"There's Been A Lot of Injuries Lately. . ."

Unfortunately, news came recently about the death of Francisco Rodriguez, a professional boxer who had been a six-time Golden Gloves champion.  He suffered a brain injury in Philadelphia during a match.  It sounded eerily similar to Rita Figueroa's brain injury a few weeks ago.  She survived after emergency surgery, and is up and about, which is a blessing.  Jamil commented, "There's been a lot of injuries in boxing lately."

Alan was surprised to hear about Rita's injury.  He then told a few stories about other boxers that had suffered injuries in the ring.  Johnny looked perturbed.  "It's a good thing we have headgear," he said.  "You can still get knocked out, even if you're wearing it," I said, thinking of when I took a TKO this past summer.  "The headgear just protects from cuts and headbutts.  When I was fighting years ago, we didn't wear any.  I had a fight stopped on me because of a cut I got from a headbutt," Alan said. 

Carlos came in without Justin, whom he said was hanging out at home.  Carlos hadn't been in for a couple of weeks because he had the flu.  He still wasn't feeling 100 percent Monday night.  He sparred with Jamil, Johnny and I.  For a guy who was under the weather, he was hitting hard.  I quickly made up my mind to protect my face, because many of Carlos' punches were landing there.  His nose had been bloodied up by Jamil and Johnny; I think I got a hit in once on his nose as well.  After about six rounds, he announced, "I'm feeling better now."

I was a little late in coming to the gym, so I missed seeing Rashawn and his friends.  I thought I heard them playing down the hall, but I didn't come out of the gym to check.  I wanted to get a picture of them to post.

After church service on Sunday, LaChelle told me she watched a replay of the Pacquiao-Cotto fight.  She commented on how bloodied up Cotto was at the end of the fight.  "I never see you with bruises and cuts.  How do you avoid getting them?" she asked me.  I've had my lip cut open twice during sparring, but amazingly, no other major gashes or bruises.  I was accident-prone as a kid; I can point to 95% percent of the scars I have on my skin and tell you when and where they occurred.  Maybe I've just been lucky that I haven't been seriously banged up -- so far.

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.

Stay pretty boxing headgear at BoxingDepot.com

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.