When Alan Is Away

Mary told me, "Remember, no sparring," after she learned Alan was not coming in last night.  "No, I never let them spar when the coach is out," I told her.  Carlos, Leon, Jamil, and Oscar had other ideas, however.

When Steve was in charge of the gym, Friday was sparring night.  Rarely did sparring take place on Wednesday unless some of the guys had fights coming up.  I think it was easier to enforce the no sparring rule whenever Steve was out, because he only allowed it on one day.  Alan has sparring each time the gym is open, so people have gotten used to that.

I turn around to see Carlos wearing headgear.  "You're sparring?" I asked.  He answered in the affirmative.  "Mary doesn't want people sparring when Alan's not here," I told him.  "Oh, we're just going to move around in the ring," Carlos answered.  "Yeah, we're going light," said Leon, who was ready to go.  Both his headgear and gloves were on.  I got a bad feeling in my stomach, as I remembered how Deo was injured by Leon.  "Do sparring drills," I ordered, hoping it would not turn into full-on sparring.

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It wasn't long before I heard pops that indicated the guys were going harder than they should.  I stopped my workout to watch the action closely.  Several times, I had to warn Leon to take it easy.  Carlos took hard shots, Jamil and Oscar took heavy hits to their bodies.  "They're not little kids, so they should be able to spar.  You're a coach," Ieisha told me.  "Yeah, but I'm not a Chicago Park District employee.  Mary's against sparring when Alan's not here because of liability issues," I answered.    If someone becomes injured, and it's discovered there was no official supervision involved, game over.  The Park District could be sued, I could also be named in a lawsuit because I'm an official volunteer, and worst of all, the gym could be shut down.

Barry called me the day before to congratulate me on the match I had Friday.  A check of the calendar says I have a little over two weeks to get ready for my rematch with Meg.

Finally showed Justin my Kindergarten class picture.  The boy appeared to be amused, especially when I pointed out my five-year-old self.  I also showed Ieshia, who laughed at how formal some of the boys were dressed.  "That's how kids looked in 1967," I laughed.  Carlos picked me out right away.  "You look the same," he said.  "Yeah, I do, except for the gray hair," I smiled.  

For awhile I've been putting in one entry a day for a "Follow Your Passion" contest sponsored by an aspirin company.  The grand prize is $25,000.00.  If I won that, I'd probably buy a cobra bag for the gym.  I miss the old one that used to be there.