The ringmaster passes

Word comes down this day that "Mean" Gene Okerlund has died, and the big top will never be the same henceforth. Which is not to say all Mean Gene ever needed was a top hat, shiny black boots and a whip to achieve his desired effect.

No, the circus never was graced by Mean Gene's presence, or at least the circus in its traditional form. Mean Gene presided over another kind of circus -- professional wrestling -- in which the exotic creatures on display were not lions and tigers and bears (oh, my!), but living cartoon characters with cartoon muscles.

Mean Gene was the WWE interviewer/master of ceremonies/voice of reason who provided the gravitas in a world populated by the likes of Randy "Macho Man" Savage, Hulk Hogan and Jesse "The Body" Ventura, who gave Mean Gene his nickname before going on to become governor of Minnesota -- a reality far more outlandish than any WWE storyline.

Ventura, of course, was going for irony with the "Mean Gene" tag. Okerlund was the polar opposite of mean. He was a suave counterpoint to all the WWE absurdity, the man with the pocket handkerchief performing quasi-serious Q-and-As with profoundly un-serious subjects. As to whether that persona was just another WWE put-on, we'll never really know.

I do know this: If it was an act, it worked for me.

I say this because one sweltering summer afternoon at Orchard Ridge Country Club, I managed to corral Mean Gene for interview. He was one of the celebrities in the Mad Anthonys Hoosier Celebrities golf tournament, and, as a columnist who was continually looking for something off-road to write about at what was essentially a non-news event, Mean Gene was right in my wheelhouse.

I couldn't have asked for a better interview subject. Whether he was playing himself or a persona, he was absolutely delightful -- especially when I asked if he'd ever been a wrestler himself.

Mean Gene looked offended.

"Moi?" he answered, touching his chest with spread fingers. "I am a cultured man. Violence is the tool of the ignorant."

Best. Quote. Ever.

Schtick or no schtick.