@stevek said:
Whatever happened to your boy Colin Kaepernick? He's only 37 years old.
Rodgers is 41 years old and must still have something left. The Steelers just paid him.
Nobody is paying Kaepernick to play football.
Not that I could care less about either one of them. LOL
Colin Kaepernick is no fun, Aaron Rodgers is the definition of entertainment. Hey, speaking of Aaron Rodgers, it's time for an Aaron Rodgers joke!
Yes, but that joke could have also been applied to Kaepernick over five years ago.
At least Rodgers shows up for a scheduled workout. Kaepernick gets a multi-team workout scheduled at his request, repeat at his request, and then doesn't show up. 😆
I know you think my Aaron Rodgers jokes are political related, you think that I'm out to get Aaron Rodgers because of his political views. I'm not, I've been having fun with Rodgers jokes for years on this forum. For what it's worth, I don't really care for Kaepernick, I don't like some comments he made about his own parents a while back. Everything isn't political with me Steve, I don't even want to talk about politics anymore, politics are a chitshow, politicians are phony, all of them, they'll say whatever they think people want to hear to get elected and keep their power. I've let go of politics and moved on.
I actually enjoy talking politics, always have. Just not here because ya wind up in CU jail or banished to a far away land somewhere in cyber space. LOL
Actually it's a good business model that CU has. I mean political chat forums and such are a dime a dozen out there. Countless numbers of them. Whereby a coin and card collecting, high quality forum such as this is very difficult to find. Best not to pollute it with political rants, etc.
Of course Sports Talk, including rants, is allowed because for most card collectors, it's an integral part of the fun of card collecting. 😊
Yes, Grady Seasons is a character in the Color of Money, always liked that name, always been fascinated by pool hustlers. As far as politics is concerned, I tried my hand at it, but I find that I'm a lot more happy and at peace when I don't get involved in that stuff, to each their own I guess, but it is definitely a good business model for CU to keep it away from here.
@stevek said:
Whatever happened to your boy Colin Kaepernick? He's only 37 years old.
Rodgers is 41 years old and must still have something left. The Steelers just paid him.
Nobody is paying Kaepernick to play football.
Not that I could care less about either one of them. LOL
Colin Kaepernick is no fun, Aaron Rodgers is the definition of entertainment. Hey, speaking of Aaron Rodgers, it's time for an Aaron Rodgers joke!
Yes, but that joke could have also been applied to Kaepernick over five years ago.
At least Rodgers shows up for a scheduled workout. Kaepernick gets a multi-team workout scheduled at his request, repeat at his request, and then doesn't show up. 😆
I know you think my Aaron Rodgers jokes are political related, you think that I'm out to get Aaron Rodgers because of his political views. I'm not, I've been having fun with Rodgers jokes for years on this forum. For what it's worth, I don't really care for Kaepernick, I don't like some comments he made about his own parents a while back. Everything isn't political with me Steve, I don't even want to talk about politics anymore, politics are a chitshow, politicians are phony, all of them, they'll say whatever they think people want to hear to get elected and keep their power. I've let go of politics and moved on.
I actually enjoy talking politics, always have. Just not here because ya wind up in CU jail or banished to a far away land somewhere in cyber space. LOL
Actually it's a good business model that CU has. I mean political chat forums and such are a dime a dozen out there. Countless numbers of them. Whereby a coin and card collecting, high quality forum such as this is very difficult to find. Best not to pollute it with political rants, etc.
Of course Sports Talk, including rants, is allowed because for most card collectors, it's an integral part of the fun of card collecting. 😊
Yes, Grady Seasons is a character in the Color of Money, always liked that name, always been fascinated by pool hustlers. As far as politics is concerned, I tried my hand at it, but I find that I'm a lot more happy and at peace when I don't get involved in that stuff, to each their own I guess, but it is definitely a good business model for CU to keep it away from here.
Little known fact - Paul Newman couldn't shoot pool to save his life when he starred in The Hustler. Jackie Gleason performed most of Newman's shots.
I did some of that chit while working my way thru college. My Dad owned two pool rooms, classy joints, and we had a Brunswick 5 x 9 slate table in the family finished basement. I was very popular with friends always wanting to come over to shoot pool. LOL
Any good pool shooter, can actually tell how good a player is in seconds just by watching how an opponent strokes the pool stick. Hustling truly is an art form. Myself I only was hustled once, for $5. I was visiting a friend outside Harrisburg, PA and this friend from Penn State warned me about playing this particular guy. Well i couldn't resist, I challenged him to a game, and I knew I was in trouble watching him shoot his first shot. He was better than me, and after losing the 5 spot, I wasn't about to give him more. I hated losing the money, but it was fascinating to watch how good this guy was. He actually could have annihilated me but I could tell he intentionally kept the game close, in order to eek out a win, but entice me to do it again. Well he underestimated how good I was and it was late in a game of 50, and I had a chance to win. I could tell by his facial expression that he realized he made a mistake. A good hustler should never give a mark a chance to win. I could have won but on a made shot, I didn't get good enough position, and I missed the next shot. But left him an "unmakable" shot. Well I could tell he was losing his patience with me, and lo and behold he made one of the best shots I had ever seen. Then finished out the game.
