|
Valentine:
(smiling) Hey Ole!
This is Ole Anderson here, gentlemen. How you doing,
man? I never got to see you at [Fanfest] in
Charlotte.
Ole
Anderson: I
know…I missed a whole lot of guys there.
Valentine:
Yeah…how you
doing?
Anderson:
I’ve got some
pictures…basically a flea market downstairs for
the thing tonight. (everybody laughs)
Yeah,
I was doing some stuff with my book (at Fanfest) in
Charlotte, so I missed a whole lot of guys. How you
doing?
Valentine:
I’m doing good.
Greg
Valentine, David Chappell, and Ole Anderson (D.
Bourne photo)
Anderson:
Where you living
now?
Valentine:
I’m still in
Florida…Tampa. Been there 19 years now! (laughs)
Man, you’ve lost weight. You wanted to, right?
Anderson:
(smiling )225
(pounds).
Valentine:
That’s really
good.
Anderson:
Well, you know
what? I
wanted to piss everybody off. The only way I could
do that…was to live longer. (everybody laughs)
Valentine:
Yeah…I’d like
to live longer too! You’ve got to cut down on
those carbs, right? You lose all that
weight, and the cholesterol goes down and
everything. It’s much better for your knees and
your back.
Anderson:
Well, I’ve got to
go ahead and replace a knee one of these days.
Valentine:
Really?
Anderson:
They replaced one
hip, and they wanted to replace both of my shoulders
a few years ago. But I didn’t do it because [of
the cost], and I didn’t have insurance.
I
figured I’d wait until I was 65 so I could be on
Medicare, and have it done then when I could sponge
off the government…and Dick and
David
and the rest of the
people who pay their taxes. (everybody laughs)
Chappell:
It’s the least we
could do for you! (everybody laughs)
Anderson:
But anyway…I fell
off my roof this past summer. I broke my hip, and
[messed] up this whole damn side. They want to do
surgery through my neck…the back, you know the
C-5, 6, 7 whatever the hell they call them. I’m
not gonna do it…at least I don’t think so.
Valentine:
When you see what
happened to (Paul) Orndorff…that stuff scares you.
Anderson:
You remember a guy
named
Jim
Andrews?
Bourne:
The surgeon in
Birmingham (Alabama)?
Anderson:
Yes. He’s the guy
that did (Angelo) Mosca, and has done a lot of
football and baseball players. He’s well known
throughout the country.
Anyway,
I went down to see him, and he starts shooting me
with cortisone. I told him, ‘Can’t we just scope
this thing.’ He said, ‘You’re way past that.
You probably should have come and done that when you
were 35 (years old).’ (laughs)
I
said, ‘Alright, so we’re too far gone. What are
we gonna do?’ He said, ‘We can do a shoulder
replacement…just like your hip. Just put a spike
in there and slap you back together.’ There’s no
socket there, just a flat plate. It was $90,000.00
for that!
Valentine:
Wow.
Anderson:
I asked him, ‘What
can I expect.’ He said, ‘We hope to relieve you
of 60% of your pain.’ (everybody laughs)
What the hell does that mean?
Chappell:
I can’t wait to
hear what you said to him then!
Anderson:
Here’s what I
told him. I said, ‘Here’s how I look at it. Boom…I’m
gonna nail you and break your eye socket, break your
nose and knock your teeth out. You pay me $90,000.00…and
next time I punch you I’m just gonna break your
eye socket---60 % less pain!’ (everybody laughs)
He
and a bunch of interns around him had their mouths
wide open. I said, ‘That’s what it sounds like
to me for crying out loud. I’m not making your
damn Mercedes payment…better yet, I’m buying one
with the money I save!’
(everybody laughs)
180
(thousand dollars) for these two shoulders. 25
(thousand) each for the arms. 30 (thousand) for the
knee, and 30 (thousand) for the hip.
Valentine:
That’s
incredible.
Anderson:
So, I’m going to
hold off on the knee…you know, I do exercises and
all that [crap]. But I’m getting older. How old
are you now,
Greg
?
Valentine:
53
Anderson:
56?
Valentine:
THREE…53!
(laughs)
Anderson:
Okay. I’m 61. Me,
Jimmy Valiant, Ivan
Koloff,
Bob
Roop and I think Paul Jones…we’re all the same age, give or take a
few months. The next one up is 62. So I get to go
‘Woo Hoo’ in July when I go down…and apply for
Social Security! And [Dick and
David
] get to foot the
bill! (laughs)
Anderson:
That’s exactly
right. Well, let me go inside so I can peddle some
books and make some money.
Good
to see you
Greg
…it’s been a long time.
Valentine:
Yeah…last time I
saw you, you were my boss! (laughs) Hey Ole, I have an
interview to do here. But, I was telling
David
and Dick for the
interview that you and Gene used to beat me up!
(laughs)
Chappell:
He said you and
Gene ganged up on him!
Anderson:
I’m not sure we
did a good enough job on him! (everybody laughs)
Go
ahead and finish your interview…I’ll see you all
inside later.
[Editor’s
Note: Everybody says their goodbyes, and Ole departs
to set up his table for his autograph signing
session]
|
