't do that in any other business." Finished with the spiel, Sabre sets the hook.

"Well, when do you want to start?" he asks the neophytes. "Don't be embarrassed," he tells iTATil DiJ --y mmti to $bwbW, Nothing hits the spot like the satisfying flavors of meats from Jewel. They'll get you going in the morning, or pick you up at lunchtime. Sausages, bacon and franks, all sizzling good, are featured in all your favorite brands! Stop by Jewel's convenience meat counter today, and see what's in it for you! And don't forget to bring in these coupons for savings on Hills Brothers coffee it's a fine compliment to any meal you serve! 10-pc aluminum-clad stainless steel set "Wrestlers don't like to hear them yelling for blood" but it's just part of the game now. most dangerous thing about wrestling is the crowd.

They're more violent than the wrestlers. "Will we get hurt?" they ask. "Oh, you shouldn't be afraid of that." says a pro wrestler who popped in to say hello to Sabre, his former teacher. "Usually women's matches are on the show to draw a crowd. I've never seen one where anybody got hurt; they're usually scientific.

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