Classic American West Coast Boxing

[Rick Farris]

Concerning some mentioned items:

Backdraft the movie. I liked it because it shows The Chicago Fire Dept in some scenes and probably hired a few FF's as extras in the movie. As with many or practically all fire related movies- there are serious technical issues in these type of movies. I wont bore you with this stuff but to say the least, "Smoke" is greatest concern we have at fires.It is what kills more people than the fire itself. When I tell you that you cant literally see your hand in front of you-I mean it. There is no way to portray this in movies properly as the movie would be blacked out. So when you see men running through a room on fire to rescue people, its Hollywood. Most is done on hands and knees sweeping your outstretched arms and feet to feel for someone, unless you hear a person calling for help and you go to the voice directly,disregarding everything else to save time.

Also the movie depicts Kurt Russell as king leader of the fire dept crew (way over dramatized). We have no such person. It is totally a team effort from all. Chiefs are like head coaches on football teams. They let the team do the playing, when a snafu occurs he sees a bigger picture and sends in reinforcements or substitutes-basically. Everyone knows their position and job before you even get off the fire truck at every fire.Reinforcements(Relief) are held to the side until needed to relieve FF's inside for a breath of air(we call "taking a blow"). Relief companies are put into play by chief's decisions outside.
Most movies or TV shows use real Fire Officers as consultants on sets to make it appear natural as possible, but Hollywood needs to ramp up the "action" to peak movie-goers interest.
I was a background actor on about 15 shows of "Third Watch" filmed here in NYC during the late 1990's.
Many of the background actors who were not the stars were actually off duty firefighters and police officers.The directors would constantly pick our brains on what type of language or things they should change to make it more "real". There was a retired Battalion Chief on set to make sure we portrayed NYC FF's in a good light, as a consultant.Even in that show, one actor Eddie Cipriani,who I became good friends with,played a firefighter who was telling the chief what to do and barking orders. In real life-never would happen in a million years.
But they are the TV stars and we were getting good side money, who are we to complain.
Of many shows or movies I seen, they were closest to getting FF's life right in the firehouse or precinct. Not the emergencies though.
A "Backdraft" condition is very real and can exist, and is very dangerous when encountered.
In certain situations it can make wood houses appear to "breathing" on its own by expansion and contraction from high heat. Not a good sign. It is a pent up bulk of gasses and high temperatures putting pressure on glass or wood waiting for air to get to it quickly. This will cause a immense explosion of a fireball and if you are in its way, its all over. It is why firefighters are seen cutting holes in roofs with saws are breaking out windows (venting) so the gasses do not build up to that level.
Fire fighters will usually wait till a hoseline is in place to vent so the wind and air will not spread the existing fire.

Thanks for the info, Charlie. Interesting stuff on backdraft's, etc

[Rick Farris]

Today, Linda and I celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary.

If it were not for boxing, I might never have met Linda. In January 1975, my friend and former light-heavyweight contender Brian Kelly had retired, and was working as a substitute PE teacher at Council Grove Elementary School in Oklahoma City. My parents lived just two blocks away from Council, and I happened to be living with them at that time. One day, I decided to visit Kelly, so I walked over to the school. When I was preparing to leave the school, this cute little teacher came to the gym with her fourth grade class for PE. So, I naturally went over to talk to her. She was pretty, smart and very easy to talk to. After she left, I told Kelly, “She’s a doll. Does she have a boyfriend?” Kelly didn’t think so, and I made sure to remember the time so that I would “just happen to be there” in the future when she brought her kids to PE.

Kelly and I were scheduled to referee at a Golden Gloves Tournament in Blackwell, Oklahoma just a week or so after this. A few days before the tournament, Kelly told me that his wife, Juanita, was going to the tournament with us. Kelly and Juanita were newlyweds. “Sh*t, Kelly, I don’t want to go with you and Juanita,” I said. “I’ll feel like a third wheel.” “Bring a date,” he said. “I don’t know any girls who would go on a date to watch me referee amateur boxing . . .” “Why don’t you ask Linda – that cute teacher you liked?” he said. “You ask her for me,” was my reply.

