Reminiscing vs Reality

Reminiscing vs Reality

I could be way off base and be the only person that is afflicted with this concern for revisiting past acquaintances and random people encountered along the path of life.

I had a medical professional friend that not only was a service provider but also a golf partner.  I enjoyed knowing him for approximately 6 years and I felt that we had an average friendship (above acquaintance level).  I need to quantify what a golf partner is to me.  First off, in life I have had many acquaintances and much more than a couple of handful of friends.  I like to spread the fun and competition of a good round of golf.  So, while my golf tee times are very regular the partners vary from week to week.  A favorite golf partner might join me for a round of 18 holes eight times a year (consider that I might play 20 rounds or more on an average year).

With that disclaimer out of the way, the rest of the story is that my family and I moved across the State in pursuit of a career promotion for myself.  Some twenty years went by before I once again encountered my “friend” when I visited his office for a medical visit.  In my mind I was looking forward to seeing him again and I even imagined a hearty handshake and maybe even an embrace. Didn’t happen.

He entered the examination room, and introduced himself, and proceeded to treat me.  He never recognized my name or even remembered that we had spent time playing golf.  I know that common sense dictates that I should have reminded him.  However, I was so disappointed that, I chose to just forget the history that we shared.

I recon that my reason for writing this post is to try to once and for all put this “friendship” to rest.  I have thought of possible reasons for the lapse in memory but with out more information, I can’t make heads or tails out of my conclusions.

He could literally be having the onset of dementia, he may have had an accident that created a gap in his memory bank, many other possibilities, but while I am loyal to friends and acquaintances, I am not lacking for friendships in my life.  I have my hands full maintaining the circle of friends going.  I can’t help but internally mourn the loss of someone in my life that I thought was a friend.  The best is yet to come….

Muhammad Ali, The Greatest

Muhammad Ali, The Greatest

Growing up during the 60’s, one of the favorite activities was the Friday Gillett Fights on television.  Our family was still one of the lucky ones in the neighborhood to have a television set.  Relatives gathered at our house on Friday evening all pumped for the wonderful meal that preceded the Friday Night Fights.  I never actually saw anyone get drunk but I do remember that the adult men in the family (my step-father, uncles and cousins) all drank beer with their meal and during the fight.

I recall that the more exciting the boxing match was the less beer the men drank because they were so into the fight.  It was obvious to me that the beer drinking was not the object of the night.  As was customary for the ladies of the house to be found working in the kitchen preparing the extravagant meal of the evening (a feast to be sure).

The children (anyone under the drinking age) downed their meal with a couple of cold glasses of Kool-Aid.  It was during this family gatherings that I became aware and a fan of Cassius Clay (Muhammad’s name before he changed it soon after the Liston fight).

I remember with great clarity my introduction to the big time 1965.  I was still a teenager, and was happily surprised to be invited to a close circuit television presentation some 40 miles away from my home.  My biggest disappointment came when we arrived inside the venue three minutes into the fight, and fight had only lasted two minutes.  We sat there and saw the replays over and over on the large screen.  The excitement in the room was unbelievable.

• Soon after the Liston fight, Clay changed his name to Muhammad Ali upon converting to Islam and affiliating with the Nation of Islam. Ali then faced a rematch with Liston scheduled for May 1965 in Lewiston, Maine. It had been scheduled for Boston the previous November, but was postponed for six months due to Ali's emergency surgery for a hernia three days before. The fight was controversial. Midway through the first round, Liston was knocked down by a difficult-to-see blow the press dubbed a "phantom punch". Ali refused to retreat to a neutral corner, and referee Jersey Joe Walcott did not begin the count. Liston rose after he had been down about 20 seconds, and the fight momentarily continued. But a few seconds later Walcott stopped the match, declaring Ali the winner by knockout. The entire fight lasted less than two minutes. ^~Wikipedia

The loss of Ali is every bit as impacting to me as the day I heard on the radio of the other major icon of my youth’s passing, the King of Rock and Roll.  R.I.P Muhammad Ali.  For the rest of us life goes on and the best is yet to come……..

True Confessions

True Confessions

Some people are more private than others.  Most men even more so.  I reckon I was raised with the edict that little boys don’t cry, especially as you get older; men don’t kiss and tell, men by virtue of being men have to grin and bare it.  If you don’t agree with this trend of thought, don’t blame me, after all I didn't invent it.  Especially if you were raised in either the farm or a rough neighborhood (I was raised on the farm), I guess you could call it a Code of Silence.

