Leaping Lanny Returns

Lanny Poffo: The Genius!

I was never a wrestling fan of note, but the characters entered my life at various times. I know my dad used to watch wrestling on TV when Gorgeous George was in his heyday...though I suspect Dad really watched it when the bouts between the "little people" were featured. There was just something about the smoke-filled auditorium in black and white on the TV. I gave it halfhearted attention but was glad for the opportunity to hang with my father for the FRiday night fights.
Many years later, my friend Karl brought wrestling back into my conscious awareness when he began naming the teachers in our school after famous wrestlers: names like Tugboat, Earthquake, The Model: all were ascribed to various faculty members. I felt a bit left out because I didn't get one...at least one that I knew about. My favorite, though, was the moniker that Karl gave our physics teacher: Amiel Hepp. Since Mr. Hepp knew something about just about any subject anyone could bring up, Karl began calling him "The Genius" after the stage name taken by one Lanny Poffo.
Poffo was originally named "Leaping Lanny" for the way he came off the top ropes, but then he changed his image and strode to the ring spouting poetry before every contest...poetry he had written for the occasion. He always wore a cap and gown to the ring and evinced hoots from the not-so-genius crowds gathered ringside. Still, it was an interesting facet to the world of wrestling. Poffo, by the way, had written a book at that time entitled Leaping Lanny: Wrestling and Rhyme, and Karl had an autographed copy of the book. Typical Karl stuff.
Anyway, "The Genius" came into my head today when I received word that I had been appointed as an ad hoc (Latin for "'way overworked and paid slave wages") instructor of composition at the university where I currently toil as a mentor/tutor to individual students. Very part time and potentially short-lived, the position gives me a bit of cachet and allows me to drag out that jacket with elbow patches on the sleeves and encourage students call me "Professor" (not to be confused with Dean's wrestling name or the character from "Gilligan's Island").
But, I think "The Genius" will work just finel.