Classic American West Coast Boxing

[Randyman]

Well, he did get out of France, he met my great grandmother in Mexico, I of course never met either one of them, Bennie, I have no desire to go to France or any place out of the barrio.

Except fishing . . . right Frank?

Right Tom, an I'm going next month.

Tom, I think you have seen this pic. of the fish I caught a couple of years ago in the Hight Sierra,
hope to catch some more like that next month.

Frank, what a nice picture. Looks like quite a catch. I'm a fisherman as well, though I don't get out as often as I used to, or as often as I should. I used to fish the Sierras but it's been a while. I fished most of the lakes up there; Convict, the Twin Lakes, the June Lake Loop and the Owens River, for brown and Rainbow Trout. Do you fly fish?

Randy

[Randyman]

Hey guys, easy on the French, my great grandfather was French.

That makes two of us Frank. A lot of us have some French in us from the French that were left over from the French invasion of Mexico in the mid 1800's. My mother is descended, in part to the French from that time. On my father's side there were some ancestors that were Spanish-French.

[Randyman]

OPEN HOUSE

Remember I was tellin' ya about that little invisible kid in my class,Eduardo Pena? Well I moved him near the front. I call him "EddIe". The kids look at him when I call him "Eddie". He's doing OK. Does all his work. The last few days though he hasn't been in class. I thought they might be testing him or something.

Tonight was open house. "Eddie" was there with his father. The dad was dressed neatly. After the period,the father came up to me and introduiced himself.
"I'm Eduardo's father. How's my son doing?"
"Eddie" was sitting at a desk while his father stood next to him.
"My son has not been in class because he's been at the hospital. He's very sick. His medication sometimes makes him unable to come to school."

I looked down at "Eddie". He was shaking. I don't think he heard what his father told me.
His father wanted to hear what I was going to say. His eyes were on mine.
"Eddie is doing just fine. He's my favorite student."
"Thenk you very much,"said the father. "I'm so glad to hear that."

What's the saying? The truth is good for the soul.

Thanks for sharing that Rog.

[kikibalt]

Well, he did get out of France, he met my great grandmother in Mexico, I of course never met either one of them, Bennie, I have no desire to go to France or any place out of the barrio.

Except fishing . . . right Frank?

Right Tom, an I'm going next month.

Tom, I think you have seen this pic. of the fish I caught a couple of years ago in the Hight Sierra,
hope to catch some more like that next month.

Frank, what a nice picture. Looks like quite a catch. I'm a fisherman as well, though I don't get out as often as I used to, or as often as I should. I used to fish the Sierras but it's been a while. I fished most of the lakes up there; Convict, the Twin Lakes, the June Lake Loop and the Owens River, for brown and Rainbow Trout. Do you fly fish?

Randy

Randy,
Those trout came out of June lake, no I don't fly fish, to hard...

[kikibalt]

Randy, my son James on his floating tube at Convict Lake in May of this year.

[dagosd2000]

THE SECRET TO FISHING

My friend Brad and me played on the same football team in high school. He was a year younger than me. We both were linemen.

Our starting center went down with a blown knee before the season began and Brad was moved up to first string. He did a hell of a job. His older brother, who was a couple of grades ahead of me, was playing for Otto Graham at the Coast Guard Academy. His brother would write me all the time wondering how things were going and telling me of his gridiron heroics. I don't know why this guy chose the Coast Guard Academy because he suffered from motion sickness. One time Brad told me everybody in the family went up for a trip to Disneyland. Brad's old man tended bar at the Arizona,so when everyone found out about him breaking away from all the lushes,it was a once in a lifetime opportunity. The thing was though Brad's brother got car sick and threw up before they got to Disneyland and the old man turned the car around. Then it was back to the Arizona. Disneyland was never mentioned again.

I figured Brad's brother was probably assigned to one of those practice ships that are imbedded in cement. You know the recruits play like they're out at sea when they're really still on the base in the practice ship. We had one of those practice ships at the Naval Training Center here in San Diego. We'd drive by and see the recruits on the deck. We'd yell out,"Man overboard" and then they'd flip us off.

Now I want to get to the point. Brad was going great guns and was on his way to a "ride" to USC when the roof caved in. Found out that he had a bad valve in his heart. The doctor told his old man,but the old man and the doc never told Brad nor the coach. After his high school senior year Brad found out about the bad ticker. No more football. No scholarships. Brad then became a drug addict.

Brad was in and out of jail for robbin' people and selling drugs,but he remained a close friend. He never stole from me like he stole from everyone else.