My mother’s famous words, and coincidentally also my wife’s, “Get Over It.”  It goes without saying that we suffer in silence, and of course suffering level is in the eye of the beholder.  2015 weather in the Pacific Northwest started out with spring like days.  For that matter, we seem to have skipped winter all together. During the month of February we had some very nice 60 degree days, and so my son and I made plans and a tee time for an early March round of golf at a popular and expensive country club.  A credit card is required at the time of scheduling the tee time with a required 24 hours for cancellation.

When the day came the temperature was in the low 40s, and a Monsoon type rain prevailed all day accompanied by a strong breeze.  With 4 of us at $130 a pop we weren’t about to cancel.  The golf course is in what is considered a weather convergence zone, meaning that the weather is subject to change with little or no notice.  The rain was coming down so hard at times that the water was just running on the surface of the turf.  Being a high class course of course we had very expensive electric golf carts with GPS, and every luxury but a built in bar.  Unfortunately they were so sophisticated that if you drove off the track/trail it would shut off (as I found out).

I am a good enough golfer to tell the ball where to go, except for one place, near the track/trail.  On the tenth hole, right after taking a break for lunch and to get out of the rain (warm-up if you will), I hit my drive into an area far away from the track into a hilly area.  Before I continue I must explain that I don’t normally like to take even over the counter aspirin, but in this case I consulted with a body building friend about what I could do to keep from pulling a muscle in the cold weather.  He offered me a muscle relaxant that wouldn't make me drowsy but would sap my energy after it wore out (he instructed me to take only have of the birth control size pill). 

By the tenth hole I could feel my energy going down fast, so I made the executive decision to take the other half of the pill.  I had to climb some pretty steep hills to reach my second shot, and I did hit it well, but returning to my cart, I slid down a very steep and long hill despite my golf shoe cleats.  I twisted my left ankle and my lower back had a slight “distant” pain.  I showed everyone my wet pant and joked about how I had decided to squeegee the side of the hill.  I continued to play five more holes, and looking back fairly well considering the weather.  The discomfort grew as the effects of the pill wore off, and so I threw in the towel.

My son later mentioned to his sister that he thought that maybe I could no longer handle a round of golf.  By the time I was dropped off at home I was limping slightly, but I was also dragging form the effect of the pill sapping my energy.  My wife asked me if I was alright, and I mentioned that I had taken a fall but I would be fine in a couple of days.  A week went by before my wife talked me into going in to see the doctor.

As it turned out I had dislocated my left hip, and they had to pop it back in place.  My advice to anyone reading this post, don’t take chances with your health and comfort, life is too short, and most of us have medical insurance any way.  The days of having to bring in the harvest no longer apply, health and comfort first.  I am still undergoing physical therapy, but the prognosis is for a full recovery.  I got lucky, even if I will look a lot tougher from here on out, especially if I don’t lose the John Wayne “swag” walk.  Take care of yourselves, the best is yet to come…

Fool Me Once, Shame On You, Fool Me Twice…

Fool Me Once, Shame On You, Fool Me Twice…

On my previous post: http://www.being50.com/2015/05/the-fight-of-century-as-usual-this-is.html I ended that post by saying that we were being scammed.  My second post on the subject: http://www.being50.com/2015/05/the-scam-fight-of-century.html I addressed factually about being scammed, but wait; there is more!

·        HBO analyst Max Kellerman thinks Mayweather-Pacquiao's failure to live up to the hype did more to hurt than help the sport in the eyes of the masses.

·        Jim Lampley  "Was it a plus because of all the mainstream media attention, a minus because it was a clinic rather than a war, or a mixed bag?"

·        Max Kellerman “A minus, obviously, because just when all of the attention of the world is focused on boxing -- 'look, this is the best we have to offer!' When that works out well, like Ali-Frazier or Hearns and Hagler, or some fight like that, it's amazing. Because casual fans and even non-sports fans, if it transcends sports, are drawn then to boxing.

