Joe Carr and Craig Harris, Part II
The Greco-Roman wrestling match between Rutherford County Mayor Joe Carr and County Commissioner Craig Harris that had been scheduled for the end of September is apparently not going to happen - at least not in the way it was originally described.
In a group text sent to members of the County Commission and other county officials early this morning, Mayor Carr stated that because so many tickets for the event had already been sold, the wrestling competition would not be canceled, but rather would be replaced with what he called “an old-fashioned, family friendly fusion of horseback riding, pageantry, and swordsmanship.”
“Nothing has changed,” insisted Carr, “we’re still going to have a contest, it’s going to take place on the Public Square, and it’s going to be even bigger and better than what we told you about last week.”
Problems with the match began to surface almost immediately after it was announced last Friday. The Mayor had planned to spend the entire Labor Day Weekend on a county-wide promotional tour to boost interest in the event. But his first stop at a Saturday morning pancake breakfast in Christiana elicited howls of laughter from the normally subdued seniors when the banner behind his podium was unfurled:
An embarrassed Carr did his best to laugh off the blunder, but then quietly slipped out of the dining hall a few minutes later without finishing his pancakes.
Later that day, doubts emerged about the event’s celebrity centerpiece. Carr had announced last Friday that Knox County Mayor Glenn “Kane” Jacobs would be serving as a “special advisor” for the competition, with VIP reception attendees having the opportunity to have a photo taken with the former professional wrestler. But inquiries to Kane’s office revealed that he was completely unaware of the September 30th event, was actually scheduled to be in Missouri that weekend, and also had never heard of Joe Carr.
“That was a miscommunication,” said Carr, “We were already working on getting that resolved.”
The public conflict between Carr and Commissioner Harris began on August 7th after a meeting of the Rutherford County Commission Steering Committee, when the two were recorded on a Courthouse security camera apparently having a heated argument. Accusations, denials and counter-denials flew back and forth between them throughout the month of August until finally, just before Labor Day Weekend, Carr announced that he and Harris had reached an agreement to settle the matter via a Greco-Roman wrestling match.
But by Monday afternoon, rumors were swirling that Carr, having reassessed his chances against the hefty Harris, was looking for a way out of the contest. Carr dismissed the talk, calling it “the idle gossip and chitchat of petty little people.”
“When the decision was made to transition from wrestling to horse-sword fusion, it had absolutely nothing to do with the robust physique of Commissioner Harris,” said the Mayor, “I’ve had folks asking me to put something like this together since way back when I first ran for the legislature. We have a great team of professional event planners and dedicated volunteers who are already working on an exciting new plan for something that I believe is going to be truly unique.”
Under the new plan, the competition will begin with Carr and Harris each riding a horse into the Public Square, approaching from different directions. Joe Carr’s horse will begin at the intersection of East Main Street and Academy Street, then go west on Main, past City Cafe and the Republican Party headquarters, and then turn right onto North Church Street. It will then make one complete loop around the square, as Carr throws candy, bubblegum, flowers, and various other trinkets into the crowd of spectators gathered on both sides of the street. The horse will then return to the intersection of Church Street and East Main, where it will come to a stop and Carr will dismount.
Craig Harris and his horse will begin on North Maple Street next to the Judicial Center. They will ride south on Maple and then turn left on South Public Square, also making one complete loop around the square before stopping at the intersection of Maple and West Main, at which point Harris will dismount. The starting times for both horses will be coordinated in such a way that they are always on opposite sides of the square while making the full loop.
Having both dismounted, Carr and Harris will then approach the Courthouse, and will each walk in a complete loop around the historic building before meeting face to face on the west side of the building. The two will then be presented with antique swords that were allegedly used in the Battle of Stones River.
At that point the agenda for the event becomes less well-defined.
“What happens next is definitely still fuzzy,” said one of the assistant event coordinators, speaking on condition of anonymity, “We’ve asked for some clarification, but so far we haven’t heard anything back. Is this supposed to be like classical fencing? Or more like medieval knights, like at the Renaissance Fair? Is it a Civil War reenactment? They’ve really left us in the dark here, so we’re sort of having to plan for multiple contingencies.”
Commissioner Pettus Read said that he’s been assured the plan is still for him to be the Referee but that he’s not sure what that title actually means when applied to horses and swords instead of wrestling. “Joe said they’re flying in an expert from Italy to give me some kind of private coaching,” said Read, “so I guess I’ll just trust the process and hope for the best.”
An infuriated Craig Harris could barely conceal his anger. “Bait and switch,” squawked Harris, “the whole thing is just one big bait and switch. I wanted to fight him after Steering Committee that night, but no, we had to do it Joe’s way with celebrities and costumes. He said they’d gotten Kane on board, they rented the togas, they sold all these tickets and now he’s like, oh wait, forget everything I said about wrestling - let’s ride horses and play with swords instead. He’s always pulling [expletive] like this. You can’t trust anything the [expletive] tells you.”
County Commission Chair Jeff Phillips agreed with Harris saying, “When you buy a ticket to a football game, a baseball game, a carnival, or whatever, that’s what you expect to see. I do think it reflects poorly on our County for the Mayor to sell tickets to a wrestling match and then give the ticketholders this other - I don’t really even understand what it is - this other thing he’s giving them.”
Mayor Carr said there were still positions available for people willing to volunteer - especially for horse trainers or “individuals having experience with anything involving parades or swords.”
“I encourage all citizens of Rutherford County to participate in this historic event,” said Carr, “whether that means volunteering your time, purchasing a ticket, or just getting the word out to your family, friends and neighbors.”
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