The next day, Kelly told me, “She said she doesn’t make dates like that. You need to call her.” So I did, and, lo and behold, I had a date. (Later, she told me that she misunderstood and thought I had asked her to a high school wrestling tournament - NOT a boxing tournament in a cattle barn!)

So, Linda and my first date was to watch me referee at an amateur boxing tournament in a cattle barn at the fairgrounds in Blackwell, Oklahoma! Did I know how to show a good time to a gal, or what!?!?

Believe it or not, Linda and I continued to date, and 12 months later, on December 27, 1975, Linda and I were married. Kelly was best man.

Linda’s view of boxing is similar to Monica’s. She doesn’t like it, and was glad our boys didn’t go into it. She has only gone to one boxing match with me (right after we started dating). She told me she didn’t want to go back because it gave her a stomach ache. “A stomach ache?” I asked. “How did you get a stomach ache from boxing?”

“It hurt my stomach watching those boys hitting each other in the belly!”

Clearly, we don’t share an interest in boxing, but we share just about everything else. We’ve been together for 35 years, have two wonderful sons, a beautiful granddaughter, and Linda and worked together in my office for 15 years. She’s more than my wife – she’s my best friend.

And if it hadn't been for boxing . . . who knows, I might have missed out on all those blessings over the last 35 years.

Tom, I hope you and Linda have a great anniversary. I enjoyed reading how you two started out, the little apartment, "Rich Man, Poor Man", etc. Have a wonderful day and many more years together. I look forward to meeting her in June.

[kikibalt]

Today, Linda and I celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary.

If it were not for boxing, I might never have met Linda. In January 1975, my friend and former light-heavyweight contender Brian Kelly had retired, and was working as a substitute PE teacher at Council Grove Elementary School in Oklahoma City. My parents lived just two blocks away from Council, and I happened to be living with them at that time. One day, I decided to visit Kelly, so I walked over to the school. When I was preparing to leave the school, this cute little teacher came to the gym with her fourth grade class for PE. So, I naturally went over to talk to her. She was pretty, smart and very easy to talk to. After she left, I told Kelly, “She’s a doll. Does she have a boyfriend?” Kelly didn’t think so, and I made sure to remember the time so that I would “just happen to be there” in the future when she brought her kids to PE.

Kelly and I were scheduled to referee at a Golden Gloves Tournament in Blackwell, Oklahoma just a week or so after this. A few days before the tournament, Kelly told me that his wife, Juanita, was going to the tournament with us. Kelly and Juanita were newlyweds. “Sh*t, Kelly, I don’t want to go with you and Juanita,” I said. “I’ll feel like a third wheel.” “Bring a date,” he said. “I don’t know any girls who would go on a date to watch me referee amateur boxing . . .” “Why don’t you ask Linda – that cute teacher you liked?” he said. “You ask her for me,” was my reply.

The next day, Kelly told me, “She said she doesn’t make dates like that. You need to call her.” So I did, and, lo and behold, I had a date. (Later, she told me that she misunderstood and thought I had asked her to a high school wrestling tournament - NOT a boxing tournament in a cattle barn!)

So, Linda and my first date was to watch me referee at an amateur boxing tournament in a cattle barn at the fairgrounds in Blackwell, Oklahoma! Did I know how to show a good time to a gal, or what!?!?

Believe it or not, Linda and I continued to date, and 12 months later, on December 27, 1975, Linda and I were married. Kelly was best man.

Linda’s view of boxing is similar to Monica’s. She doesn’t like it, and was glad our boys didn’t go into it. She has only gone to one other boxing card with me (right after we started dating). She told me she didn’t want to go back because it gave her a stomach ache. “A stomach ache?” I asked. “How did you get a stomach ache from boxing?”

“It hurt my stomach watching those boys hitting each other in the belly!”

