Blood sweat and tears. I know the term sounds clichéd but never has it been more appropriate than in the sport of boxing. The sacrifice and determination that is required to have success in this sport is unmatched throughout all other sports. In the National Football League you have a second and third string of players; same for Baseball, Basketball, Soccer and Hockey. If a player sprains his ankle, gets a concussion, breaks a finger or gets dirt in his eye, he’s able to walk off the field and the next man in line steps in. The game goes on. If a professional fighter suffers the same effects, he has to fight through it or he loses. And boxing is a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately sport built on momentum; a loss could set your career back years.

A former great fighter, James “lights-out” Toney once summed it up pretty clearly when he said. “You can play Football, Baseball and Basketball, but you can not PLAY fighting.”

Like we discussed in class last Tuesday, language has its limitations. My point is best made with the following video clip. It is a Light-Weight world title fight between the late Diego Corrales (tall, thin and tattooed) and Jose Luis Castillo. Keep in mind that for the previous 9 rounds, these two dealt one of the most horrific beatings in recent memory to each other. So much so that it was awarded the title of “Fight of the Decade” by Ring magazine.

Also, I’m not a deeply religious person, but I got chills when Corrales crossed his chest as he walked out of his corner.


http://youtube.com/watch?v=imZaiGJgbsw

Scar Tissue

If anybody is a fan of the Red Hot Chili Peppers rock band, "Scar Tissue" is a book I strongly suggest reading. It's a biography of lead singer Anthony Keidis. I just finished it and there's a chance I might read it again. It chronicles his early years with his dad, being baby-sat by Cher, under ground punk clubs, drugs, sex and rock'n'roll. It's amazing this guy is still alive, not to mention still successful. Check it out.

http://www.amazon.com/SCAR-TISSUE-Anthony-Kiedis/dp/1401301010

The Twigh Light Zone

The Twig Light Zone

By: Kevin Martin

Six A.M., I awake to my alarm clock buzzing in my ear; I have one of those clocks that get louder the longer they ring and usually starts my day off on a bad note. Yawning, I sit, up rub my eyes and notice that my wife is not in the bed. “That’s strange.” I think to myself. “It’s quite early for her to be up.”

I get out of bed and stumble down the stairs expecting to hear my family going about their business. “Good morning!” I shout from the bottom of the steps. I don’t notice that no one answers because I’m too occupied trying to open the child gate. “Morning, I said!” There is no reply. I shrug it off assuming they left and decided to leave me sleep in.

The only thing that’s really on my mind right now is caffeine, so I begin to fumble with the coffee pot. Yawning and stretching, I look through the back window into our driveway; my wife’s car is still there. “What the…” I mutter as I open our back door. There’s no way her sister is awake by now, and that’s the only person I can think of who’d she be with.

Standing on our back deck, I notice something else that’s odd. I can hear what seems to be fifty other alarm cocks ringing, and all the neighbor-hood dogs are barking at the doors of their houses. I go back inside to get the phone and trip over my daughters’ school bag. This is really strange, why would she not have her books if she’s at school?

I dial my sister- in- law’s phone number hoping to gain some sort of clarity. It just rings and rings until the voice message comes on. At this point I’m beginning to panic. I turn on the TV only to see fuzz and hear static, no channel is coming through. After searching each channel and dialing every phone number I can think of, I decide to try the internet. I can get online easy enough, but the websites haven’t been updated since the day before, which is weird for news sites.

I sit on my living-room chair and stare down at my one-year-old son’s toys that are strewn across the floor. My eyes gather tears as the truth comes to me. I am all alone. I’ll never see my family or friends again. Do I really exist if there is no one here to exist for? Why should I exist if there’s nobody to exist with?

The End

Finally Back to School

Well, it's been ten years since the last time I went to School. I have to say, it will take tome to get used to.

Any way here is an article from the on-line boxing scribe I mentioned in class today. I'm an avid fan of the sweet science, and it's a shame that it's fallen out of the main stream sports media. It's nice that a writer spends the time to cover the local prospects of the sport. People like him are keeping the sport alive.

http://www.maxboxing.com/fischer/fischer083007.asp