@stevek said:
Whatever happened to your boy Colin Kaepernick? He's only 37 years old.
Rodgers is 41 years old and must still have something left. The Steelers just paid him.
Nobody is paying Kaepernick to play football.
Not that I could care less about either one of them. LOL
Colin Kaepernick is no fun, Aaron Rodgers is the definition of entertainment. Hey, speaking of Aaron Rodgers, it's time for an Aaron Rodgers joke!
Yes, but that joke could have also been applied to Kaepernick over five years ago.
At least Rodgers shows up for a scheduled workout. Kaepernick gets a multi-team workout scheduled at his request, repeat at his request, and then doesn't show up. 😆
I know you think my Aaron Rodgers jokes are political related, you think that I'm out to get Aaron Rodgers because of his political views. I'm not, I've been having fun with Rodgers jokes for years on this forum. For what it's worth, I don't really care for Kaepernick, I don't like some comments he made about his own parents a while back. Everything isn't political with me Steve, I don't even want to talk about politics anymore, politics are a chitshow, politicians are phony, all of them, they'll say whatever they think people want to hear to get elected and keep their power. I've let go of politics and moved on.
I actually enjoy talking politics, always have. Just not here because ya wind up in CU jail or banished to a far away land somewhere in cyber space. LOL
Actually it's a good business model that CU has. I mean political chat forums and such are a dime a dozen out there. Countless numbers of them. Whereby a coin and card collecting, high quality forum such as this is very difficult to find. Best not to pollute it with political rants, etc.
Of course Sports Talk, including rants, is allowed because for most card collectors, it's an integral part of the fun of card collecting. 😊
Yes, Grady Seasons is a character in the Color of Money, always liked that name, always been fascinated by pool hustlers. As far as politics is concerned, I tried my hand at it, but I find that I'm a lot more happy and at peace when I don't get involved in that stuff, to each their own I guess, but it is definitely a good business model for CU to keep it away from here.
Little known fact - Paul Newman couldn't shoot pool to save his life when he starred in The Hustler. Jackie Gleason performed most of Newman's shots.
I did some of that chit while working my way thru college. My Dad owned two pool rooms, classy joints, and we had a Brunswick 5 x 9 slate table in the family finished basement. I was very popular with friends always wanting to come over to shoot pool. LOL
Any good pool shooter, can actually tell how good a player is in seconds just by watching how an opponent strokes the pool stick. Hustling truly is an art form. Myself I only was hustled once, for $5. I was visiting a friend outside Harrisburg, PA and this friend from Penn State warned me about playing this particular guy. Well i couldn't resist, I challenged him to a game, and I knew I was in trouble watching him shoot his first shot. He was better than me, and after losing the 5 spot, I wasn't about to give him more. I hated losing the money, but it was fascinating to watch how good this guy was. He actually could have annihilated me but I could tell he intentionally kept the game close, in order to eek out a win, but entice me to do it again. Well he underestimated how good I was and it was late in a game of 50, and I had a chance to win. I could tell by his facial expression that he realized he made a mistake. A good hustler should never give a mark a chance to win. I could have won but on a made shot, I didn't get good enough position, and I missed the next shot. But left him an "unmakable" shot. Well I could tell he was losing his patience with me, and lo and behold he made one of the best shots I had ever seen. Then finished out the game.
Very interesting, I know that Willie Mosconi worked with Paul Newman, and even made an appearance in the Hustler, Mosconi is one of the greatest pool players of all-time. I also heard that Jackie Gleason was quite the pool player himself and made his own shots in the film, Gleason was spectacular as Minnesota Fats. This is Willie Mosconi working with Newman on the set, teaching him some pointers. Great film, and The Color of Money was a great sequel.
My uncle also had a pool hall. Probably the nicest one in Philly at the time. Mosconi used to frequent his pool hall from time to time. He got me this Mosconi sig.
@stevek said:
My uncle also had a pool hall. Probably the nicest one in Philly at the time. Mosconi used to frequent his pool hall from time to time. He got me this Mosconi sig.