The big guy loved fishing. He always wanted to go to the local lakes to fish. We've got some real good small mouth bass lakes in the area. One day we get up early and drive out to Lake Otay in East County. We set up along the bank. Near Harvey's arm. Big fish there.

Well it's hotter than hell that day. Probably nearing a hundred. Brad brings two big bottles of wine. I tell him no way I'm drinking alcohol in that heat. But his body is so conditioned for wear and tear that he's guzzling away. Me? Well I've got 3 or 4 salami sandwiches.

We're using red worms standin' almost side by side and after a few hours, I've caught 60. No bullshit. 60 bass. Brad has a big cipher to show for all his castin'. He's pissed. He can't understand how we're fishing together and I'm reelin' em in and he keeps drowning his bait. Finally he turns to me. I'm resting from all the fish I've landed eating a salami sandwich.
"Hey",he yells. "Look you guinea bastard bait my hook."
"What?"
"Bait my hook. It's all that guinea olive oil and salami you have on your hands that you're putting on the worm."
So I bait his hook. He casts out and BINGO this monster bass leaps out of the lake like a Marlin. This sucker weighed 9 puonds.

Well to make a long story short,if you want to catch a lot of fish,bring me along. I don't charge nothin'. Just supply me with plenty of salami sandwiches.

[dagosd2000]

Well gentlemen,I have booked the room at Marriott Lax and I will be joining you all for the WBHOF banquet.
Working on the flight as we speak.
I look forward to meeting all of you , and we are gonna have some laughs I promise.

Hey Rick
Don't you think you ought to let Pug in on the joke?

Pug we're really not going to the WBHOF. All of us on this thread don't even live in California. We live in Paris at Bennie's house. Frank plays the accordian at the cafes at night. Rick is a French film diractor. Randy writes articles for Le Box de Paree. And I have a spaghetti restaurant next to the Moulin Rouge.

We made the whole thing up. We never thought that you were going to go through with it. You can blame Rick. Your pal Rog. BTW,can I use your Frequent Flyer Miles for my trip to Spain next year?

[Expug]

Thats ok, next year the banquet is in beautiful Cicero Illinois.
Make sure you guys make your reservations early!

[dagosd2000]

Thats ok, next year the banquet is in beautiful Cicero Illinois.
Make sure you guys make your reservations early!

Pug
I was born in Cicero. OK OK I was joking . No way I'm going to Cicero.

[raylawpc]

Well, he did get out of France, he met my great grandmother in Mexico, I of course never met either one of them, Bennie, I have no desire to go to France or any place out of the barrio.

Except fishing . . . right Frank?

Right Tom, an I'm going next month.

Tom, I think you have seen this pic. of the fish I caught a couple of years ago in the Hight Sierra,
hope to catch some more like that next month.

Frank, what a nice picture. Looks like quite a catch. I'm a fisherman as well, though I don't get out as often as I used to, or as often as I should. I used to fish the Sierras but it's been a while. I fished most of the lakes up there; Convict, the Twin Lakes, the June Lake Loop and the Owens River, for brown and Rainbow Trout. Do you fly fish?

Randy

My Dad, God love him, was a champion fly fisherman. Tied his own flies - the whole 9 yards. He is also one of the most impatient men I ever met (and a perfectionist), and so he could never teach me how to fly fish. The poor guy now has Parkinson's and he can't fish anymore. He misses it.

My Dad was never into boxing as a kid, but Lou Ambers was his self-defense instructor when he was in the Coast Guard bootcamp during World War II. Jack Dempsey was Ambers' CO. Dad only saw Dempsey a few times from a distance, but had frequent contact with Ambers. I asked him what kind of self-defense Ambers taught. He laughed and said Ambers mostly used to take the platoon behind the barracks to smoke cigarettes and tell dirty jokes. He said Ambers was always on the look-out for Dempsey. Dad describes him almost word-for-word the way you describe Bobby Chacon, Frank - a happy-go-lucky kind of guy. Ambers only worry was that Dempsey would catch him smoking behind the barracks with the recruits.

[dagosd2000]

Well, he did get out of France, he met my great grandmother in Mexico, I of course never met either one of them, Bennie, I have no desire to go to France or any place out of the barrio.

Except fishing . . . right Frank?

Right Tom, an I'm going next month.

Tom, I think you have seen this pic. of the fish I caught a couple of years ago in the Hight Sierra,
hope to catch some more like that next month.

