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By Jake Donovan - “Wait ‘til next year.”
Any self-respecting Brooklynite will proudly (or embarrassingly) recognize that phrase. It was the anthem for the old Ebbets Field faithful, back when there was still an Ebbets Field and the Dodgers resided in Brooklyn, and seemed to play well enough to just fall short to the rival Bronx Bombers each and every year. Not to mention their other city rivals, the New York Giants, including the infamous “shot heard ‘round the world”, when Bobby Thomson’s game-winning walk-off home-run to win a three-game playoff for the 1951 NL pennant after having trailed by as many as 13 ½ games midway through the summer.
For the Brooklyn Dodgers, “next year” was 1955, the only time they managed to upend their archrivals, the New York Yankees and win the World Series, after having fallen short against the Bronx Bombers in its past five attempts. They would lose the World Series the following year (the one where Don Larsen would toss the only perfect game in W.S. history) and then pack up and head west following the 1957 season, picking up five more World Series championships between then and now (including another against the Yanks in the strike-shortened 1981 season).
For outspoken Brooklynite Paulie “Magic Man” Malignaggi, it’s been a career of “wait ‘til next year” moments. Even in coming off of a career-best 2007 campaign, one which has been, perhaps prematurely, hailed as Comeback of the Year by Ring magazine (more on that later), momentum has never been a big part of Malignaggi’s Magic act.
He’s hoping 2008 is the year in which everything changes for the better. The year begins with grudge match with Herman Ngoudjo this weekend in Atlantic City on SHOWTIME (Saturday, 9PM ET/PT). While a notable showcase bout, Malignaggi is looking to make a big splash and treat the fight as a springboard for bigger and better things to come, sooner rather than later. [details]
Any self-respecting Brooklynite will proudly (or embarrassingly) recognize that phrase. It was the anthem for the old Ebbets Field faithful, back when there was still an Ebbets Field and the Dodgers resided in Brooklyn, and seemed to play well enough to just fall short to the rival Bronx Bombers each and every year. Not to mention their other city rivals, the New York Giants, including the infamous “shot heard ‘round the world”, when Bobby Thomson’s game-winning walk-off home-run to win a three-game playoff for the 1951 NL pennant after having trailed by as many as 13 ½ games midway through the summer.
For the Brooklyn Dodgers, “next year” was 1955, the only time they managed to upend their archrivals, the New York Yankees and win the World Series, after having fallen short against the Bronx Bombers in its past five attempts. They would lose the World Series the following year (the one where Don Larsen would toss the only perfect game in W.S. history) and then pack up and head west following the 1957 season, picking up five more World Series championships between then and now (including another against the Yanks in the strike-shortened 1981 season).
For outspoken Brooklynite Paulie “Magic Man” Malignaggi, it’s been a career of “wait ‘til next year” moments. Even in coming off of a career-best 2007 campaign, one which has been, perhaps prematurely, hailed as Comeback of the Year by Ring magazine (more on that later), momentum has never been a big part of Malignaggi’s Magic act.
He’s hoping 2008 is the year in which everything changes for the better. The year begins with grudge match with Herman Ngoudjo this weekend in Atlantic City on SHOWTIME (Saturday, 9PM ET/PT). While a notable showcase bout, Malignaggi is looking to make a big splash and treat the fight as a springboard for bigger and better things to come, sooner rather than later. [details]
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