I think I remember you telling me that story one time, Mosconi is a legend, that is awesome! 👍
That Tom Gola sig is a nice one as well. He had a great NCAA college basketball career, and also a pretty good NBA career.
I forget the details, but he got into politics at some point, and everybody thought that one day he would become governor of Pennsylvania, perhaps even go higher than that. But it was not to be.
@stevek said:
That Tom Gola sig is a nice one as well. He had a great NCAA college basketball career, and also a pretty good NBA career.
I forget the details, but he got into politics at some point, and everybody thought that one day he would become governor of Pennsylvania, perhaps even go higher than that. But it was not to be.
Didn't even notice the Tom Gola signature, I was too busy drooling over the Mosconi!
Going back to Saint Ezzard, just can't get boxing out of my system, I live for it. Speaking of boxing, here's a good one, Greg Page vs James "Quick" Tillis. If you're not familiar with Greg Page, he was a ridiculously talented heavyweight in the late 70s into the 80s, was touted as being the next Ali early in his career, Ali except with power, but he just couldn't stay motivated and focused, he really didn't want to be a boxer, he wanted to play basketball but his father swayed him to box. If you watch his fight with Marty Monroe, you can see why people thought Page was the next Ali, like poetry in motion. But this is one of my favorite Greg Page fights, it really shows how great Page could be when he got his teeth into a fight. This is boxing at it's best, both fighters going for it all.
Have you heard of Manhattanhenge? Twice a year, around May 28, 29 or 30, and again around July 11, 12 or 13, people in New York City look for Manhattanhenge. It’s a phenomenon where the sunset aligns perfectly on east-west oriented streets and avenues of Manhattan. It's a beautiful phenomenon, it's also quite humbling, to be reminded of how big the sun really is and that we are truly at it's mercy.
Jesse Owens was a bonafide bad a$$. He walked right into Nazi Germany at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, right into the lions den, right in front of Hitler, and took over those games, winning Four Gold medals, basically spitting in Hitler's face and dispelling the idea of Aryan supremacy. This is one of the most iconic photos ever taken.
@Saint Ezzard said:
Jesse Owens was a bonafide bad a$$. He walked right into Nazi Germany at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, right into the lions den, right in front of Hitler, and took over those games, winning Four Gold medals, basically spitting in Hitler's face and dispelling the idea of Aryan supremacy. This is one of the most iconic photos ever taken.
It would be nice to believe all that. However the fact is that Germany dominated the 1936 Olympic games.
@Saint Ezzard said:
Jesse Owens was a bonafide bad a$$. He walked right into Nazi Germany at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, right into the lions den, right in front of Hitler, and took over those games, winning Four Gold medals, basically spitting in Hitler's face and dispelling the idea of Aryan supremacy. This is one of the most iconic photos ever taken.
It would be nice to believe all that. However the fact is that Germany dominated the 1936 Olympic games.
The fact is, an African American man showed up in Nazi Germany, right in the heart of Hitler's Aryan BS ideology, and won Four Gold medals, that's all people remember about those Olympics, Owens stole the show. Nobody cares about how many medals Germany won, when you mention the Berlin Olympics, the first thing that comes to mind is Jesse Owens.
Well you can ignore the facts if you wish, and nobody is saying that Jesse Owens wasn't great because of course he was.
But the fact is that the 1936 Olympics were wildly successful for Hitler. So successful that in fact a few years later he was emboldened enough to conquer Europe because of that, and of course for other reasons as well.
Sorry but I don't like revisionist history. Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it, and I for one do not intend to forget what actually happened during this period of time. Or any period of time for that matter. Never forget!
@stevek said:
Well you can ignore the facts if you wish, and nobody is saying that Jesse Owens wasn't great because of course he was.
But the fact is that the 1936 Olympics were wildly successful for Hitler. So successful that in fact a few years later he was emboldened enough to conquer Europe because of that, and of course for other reasons as well.
Sorry but I don't like revisionist history. Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it, and I for one do not intend to forget what actually happened during this period of time. Or any period of time for that matter. Never forget!
That's my final word on the subject.
First of all, no one is going to forget the Nazis and the Holocaust and what caused it all to happen, and no one is trying to rewrite history. Second of all, this photo, this image means something to me, it means something to a lot of people. There were Holocaust survivors that were at those Olympic games and witnessed Jesse Owens win Four Gold medals and stated that they looked up to him and admired him, was a hero to them. If you look at this photo and don't see anything special about it, you're not human, and that's my final say on the subject.
