Grumble Free Wednesday

It was sort of old home week because both Javonte and Sadiq stopped into the gym. Javonte had his girlfriend and adorable one-year old daughter with him. They stayed around for most of the evening, but Sadiq was only there for a few moments.

John was a new guy who came in. He said he had trained at a gym out in Libertyville. I was surprised there was a gym there. The last time I was up there was to attend a singles' worship event at the church where my pastor used to work. That was about four years ago. From what I viewed of the town, it appears to be very conservative. Too conservative to support a boxing gym, it seemed. John explained that there wasn't much sparring to be had. He had visited a few gyms, including a few Park District ones, and he was impressed with Loyola Park the most. He signed up for the boxing program.

Otis and Pete sparred, and Otis got Pete several times with some hard hits. Steve finally had them stand very close to each other in order to make them work more on combinations, as opposed to going for the big shots.

Steve worked with Mike and JJ earlier as they both have their final bouts at the Golden Gloves this Friday. Older Jim did not come to the gym, so there were no complaints to be heard about the coach "working with the contenders". It made for a bit of peace in the room for the evening, which was refreshing.

I was interviewed on Monday about this blog, and the article featuring me, as well as a few other Rogers Park blogs is online at the web site for The Loyola Phoenix. The Phoenix is the student newspaper of Loyola University. I'll go up to the campus tomorrow and get the print version. I started the blog thinking it would be interesting for people to read a slice-of-life about a middle-aged woman who was crazy enough to be involved in a sport where one can become hurt easily and very badly. After viewing some of the negativitity on the other blogs, I also wanted to show that some positive things do happen in an area that is considered troubled, mainly by some condo and townhouse owners who are at odds with the poor, the working class, people of color and the renters who were here before they moved in. I liked the article, which sought to explore why Rogers Park is one of the "bloggiest" areas in Chicago and the USA.