Clearly, we don’t share an interest in boxing, but we share just about everything else. We’ve been together for 35 years, have two wonderful sons, a beautiful granddaughter, and Linda and worked together in my office for 15 years. She’s more than my wife – she’s my best friend.

And if it hadn't been for boxing . . . who knows, I might have missed out on all those blessings over the last 35 years.

Congrats Linda and Ray on your 35th wedding anniversary...

[CNorkusJr]

Congratulations Tom. 35 yrs. It must be nice to have 2 persons compatable that long and to celebrate your growing family together. Way to go, and many more of shared happiness.

[Rick Farris]

Carlos Palomino vs. Armando Muniz - I

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yL3D-78f ... re=related

Mando floors Carlos in round one.

[kikibalt]

Well, it's a usual Christmas here in good ol' England. The snow has turned to slush, there's absolutely nothing on TV and I need to go on a diet.

Have a drink Bennie...

[Rick Farris]

Well, it's a usual Christmas here in good ol' England. The snow has turned to slush, there's absolutely nothing on TV and I need to go on a diet.

Have a drink Bennie...

As my Cockney mate Dave Wescott would say . . . "And why not?"

[bennie]

Bradley Pryce shuns the shackles in a sport all about control. As promoters restrict their boys to journeymen and substitutes and TV dates and title shots of an interim nature, Pryce runs with dinosaurs. The 29-year-old Welshman, who challenges Sam Webb for the British light-middleweight title in February, first made his name with a thrilling nine-round stoppage of Chesterfield banger Gavin Down at York Hall back in 2002, the domestic fight of the year, and it's been one war after another since, one monster after another.
On a blowy Autumn night in Preston in 2005, Pryce chased the unbeaten Michael Jennings for 12 rounds in a crack at the British welterweight title, nearly stopping him at the death. He was close, very close, and then came a dazzling 12-round decision over Ghanaian dangerman Ossie Duran for the Commonwealth light-middleweight title in Newport, after which Bradley proved himself one of the best fighters in the country in defence after defence, one of them an emphatic seven-round stoppage of flashy Londoner Anthony Small on a sweltering night in London in July 2007.
Just a week later, Bradley cut a dapper, volatile figure at ringside as stablemate Gavin Rees romped to the WBA light-welterweight title in Cardiff. Pryce exchanged barbs with Team Souleymane MBaye, right at the top of his game, revelling in his status, in his ability. It couldn't last, and sure enough Matthew Hall jumped on him in two rounds in Manchester last year to wrest the Commonwealth crown, and yet Pryce continues to bang on the door after 11 years as a pro.
Big, strong and sharp, Pryce earned the Webb shot with recent wins over Neil Sinclair, Ted Bami and Michael Lomax, and because he is willing to step in at late notice. He knows that Webb won the British title with with an uncomfortably close decision over that man Small and needed 11 rounds to see off Martin Concepcion in his first defence, another man Pryce had beaten first. Don't get me wrong, Webb is clever and busy, with quick hands, and he goes in as the big betting favourite in front of his own fans in Brentwood, but Pryce, the gangling teenager who filled out, grew up and got dangerous, has seen it all before.

[telboy66]

If Pryce boxes with the same frame of mind & lack of control he showed in " Prizefighter " competition then it could well be the end of a career that promised more than it showed

[CNorkusJr]

Sad news, Angelo Dundees wife passed away. She has been very sick.
http://boxing.fanhouse.com/2010/12/27/a ... at-age-85/

[bennie]

Sad news, Angelo Dundees wife passed away. She has been very sick.
http://boxing.fanhouse.com/2010/12/27/a ... at-age-85/

This is sad. Dundee's autobiography made it very clear of the love he felt for his wife.

[kikibalt]

A cold

Have what you call a relapses, I think. Had a cold for some time now, yesterday felt good, so good in fact that Connie and I with our son James went to Sizzler for dinner, this morning I woke up sicker then I been for some time.....WTF!!