The great Gene Tunney, "The Fighting Marine", a career record of 65-1, 80-1 if you count newspaper decisions. It was legit creepy how this guy's mind worked once he set his sights on you, a methodical, calculating, obsessive, relentless pursuit. Studying films of his opponents, analyzing their techniques, seeking insights from those who had previously fought them, bringing in his opponents old sparring partners and picking their brains, borderline stalking. It's one of the reasons he was so great.
"I did six years of planning to win the title from Dempsey." - Gene Tunney
It's called the sweet science for a reason, there's a science to boxing, you have to be able to outhink your opponent in the ring by using strategy, technique, It's not just about brute force, it involves intricate strategies, skillful techniques, and a deep understanding of physics and human physiology. The term "sweet science" highlights the mental and physical complexity of boxing, encompassing everything from footwork and timing to psychology and conditioning. Gene Tunney was one of the first real technical scientific boxers, a real thinking-man's fighter, one of the truly brilliant boxing minds in the history of the sport. He always came to the ring over-prepared for his opponents, always in great shape, knew the strengths and weaknesses of his opponents because he studied them relentlessly beforehand. He was the type of fighter that would make any opponent ask serious questions of themselves and Tunney always had a plan B if something didn't go right during a fight, just a brilliant boxing mind, the man was a Shakespeare buff for Christ's sake so that should tell you something right there about how his mind worked. He showcased very little of the wild, free swinging nonsense that a lot of guys back then indulged in, very calculating and accurate with his shots and knew right where he wanted to place them, very good control of range and command of the ring, knew when to throw power shots and when to tie up, kept a constant cool head throughout a fight. You just didn't see this kind of technical brilliance back then, Tunney was way ahead of his time. Only one man defeated him in his career, and that man is Harry Greb, a legit pound for pound GOAT candidate, only loss of his career and Tunney learned from that loss and avenged it three times.
Gene Tunney is criminally underrated these days, he doesn't get the recognition he deserves as one of the greatest to ever do it, in part because he fought during the time of Jack Dempsey, and Dempsey's popularity was in the stratosphere, Dempsey was as famous and popular as Babe Ruth in his day, a lot of people don't like the fact that Tunney is the one who brought Dempsey down, ended Dempsey's 7-year title reign. There's also the fact that Tunney was into Shakespeare and stuff like that, the public really couldn't relate to him like they could Dempsey, who came up the hard way. On top of that, Tunney had a frosty relationship with the media, as opposed to Dempsey who was known as being very approachable and engaging with the public. You have to give Tunney his credit, the man only lost one fight in his entire career, to Harry Greb, who many people consider to be the pound for pound GOAT and Tunney avenged that loss three times. Many people consider Greb to be the pound for pound GOAT and he certainly has a strong argument for it, his resume is ridiculously stacked. Personally, I think Sugar Ray Robinson is the GOAT, I have Greb at number 2, but I don't have any beef with anyone who thinks Greb deserves the top spot, he was a monster. On top of that, Tunney beat Tommy Gibbons, one of the greatest light heavies ever, and Tunney beat Dempsey, who was a head-to-head monster himself, not once but twice. True boxing fans know how great Gene Tunney was, and he was the definition of the term "sweet science." This is one of my favorite images of Gene Tunney, sitting by a stream in 1920, thinking, pondering. It really defines what his boxing career was about, always using his mind, planning, strategizing. When you got in the ring with Gene Tunney, you were playing chess, not checkers. Famous boxing trainer Ray Arcel put it best when he said, "Boxing is brains over brawn, I don't care how much ability you've got as a fighter. If you can't think, you're just a bum in the park."
June 20, 1965. A frustrated Mickey Mantle tosses his helmet after making an out in the first game of a doubleheader against the Twins in front of a packed "Bat Day" crowd at Yankee Stadium. This is such a iconic photo, look at Mantle's forearms, they were huge, Popeye the sailor man arms. The John Dominis photo remains not just one of the best photos of Mickey Mantle, but one of the most powerful photographs ever taken of a sports hero, Mantle was in decline at this point in his career. Shot during a game at Yankee Stadium during the team’s abysmal 1965 season, the Yankees finished below .500 for the first time in 40 years, Dominis’s picture of Mantle tossing his helmet in disgust after a lousy at-bat distills in a single frame the wounded pride of the legendary but fading athlete. The photo was first published in the July 30, 1965, issue of LIFE magazine.
Check this out, this is so cool, a NASA astronaut on ISS caught this Red jellyfish sprite over Mexico and the US this morning. A Red Jellyfish Sprite is a rare type of electrical discharge, a "transient luminous event" or TLE, that occurs high above thunderstorms, resembling a jellyfish with reddish or Orange tentacles. These sprites are much larger and weaker than normal lightning and are associated with powerful positive cloud-to-ground lightning strikes. They are not a form of lightning themselves, but rather a cold plasma phenomenon, more akin to fluorescent tube discharges than lightning. They are really otherworldly looking.