A PLACE TO GET IT RIGHT

Reminds me of the back country where there were training camps for fighters. Archie Moore had a facility in Ramona ,California up the grade of Highway 67 . Sid Flaherty's stable was in Lyon's Valley in East county. Further up the road in Campo was Sayotovitch's gym. The Norris brothers trained there with James"The Heat " Kinchen. These are ideal environments for a fighter. Few distractions. High altitude to build up the wind. Flaherty's place was also a kennell. They sold Malmute dogs. Him and Johnny Rodriguez. They named the road in Ramona,Archie Moore Road, in honor for Archie's old camp.

Clean air. Only the telephone to communicate to the world down below. The fighters sweat out all the poison they've taken in from the city. The food is healthy and lots of it. The work is hard. Some cards with the boys.Listen to music. Nowhere to go. Sleep falls hard and deep. Waking up early is normal in the mountains. All life is up and around. It feels good to sweat and build strength. It's the best way to go. You miss the wife and kids. That makes you stronger. Works up the proper anger. By the time you start to train down you've reached a peak. Your sparring partners are like your brothers. Without their work,you wouldn't be ready.

You train to fight within yourself. Everything that lives in the mountains,it's a day to day struggle. Appears peacefull,but it's a world on its own. Like the fighter. Stripped down to gloves and sweats and headgear. Rolls of tape,towels,old boxing shoes. Everything simple. A speed bag. A heavy bag. A jump rope. No fancy machines. Your sparring partners are your machines.

A rub down at the end of the day. Big meals. Protein. The body and the mind are right. The abdominals are hard. The mind is focused. The mountains seem peacefull. It's survival of the fittest. Survival of the fittest when the bell rings..

[bennie]

Amir Khan has fired trainer Jorge Rubio, who trained him for the knockout loss to Breidis Prescott.
Freddie Roach is going to be the new man taking over the corner for Khan. The lightweight is said to be returning in December against an opponent TBA.

“Amir is coming here to California with his father and attorney. They want to talk to me about rebuilding his career. I heard he suffered a bad knockout,” Roach said.

Interesting. Rubio pays the price for choosing Prescott. Freddie Roach is a great trainer but I just wish they could find a good British trainer.

[bennie]

Funny account of Lou Ambers and Dempsey.
Dempsey, the one-time wild man, is now the strict disciplinarian.

[bennie]

Hey guys, easy on the French, my great grandfather was French.

That makes two of us Frank. A lot of us have some French in us from the French that were left over from the French invasion of Mexico in the mid 1800's. My mother is descended, in part to the French from that time. On my father's side there were some ancestors that were Spanish-French.

Me and my big mouth.

[Randyman]

Well, he did get out of France, he met my great grandmother in Mexico, I of course never met either one of them, Bennie, I have no desire to go to France or any place out of the barrio.

Except fishing . . . right Frank?

Right Tom, an I'm going next month.

Tom, I think you have seen this pic. of the fish I caught a couple of years ago in the Hight Sierra,
hope to catch some more like that next month.

A PLACE TO GET IT RIGHT

Reminds me of the back country where there were training camps for fighters. Archie Moore had a facility in Ramona ,California up the grade of Highway 67 . Sid Flaherty's stable was in Lyon's Valley in East county. Further up the road in Campo was Sayotovitch's gym. The Norris brothers trained there with James"The Heat " Kinchen. These are ideal environments for a fighter. Few distractions. High altitude to build up the wind. Flaherty's place was also a kennell. They sold Malmute dogs. Him and Johnny Rodriguez. They named the road in Ramona,Archie Moore Road, in honor for Archie's old camp.

Clean air. Only the telephone to communicate to the world down below. The fighters sweat out all the poison they've taken in from the city. The food is healthy and lots of it. The work is hard. Some cards with the boys.Listen to music. Nowhere to go. Sleep falls hard and deep. Waking up early is normal in the mountains. All life is up and around. It feels good to sweat and build strength. It's the best way to go. You miss the wife and kids. That makes you stronger. Works up the proper anger. By the time you start to train down you've reached a peak. Your sparring partners are like your brothers. Without their work,you wouldn't be ready.

You train to fight within yourself. Everything that lives in the mountains,it's a day to day struggle. Appears peacefull,but it's a world on its own. Like the fighter. Stripped down to gloves and sweats and headgear. Rolls of tape,towels,old boxing shoes. Everything simple. A speed bag. A heavy bag. A jump rope. No fancy machines. Your sparring partners are your machines.

A rub down at the end of the day. Big meals. Protein. The body and the mind are right. The abdominals are hard. The mind is focused. The mountains seem peacefull. It's survival of the fittest. Survival of the fittest when the bell rings..