·        "But when it works out this way, just when all the focus is on the fight, and you get the most predictable and boring outcome -- like, heading into this fight, what were we thinking?  Just don't let Floyd win 9-3, 8-4, minimize exchanges, and afterwards have Pacquiao say I thought I won the fight, all he did was run. As long as that doesn't happen, we'll be OK!' And that's what happened." ~ The Fight Game with Jim Lampley: Max Kellerman (HBO Boxing)

I grew up with Gillette Cavalcade of sports (Friday Night Boxing), all the men in the family gathered in the living room to catch the fights (I only speak for my family), and we are talking about the boxing that would someday be considered the best of boxing.  Such names as: Cassius Clay, Floyd Patterson, Sonny Liston, and Archie Moore to name a few.  Among significant boxers in lower weights, were middleweights Emile Griffith, Nino Benvenuti and Dick Tiger,

Here is an example of just one year of the exciting sport of boxing:

1962

• February 10- Young Cassius Clay, fighting in his tenth professional bout, recovers from his first knockdown, a first round fall, to beat Sonny Banks by knockout in round four, Madison Square Garden, New York.
• March 24- One of boxing's most famous tragedies happens when Emile Griffith knocks out Benny Kid Paret in round twelve, to claim the world's Welterweight title. Paret is taken to the hospital, where he subsequently dies.
• April 3- Benny Paret dies.
• April 21- Carlos Ortiz becomes world Lightweight champion with a fifteen round unanimous decision win over Joe Brown in Las Vegas.
• July 13- In his first fight since the Benny Paret tragedy, Emile Griffith retains the world Welterweight title with a fifteen round unanimous decision of future world Jr. Middleweight champion Ralph Dupas in Las Vegas.
• September 25- Sonny Liston becomes world Heavyweight champion, knocking out Floyd Patterson in the first round, at Chicago.
• October 10- Fighting Harada becomes world Flyweight champion, knocking out Pone Kingpetch in eleven rounds, Tokyo, Japan.
• October 23- Dick Tiger becomes world Middleweight champion, defeating Gene Fullmer by a fifteen round unanimous decision in San Francisco.
• November 15- Muhammad Ali (then Cassius Clay) knocks out former world Light Heavyweight champion Archie Moore in five rounds at Los Angeles.
• December 20- Denny Moyer becomes the first world champion in history in the brand new Jr. Middleweight division, defeating Joey Giambra by a fifteen round decision for the vacant title, Portland. ~ Wikipedia

Fights were seen on color television for the first time, and one of the most famous tragedies, Benny Kid Paret's, was also shown live on TV.  I seriously could go on forever.

There is talk about Pacquiao’s undisclosed injury prior to the fight, and the possibility of a rematch next May (2016).  I say bring it on, but you better offer me a free pay per view, if you expect to reel me in, after all; Fool Me Twice Shame On Me!

The best is yet to come…..

The Scam (Fight) of the Century

The Scam (Fight) of the Century

• Perhaps you are one of the millions of people who forked over $100 in hopes of watching the fight of the century between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao. You bought into the hype and hysteria. Mayweather was risking his 47-0 record against a 36-year-old Pacquiao looking to resuscitate a flailing career. These, you told yourself, were the two best pound-for-pound fighters of this era.
• How could this not be a great fight?
• Mayweather’s fight was excellent. It was, and if you dispute that, you didn’t bother watching his 47 fights prior. He boxes, he doesn’t fight. This affair was never going to feature a scene from Rocky. Mayweather danced for 12 rounds, carefully picking punches, strategically denying Pacquiao momentum.
• Some call Mayweather’s strategy cowardly, others call it boring, but no one can dispute its effectiveness. ~ FTW-Mike Floss

 

On my previous post: http://www.being50.com/2015/05/the-fight-of-century-as-usual-this-is.html I ended that post by saying that we were being scammed.  Now after the fact many agree that we actually sat around and watched; The Retirement Plan of the Century.  I joined in and paid the $89.99 (non-HD) for what I expected to be prime entertainment (I was disappointed).  I had a few friends over and we caught the broadcast on the large screen.  Plenty of food and drink (non-alcoholic) but the thing that was missing at the end, was a lack of consensus about who was the better fighter.  If I want to see two people get bloodied or break bones I am smart enough to know that I need to watch the UFC fights.
 

While boxing isn’t exactly a “Gentleman’s Sport,” it has always been a sport of strategy and endurance. On this particular event no one can dispute that the prevailing Champion came to box, not fight.  Within my own group (home gathering) the audience was evenly split for the fighters.  Those of us on the side of Mayweather, were abused by the other half in what seemed like Pacquiao’s beating of Mayweather.  I am very grateful for good conscientious judges, that knew what they were looking at and judging, and were not swayed by the constant crowd reaction in favor of Pacquiao just because he kept swinging his arms at where Mayweather had been just a split second earlier.