Eugene "Cyclone" Hart, middleweight from 1969-82, one of the hardest punching middleweights in history, his left hook was absolutely brutal, it lifted Vito Antuofermo off his feet. He also fought Marvin Hagler and stunned him with a shot, Hagler said it was the hardest he'd ever been hit, but that was in an interview conducted with Hagler before he fought Tommy Hearns and John Mugabi. There were many factors contributing to the shocking power behind Hart's left hook, the fact that he was in a wheel chair when he was younger due to polio, which helped develop his upperbody as well as the fact that he was naturally left handed being a few. He took up boxing to help build up his legs, and his polio also caused him to drag one of his legs a bit, which while hurting his mobility, stood as a kind of stake for him to plant into the canvas and use to help drive in that left hand full throttle.
I want to talk about Rocky Marciano for a minute, you watch this guy in the ring and it's easy to see why he was never beaten. I just got done watching Rocky Marciano's fight with Archie Moore and you can't help but feel bad for Moore, bad for any Marciano opponent, to have to deal with somebody like that coming at you. Rocky was probably the most relentless and determined fighter I've ever seen, he just would not be denied, and it's ridiculous the pressure he applied on his opponents, you couldn't escape the guy, no matter how much you moved around the ring, he was right there on you. You couple that with the fact that he was tough as nails, had a chin made of pure granite, you couldn't keep him down with a baseball bat, had endless stamina, and he threw every punch like he was trying to murder you, and you can see why he was never beaten. And he hit you everywhere, head, body, arms, and every punch was a grenade. Unbelievable fighter, what a monster. This is his first fight with Ezzard Charles, and the relentlessness with which he goes after Ezzard at the end is just frightening, he goes scorched Earth on Ezzard, tries his hardest to take him out, and hits Ezzard with some absolute bombs. You have to take your hat off to Ezzard Charles in this fight, Ezzard just wouldn't go at the end, the heart of a warrior. My God, what a fight.
The problem with fighting Rocky Marciano is, you just couldn't do anything with him, you couldn't box him from the outside and use movement, he would just walk through everything you threw at him and eventually work his way in and find you, and you sure as hell couldn't stand down in the trenches and exchange with him, he was made of Iron and hit like freight train, a shootout with Marciano isn't going to end well, how the hell do you solve a riddle like that? Nobody ever did.
This is one of my favorite photos of Rocky Marciano, a great up-close profile shot of him. He looks so unassuming, you would never know he was capable of such brutality.
"The Hook" by Blues Traveler, John Popper is such a musical genius. This song is basically saying that as long as any song has a good "hook", it doesn't matter what the rest of the lyrics to the song are about. People will keep coming back to the song regardless of the fact that the song is not saying anything of substance. Which is true of this song, it's purposely not saying anything of substance to prove that it doesn't matter because the "hook" to the song is so enjoyable. Absolutely genius.
Comments
Yes, Grady Seasons is a character in the Color of Money, always liked that name, always been fascinated by pool hustlers. As far as politics is concerned, I tried my hand at it, but I find that I'm a lot more happy and at peace when I don't get involved in that stuff, to each their own I guess, but it is definitely a good business model for CU to keep it away from here.
Little known fact - Paul Newman couldn't shoot pool to save his life when he starred in The Hustler. Jackie Gleason performed most of Newman's shots.
I did some of that chit while working my way thru college. My Dad owned two pool rooms, classy joints, and we had a Brunswick 5 x 9 slate table in the family finished basement. I was very popular with friends always wanting to come over to shoot pool. LOL
Any good pool shooter, can actually tell how good a player is in seconds just by watching how an opponent strokes the pool stick. Hustling truly is an art form. Myself I only was hustled once, for $5. I was visiting a friend outside Harrisburg, PA and this friend from Penn State warned me about playing this particular guy. Well i couldn't resist, I challenged him to a game, and I knew I was in trouble watching him shoot his first shot. He was better than me, and after losing the 5 spot, I wasn't about to give him more. I hated losing the money, but it was fascinating to watch how good this guy was. He actually could have annihilated me but I could tell he intentionally kept the game close, in order to eek out a win, but entice me to do it again. Well he underestimated how good I was and it was late in a game of 50, and I had a chance to win. I could tell by his facial expression that he realized he made a mistake. A good hustler should never give a mark a chance to win. I could have won but on a made shot, I didn't get good enough position, and I missed the next shot. But left him an "unmakable" shot. Well I could tell he was losing his patience with me, and lo and behold he made one of the best shots I had ever seen. Then finished out the game.
