Ross Report -- Jan. 3, 2003

Greetings from under the black 200x Resistol hat ... for the last
time in the Ross Report.

I am still feeling very happy and proud of my Oklahoma Sooners
football team after having the privilege of being on the sideline
for OU's Rose Bowl victory over Washington State on Wednesday in
Pasadena. The Sooners' 34-14 victory was a magnificent team effort,
as the young squad finished 12-2 for the season. I will always
remember being a part of OU's locker-room celebration after the Rose
Bowl victory and the postgame party at the team hotel where my wife
and I were staying. This has been a great year to be a Sooners fan,
and I look forward to the 2003 season, as Oklahoma will be
challenged with a tough schedule that includes both Alabama and UCLA
in non-conference games, plus the always tough Big 12 schedule. My
personal relationship with Coach Bob Stoops and his great staff is
one that I value tremendously. Now we turn our sights to the all-
important recruiting season, which looks like it will produce some
awesome results for the Feb. 6 national signing day.

The primary reason for my ceasing writing this column is twofold.
First, my lack of time to properly devote to the Ross Report due to
my many other responsibilities for WWE is the major reason. Being on
the road 50 weeks a year doing our TV shows and my responsibilities
as Senior Vice President in charge of talent, including evaluating
our talent roster and managing our developmental program in OVW, is
virtually a seven-day-a-week job. Plus, I will be spending a great
deal of time in a few months promoting our upcoming cookbook and
rollout of our BBQ sauce project, which has long been a labor of
love for yours truly. On a personal note, I have found it to be very
challenging to continue to write about the talent roster I manage. I
compare it to declaring which of your children you like the best,
which is unfair to the talents not mentioned in any given Report.
Kinda like my late dad used to say, "Damned if you do, damned if you
don't." I have never intended to slight any talent, but the mere
omission of a particular talent from a Ross Report can be perceived
as a negative for that individual. That was never my goal, but it
seemed like the column oftentimes took on a life of its own, with
many often writing about what "J.R. really was saying.

My goal was always to be honest and up front and to provide a unique
perspective of WWE, especially our talent roster of Superstars,
which I have the utmost respect and appreciation for. 2003 is going
to be a great year for WWE, led by the greatest array of talent,
from top to bottom, on both the RAW and SmackDown! rosters, that I
have ever been associated with in my 25-plus years in our wonderful
business. My sincere thanks to all of you worldwide who have
supported the Ross Report over the years and for your continued
support of WWE.
God bless you all, and I hope each of you have a happy and healthy
new year!

Credit: WWE.com