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By Lyle Fitzsimmons - The grave marker says he died long before the opening bell.
But I for one happen to know that Johnny Sample was alive and well Saturday night.
Because he was pouring through my computer on press row at the Bell Centre.
Oh sure, the former Super Bowl winner’s decomposed carcass was being channeled more vibrantly by my good friend Tom Thompson via instant message, but as Bernard Hopkins was dominating late round after late round against Jean Pascal in the evening’s late going, it was Sample’s voice I was hearing from my keyboard.
“C’mon now, you’re forgetting who he’s in there with. That’s B-Hop,” my cyber visitor repeatedly insisted. “He’s not normal like the rest of us. He’s a living legend.”
The voice got louder as the night went on.
And after a while, it was 2001 all over again.
I first met Mr. Sample 10 years ago, when, with a haze of dust and smoke still hanging over Lower Manhattan, former newspaper colleague Todd Thorpe and I headed to Madison Square Garden to see Hopkins meet Felix Trinidad for the WBC, WBA and IBF middleweight title belts. [Click Here To Read More]
But I for one happen to know that Johnny Sample was alive and well Saturday night.
Because he was pouring through my computer on press row at the Bell Centre.
Oh sure, the former Super Bowl winner’s decomposed carcass was being channeled more vibrantly by my good friend Tom Thompson via instant message, but as Bernard Hopkins was dominating late round after late round against Jean Pascal in the evening’s late going, it was Sample’s voice I was hearing from my keyboard.
“C’mon now, you’re forgetting who he’s in there with. That’s B-Hop,” my cyber visitor repeatedly insisted. “He’s not normal like the rest of us. He’s a living legend.”
The voice got louder as the night went on.
And after a while, it was 2001 all over again.
I first met Mr. Sample 10 years ago, when, with a haze of dust and smoke still hanging over Lower Manhattan, former newspaper colleague Todd Thorpe and I headed to Madison Square Garden to see Hopkins meet Felix Trinidad for the WBC, WBA and IBF middleweight title belts. [Click Here To Read More]