Guys Night Out at Paul Anthony's Market
No, the smoke is not Paul Anthony’s Market on fire. It’s the fragrant smoke of delicious meats on the grill during the Guys Night Out event at Paul Anthony’s Market. As previously noted, this was an event to benefit the Blair E. Batson Children’s Hospital. Food, drink, cigars, and wrestling were the main draws. I had some free time, so I thought, “Why not?” Take some photos at an event for a good cause and enjoy some good food while I’m there. Sounded good to me.
Ralph Miller
Ralph Miller–the hardest working man in Central Missisippi showbiz. I say “Central Mississippi”, but for all I know he could be the hardest working man in showbiz for all of Mississippi. I just know that I’ve seen him all over the place in and around Jackson. He was at Taste of Mississippi this year, the Clinton Market (Or was it Fall for Clinton? One of the two at least.), and now he’s at Guys Night Out.
Food line
The food tents were setup side-by-side in a single line, and depending on when you got there and the mood of the crowd you went right-to-left or left-to-right in the food queue. Some wine and beer too in the foreground, which I didn’t sample.
Inland Seafood
A company named Inland Seafood was there with a couple large slabs of salmon, some pasta salads, etc. They sell to businesses, and if the salmon is any indication they do a fine job. After the main event was over I had some salmon and pasta salad–good stuff.
Country Pleasin'
Ah, yes. My favorite grilling sausage–Country Pleasin’! Somebody once declared in front of me that Country Pleasin’ is low brow sausage. Well then I must have some redneck in my blood, ’cause I love that stuff. The Country Pleasin’ guys were out in full force with grilled sausages of course, but also other products including this gem:
Country Pleasin' Slop Sauce
They call this stuff Slop Sauce. Oh, excuse me–Gourmet Slop Sauce. The “gourmet” bit might be going a bit far, but no doubt this is some tasty stuff. It’s a sweet and spicy (has a pretty good kick) barbeque-ish sauce. I tried it with some sausage and it was a nice match. I’m sure it would go great with some ribs, pulled pork, etc. The guy I talked to said they’re trying to get it into stores, and I really hope they do. I’ll buy some.
Grillmaster
I’m not 100% certain, but I believe the grillmaster was from Sysco. You know Sysco–they’re probably the biggest food proprietor around these parts, providing all sorts of food-related products to businesses. I think the Country Pleasin’ guys threw their sausages on the grill and let this dude take care of the grilling. I should’ve tried the pork tenderloin that looked so good while the grillmaster was firing them up.
Owl golf
Some Hooters girls were at the event. Hooters girls at an event called “Guys Night Out”? No, really? Denise totally called this ahead of time, predicting that they would be there despite there being no mention of them on the flier I picked up. What can I say? My wife knows men.
But enough of the food and sideshows. Everybody knew that the main event was the wrestling match. Doug Colson from AM 620 sports talk radio was there to take on Bull Bariola. Let’s get it on!
Pre-match antics
After some brief pre-match smack talk, the 2 contestants made their way into the ring. Colson, who had been talking some loud trash before, can be seen here on his knees begging not be hit, claiming it was all a joke. Oh, no way, my man. It’s on now. You had your chance to back down, but now it’s showtime!
Big Mike Carter gets a taste
What’s this? Big Mike Carter of the MCW tried to sneak up on Bull Bariola with a chair but got caught in mid-swing. Bull Bariola proceeded to dish out some righteous punishment for the sneak attack attempt.
Chair smackdown
That didn’t last long though. Big Mike Carter got his bearings and turned the tide, pictured here giving Bull Bariola a good smack in the back with a metal folding chair. Ouch!
In the face!
And what’s a wrestling match without some time outside the ring? Of course the action spilled out of the ring where the beatdown continued.
Blood sweat and tears for a good cause
Never let it be said that Bull Bariola doesn’t care about the children. Here he’s bleeding from his forehead from the punishment meted out by Big Mike Carter. You’re welcome, Blair E. Batson Children’s Hospital.
Fighting back
But there was another twist to the tale. Bull Bariola got his second wind and managed to fight back and land a few blows of his own.
Piledriver
Alas, Bull Bariola’s comeback was cut short. Big Mike Carter regained the upper hand, dragged him into the ring, administered the piledriver, and Doug Colson stepped on the worn-out Bull Bariola for the three-count to end the match.
WLBT has a short video of highlights from the wrestling match if you want to see some action from it. See the flash going every once in a while? Most of the time that was me, although there were a few other guys there with cameras. Annoying, I know. But hey it was pitch black out there. Might as well have been taking photos in a pitch black cave. Ok not that dark, but the flash was necessary.
I’m not totally up on my current wrestling, but as far as I can tell, MCW is a local wrestling organization that does a lot of charitable work, putting on shows to benefit various charitable causes including this night for the Blair E. Batson Children’s Hospital. A lot of the big-time wrestling today is way too soap-opera-ish for my taste, and something that if I had a boy I wouldn’t want him to watch, but I think these guys are less gaudy with their back stories and do more wrestling like the good old days in the 80s. Sergeant Slaughter, Jimmy Superfly Snooka–ah, those were the days. Anyway, Big Mike Carter was great, and thanks to him and MCW for making this event a lot of fun.
Wes Shivers and co.
Look who else was there–Wes Shivers, former Mississippi State football player in the late 90s and currently a Mixed Martial Arts fighter. That’s him in the middle, in case you couldn’t guess. And that’s Bull Bariola on the right in street clothes. Wes was a good sport, happily posing with whoever wanted a picture with him.
I’d say “Guys Night Out” was a success. The turnout was great despite lots of rain earlier in the day and the continuing threat of more showers throughout the night (thankfully it didn’t rain during the event). I don’t know if this is the first time Paul Anthony’s Market have organized this and whether they plan to do it again, but if I had my way this would be a regular yearly event. Good times were had by all, and hopefully Blair E. Batson Children’s Hospital received a decent donation amount from the guys who stopped by to enjoy the festivities.
Note: full gallery of photos probably coming soon. I’ll update this post with the link to it if I ever get around to putting it together.