During the expo hall last Tuesday at SES San Jose, I sat down with Matt Cutts for a 5 minute, impromptu chat on the air. Foolishly, I issued a challenge that anyone who sumo-wrestled me at the WebMasterRadio party on Wednesday night (Jim's got great photos here) and won would earn the right to a free link from SEOmoz. This story has a bit of a nasty ending so parents, please put the kids back in the crib.
On Wednesday night, I was taken to dinner by the folks at Ask.com, which deserves (and will receive) its own blog entry. We feasted on a half dozen appetizers, 6 bottles of wine and plenty of fine seafood, plus dessert. At 11pm, when I arrived at the WebmasterRadio party, I found myself in an immediate confrontation with none other than famous SEO (and friend), Thomas Bindl.
While donning my pseudo-sumo suit, pictured below, I found myself feeling a tad queezy from the full stomach and hot padding. Needless to say, by the end of the match, I'd be in even worse shape.
I think I wore the blue suit, above
The first match felt short - I dove at Thomas' feet, he danced around and my left arm and leg touched the yellow line. The second match, I raced for Thomas full-bore, he sidestepped and didn't even need to touch me - I simply ran right out of the arena. On the third match, I cautiously approached Thomas, shoved him, and was shocked to see him fall out of the ring. The fourth match, I made the mistake of feet diving again and was quickly dispatched - a 3-1 victory for Thomas.
After removing the suit, I made my way quickly to the men's room and proceeded to re-distribute some of the fine meal Ask had purchased. Luckily, the attendent in the men's room was selling mouthwash and gum!
Two rules to remember - never pseudo-sumo on a full stomach, and never underestimate a German who owns lederhosen (specifically, these ones). Here's your link, Thomas:
BTW - In case you're wondering, this is indeed a link that constitutes an editorial "vote" for the quality and relevance of Thomas' site.
Ha, Rand that's pretty good. I saw the sidestep move but did not realize it was you and Thomas. I had enough wine myself at the Ask party.
Danimal here, what up Chris and Rand..That night I took way too many shots of tequila with Chris and vodka redbulls with Aaron Wall and ended up scrappin Hooley in the bar almost getting us evicted, but instead seguru put sumo suits on us and we battled :] more photos here https://dankavanaugh.typepad.com/photos/webmas...
lol - dude you forgot to mention I bowled you over the first two times and quit... then you tackled me and that's when the "incident" happened.
I still have haunting memories of a breakdancing sumo violating me in public.
Rand, it is nice to know that you have a scientific way of determining who you will link to... Can you say "sell out?" LOL! You're so silly. ;)
Not sure if this is a joke but when I clicked from here to Thomas Bind's blog it gave me:
> 403 Forbidden > > Please stop referer spam. > >We have identified that you have been refered here by a known or supposed spammer. [angle brackets my own]
A message from his b2evolution software. Guess he doesn't want your link love Rand!
Must be your IP address, Thomas. I'm getting through just fine over here... Have you been trackback spamming lately? :)
uh... ah...
nah :)
Man, there was sumo wrestling...that's what I call a conference!
During this time I must have been taking shots of tequila (which I really, really regret) because I didn't even see you guys battle!
I don't know if you remember that breakdancing sumo wrestler (danimal), but I regrettably was his sumo foe who ended up on the receiving end of some unforgettable public humiliation. Let his be a lesson to your readers...
NEVER sumo wrestle when you are trying to hold down food or liquor NEVER be the 10th person to suit up in a sweaty sumo suit (it smelled like Bigfoot's butt after a 10 mile jog) and NEVER miss a WebMasterRadio.fm party!
in case you where interested, here is a pic of that public humiliation I had mentioned
https://flickr.com/photos/search-student/21606...