Lent began on the 1st of this month, and already, less than a week in, I find myself on the verge of breaking the one vow I’d pledged to keep, indulging in the one vice I’d promised to abstain from. The failing compounds a sense of coming-up-short that has loomed of late. Concentration becomes a fickle thing, work productivity plummets, the absence ( Read more... )

This morning, in Union Station in New Haven, I ran into my old boxing coach. He was buying lotto tickets. I tried not to reek of carcinogenic. But we caught up before he got on his bike and blasted back out into the cold. I was smiling when I got on the train. He was wearing a jacket with the gym's logo on it. I realized I hadn't seen that logo for ( Read more... )

-- Andre Ward Fights To Avoid A Boxer's Bad Ending - Brin-Jonathan Butler, The Undefeated, Aug. 4, 2016 ( Read more... )

First morning back at the gym in over a month, maybe two. It felt good and not nearly as dispiriting as expected. I suspect this is due in part to having come in with the plan that I would rebuild strength before getting back into the boxing, which I hope to resume in earnest when I return to New Haven. It'll be good to see Brian again, who's been ( Read more... )

I've spent the last 45 minutes with a dear friend mourning the death of Muhammad Ali. With this particular friend, I learned about and learned to love the sport of boxing. We live-tweeted during fights and texted each other asides in-between rounds when we were a country apart. We griped and we groaned and we cheered and now we've cried. With this ( Read more... )

Mayweather with the unanimous decision. In the most boring fight anybody ever waited five years for ( Read more... )

What I expect: Mayweather in 12, split decision

What I want: Pacquiao knockout in 6.

People are calling this the Fight of the Century. It should've happened 5 or 10 years ago. We'll be lucky if it's the Fight of the Night.

-- Toward a New ‘Broken Windows’ Theory - Mychal Denzel Smith, The Nation, Apr. 28, 2015 ( Read more... )

-- The Galveston Giant - fivefifths, Seven Scribes, Apr. 13, 2015 ( Read more... )

-- The Laborers Who Keep Dick Pics and Beheadings Out of Your Facebook Feed - Adrian Chen, Wired Magazine, Oct. 23, 2014 ( Read more... )