Wrestling Announcer Dies, Why Mickie James Is So Popular, & More

Former Memphis Wrestling color commentator Brian Teigland died suddenly Friday at the age of 53. The following article from the Commercial Appeal newspaper in Memphis was published (Friday), but failed to mention his contribution to the Memphis pro wrestling scene. Brian Teigland was as comfortable belting out a Frank Sinatra standard as he was predicting the whims of the weather, but it was as a TV weather forecaster that he became a household name in Memphis for almost 30 years. Mr. Teigland, 53, died early Friday after a short illness, bringing to a close a career he loved with friends recalling him as a fun-loving prankster with a made-for-TV personality. "Brian never took his work for granted or that he was blessed with this chance to be on television," said Eyewitness News Everywhere news anchor Cameron Harper, who worked with Mr. Teigland at WPTY-TV Channel 24 and WLMT-TV Channel 30. "He had a personality that leaped right through the television camera onto the screen, and he loved the weather. He believed deep in his heart that what he did was his calling, and he took it very seriously," Harper said. He said Mr. Teigland had been hospitalized during the last two weeks and had returned to work briefly, but went home early. "I talked to him at 8:15 (Thursday night). He said, 'I'm feeling under the weather, but I think I'll be back on Monday.'" Jim Turpin, Mr. Teigland's news director, had worked with him when Turpin was an intern and Mr. Teigland a weather forecaster at WREG-TV Channel 3 in the 1980s. Although he'd become a fixture as a weatherman, Mr. Teigland "went back to school four years ago and got his meteorology degree at Mississippi State University. He did it online, but he went down there and took the exams." Turpin said Mr. Teigland had been ill "off and on for the last couple of weeks. I met with him Wednesday morning, and he wanted to come back, but I told him to stay home and take care of himself. That was just typical Brian." His wife, Cindi, said the cause of death has not yet been determined. He had been treated for diverticulitis, but had returned home before becoming seriously ill. She said he had gone for treatment more than once this week without finding a specific cause for continuing problems. He grew worse early Friday and was pronounced dead at Methodist Le Bonheur Germantown Hospital. Mr. Teigland, originally of Randall, Iowa, grew up as a "ham," his family said. He was in several school plays and loved to sing. Former WREG co-worker Earle Farrell said that in addition to singing Sinatra at karaoke, he had a flair for music. "He once bought all these musical instruments," Farrell said. "I asked him if he played them. He said, 'No, but I'm going to learn.'" Former WPTY weather forecaster Joey Sulipeck, now at WHBQ-TV Channel 13, said Mr. Teigland had a generous spirit as his mentor and "a raw talent for putting people at ease or trying to make people laugh. He knew how to reach any audience." Mr. Teigland leaves a sister, Diane Clark of Minneapolis; two brothers, Larry Teigland, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Gary Teigland of McComb, Ill.; two daughters, Sydney and Brittney; and a son, Taylor. Services are incomplete. Mr. Teigland had arranged to donate his body to the Medical Education and Research Institute through its Legacy of Life Donor Program. Farrell helped set up a "Brian Teigland Family Trust" on Friday through the Bank of Bartlett to accept donations for Mr. Teigland's family. Donations can be made through any Bank of Bartlett branch.

In an odd bit of news, Mickie James' former ring name Alexis Laree was ranked number one on Yahoo.com's most popular searches yesterday (which you can see on the front page). It should come as no surprise that Mickie is a popular Internet search as there a number of websites devoted to her, not to mention that she's a lot more visible nowadays than she was a few months ago due to her current position as WWE Women's Champion. When you type in Mickie James on Yahoo, they also suggest searching "Mickie James Alexis Laree", so perhaps there was some sort of mix-up there. On another note, she posed in the buff under the name "Alexis Laree" for a leg fetish adult publication back in 2000, so maybe that old shoot had a sudden resurgence in people looking for it now that she's on television a lot more. The reason Karen Angle was listed as a top search on Yahoo two weeks ago had little to do with her work in TNA as she's a frequent guest of Bubba the Love Sponge's radio show and often discusses her sex life with husband Kurt Angle, hence the high level of searches as non-wrestling fans were probably curious about her. Other wrestling personalities listed in Yahoo's top search this year include Michelle McCool, Randy Orton back in May, and Vince McMahon after that stunt on Raw a few weeks ago. The number of wrestling personalities featured on Yahoo's top searches list is way up from last year. As best as I can recall, Raw ring announcer Lilian Garcia was the only wrestling personality listed on the top searches list last year, which was due to her skirt getting ripped off revealing her panties on the episode of Raw following WrestleMania 23.