Very interesting, I know that Willie Mosconi worked with Paul Newman, and even made an appearance in the Hustler, Mosconi is one of the greatest pool players of all-time. I also heard that Jackie Gleason was quite the pool player himself and made his own shots in the film, Gleason was spectacular as Minnesota Fats. This is Willie Mosconi working with Newman on the set, teaching him some pointers. Great film, and The Color of Money was a great sequel.
My uncle also had a pool hall. Probably the nicest one in Philly at the time. Mosconi used to frequent his pool hall from time to time. He got me this Mosconi sig.
I think I remember you telling me that story one time, Mosconi is a legend, that is awesome! 👍
That Tom Gola sig is a nice one as well. He had a great NCAA college basketball career, and also a pretty good NBA career.
I forget the details, but he got into politics at some point, and everybody thought that one day he would become governor of Pennsylvania, perhaps even go higher than that. But it was not to be.
Didn't even notice the Tom Gola signature, I was too busy drooling over the Mosconi!
Going back to Saint Ezzard, just can't get boxing out of my system, I live for it. Speaking of boxing, here's a good one, Greg Page vs James "Quick" Tillis. If you're not familiar with Greg Page, he was a ridiculously talented heavyweight in the late 70s into the 80s, was touted as being the next Ali early in his career, Ali except with power, but he just couldn't stay motivated and focused, he really didn't want to be a boxer, he wanted to play basketball but his father swayed him to box. If you watch his fight with Marty Monroe, you can see why people thought Page was the next Ali, like poetry in motion. But this is one of my favorite Greg Page fights, it really shows how great Page could be when he got his teeth into a fight. This is boxing at it's best, both fighters going for it all.
Where do rich pigs live?
In a sty-scraper.
One more. Why don't people like playing basketball with pigs?
Because they hog the ball.
Incredible photos of an eclipse and a sunset happening at the same time.
That is wild stuff.
Have you heard of Manhattanhenge? Twice a year, around May 28, 29 or 30, and again around July 11, 12 or 13, people in New York City look for Manhattanhenge. It’s a phenomenon where the sunset aligns perfectly on east-west oriented streets and avenues of Manhattan. It's a beautiful phenomenon, it's also quite humbling, to be reminded of how big the sun really is and that we are truly at it's mercy.
Time for a little music break, honest to god, this could be the anthem for my life.
Jesse Owens was a bonafide bad a$$. He walked right into Nazi Germany at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, right into the lions den, right in front of Hitler, and took over those games, winning Four Gold medals, basically spitting in Hitler's face and dispelling the idea of Aryan supremacy. This is one of the most iconic photos ever taken.
It would be nice to believe all that. However the fact is that Germany dominated the 1936 Olympic games.
Germany: 101 (38 gold, 31 silver, 32 bronze)
U.S.: 57 (24 gold, 21 silver, 12 bronze)
Italy: 27 (9 gold, 13 silver, 5 bronze)
Sweden: 21 (6 gold, 5 silver, 10 bronze)
Finland: 20 (8 gold, 6 silver, 6 bronze)
Japan: 20 (6 gold, 4 silver, 10 bronze)
Germany also did well in the 1936 winter Olympics:
Norway: 15 medals (7 gold, 5 silver, 3 bronze)
Germany: 6 medals (3 gold, 3 silver, 0 bronze)
Sweden: 7 medals (2 gold, 2 silver, 3 bronze)
Finland: 6 medals (1 gold, 2 silver, 3 bronze)
Switzerland: 3 medals (1 gold, 2 silver, 0 bronze)
Austria: 4 medals (1 gold, 1 silver, 2 bronze)
Great Britain: 3 medals (1 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze)
United States: 4 medals (1 gold, 0 silver, 3 bronze)
The fact is, an African American man showed up in Nazi Germany, right in the heart of Hitler's Aryan BS ideology, and won Four Gold medals, that's all people remember about those Olympics, Owens stole the show. Nobody cares about how many medals Germany won, when you mention the Berlin Olympics, the first thing that comes to mind is Jesse Owens.
Well you can ignore the facts if you wish, and nobody is saying that Jesse Owens wasn't great because of course he was.
But the fact is that the 1936 Olympics were wildly successful for Hitler. So successful that in fact a few years later he was emboldened enough to conquer Europe because of that, and of course for other reasons as well.
Sorry but I don't like revisionist history. Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it, and I for one do not intend to forget what actually happened during this period of time. Or any period of time for that matter. Never forget!
That's my final word on the subject.
