I
entered the world at dinner time (appropriate) on August 12,
1977 - a birthday I share with such greats as Cecil B. Demille,
Christy Mathewson, Pete Sampras and, most notably, Michael
Ian Black. My parents found me at St. Joseph's Hospital in
west Kansas City, Missouri, but quickly took me home to their
comfy confines in Belton,
Missouri - home of one axe-wielding Carry Nation. Belton
is also, as you'll see in our town museum, the home of the
first motivational speaker - Mr. Dale Carnegie.
After
a few years in Belton,
the Gough tribe went east and moved to Matthews, North Carolina,
for a couple of years. It was there that I first started putting
on my own talent shows for the local community ... also known
as parents of my neighborhood friends. About the only things
I remember from the time are (1) my Dad's 30th birthday party,
which included a belly dancer, (2) playing with friends at
huge playgrounds with stationary old planes, trains and military
vehicles and (3) lots of Big Wheels and assorted Underoos.
Anyway,
back to the timeline. The Goughs moved back to Belton, Missouri,
in 1983, and I continued my public education throughout the
Belton School District #124, including Belton High School
- home of the purple and gold Pirates. Yes, Pirates. Fitting
for a town landlocked in the middle of a continent. Carry
Nation wasn't a pirate. Neither was Harry Truman or Dale Carnegie.
I guess it was advanced thinking that brought us the sword-wielding,
one-eyed mascot. Anyway, in school, I took a liking to journalism
and became the editor of our junior high and high school yearbooks,
and that liking led me to look towards journalism as a career.
After
giving up my dream of walking onto the Duke Blue Devils basketball
team, I decided to stay in state and attend the greatest journalism
school in the civilized world at the University
of Missouri. It was two hours away -- a perfect distance
for parents and others to not visit unless calling first,
which, at the time, was very important for some reason.
During
my time at Mizzou, I met another member of the Broadcast Journalism
program who was from a town called Norwalk, Connecticut. At
the time, I knew little about anything east of St. Louis.
The guy knew I was a pro-wrestling fan as a kid, and he approached
me during our sophomore year and explained that his parents
lived near the headquarters of the World Wrestling Federation.
He said that if I wanted to, I could live with his parents
over the coming summer as he and I interned for the wrestling
company. I thought it was a great idea, and I accepted the
offer, mailing in my resume and cover letter to WWF. A few
months later, the kid nonchalantly tells me his parents were
moving to Minnesota, so he wouldn't be taking part in the
internship. I confronted my parents about the possibility
of still taking part in the internship, and they said if I
got it, they would help financially.
Too
bad for them ... I got it. You know, I still believe they
never thought it was really happen. I spent the summer of
1997 in Stamford, Connecticut, logging tapes and learning
the ropes as a production assistant with WWF. It *was* still
called WWF at the time. Bret Hart was champ, the nWo was still
cool and Vince McMahon was still the goofy play-by-play announcer
on television.
When
I returned to Mizzou the following year, I decided I wanted
to start up a wrestling radio show on campus. Wrestling was
hot then, and television ratings were skyrockting upward.
I approached our campus radio station - KCOU 88.1 FM - and
found out that if I wanted a "specialty show," I
would have to earn it. That's when I bumped into D. Larimer
and his friend, Ken Dunkin. Larimer had put his time in the
station and had pull to get his own show, and, luckily, he
and Ken were huge wrestling fans. I convinced them that I
could get the guests from WWF for the show, so the three of
us started up BodySlam Radio. Yes, creativity is just flowing
from the name. Actually, I had a bunch of other names I wanted
to use ... honest! ... but, Larimer wanted Body Slam, so that's
what we had.
I
ended up going back to WWF as a part-time employee in the
summer of 1998. I came back for another year of BodySlam Radio
-- this time with just Dunkin and I as hosts. After graduating
with a Bachelors of Journalism degree from Mizzou, I went
to work at WWF as part of WWF.com.
At
the time, in 1999, the Internet was booming. The Mark Cubans
of the world were popping up everywhere, and people were making
millions. It looked like the future of journalism and media.
Over time, I found out the Internet will always be just a
peripheral device for marketing and news gathering.
I
had a great time at WWF. Long hours, but, what the hell, I
was young and single. I spent the next three years as a writer,
producer and co-host of various Internet shows and sites at
WWF.com. I met one of my best friends - Seth Mates - and we
had a ball promoting one of the hottest entities on television.
In
2002, Seth and I had bigger dreams. We had become good friends
with Shane McMahon - the son of Vince - and we approached
him about becoming part of the television creative writing
team. He informed us that we would have to submit two 10-to-20
page storylines to Stephanie McMahon, his sister, who was
the head of the writing team. Seth and I wrote for a few days,
submitted the angles, and weeks later, we were officially
television writers.
Lots
of stories, anecdotes and "What the hell?" moments
later, Seth quit the company in late 2002. We both found out
that a year in the business felt like a lifetime, and Seth
went on to become a big shot in the newspaper biz. I stayed
on for six more months before, shockingly, being unceremoniously
thrown out by Stephanie. It ended up being a blessing in disguise,
as the stress, lack of sleep and the absense of a personal
life starting to wear on me.
I
stayed in the New York City area for a while, trying to get
on as a writers' assistant with Nickelodeon. SpongeBob Squarepants
had just hit big, and I wanted to get on with them, but, again
shockingly, wrestling writers don't have the best reputation
in the rest of the television world. I eventually moved back
to Kansas City to finally start my broadcasting career. Looking
back, I loved and, eventually, hated my time at WWF, but I
had achieved my goal of becoming a television writer.
In
late 2003, I started freelancing for a cable-only, 24-hour
television station in Kansas City called Metro
Sports, which is owned by Time Warner Cable. I would shoot,
edit and report on the Chiefs, Royals and assorted other professional
teams that would come and go at will.
In
2005, I started getting more on-air time as a reporter and,
eventually, anchor. I continue to work there today with a
great team of friends.
In
2006, I met the one girl that would put up with all my flaws.
I'm the luckiest guy in Belton.
After
a few years in 
Anyway,
back to the timeline. The Goughs moved back to Belton, Missouri,
in 1983, and I continued my public education throughout the
Belton School District #124, including Belton High School
- home of the purple and gold Pirates. Yes, Pirates. Fitting
for a town landlocked in the middle of a continent. Carry
Nation wasn't a pirate. Neither was Harry Truman or Dale Carnegie.
I guess it was advanced thinking that brought us the sword-wielding,
one-eyed mascot. Anyway, in school, I took a liking to journalism
and became the editor of our junior high and high school yearbooks,
and that liking led me to look towards journalism as a career.
In
2002, Seth and I had bigger dreams. We had become good friends
with Shane McMahon - the son of Vince - and we approached
him about becoming part of the television creative writing
team. He informed us that we would have to submit two 10-to-20
page storylines to Stephanie McMahon, his sister, who was
the head of the writing team. Seth and I wrote for a few days,
submitted the angles, and weeks later, we were officially
television writers.