For those of us that ended up on the side of the win, the fight was great entertainment, and a knockout over Manny would have been the cherry on top, but I enjoyed Pacquiao’s performance even though he is also beginning to show his age, and only recorded half the punches that he usually throws in a fight.
 

People are starting to say that this is the end to boxing, that there is no longer young worthy fighters in the horizon to keep the sport going.  Those or mostly young people around 30 years of age and younger talking.  I used to hear that same discussion after every Ali fight, and throughout the years since.  It won’t be long, someone will be promoting The Fight of the Century soon. 

Disclaimer:  I am aware of Mayweather’s troubled life outside the ring, but I am not responsible for punishing him for any wrong doing, I don’t approve of any part of his life other than his skill in the sport of boxing.  The best is yet to come…..

The Fight of the Century

The Fight of the Century

As usual this is one man’s humble opinion, if you don’t agree, I am perfectly fine with it.

·       In 1971, both Ali and Frazier had legitimate claims to the title of World Heavyweight Champion. An undefeated Ali had won the title from Sonny Liston in Miami Beach in 1964, and successfully defended his belt up until he had it stripped by boxing authorities for refusing induction into the armed forces in 1967. In Ali's absence, the undefeated Frazier garnered two championship belts through devastating knockouts of Buster Mathis and Jimmy Ellis. He was recognized by boxing authorities as the World Champion. Unlike Mathis and Ellis, Frazier was plausibly Ali's superior, which created a tremendous amount of hype and anticipation for a match pitting the two undefeated fighters against one another to decide who was the true heavyweight champ.

·       Ringside seats were $150, each man was guaranteed 2.5 million dollars, in addition to the millions who watched this amazing hour of sporting history unfold on closed-circuit screens around the world the Garden buzzed with a sell-out crowd of 20,455 that provided a gate of 1.5 million dollars. ~Wikipedia

Mayweather vs Paquio

Today once again the Fight of the Century is being hyped and this time the fight is serious money for all involved including the consumers and sports fans (in some instances one and the same).  For the consumer the just to stay home and watch it on pay per view $99.99 on your local cable service.  Anyone traveling to Las Vegas to be close to the action I hear that hotel rooms that normally go for $200 dollars this weekend they are going for $1600 dollars according to reports earlier in the week.  That is 10 times higher than ringside seats went for during the fight of the century in 1971.  At last report earlier this week the going price for the cheapest ticket at the live event was $16,000.00 online.

I am not complaining because I am not in position to spend that kind of money on any kind of sporting event, but if I was, I’m sure that I could find a better way to spend my millions.

We are talking about two individuals that are going to knock each other’s brains out for all of maybe one hour, and each stands to make over 100 million for their participation.

I hate to think that there are people around the world whose life might be on the line because they don’t have the funds (20 or 30 thousand) to spend on a medical procedure that would save their lives, and our society very much like in the time of the Romans are gathering at the coliseum to watch two gladiators fight to near death (possibly). I like sports as much as the next guy or gal, but we are being scammed big time.

The best is yet to come….

Monday Morning-Quarterbacking

Hindsight

• One who second-guesses
• From a fan's usually critical rehashing of the weekend football game strategy.  First Known Use: 1932
• Someone who criticizes from hindsight.
• Professional football games in the United States are often played on Sundays.
• A person who analyzes the mistakes they made the day after they've made them. Derived from complaining over quarterbacks on Monday morning after the Sunday game.  Frank's complaining about what he should've done on his date last night like a Monday morning quarterback.

Similar to the idiom:  Hindsight is 20/20.  

What a wonderful superpower it could be to poses hindsight.  Imagine a handful of things that you could do that would improve your life, and the life of others.  If you could look back at your life (day, month, year or lifetime) as it could turned out and then go back to the start and do it different based on the preview (hindsight).  Your life would be perfect because you would be able to prevent the actions that would otherwise create negative outcomes.  Some examples might be seeing how your life turned out by the age of sixty.  You might see yourself in a wheelchair with an oxygen tank by your side because of a lifetime of cigarette addiction.  You could go back to your youth and decide not to get started on the smoking habit.  The same example could be applied to an addiction of alcoholism or maybe even an unhealthy eating habit.

On a shorter preview of say one hour.  You have a doctor appointment at 9 am and your car gets t-boned by a careless driver who runs a red traffic light at an intersection at exactly 8:40 am.  Using hindsight you go back to the start of the trip and decide to leave earlier, later or cancel the appointment altogether and avoid the accident.  If you start to see where I’m going you might agree that this ability would really be a super power.

