JOE | 2006-06-21
My comments are ***
It's not exactly the same thing because I've lost all heart for discussing things military but my old pal Rocky Marciano
*** Did you actually KNOW Rocky Marciano?
*** I find that much more impressive than my contacts iwth politicians I happened ot be working with.
was interviewed in his dressing room one day and the reporter asked him, "Rock, are you ever scared when you go into the ring?" I was a Marciano fan right from the beginning. At the time of this interview Rocky was near the end of his career. If you know the Rock you know his record. Nevertheless, the Rock said as he glanced up from the comic book he was perusing, "I'm scared every time I go into the ring." That's from The Rock. I was an amateur boxer at the time.
*** Lord, what made you do that?
*** I cannot imagine going into a boxing ring.
*** The one thing that scared me to death was the possibility of going up against hard steel and hand-to-hand stuff.
I knew what he meant. It's the same thing. If you know you could be killed or seriously damaged and you have a little bit of sense in your head you're gonna be scared in a certain kind of way. You'd rather go home after the fight that night than end up in a box in a few days. Know what I mean?
*** I know what you mean, sort of. The idea of going home ina box never bothered me at all. But the idea of ending up like the "Superman" actor Reeves was my nightmare.
*** Boxing involves a lot more of the kind of threat that scares me than getting shot at does. You ALWAYS have SOME brain damage if you are on a serious amateur level.
Comment by joe rorke