Jeez, Rog, that gave me goose bumps. Great piece of writing!! I feel healthier just reading it.

[Randyman]

Hey guys, easy on the French, my great grandfather was French.

That makes two of us Frank. A lot of us have some French in us from the French that were left over from the French invasion of Mexico in the mid 1800's. My mother is descended, in part to the French from that time. On my father's side there were some ancestors that were Spanish-French.

Me and my big mouth.

LOL, don't worry about it Bennie, I don't think either Frank or I consider ourselves French.

[kikibalt]

That makes two of us Frank. A lot of us have some French in us from the French that were left over from the French invasion of Mexico in the mid 1800's. My mother is descended, in part to the French from that time. On my father's side there were some ancestors that were Spanish-French.

Me and my big mouth. ps
Bennie

LOL, don't worry about it Bennie, I don't think either Frank or I consider ourselves French.

Orale! I'm a Chicano, man.... 8)

[Randyman]

That makes two of us Frank. A lot of us have some French in us from the French that were left over from the French invasion of Mexico in the mid 1800's. My mother is descended, in part to the French from that time. On my father's side there were some ancestors that were Spanish-French.

Me and my big mouth. ps
Bennie

LOL, don't worry about it Bennie, I don't think either Frank or I consider ourselves French.

Orale! I'm a Chicano, man.... 8)

Orale, Frank, through and through.

[bennie]

Germany's Firat Arslan defends his WBA cruiserweight title against Panamanian threat and mandatory challenger Guillermo Jones on a big show in Hamburg next Saturday night (September 27).
Arslan, who looks for all the world like a porn star of the 1970s, complete with perm, moustache et all, won the title with an upset decision over Virgil Hill last November and has since retained with another decision over American Darnell Wilson. He is one of those rare German fighters afforded no protection in his early career and more rounded and hardened for it. Arslan was even thrown in with big-hitting Yorkshireman Mark Hobson in Barnsley back in 2001 and took a pasting (although he was never in any danger of being stopped) before heads clashed out and Hobson was ruled out with a cut. A fortuitous win indeed and nobody in the audience that night could have forseen Arslan's steady improvement over the years but, after a predictable points loss to a Czech in Prague in 2003, the muscular, hardworking, cagey southpaw from Rottweil (growl) has gone unbeaten. He's won his last 11.
The lean, rangy, dangerous Jones is also on a good run since dropping a disputed 10-round split decision to classy and then unbeaten Steve Cunningham in April 2005 - now the IBF cruiserweight champ. He came back with fine stoppage wins over Kelvin "Koncrete" Davis and Wayne "Big Truck" Braithwaite - destroying them both - to secure his official ranking and ticked over with a couple of more routine wins while awaiting this shot. Jones tends to keep his head down anyway (not easy at 6ft 4ins tall) since a notorious draw with Johnny Nelson in Derby in 2002, a stab at the Sheffield man's WBO cruiserweight title which Jones looked to have handily but wound up a no-contest when the challenger tested positive for a banned substance (frusemide, and allegedly a whole lot more).
Bad boy Jones didn't fight again till 2004 and at 36 this probably represents a last chance. Incredibly, he turned pro at welterweight in 1993 and first challenged for a world title at light-middleweight 10 years ago when he drew with and was then narrowly outscored by Frenchman Laurent Boudouani. They call him the Incredible Growing Man in the trade. Jones, who has even knocked out heavyweights, is undoubtedly a banger and probably goes in as favourite. He has all the physical advantages.
Arslan, however, turns 38 the day after the fight and looks seasoned enough - and strong enough - to salvage a split decision, or possibly even a draw. This is Germany, remember.

[kikibalt]

Was going through some old photos and found this one and
I just had to share it with you guys, my sister Annie along side
of my dad's 1941 Ford Woody....C.1952

[kikibalt]

That pic.of my dad's '41 Woody sure brought back memories of some wild and crazy times I had with it.

[bennie]

That pic.of my dad's '41 Woody sure brought back memories of some wild and crazy times I had with it.

We have a similar-looking car, Frankie, in the homely Morris Minor. A classic car over here, and you still occasionally see them.

[kikibalt]

That pic.of my dad's '41 Woody sure brought back memories of some wild and crazy times I had with it.

We have a similar-looking car, Frankie, in the homely Morris Minor. A classic car over here, and you still occasionally see them.

Bennie, I remember seeing the Morris Minor here in the states a long time ago.

[bennie]

[kikibalt]

Hey Bennie, that looks like my dad's woody, did you ever own one of those?