It's never too early to see professional wrestlers, so Crystal
and Christian Coker showed up at the Royal Oak Library before it opened at 9 a.m. Stacy Keibler and Rhyno, the distinguished
emissaries from the World Wrestling Federation, were due at 11 yesterday to put on an exhibition of reading. Crystal Coker,
20, wanted to beat the crowd, and Christian wanted to be wherever she was, at least partly because she had the diaper bag.
At age 2, Christian can do all the wrestling moves already,his mom said. Her relatives grumble that he should be watching
Sesame Street instead of Sgt. Slaughter, but she tells them to lighten up. It's not going to do any permanent damage.
As for temporary damage, none was evident. Christian seemed
like a normal, sweet, obstinate 2-year-old. Who's your favorite wrestler? his mom prodded. No, he said.
Meantime -- at least this once -- his wrestling exposure might
have done him some good, because much to his mother's delight, a memorably large human being wound up reading Christian his
favorite book, Goodnight Moon. Maybe this will launch him on a lifelong love affair with the printed word. Then again, he
might devote himself to clubbing people with chairs. You never know. At least Rhyno tried.
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Rhyno grew up as Terry Gerin in Dearborn Heights. He spent years
in the backwaters of pro wrestling, then finally reached the semi-big-time a few years ago with Extreme Championship Wrestling.
Extreme is a pro wrestling code word for people getting whacked with heavy objects, such as full-size folding tables. Rhyno
jumped from ECW to the WWF in March and last night, as an up-and-coming villain, he was part of the Smackdown show at Joe
Louis Arena.
The WWF dispatched him to the library as part of a public service
campaign to promote teen reading. The idea was that he and Keibler would connect with middle-schoolers and high-schoolers,
who would then throw down their Nintendo joysticks and pick up the collected works of Charles Dickens. Or at least a magazine.
Unfortunately, most kids in the target age group started school this week, so only a few were on hand. But 80 or so grown-ups
heard the message in a library auditorium, and with luck they'll spread the word to their co-workers, once they get jobs.
*** *** ***
As for the wrestlers, Keibler was nice and Rhyno was downright
charming, both while he was reading and while he was fielding questions afterward from the sorts of zealots who know the Rock's
shoelace size. Keibler is among the group of characters the WWF refers to as Divas. Some of them wrestle, some don't,
and all look good in short skirts. She read five minutes' worth of Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging, a novel of teen-age
insecurity by Louise Rennison. I never got to the part about thongs, she said apologetically. Then Rhyno spotted Christian
in the front row, sat down next to him and gave him a personal run-through of Goodnight Moon: Goodnight, fox. Goodnight, socks.
I'm not always this nice, he said, and everyone laughed. Then he started talking about his childhood, and everyone didn't.
I remember when I was a kid, my father used to make me sit in his lap and read to him, he said. That's something I'll never
forget. He didn't tell everyone to do the same thing his dad did, but he didn't have to. The message was as clear as the smile
on Christian's face. Or a chair upside the head, take your pick.
Neal Rubin appears Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. Reach
him at (313) 222-1874, nrubin@detnews.com, or 615 W. Lafayette, Detroit, Mich. 48226.