[kikibalt]

Sad news, Angelo Dundees wife passed away. She has been very sick.
http://boxing.fanhouse.com/2010/12/27/a ... at-age-85/

This is sad. Dundee's autobiography made it very clear of the love he felt for his wife.

Our condolences to Angelo and family.....

[Rick Farris]

Armando Muniz forwarded this to me. FUNNY!
---------------------------------------------------


FOR THOSE OF US WHO REMEMBER AND LOVED

"The Hollywood Squares"

These great questions and answers are from the days when ' Hollywood Squares' game show responses were spontaneous, not scripted, as they are now. Peter Marshall was the host asking the questions, of course..

Q.. Paul, what is a good reason for pounding meat?

A. Paul Lynde: Loneliness!

(The audience laughed so long and so hard it took up almost 15 minutes of the show!)


Q. Do female frogs croak?

A. Paul Lynde: If you hold their little heads under water long enough.


Q. If you're going to make a parachute jump, at least how high should you be

A. Charley Weaver: Three days of steady drinking should do it.


Q. True or False, a pea can last as long as 5,000 years...

A. George Gobel: Boy, it sure seems that way sometimes.


Q. You've been having trouble going to sleep. Are you probably a man or a woman?

A.. Don Knotts: That's what's been keeping me awake.


Q. According to Cosmopolitan, if you meet a stranger at a party and you think that he is attractive, is it okay to come out and ask him if he's married?

A.. Rose Marie: No wait until morning.


Q. Which of your five senses tends to diminish as you get older?

A. Charley Weaver: My sense of decency..


Q. In Hawaiian, does it take more than three words to say 'I Love You'?

A. Vincent Price: No, you can say it with a pineapple and a twenty..


Q. What are 'Do It,' 'I Can Help,' and 'I Can't Get Enough'?

A. George Gobel: I don't know, but it's coming from the next apartment.


Q. As you grow older, do you tend to gesture more or less with your hands while talking?

A. Rose Marie: You ask me one more growing old question Peter, and I'll give you a gesture you'll never forget.


Q. Paul, why do Hell's Angels wear leather?

A. Paul Lynde: Because chiffon wrinkles too easily.


Q.. Charley, you've just decided to grow strawberries. Are you going to get any during the first year?

A.. Charley Weaver: Of course not, I'm too busy growing strawberries.


Q. In bowling, what's a perfect score?

A. Rose Marie: Ralph, the pin boy.


Q. It is considered in bad taste to discuss two subjects at nudist camps.. One is politics, what is the other?

A. Paul Lynde: Tape measures..


Q. During a tornado, are you safer in the bedroom or in the closet?

A. Rose Marie: Unfortunately Peter, I'm always safe in the bedroom.


Q. Can boys join the Camp Fire Girls?

A.. Marty Allen: Only after lights out.


Q. When you pat a dog on its head he will wag his tail. What will a goose do?

A. Paul Lynde: Make him bark?


Q. If you were pregnant for two years, what would you give birth to?

A. Paul Lynde: Whatever it is, it would never be afraid of the dark..


Q. According to Ann Landers, is there anything wrong with getting into the habit of kissing a lot of people?

A. Charley Weaver: It got me out of the army.


Q. It is the most abused and neglected part of your body, what is it?

A. Paul Lynde: Mine may be abused, but it certainly isn't neglected.


Q. Back in the old days, when Great Grandpa put horseradish on his head, what was he trying to do?

A. George Gobel: Get it in his mouth.


Q. Who stays pregnant for a longer period of time, your wife or your elephant?

A. Paul Lynde: Who told you about my elephant?

[Rick Farris]

Sad news, Angelo Dundees wife passed away. She has been very sick.
http://boxing.fanhouse.com/2010/12/27/a ... at-age-85/

My condolences to Angelo Dundee and family.

[Rick Farris]

Frank . . .

