First Up, Mort

Mort was choosen to fight in the first match on the first night of the Golden Gloves in the 178 pound Novice category. While Mort watched his opponent carefully for openings, his opponent was often unsure and came in swinging wildly. I knew in the middle of the second round that Mort was going to win that preliminary match, and he did.

Mike was supposed to fight that evening, but his fight was put off until tonight. That didn't go over well with Margaret, the choir director at church. I called her this morning and she said, "Don't say you're not going to be at choir rehearsal tonight!" We go through this every year; it's like a running joke. "Be careful", she told me before we ended the call. She's always concerned about me talking about trying to get fights.

Felt a little depressed when a professional female fighter, Rita Figueroa, was introduced in-between one of the matches as one of the many special guests who were in the audience last night. The announcer made a mistake and said she was a two-time Golden Gloves champion. She corrected him and told him she had actually won the championship four times. Four times? "I can't even get in the tournament one time," I grumbled to myself.

Many of the fights last night ended quickly in the first round, due to fighters becoming too overwhelmed to offer much of a defense. There were a lot of guys having eight counts called on them.

We (Steve, Ben, Erin, JJ, Mike, Mort) had our stuff near some guys who were making a lot of funny comments on the fights. One boxer had the misfortune of being named Eric Estrada. "Eric Estrada? Where's his motorcycle? Hey, Ponch!" said the guys, making references to the old TV show "Chips". Steve and I were cracking up. Steve told the guys, "You know he's probably heard those jokes all of his life."

Another guy named Mike, who used to train in the gym, came by and wished everyone well. "Do you remember me?" he said, when I saw him. He was a nice guy -- I used to help him out a lot when he used to come in. He's a student at Loyola University, and studies kept him out of training for awhile.

This year's tournament marked the first time I had to watch what I ate there in light of my recent health problems. That was a pain. There's not much there that's healthy to eat, and I didn't have time to stop to get something before I got to St. Andrews. I broke down and had two hot dogs, but bypassed the cake and pop. I had half a mind to get some nachos, but fortunately, we all left before I could make another trip to the concession stand. Deciding that I had done enough damage to my eating habits that evening, I did not eat again when I got home.

Title Boxing was there, and I picked up a T-shirt with a silhouette of a boxer on it. I had been eyeing that in their catalog for some time. Maybe I'll pick up an instructional DVD tonight, depending on how much money I have on hand. I was wondering if Ringside had ever had a table at the Golden Gloves, but in the past four years I've been going there, I don't think they have.