It's been a while since I wrote a column and it would be easy to write one about Eddie Guerrero. Though I do feel I am unqualified to talk about the man. I never traveled with him nor hung out with him. I'll be honest I met Eddie once before a WCW PPV and it would have been easy for him to ignore me or mention he was in a hurry. Yet he took the time to say hello and treated me like a normal human being and treated me with respect. For that I always had the utmost respect for him.

That being said my main concern is in the last decade the wrestling world has lost the British Bulldog, Curt Henning, Rick Rude, Owen Hart, Brian Pillman, The Big Boss Man, Yokozuna, Miss Elizabeth and Crash Holly just to name a few. What is scary is all of the above wrestlers were under 43 years old! If this happened in any other sport there would be outrage and a big deal. Take the death of Baltimore Orioles pitcher Steve Belcher for example. His death was big news and led to the ban of ephedrine. Why aren't the above wrestlers deaths big news"

Unfortunately it seems the death of Eddie will be swept under the rug by the media and as I have heard the object of ridicule by ESPN. What a double standard! When any other athlete dies ESPN makes a huge deal about it and are respectful. What upsets me is sportscasters/talking heads who have never played any sports on a competitive level (whose only thing athletic about them are their gym shorts) have the gall to make light of the death of a wrestler. Not to mention it's baffling to turn on the 24 hour news channels and see them waste time talking about everything else from the David Ludwig killing to Natalie Holloway. If they can spend months upon months talking about the Holloway case is it too much to ask to have a small amount of time talking about a wrestlers death"

Another concern I have is if this many wrestlers have died at such a young age shouldn't something be done" Should there be mandatory yearly physicals" Should there be tests run on hearts on a regular basis" I know the schedule for wrestlers are rough. I played minor league hockey and I feel a wrestlers schedule is far tougher. We know athletes are prone to enlarged hearts. Shouldn't something be done prevention wise for this" I have no clue about the insides of the wrestling world so I won't sit here and pretend to be an expert and know what can and what can't be done. All I know is something should be done to prevent future losses of wrestling superstars. All I know is that I hate having to watch a tribute show because it means one less talented wrestler.

The only silver lining in the death of Eddie is the Friday night prior to Eddies death I was at the gym and my heart felt weak once again. Also, I had not been feeling well for quite some time (hence the lack of columns as of late). After hearing of the cause of Eddies death and how he felt ill prior to his death I decided to go to the doctor. I found out I did have a heart problem (supraventricular tachycardia) and need electrical cardioversion. So for me Eddies death was not for naught and may have saved my life.

When Johnny LaRue is not watching old wrestling tapes he can be reached at [email protected]..