First of all, no one is going to forget the Nazis and the Holocaust and what caused it all to happen, and no one is trying to rewrite history. Second of all, this photo, this image means something to me, it means something to a lot of people. There were Holocaust survivors that were at those Olympic games and witnessed Jesse Owens win Four Gold medals and stated that they looked up to him and admired him, was a hero to them. If you look at this photo and don't see anything special about it, you're not human, and that's my final say on the subject.
Moving on, this is another great sports photo, Ali underwater.
The great Gene Tunney, "The Fighting Marine", a career record of 65-1, 80-1 if you count newspaper decisions. It was legit creepy how this guy's mind worked once he set his sights on you, a methodical, calculating, obsessive, relentless pursuit. Studying films of his opponents, analyzing their techniques, seeking insights from those who had previously fought them, bringing in his opponents old sparring partners and picking their brains, borderline stalking. It's one of the reasons he was so great.
"I did six years of planning to win the title from Dempsey." - Gene Tunney
It's called the sweet science for a reason, there's a science to boxing, you have to be able to outhink your opponent in the ring by using strategy, technique, It's not just about brute force, it involves intricate strategies, skillful techniques, and a deep understanding of physics and human physiology. The term "sweet science" highlights the mental and physical complexity of boxing, encompassing everything from footwork and timing to psychology and conditioning. Gene Tunney was one of the first real technical scientific boxers, a real thinking-man's fighter, one of the truly brilliant boxing minds in the history of the sport. He always came to the ring over-prepared for his opponents, always in great shape, knew the strengths and weaknesses of his opponents because he studied them relentlessly beforehand. He was the type of fighter that would make any opponent ask serious questions of themselves and Tunney always had a plan B if something didn't go right during a fight, just a brilliant boxing mind, the man was a Shakespeare buff for Christ's sake so that should tell you something right there about how his mind worked. He showcased very little of the wild, free swinging nonsense that a lot of guys back then indulged in, very calculating and accurate with his shots and knew right where he wanted to place them, very good control of range and command of the ring, knew when to throw power shots and when to tie up, kept a constant cool head throughout a fight. You just didn't see this kind of technical brilliance back then, Tunney was way ahead of his time. Only one man defeated him in his career, and that man is Harry Greb, a legit pound for pound GOAT candidate, only loss of his career and Tunney learned from that loss and avenged it three times.
Gene Tunney is criminally underrated these days, he doesn't get the recognition he deserves as one of the greatest to ever do it, in part because he fought during the time of Jack Dempsey, and Dempsey's popularity was in the stratosphere, Dempsey was as famous and popular as Babe Ruth in his day, a lot of people don't like the fact that Tunney is the one who brought Dempsey down, ended Dempsey's 7-year title reign. There's also the fact that Tunney was into Shakespeare and stuff like that, the public really couldn't relate to him like they could Dempsey, who came up the hard way. On top of that, Tunney had a frosty relationship with the media, as opposed to Dempsey who was known as being very approachable and engaging with the public. You have to give Tunney his credit, the man only lost one fight in his entire career, to Harry Greb, who many people consider to be the pound for pound GOAT and Tunney avenged that loss three times. Many people consider Greb to be the pound for pound GOAT and he certainly has a strong argument for it, his resume is ridiculously stacked. Personally, I think Sugar Ray Robinson is the GOAT, I have Greb at number 2, but I don't have any beef with anyone who thinks Greb deserves the top spot, he was a monster. On top of that, Tunney beat Tommy Gibbons, one of the greatest light heavies ever, and Tunney beat Dempsey, who was a head-to-head monster himself, not once but twice. True boxing fans know how great Gene Tunney was, and he was the definition of the term "sweet science." This is one of my favorite images of Gene Tunney, sitting by a stream in 1920, thinking, pondering. It really defines what his boxing career was about, always using his mind, planning, strategizing. When you got in the ring with Gene Tunney, you were playing chess, not checkers. Famous boxing trainer Ray Arcel put it best when he said, "Boxing is brains over brawn, I don't care how much ability you've got as a fighter. If you can't think, you're just a bum in the park."
This is my favorite fight pose photo of Gene Tunney, it's the image that was used on his Salem cigarettes card.
Two great books about Gene Tunney.
It's that time again, time for a corny joke.
Why should you always knock before opening the refrigerator door?
In case there's a salad dressing.
One more.
What does a baseball player do when he starts losing his eyesight?
He becomes an umpire.
Time for a music break, how about some Nas. Hard to believe this was released 28 years ago yesterday, you don't hear hip hop like this anymore.
