06.02.06 – By Aaron King: Last time I sat down to write a piece, I was entranced in an angst-driven furor. I’m usually not so depraved, but forgive me if you will, it happens to the best of us. However, the resentment is behind me now, thanks in large part to the Super Bowl victory of Pittsburgh (home to yours truly), and I’m ready to start anew..
I’m going to steal a shtick of a buddy of mine and write a blotter of “random thoughts.” Although this is a fairly popular trend, I’m doing it just because there is a heap of little things I want to say that don’t particularly warrant a whole article.
Let me start by congratulating Tommy Hearns on the 61st victory of his career. In case you missed it, Hearns beat the great Shannon Landberg, 58-11-3, via 10th round TKO. Landberg, who has beaten the immortal Reggie Strickland four times, never went down, but was staggering around the ring at the end of the fight. Reports say that the 40-year-old Landberg was beating the 47-year-old Hearns to the punch through the early rounds. Please Tommy, I know you said your fighting for the fans, but at this point, the best thing you can do for the fans is call it a day.
Speaking of Hearns, there was a benefit last week to save the Kronk, the legendary gym in Detroit. The significance of the Kronk is clearly understood by all who have heard anything about it. The gym is facing a debilitating budget predicament and the facility itself is not in the best of conditions. There has been talk that a more cost-efficient plan may be just to replace the Kronk – tear it down and build a new one. To be honest, this sounds like the best plan. I’ve heard the “only the original has the soul” contention, but the boiler is broken, there are security issues, the roof leaks, and time is only making it worse. Keep the original open until the new one is ready, and then tear it down. With all of the problems, it seems that this plan will save a lot of money in the long run.
It’s only been a day and I’m already tired of hearing that the refs handed the Steelers the Super Bowl. Look, the phantom holding call against Clark Haggans was the only egregious call of the bunch. If the Seahawks were the better team, they would’ve won. Bottom line.
Proceeding chronologically, that episode of Grey’s Anatomy really grinded my gears. All of the teasers about a “code black” were followed by a terrific episode. But then, they pulled off the classic drama tactic – the two part “cliffhanger.” If not for the NyQuil induced stupor I was in, I might have thrown the remote right through the television screen.
Further evidence that boxing is all about matchups, Jose Luis Castillo’s win over Rolando Reyes was tentative to say the least. This supplanted the date with Corrales, which has been pushed back due to Corrales’ rib injury. Needless to say, anybody expecting a Castillo-Corrales motif was severely disillusioned.
Does anybody really care that Roy Jones Jr. is being courted by Showtime? Certainly not HBO, and a nugget of speculation – Jones will be far from the biggest draw on Showtime’s board.
Best Super Bowl commercial: The first Bud Light spot about the Easter Egg Hunt for Bud’s in the office building; loved the part when the guy fell through the roof.
Send any comments for Aaron to aking1@ithaca.edu