The Coach, His Son, and Pizza

Taheerah and I sparred Wednesday night, and I honored her request to go light.  Her husband, Nate, gave her tips from the side.  I heard Alan say to me, "She's your height!  Throw straight punches!" 

The ring itself continues to be in disrepair.  I heard that it might take a year for maintenance to fix it, which I can believe.  When the back door of the field house was broken, it took about that amount of time before that was repaired.  As Kenny pointed out, it makes it hard for the fighters who need to learn how to work off of the ropes.  It's also hard to gauge where one is at during sparring because half of the ropes are down on the canvas.  Alan and I are constantly calling out, "Watch out!" when someone gets too close to the edge.  In my opinion, what's needed is a ring that doesn't have its canvas bolted down on the floor.  The last time I was in JABB Gym, I remember they had a small ring that was only a couple of feet from the floor.  It didn't take up a lot of room; such a ring could probably fit into Loyola Gym.

The temperature in the gym was very hot, and no wonder -- it was about 100 degrees yesterday.  I was banging on the teardrop bag when I noticed my bag gloves were slick with sweat.  Jilberto told Colonel and I that most of the other field houses didn't open that day due to the heat.

I got some more good tips from Kenny on how to throw uppercuts.  I had reverted to my old habit of bringing my arms all the way before throwing them, which is a good way for an opponent to step in on me with hard hooks.  The last time I sparred with Taheerah, I tried to sneak a couple of uppercuts in, but I wasn't close enough, and she danced away very fast before I could execute them properly.  That's the one punch that I never feel I do correctly, and the one I feel I need to practice the most. 

Lots of sparring, despite the heat -- Kenny, Jimmy, Jacob, Matt, Nathaniel and Nate -- all took turns on the canvas. 

After the gym, Alan, his son Matt, and myself went to Giordano's.  Matt had chicken, while Alan and I split a pizza (the leftovers of which I will have for dinner tonight).  Alan had me cracking up with a some "Curb Your Enthusiasm" moments he had.  One involved him asking a woman if she was pregnant.  She wasn't.  "You never assume that a woman is pregnant unless she tells you," I laughed.  I think of all the times people have seen my gut -- which I have been trying to whittle down for the longest -- and assumed that I had an ankle-biter on the way.  It's one of the quickest ways to tick off most women.

We had a good time.   I could tell that Alan worries a lot about Matt, and like most young folks, Matt thinks his dad's fears are unfounded.  However, father and son appear to have a comfortable way of talking and relating to each other.