By Lyle Fitzsimmons - Here in Southwest Florida, I saw Santa ride by on a Harley the other day.
I know it was him because he had a red hat and a red jacket, and I gather that my 4-year-old son recognized him, too, because he was instantly compelled to react quicker and smile wider while handling items on his check-marked to-do list over the subsequent couple of hours.
Of course, as happy as I was for the impact it made on my perpetually industrious little man, I was a tad disappointed I didn't flag the old guy down for a couple seconds to give him my own laundry list of requests for this year's imminent holiday season.
Alongside the requisite Lyle wishes for world peace, financial stability and a championship for one of my long-suffering sports teams – though at this point I’d settle for just having a hockey season – I’d have also tossed out a few top-of-head requests that pertain to boxing.
Take a look… and let me know if any of mine match any of yours.
Another year with the legends. When Joe Frazier died last November and Angelo Dundee passed in February, it was a clear reminder that the generation of boxers and luminaries who were on top when I first came to the sport weren’t going to be around forever. It hit home again a couple weeks back when Emanuel Steward – whose first big-stage charge, Thomas Hearns, is my all-time favorite – was the latest to go. In fact, were it not for positive teacher feedback on a composition I wrote on the Hitman as a seventh-grader, I’d likely have not chosen writing as a professional vocation. My request to Mr. Claus now is that my other similarly-aged heroes – Muhammad Ali, for example – be given an extra few decades to make up for the others’ too-soon departures. [Click Here To Read More]
I know it was him because he had a red hat and a red jacket, and I gather that my 4-year-old son recognized him, too, because he was instantly compelled to react quicker and smile wider while handling items on his check-marked to-do list over the subsequent couple of hours.
Of course, as happy as I was for the impact it made on my perpetually industrious little man, I was a tad disappointed I didn't flag the old guy down for a couple seconds to give him my own laundry list of requests for this year's imminent holiday season.
Alongside the requisite Lyle wishes for world peace, financial stability and a championship for one of my long-suffering sports teams – though at this point I’d settle for just having a hockey season – I’d have also tossed out a few top-of-head requests that pertain to boxing.
Take a look… and let me know if any of mine match any of yours.
Another year with the legends. When Joe Frazier died last November and Angelo Dundee passed in February, it was a clear reminder that the generation of boxers and luminaries who were on top when I first came to the sport weren’t going to be around forever. It hit home again a couple weeks back when Emanuel Steward – whose first big-stage charge, Thomas Hearns, is my all-time favorite – was the latest to go. In fact, were it not for positive teacher feedback on a composition I wrote on the Hitman as a seventh-grader, I’d likely have not chosen writing as a professional vocation. My request to Mr. Claus now is that my other similarly-aged heroes – Muhammad Ali, for example – be given an extra few decades to make up for the others’ too-soon departures. [Click Here To Read More]
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