There are many great uses for this type of ability like using it for the good of mankind.  As an example to prevent a crime or a terrorist act, can you imagine how many lives you could save?  One selfish use of this power that at least 90% of people would contemplate is knowing what the winning numbers to say Powerball will be and going back and purchasing those numbers.  Even knowing the outcome of say the Super Bowl and then going back and placing a large bet on the winning team.

There isn't such power available of course, but there is a similar ability that comes close (unfortunately it can only be applied to some of the above mentioned examples), yet only a very select few poses it.  It’s widely known as Common Sense.  You can’t look into the future and then go back and make changes, or can you?

Study your surroundings for things that most affect you, such as health, wealth, and Happiness (not necessarily in that order).  Your family is a good starting point since you share so many similarities through genetics.  Things to look for or at:  look at your father and grandfather’s life and see what made them great (or not).  You will be able to see the good and bad habits and outcomes.  Hard work can make for stability (ability to provide), education (preparation) makes for a better lifetime of economic success.  The ancestors habits and priorities will begin to formulate a look back at what your life could turn out like.

A careful look will disclose that most mistakes in the world have already been made by someone, so a good habit would be to learn from them, and not to duplicate them.  Another good thing to remember is that it’s not possible to make the same mistake twice.  Only the first time is a mistake, the second time and beyond is on purpose and with full knowledge of the likely outcome.  The best is yet to come……..

Friday Night Fights

Sugar Ray Robinson

 One special family ritual around our house growing up with my stepfather was Friday Night Fights on television.  In the mid 1950’s televisions were still not in every home or anywhere near, and unless I am not aware most if not all sets were black and white.  Gillette Cavalcade of Sports was the one major attraction for the man of the house, and it seems that all our relatives would come over to our house to visit on Friday because we had a television set.  In all fairness to men, my uncle Rudy (best BBQ expert I’ve ever known) would make the steaks “asada.” The ladies including daughters from 16 years old and up took care of the rest of the dinner in the kitchen.

The total meal included homemade flour tortillas (piled up as much as a foot high as they came off the stove), Guacamole consisting of plenty of avocados, diced sweet onions, and diced fresh jalapeno peppers, and tomatoes (some squeezed lime), buttery and fluffy mashed potatoes, homemade refried pinto beans, homemade rice, and green salad, and of course my uncle Rudy’s expertly “grilled carne asada.”  I remember that he used to pour some of his beer over the steaks as he grilled them for additional flavor (or so he said).  I don’t remember anyone ever getting drunk at the gathering but there was plenty of beer to go around for the adult men (Lone star or Falstaff) Kool-Aid and coffee for everyone else.  For dessert there was usually fruit (in season) my favorite was a slice of ice cold watermelon.  At that time in my life if we were poor, I didn’t know it because I was one happy camper.  Another sign that we weren’t poor is the fact that we were surrounded and in harmony with all our family members.  The event I am describing took place in Texas.

The aroma throughout the house was delicious.  Even if you weren’t hungry when the cooking started, halfway through the meal preparation you couldn’t wait to be called to the table.  I remember being amazed at how fast the flour tortilla stack disappeared.  After the meal the main event would begin.  Just the theme song would send chills of excitement in expectation of a great fight.

Gillette Cavalcade of Sports Theme Song

It would be many years down the road before I would fully understand how important in the development of the boxing sport this era was.  Some of the boxers I remember included: Sugar Ray Robinson, Carmen Basilio, Chuck Davey, Chico Vejar, Kid Gavilan, Gene Fullmer, Johnny Saxton, Tony DeMarco, Charlie Powell, and many more up and coming boxers.  The excitement in the room was contagious.  The men would be yelling at their favorite boxers to encourage them.  After the event was over, win or lose, we would still fill like a letdown because we would have to wait until the next Friday night for another family get together.

Some of us in the younger family member groups would eventually be sent outside to play tag or hide and seek.  Those get together times were so essential to maintaining great family relations, communications and goodwill.  Now a days we have a family board game night whenever the family comes together, and you can hear the competition spirit going on in our dining room after a wonderful meal, (our home is the gathering plays for pay per view programs) but I miss the old family members that are no longer around.  I guess they have been replaced by me and others like my wife, etc.  Life is like that; we get promoted by attrition.  Sooner or later we rise to the respected position of love and respect.  The best is yet to come….