June 20, 1965. A frustrated Mickey Mantle tosses his helmet after making an out in the first game of a doubleheader against the Twins in front of a packed "Bat Day" crowd at Yankee Stadium. This is such a iconic photo, look at Mantle's forearms, they were huge, Popeye the sailor man arms. The John Dominis photo remains not just one of the best photos of Mickey Mantle, but one of the most powerful photographs ever taken of a sports hero, Mantle was in decline at this point in his career. Shot during a game at Yankee Stadium during the team’s abysmal 1965 season, the Yankees finished below .500 for the first time in 40 years, Dominis’s picture of Mantle tossing his helmet in disgust after a lousy at-bat distills in a single frame the wounded pride of the legendary but fading athlete. The photo was first published in the July 30, 1965, issue of LIFE magazine.
Check this out, this is so cool, a NASA astronaut on ISS caught this Red jellyfish sprite over Mexico and the US this morning. A Red Jellyfish Sprite is a rare type of electrical discharge, a "transient luminous event" or TLE, that occurs high above thunderstorms, resembling a jellyfish with reddish or Orange tentacles. These sprites are much larger and weaker than normal lightning and are associated with powerful positive cloud-to-ground lightning strikes. They are not a form of lightning themselves, but rather a cold plasma phenomenon, more akin to fluorescent tube discharges than lightning. They are really otherworldly looking.
This is what the Red jellyfish sprite looks like from up close.
Quite beautiful.
Red jellyfish sprite at the Perseid Meteor shower peak.
Eugene "Cyclone" Hart, middleweight from 1969-82, one of the hardest punching middleweights in history, his left hook was absolutely brutal, it lifted Vito Antuofermo off his feet. He also fought Marvin Hagler and stunned him with a shot, Hagler said it was the hardest he'd ever been hit, but that was in an interview conducted with Hagler before he fought Tommy Hearns and John Mugabi. There were many factors contributing to the shocking power behind Hart's left hook, the fact that he was in a wheel chair when he was younger due to polio, which helped develop his upperbody as well as the fact that he was naturally left handed being a few. He took up boxing to help build up his legs, and his polio also caused him to drag one of his legs a bit, which while hurting his mobility, stood as a kind of stake for him to plant into the canvas and use to help drive in that left hand full throttle.
Great autobiography written by Eugene Hart himself.
A little music, God I miss the 90s.
One more from the Gin Blossoms, such a great band.
I want to talk about Rocky Marciano for a minute, you watch this guy in the ring and it's easy to see why he was never beaten. I just got done watching Rocky Marciano's fight with Archie Moore and you can't help but feel bad for Moore, bad for any Marciano opponent, to have to deal with somebody like that coming at you. Rocky was probably the most relentless and determined fighter I've ever seen, he just would not be denied, and it's ridiculous the pressure he applied on his opponents, you couldn't escape the guy, no matter how much you moved around the ring, he was right there on you. You couple that with the fact that he was tough as nails, had a chin made of pure granite, you couldn't keep him down with a baseball bat, had endless stamina, and he threw every punch like he was trying to murder you, and you can see why he was never beaten. And he hit you everywhere, head, body, arms, and every punch was a grenade. Unbelievable fighter, what a monster. This is his first fight with Ezzard Charles, and the relentlessness with which he goes after Ezzard at the end is just frightening, he goes scorched Earth on Ezzard, tries his hardest to take him out, and hits Ezzard with some absolute bombs. You have to take your hat off to Ezzard Charles in this fight, Ezzard just wouldn't go at the end, the heart of a warrior. My God, what a fight.
The problem with fighting Rocky Marciano is, you just couldn't do anything with him, you couldn't box him from the outside and use movement, he would just walk through everything you threw at him and eventually work his way in and find you, and you sure as hell couldn't stand down in the trenches and exchange with him, he was made of Iron and hit like freight train, a shootout with Marciano isn't going to end well, how the hell do you solve a riddle like that? Nobody ever did.
The brutality of Rocky Marciano up close and personal.
When Marciano landed his shots, your face resembled a car wreck.
This is one of my favorite photos of Rocky Marciano, a great up-close profile shot of him. He looks so unassuming, you would never know he was capable of such brutality.
Music break. God, the frontman for Blues Traveler, John Popper, was such a musical genius.
"The Hook" by Blues Traveler, John Popper is such a musical genius. This song is basically saying that as long as any song has a good "hook", it doesn't matter what the rest of the lyrics to the song are about. People will keep coming back to the song regardless of the fact that the song is not saying anything of substance. Which is true of this song, it's purposely not saying anything of substance to prove that it doesn't matter because the "hook" to the song is so enjoyable. Absolutely genius.