Hollywood has treated Ned Rolsma relatively well. The Aliquippa native went from a semi-pro basketball player and NBA prospect, to a recurring role on the long-running CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, to an Emmy-award-nominated broadcaster in Los Angeles. But when it comes to the holidays, Rols ma says L.A. doesn’t hold a candle to his hometown. “Ironically enough, and pun intended, the warmth of the holidays is here,” he tells Pittsburgh City Paper. “It’s not in California. Christmas in California sucks. It’s nice when it’s 82 degrees on Christmas Day, but your tinsel doesn’t sparkle quite the same, and your eggnog doesn’t go down quite as easily, and your presents aren’t as joyful when it’s 82 degrees and sunny, and there’s no snow, and it’s not cold. And so the warmth and the charm and the magic of Christmas is in Pittsburgh, and I love coming back for the holidays.” This year, Rolsma expanded his already packed resume with yet another pursuit — pro wrestling. The pivot into pro wrestling seems natural for Rolsma, a seven-foot-tall former athlete with a flair for theatrics. Though in this case, he takes a less physically demanding role as the “Little Brother” to Pittsburgh wrestling legend “The Franchise” Shane Douglas, playing what he describes as an “enforcer” or security guard role. “I will interfere in matches,” he says. “But I’m not getting in there, flopping around. I’m 46 years old anyway; those days are gone.” Rolsma returns to Pittsburgh to indulge his love of wrestling and the holidays. He joins Douglas at AnimeVerse/ WrestleVerse, a two-day pop culture event taking place Sat., Dec. 20-Sun., Dec. 21, at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. Rolsma will also add to local festivities on Dec. 20 with the Hardcore Holiday Happy-Hour Christmas Party at Helltown Brewing in the Strip District, where he, Douglas, and Douglas’ manager, “The Queen of Extreme” Francine, will meet with fans for a day of wassailing and wrestling. Shane Douglas, Francine, and Ned Rolsma at the ECW Arena in Philadelphia, Pa. Credit: Courtesy of Ned Rolsma How Rolsma went from a giant on the court to playing bit parts in movies and TV to working with a wrestling icon plays out like a stereotypical teen boy’s dream life. After graduating from Hopewell Senior High School in 1997, Rolsma played college basketball before being drafted into the NBA Development League in 2002, the same year he earned a journalism degree from the University of Tennessee at Martin. When Rolsma became disillusioned by what he describes as the “shady” politics and empty promises of professional basketball — the worst of which involved the sudden folding of an Atlanta ABA team he played in — he decided to pursue his lifelong interests in acting and broadcasting. He recalls looking up to two other Pittsburgh natives, actor Michael Keaton and former sports journalist Bob Pompeani. In 2004, Rolsma booked an ad for the Pennsylvania Lottery, portraying — what else? — a basketball player in a campaign for a March Madness scratcher. That typecasting continued after he moved to Los Angeles, where, among other credits, he was cast as a basketball player in over a dozen commercials for brands like Adidas, Gatorade, and Nike, the latter of which, he says, showed him getting dunked on by NBA champion Kevin Durant. His height came in handy when, in 2005, casting agents were looking for an actor who could, conceivably, bully the six-foot-four-inch actor Jason Segel on the show How I Met Your Mother. “I mean, literally, every six-foot-eight, six-foot-ten, tall actor in Hollywood was there,” Rolsma says of his audition. Rolsma would go on to play Marcus, the obnoxious, taller brother of Segel’s character, Marshall Eriksen, over multiple seasons. In one episode titled “Tailgate,” Rolsma can be seen waving a Terrible Towel, despite being dressed in gear for the Eriksen family’s favorite team, the Minnesota Vikings. Ned Rolsma (left) and Jason Segal in How I Met Your Mother Credit: Courtesy of Ned Rolsma/CBS Rolsma then parlayed his talents into cable news, including as an on-air reporter for Santa Monica CityTV, a role through which he earned two Los Angeles Area Emmy Awards nominations. Working with pro wrestling star and local hero Shane Douglas, who has earned numerous world championship titles, fulfills yet another dream. Rolsma says that, as a 7-year-old kid, he went to WWF shows with his uncle, who would then sneak them into the Howard Johnson’s in Moon Township, where Macho Man Randy Savage, Koko B. Ware, and other iconic wrestlers from the time would hang out after shows. “I’d belly up at the bar with a little bowl of pretzels and a Shirley Temple. And my uncle would be shooting pool with [The Wild Samoans] or Jimmy Valiant.” He sees the upcoming Helltown Brewing event as a chance to showcase Douglas, whom he considers a mentor and close friend. “He’s my big brother. I look up to him. I look out for him, and it’s time for him to get his flowers,” Rolsma says of Douglas, who has continued to wrestle into his 60s. “We love Pittsburgh, we love wrestling, we love Christmas, and so it’s really a chance for us to just wassail and be in love in the holidays,” he says, adding, “We’re gonna put the holidays in a headlock.” Hardcore Holiday Happy-Hour Christmas Party. 6-8 p.m. Sat., Dec. 20. Helltown Brewing. 1700 Penn Ave., Strip District. Free. All ages. instagram.com/helltowntaproomstripdistrict The post Ned Rolsma is seven feet of Pittsburgh pride appeared first on Pittsburgh City Paper | News, Dining, Music, Best Of, Arts, Film. ...read more read less