About Sporting Press

Sporting Press is a sports satire and cartoon Web site published by Tokyo-based Kansai Krap, Ltd., a manufacturer of action figures.

Sporting Press was originally published by Jamaican-based Sporting Pressures, Inc., from a store room at the Jamaica Bet Sports Bar and Wagering Hall. Legend has it that disgraced newspaper sports columnist Wild Bill Aronson sought refuge at the beer hall and gambling emporium owned by his friend Rah Rah Jah with the intention of making his fortune by owning and operating an offshore gambling site. Aronson reportedly lost the gambling site in a poker game to Sal Manilla, of Sal Manilla's Jerk Chicken Shack.

Aronson's sportswriting friends from across the United States would stop by Jamaica Bet to pay their respects to the expatriate Aronson and enjoy nights of gambling, drinking and tall tales -- many of which would make their way onto the Sporting Press Web site.

One such sportswriter, the hermit-like Spike, who ran a chain of popular Gravy Barn franchises (37 Varieties of Homestyle Gravy On Tap!) from a secluded compound in the Jemez Mountains of New Mexico, lent his name to a message board that attracted what is widely considered the oddest collection of posters on the World Wide Web.

The site's fake news stories, cartoons and popular "Gravy Barn" message board caught the attention of Rivals.com, which purchased the site in 1999. Shortly thereafter, Rivals.com went out of business and ownership of the site reverted to Aronson. In 2003, Aronson sold the site to Yusa Karo, a visiting Japanese businessman and CEO of Kansai Krap. In exchange of the rights to the site, Kansai Krap produced a small number of Wild Bill Aronson action figures that, frankly, did not sell very well.

About Steve Hill

Sporting Press cartoonist Steve Hill has been a sports cartoonist for The Kansas City Star, the Tampa Tribune and Sports Page Dallas. His award-winning cartoons have also appeared in the Oklahoma (City) Gazette, the Tulsa Tribune (RIP), and various other publications, Web sites and television shows. Hill's political cartoons appeared in Charles Brooks' annual "Best Editorial Cartoons" series for 10 consecutive years. He has also been honored by the Society of Professional Journalists and has won two Addys.