A Letter To Ali

[SABBATH]

Great pics Sabbath. You're truly a lucky man meeting Ali. And Leonard lol. Cool pic in your sig

Ali and Leonard are small potatoes compared to meeting and talking with this living boxing legend.

[IMG]http://i134.***********.com/albums/q88/SABBATH_05/billlarry.jpg[/IMG]

[The Raging Bull]

Ali and Leonard are small potatoes compared to meeting and talking with this living boxing legend.

[IMG]http://i134.***********.com/albums/q88/SABBATH_05/billlarry.jpg[/IMG]

LMFAO Larry Merchant!

Where do you meet them all?

[SABBATH]

Where do you meet them all?

I got the complexion to get the connection.

[IMG]http://i134.***********.com/albums/q88/SABBATH_05/billgeorge-1.jpg[/IMG]

SABBATH & GEORGE CHUVALO

[Yogi]

Ah, what a travesty...

Here's my buddy, Sabbath, getting to meet & greet some of the greatest * most famous fighters in history, and then here's me...I've met not much beyond Terry Jesmer & Roddy Batson in my lifetime.

Great pictures though, my friend.

[SABBATH]

Ah, what a travesty...

Here's my buddy, Sabbath, getting to meet & greet some of the greatest * most famous fighters in history, and then here's me...I've met not much beyond Terry Jesmer & Roddy Batson in my lifetime.

Great pictures though, my friend.

Don't feel too bad. I can't imagine you had many opportunities growing up in Winnipeg.

Here's a couple more with Carmen Basilio and Marvis Frazier.

It's bad enough looking at these pictures of myself from the 90's that I've decided against posting a picture of the 17 year old Sabbath and Aaron Pryor from 1984. That one is best left unseen!

[IMG]http://i134.***********.com/albums/q88/SABBATH_05/carmen.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i134.***********.com/albums/q88/SABBATH_05/marv.jpg[/IMG]

[Yogi]

Don't feel too bad. I can't imagine you had many opportunities growing up in Winnipeg.

Actually I grew up quite a bit north of Winnipeg, as I was born & raised in Flon Flon, so you can imagine my opportunities were even less so...Did meet a few fighters though, once I did move to Winnipeg in the mid 80's with Donny Lalonde being the most famous of the bunch, or really the only one with a household name beyond the Canadian scene.

But growing up in Flin Flon did allow me to meet a large number of NHL hockey players like Bobby Clarke (of course...up until about '81 or '82, he used to come back home every summer for the fastball tournmanet), Rocket Richard, Wayne Gretzky, Pat Lafontaine, Guy Lafleur (he actually approached me outside the hockey rink up there one time, as he was looking for some conversation, I guess, while he smoked his cancer stick), Steve Shutt, Jari Kurri, Marty McSorley, Mike Modano, Theo Fleury, etc., etc., etc...Grew up and was childhood friends with Ken Baumgartner (I STILL feel bad for what we did to his little brother, Mark), and was later a buddy of sorts with Reid Simpson (partied a bunch at his place on the outskirts of town, including one rather memorable Halloween bash), so I got the chance to meet some NHL players through them two guys...

Oh, and Darwin McPherson (WHL & briefly, IHL tough guy from Flin Flon) once introduced me to Link Gaetz at a party in Flin Flon one time, and about two minutes later Link was guzzling the salt & pepper straight down like the friggin nutcase that he was and still is.

[brownpimp88]

Actually I grew up quite a bit north of Winnipeg, as I was born & raised in Flon Flon, so you can imagine my opportunities were even less so...Did meet a few fighters though, once I did move to Winnipeg in the mid 80's with Donny Lalonde being the most famous of the bunch, or really the only one with a household name beyond the Canadian scene.

But growing up in Flin Flon did allow me to meet a large number of NHL hockey players like Bobby Clarke (of course...up until about '81 or '82, he used to come back home every summer for the fastball tournmanet), Rocket Richard, Wayne Gretzky, Pat Lafontaine, Guy Lafleur (he actually approached me outside the hockey rink up there one time, as he was looking for some conversation, I guess, while he smoked his cancer stick), Steve Shutt, Jari Kurri, Marty McSorley, Mike Modano, Theo Fleury, etc., etc., etc...Grew up and was childhood friends with Ken Baumgartner (I STILL feel bad for what we did to his little brother, Mark), and was later a buddy of sorts with Reid Simpson (partied a bunch at his place on the outskirts of town, including one rather memorable Halloween bash), so I got the chance to meet some NHL players through them two guys...

Oh, and Darwin McPherson (WHL & briefly, IHL tough guy from Flin Flon) once introduced me to Link Gaetz at a party in Flin Flon one time, and about two minutes later Link was guzzling the salt & pepper straight down like the friggin nutcase that he was and still is.

I'm canadian too, from surrey. The drugtown of canada.

[Yogi]

I'm canadian too, from surrey. The drugtown of canada.

Yeah?

That's not too far from where I'm living now actually, as I moved out west about 9 (or so) years ago and am currently living in up the road from you in Kamloops, where top quality pot still runs rampant.

[brownpimp88]

Yeah?

That's not too far from where I'm living now actually, as I moved out west about 9 (or so) years ago and am currently living in up the road from you in Kamloops, where top quality pot still runs rampant.

What can i say, we know how to grow weed and steel cars, lol.

[SABBATH]

Actually I grew up quite a bit north of Winnipeg, as I was born & raised in Flon Flon, so you can imagine my opportunities were even less so....

I didn't realize you grew up in Flin Flon which for any Canadian kid who collected hockey cards was synonymous as the hometown of Bobby Clarke although I gotta admit as a die hard Montreal Candiens fan (loved The Flower and have a huge Rocket Richard picture above my computer as I type this) who was raised just outside Toronto, I never had any use for the diabetic toothless wonder. His breaking of Kharmalov's ankle in the '72 Summit Series, instigating then hiding behind his Broad Street Bully counterparts, not to mention his subsequent treatment of Eric Lindros and Roger Nielson as Flyers GM, well if there was one player I would have relished seeing impaled by a Sherwood it was Clarke. His fall from grace as Flyers GM and his 'relieving of his duties' by Daddy-in-law Ed Snider brought a smile to this guy's face.

Baumgartner is another story. The Bomber was loved here in Toronto and was a true blue collar player. I met him on his way to a Players Union meeting a few years back and he was personable and dressed up real well. I would never have known that the lanky clean cut and polite guy was a hockey enforcer.

As for meeting NHL players that's kind of part and parcel to growing up in this country having met several over the years from Bobby Orr on down not to mention one of my kids spending the day playing at Wayne Gretzky's house.

It kind of lends credence to the whole "Hey my friend Steve is from Canada, you must know him" comments Canadians are used to hearing from their south of the 49th encounters.

Ah well, back to swigging Maple syrup, 5% beer and listening to Shania Twain. I might even watch Wayne & Schuster or The King of Kensington on the Comedy Network.