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So, Mike Tyson called it quits in the ring. And he's pretty much admitted that his heart is barely in it enough for the paycheck. I have to wonder - boxing probably can't be good for him. I don't know that a life in the ring is really any good for anyone who doesn't have other viable options. But what's this guy going to be without boxing?
I'm rough like a freight train smooth like ice
And yo jeff, straight up, I think I can mike tyson
It's sort of hard to believe just how long it's been since "Iron Mike" was the baddest man on the planet. Boxing is one of those endeavors that can go quite sadly from poetry to tragedy to farce. I was 10 when Tyson came quite literally out of nowhere to become the youngest champion in Heavyweight history. Tyson had a flair in the ring. He was Vader, man. No socks in his flat black shorts. We really thought he might be - not just the best boxer of his generation - among the greatest ever. He didn't just win fights - he destroyed people.
When Nintendo released "Mike Tyson's Punchout" and you had to survive that segment where every punch was unblockable and could knock you down... that's what waatching him was like.
"My style is impetuous. My defense is impregnable, and I'm just ferocious. I want your heart. I want to eat his children. Praise be to Allah!"
But, there was a lot of tragedy in his life, and Mike took his pretty miserable youth and spread it around with a lot of misery on folks around him. And there was a lot of scum around him. At this point, he's a circus. I feel sad for him, for his clear mental illness - for a guy who does have a genuine intellect and doesn't have to be just a thug. Except that it's hard to feel sympathetic for a man who has done what he's done.
"I'm on this Zoloft thing, right? But I'm on that to keep me from killing y'all! ... It has really messed me up, and I don't want to be taking it, but they are concerned about the fact that I am a violent person, almost an animal. And they only want me to be an animal in the ring."
Sad. Disturbing. I'm vaguely aware of some of the boxing circus, but it's not a sport I follow or really care about or even like. Twenty years ago Mike Tyson and Michael Jackson were on the top of the world in their respective endeavors. How's that turned out for them? I should have something insightful to say about bad childhood, and too much money and adulation too soon. But I'm just left feeling sad about the whole thing.
Speaking of other topics, I got the stitches out friday. All thanks to those who wished me well. The head injury seems to be healing apace, as is the abrasion on my elbow. My knees, on the other hand, are coming along slowly. According to the doctor, I've got some inflammation that seems to be a flare up of some latent arthritis. If this is what I have to look forward to, I'm gonna be seriously bummed. I really don't want crappy knees.
To be fair, I don't actually have much to complain about physically. I know people with worse, and this is mostly just idle whining. In a week or two, I'll be fine. But, I'll still feel stupid for just tumbling down the stairs. But hey - I relearned a valuable lesson about running on stairs, so that's something.
I'm rough like a freight train smooth like ice
And yo jeff, straight up, I think I can mike tyson
It's sort of hard to believe just how long it's been since "Iron Mike" was the baddest man on the planet. Boxing is one of those endeavors that can go quite sadly from poetry to tragedy to farce. I was 10 when Tyson came quite literally out of nowhere to become the youngest champion in Heavyweight history. Tyson had a flair in the ring. He was Vader, man. No socks in his flat black shorts. We really thought he might be - not just the best boxer of his generation - among the greatest ever. He didn't just win fights - he destroyed people.
When Nintendo released "Mike Tyson's Punchout" and you had to survive that segment where every punch was unblockable and could knock you down... that's what waatching him was like.
"My style is impetuous. My defense is impregnable, and I'm just ferocious. I want your heart. I want to eat his children. Praise be to Allah!"
But, there was a lot of tragedy in his life, and Mike took his pretty miserable youth and spread it around with a lot of misery on folks around him. And there was a lot of scum around him. At this point, he's a circus. I feel sad for him, for his clear mental illness - for a guy who does have a genuine intellect and doesn't have to be just a thug. Except that it's hard to feel sympathetic for a man who has done what he's done.
"I'm on this Zoloft thing, right? But I'm on that to keep me from killing y'all! ... It has really messed me up, and I don't want to be taking it, but they are concerned about the fact that I am a violent person, almost an animal. And they only want me to be an animal in the ring."
Sad. Disturbing. I'm vaguely aware of some of the boxing circus, but it's not a sport I follow or really care about or even like. Twenty years ago Mike Tyson and Michael Jackson were on the top of the world in their respective endeavors. How's that turned out for them? I should have something insightful to say about bad childhood, and too much money and adulation too soon. But I'm just left feeling sad about the whole thing.
Speaking of other topics, I got the stitches out friday. All thanks to those who wished me well. The head injury seems to be healing apace, as is the abrasion on my elbow. My knees, on the other hand, are coming along slowly. According to the doctor, I've got some inflammation that seems to be a flare up of some latent arthritis. If this is what I have to look forward to, I'm gonna be seriously bummed. I really don't want crappy knees.
To be fair, I don't actually have much to complain about physically. I know people with worse, and this is mostly just idle whining. In a week or two, I'll be fine. But, I'll still feel stupid for just tumbling down the stairs. But hey - I relearned a valuable lesson about running on stairs, so that's something.
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The bad knees would suck. You remind me a lot of my dad and my brother in that they both played (and my brother still plays) a great deal of sports. I know it killed dad when he finally had to stop playing ball because his knees couldn't support him anymore. I hope you escape that for a long time.
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Sugar Ray was a time when I still think of boxing as the sport of intellect. Then Mike came and took it back to the streets. Raw animalistic power. And after a while, it became something disgusting to look at, you know? He just brutalized his opponent.
And yeah, it's hard to continue to feel sorry for an animal like that. But you do... and you don't.
Knees. I have to get TWO replacements soon. Arthritis is a bitch. The key is to keep moving and stop pounding them. (As in - running DOWN stairs. Man, don't do it.)
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Tyson is a strange thing, because he's got these moments of lucidity where he can give some really genuine stuff. But he's such a cartoon character. he's one of those guys who never expected to see age 25, and has no real foundation in his life. So outside of when he was drilling for his fights, he can't stay out of trouble. I wouldn't feel so bad for him, if he wasn't so aware of it. Cause he's a guy who's never not going to be major major trainwreck.
Ouch, and sorry for your knees. See - other folks have it worse than me. I'm just a little creaky. I'll hold out some hope that if I can lose some weight, it'll help that out and I won't have to deal with anything remotely serious for another decade.
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Ahem. Sorry. I hope they guy finds something constructive to do.
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