Just What We Needed

I have never been a fan of professional wrestling. One of my closest friends in college used to impersonate several of the popular wrestlers from the 80's era of WWF and clearly had an appreciation for the humorous side of the 'sport'. Its because of him that I have any awareness of some of these personalities - who all seem like cartoon characters to me.

And now that I've put some distance between myself and pro wrestling, allow me to introduce you to The Nature Boy, aka Ric Flair. He was one of my buddy's favorites: a showy, muscle and bleach job who wore outfits that would make Liberace jealous. I just read about him on wikipedia, and I guess he is argued to be the 'best wrestler of all time'. Who knew?

So why do I bring this up here? Well, my industry faces challenges when it comes to public perception. Ask a friend or neighbor, and they can tell you about a mortgage broker who fumbled a deal, lied about closing costs, etc. The public image is one of my least favorite aspects of my business. And in the wake of the current 'credit crunch', the news is full of headlines criticizing the mortgage industry for misleading and mistreating consumers (I've commented on that here and here).

And now along comes Ric Flair Finance dotcom. I mean, honestly. I guess its possible that this guy has adequate knowledge of the financial markets, the ability to handle other people's personal affairs with care and understanding, and a work ethic and moral compass to ensure a high standard for professionalism. But I don't know anybody in the business who wears a bedazzled bathrobe to the office... I'm just sayin'...