Everybody has got something that they have done for so long they are not sure they remember why they started.

For some it might be cracking their knuckles or biting their nails, but for me it's watching wrestling. I am not talking about the Olympic variety either.

My passion involves sequins and spandex.

Most people have one of two reactions when they find out that I have been a huge professional wrestling fan for 15 years. They either laugh in my face of stare at me in wide-eyed disbelief.

The WWE (that is, World Wrestling Entertainment for those not up on the lingo) is something I stumbled across by accident searching for my favorite cartoon one Saturday morning. Then there he was: Randy "Macho Man" Savage.

Cheesy catch phrases and a weekly battle of good verses evil, I was hooked.

From then on my life included a weekly wrestling fix.

This presented a problem because to say that my parents disapproved of my new passion would be a major understatement.

They still hold the opinion that this so-called "sports entertainment" belongs in the trailer park.

So, like any kid, when my parents said no, I went to my grandparents' house.

That is where my weekly ritual began, and years later I can not seem to kick the habit.

In fact, in college, my enthusiasm has intensified because I realized that am not alone. A wrestling fan hides in the most unlikely of places. I have found one in a doctor, a professor and even a pastor.

When I first came to college, I discovered that my roommate shared the same passion. I knew from that moment on we would be friends for life. How could we not be?

We are both wrestling fans.

I have gotten a lot of flack for my choice of programming, but let me just say I was not born yesterday. I know that it is staged. It is a soap opera complete with those characters that have been around far too long ("The Nature Boy" Ric Flair is a prime example) and some storylines that fall just short of believable.

You have to admit that it is a heck of a lot better than that so-called reality television.

One thing I have learned about wrestling fans, myself included, is that our allegiance runs deep and dedication to this particular art form is a given. I am not ashamed to admit that I have gone to amazing lengths in the name of wrestling. Sitting in front of a scrambled screen in hopes of a few seconds of the action in the midst of the pink and green squiggles, taking a three-hour road trip to watch a pay-per-view show for free, or coming close on more than one occasion of being written up by my RA for voicing my displeasure a little too loudly.

Before I go to that big wrestling ring in the sky, I plan to see an event live, but that will have to wait.

So, my secret identity has been revealed.

I am a hardcore wrestling fan.

If anyone has a problem with that, get ready for a "SmackDown!"

Laura Jones is a senior journalism major from Shreveport and serves as managing editor for The Tech Talk. E-mail comments to ljo007@latech.edu.