We have learned that it was the result of a double murder-suicide. TMZ.com and the Associated Press have reported that Benoit may have strangled his wife Nancy with an electrical cord on Saturday, suffocated his son Daniel with a bag in his bed the next day, and then hanging himself in the weight room of their home outside Atlanta. Also, steroids were believed to be found in the residence and whether or not it played a role in the deaths remains unknown.
Benoit's death has immediately brought back memories of Owen Hart, whose life was ended during a WWE pay-per-view in 1999, and Eddie Guerrero, whose end came in 2005 due to acute heart failure. Shortly after that, the WWE imposed a new drug policy after its first one in the early '90s was out the window after Vince McMahon stood trial for distributing steroids to his wrestlers. Despite Hulk Hogan testifying against his former boss, McMahon would be acquitted on all charges.
Now with Benoit joining Guerrero in wrestling heaven, it is another huge blow to the WWE hot off the heels of the discontinued storyline involving the "death" of Mr. McMahon (Vince's in-ring character) from a limousine explosion. They may have crossed the line countless times, but loyal wrestling fans like myself are quoting Owen Hart, "enough is enough, and it's time for a change!" No wonder why the only wrestling I watch regularly these days are "TNA Impact" and Lucha Libre; at least their storylines aren't too demeaning.
And now, on a much lighter note...
For the first time since we took the walk and threw our caps in the air on May 28, 1997, me and the rest of the West Valley High School Class of 1997 reunited together over the weekend for two days of reflection, reminiscing, and playing a little catch-up on ourselves.
It actually started late Friday night at the Red Fox bar just a few minutes from my house, where fellow alum Averi Beckner had a little pre-reunion party. The two of us talked about where we are now (Averi's husband Chris works for the FBI), and then I went into storytelling mode, talking about running my first Midnight Sun Run last year, my two weeks of R&R in the South, and then my double date with Britney Spears in 2000.
When the time reached close to 1:00 am, I had to call it a night, but not before we took a photo of me and Averi together. And make no mistake...she may look like a blonde Alyson Hannigan, but she still looks amazingly gorgeous in '07 than in '97!On Saturday night, it was the big event at the Annex Art Gallery outside Fairbanks. I was expecting 100 or so to show up, but the turnout wasn't that bad; about 30 to 50 of us were there and I didn't keep count. Of course many like Victoria Cox (Giralt) had other commitments to fulfill somewhere in the world, and couldn't make the long flight up to Fairbanks to join us.
The first person to greet me just outside the building in was Chioke "Ben" Brent; he has returned to town after some college in a few places. When I came in after I got my name tag and updating my contact info, the scene there was pretty much low-key. Music from 1994-97 (the years when we were at West Valley) as well as a video of the 1997 graduation were played throughout as food, desserts, and drinks (booze and lemonade) were scattered all over the gallery. I even brought in my own yearbook with a few pictures of myself and a memento from the prom as well as a microfilm copy of the "News-Miner" coverage on our graduation for everybody to share.
There was even a small area devoted to Lyndsay Thomas, Matt Dullian, and Luke Sulkosky, who've all departed over the last ten years. Matt was the first to go after a car crash, followed by Lyndsay from another car accident, and then Luke's life was taken following a fatal accident on a construction site.
But even though the three have attended the reunion in spirit, the rest of us enjoyed the time of our lives. Some like myself and Jessica Helmers have remained in Fairbanks, while others like Jessica Lissow (formerly Mensik) now have sweet jobs somewhere in the country; Lissow works at the Queens Zoo in New York. And a few like Carl Tape and Tasha Fouts have attended college; Tape at a community college in Massachusetts and Fouts at the University of Illinois Chicago. And Tasha still looked hot in a short, low-cut gray dress that showed off her cleavage. I remember getting aroused at the sight of Tasha in short skirts and dresses that showed off her legs very nicely, and I couldn't wait till after school to...well, you know.
Anyway, as we were getting our last bits of food for the night, we gathered around like in the pre-YouTube days to watch a tape of one of our Airband competitions. I even cracked a joke about how it would look if it was shot in HDTV, but that technology was in its embryonic stages during our four years attending West Valley. Keely Buchanan -- who was our Senior class president and the HWIC (head woman in charge) behind the reunion weekend -- cringed when she saw herself in a cheerleader outfit emceeing the Airband. Maybe Hayden Panettiere's parents were taking notes.
Oh yeah...while all this was going on, the annual Midnight Sun Run took place back in town. West Valley scored a one-two punch in the race as 2005 graduate Tony Tomsich took the men's title at 32 minutes, 17 seconds while future Senior Crystal Pitney at 38:32 did a three-peat on the women's side. As for "that guy in those elaborate costumes", Sean Purucker? He and Hun Tak were the Atomic Arctic Cactuses this year.
Back to the scene at the Annex: As the night would down, me and the other alums who've stuck around gathered together for a group photo. It was truly memorable.
After a good night's sleep from all this, we now move to the next afternoon and the picnic at Pioneer Park where all the remaining food from the previous night were there. Again, the atmosphere was low-key (typical for a picnic), but a couple hula performances provided the entertainment for us.
During the weekend, a two-DVD set of the Airbands from '94-'97 as well as a CD of those years' top songs were sold for $5 each; sales would go to planning for the 20-year reunion set for 2017. I'm hoping we would hold it at the Riverboat Discovery this time...if it'll still be around in 2017!
The reunion was capped off with a few photo ops of me with Keely, Chioke, Carl, and others. I hope I'll be seeing all or some of them ten years from now.
But yeah, things have changed over that decade; I already told you about it on Thursday in my preview. Ten long years and some body changes later, the West Valley High School Class of 1997 were indeed reunited...and believe me folks, it felt so good!
By the way, I took so much photos from the weekend that a gallery of them is now up. There are some others I took that are too personal to show, if you know what I mean.
And so, with my complete wrap-up on everything that transpired over that incredible weekend...so long and stay strong!!
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