Boxing again

In my youth, I became enamored with sports.  And other than three years of Little League Baseball (1956-1958), my interest in sports involved spectator sports rather than as an athlete.  

In Little League, I suffered from fear of the baseball, either to be hit by a pitch (which I was once) or by a batted ball.  I have come to believe that we should never let fear control our behavior.  We need to have the courage to overcome our fears.  

Spectator sports in my youth mostly was what was on TV.  

Saturday was a Major League baseball game and/or a college football game depending on the time of the year.

Sunday in the fall was the New York Football Giants.

Friday night at 10 PM was boxing.  A ten round bout was perfect for a one hour TV program.  Gillette razor blades was the sponsor and the venue was usually Madison Square Garden in New York City.

I came to admire boxers, especially Floyd Patterson, Marvelous Marvin Hagler, Rubin Carter and Carmen Basilio.  But all boxers (now including women) deserve my respect. 

They face the challenge of one on one combat in which they suffer pain and the possibility of injury or even death.  

Boxing is a violent and dangerous sport.  It is a complicated sport.  When you go on offense, you open yourself up to being attacked.  

I have never been punched in the face...except once...by my brother Ted.  As avid movie goers, we discovered that actors did not really hit each other with a closed fist.  It was what we called fake boxing.  

Ted and I played at that many times and once it wasn't fake.  I received a bloody nose.

Ted told me of an experience he had while a student at Michigan State University.  He took a boxing class in which he sparred with another student.  Once, he was punched in the head and saw stars.  I wish I had had a boxing experience.  

At Penn, during a phyical education class, I was assigned to wrestle another student, much bigger than I.  I was able to evade him for  whatever the time limit was.  We were both ehausted.

It would have been nice to box once...for at least one round...to face a challenge, overcome my fears and survive...to prove something to myself.