I spoke with Armando Muniz yesterday. I'd like to preview the interview Dan Hanley and I did with Armando awhile back at an upcoming GSBA luncheon. Armando is open to join us when the time is right for the GSBA. At the same time we can preview another boxing interview as well, perhaps Carlos Ortiz, George Benton, Yaqui Lopez or Lou Filippo?? Last time we had a pretty good turnout.

[kikibalt]

Frank . . .

I spoke with Armando Muniz yesterday. I'd like to preview the interview Dan Hanley and I did with Armando awhile back at an upcoming GSBA luncheon. Armando is open to join us when the time is right for the GSBA. At the same time we can preview another boxing interview as well, perhaps Carlos Ortiz, George Benton, Yaqui Lopez or Lou Filippo?? Last time we had a pretty good turnout.

That's great Rick, need something like that to bring life to those meetings....

[THEHAMMER321]

A cold

Have what you call a relapses, I think. Had a cold for some time now, yesterday felt good, so good in fact that Connie and I with our son James went to Sizzler for dinner, this morning I woke up sicker then I been for some time.....WTF!!

For some reason about five years ago, they closed all the sizzlers in Vegas, I liked there malibu chicken, last time I ate there was after leaving Disneyland about 3 years ago, Frank hope you feel better.

[Rick Farris]

A cold

Have what you call a relapses, I think. Had a cold for some time now, yesterday felt good, so good in fact that Connie and I with our son James went to Sizzler for dinner, this morning I woke up sicker then I been for some time.....WTF!!

For some reason about five years ago, they closed all the sizzlers in Vegas, I liked there malibu chicken, last time I ate there was after leaving Disneyland about 3 years ago, Frank hope you feel better.

Meat Tenderizer . . .

Back in the early 70's, when I was starting my pro career and living in Monterey Park, I used to spend a lot of time with my girlfriend and her parents. My future father-in-law liked The Sizzler in Monterey Park, on Garfield Ave. near Garvey. One day we are eating at Sizzler and my girlfriend and her bro-in-law Bob Seagren was with us. Bob grew up in Pomona and said he and his family would eat at a Sizzler in the area until it was closed down in the early 60's. According to Bob, it was discovered that the Sizzler in Pomona was tenderizing it's meat with embalming fluid , and the place was shut down. True or not, I don't know? Regardless, I like the Sizzler, but haven't been to one in years.

[kikibalt]

[kikibalt]

Bennie Briscoe Is Gone.

I just learned that Bennie Briscoe died at 5:20 PM tonight.
Rest in peace, you great warrior - and thanks for all the great and exciting memories."

[Panzerfaust]

this is sad new indeed , you know what he died from Frank?

R.I.P champ :(

[kikibalt]

this is sad new indeed , you know what he died from Frank?

R.I.P champ :(

No I don't Ram, when I fined out I'll be sure to post....

[Rick Farris]

Bennie Briscoe Is Gone.

I just learned that Bennie Briscoe died at 5:20 PM tonight.
Rest in peace, you great warrior - and thanks for all the great and exciting memories."

Bennie Briscoe . . .

We were going to induct him into the WBHOF this year.
It was Dan Hanley who put Briscoe's name up for induction, Mando Muniz and I agreed.
When the votes were all counted, Briscoe was a Hall of Famer.
When you hear the stories of legendary Philadelphia gym wars, Briscoe was a part of that, one of the Philly warriors.
We tried hard to contact Briscoe. We had to go thru many family buffers. He was not going to attend our event, or accept his award.
Maybe a relative would receive it for him?
That was the word from his wife. She was very protective. We would learn his health was an issue, but no specifics.
We tried our best to honor him, but would honor his wishes, and see he received his bronze statue after the event.
Suddenly he's gone. He was 67.
R.I.P. to a great middleweight contender, a great fighter.


-Rick Farris

[Expug]

Sad day. Bennie was a true "fighters fighter".I can guarantee that anyone who ever stepped in a ring has great respect for "Bad Bennie". The fans loved him for his lets get it on style, but other fighters had to appreciate him as well. Being respected by your peers and opponents counts for a helluva lot.