Tuesday, February 25, 2014

The Fight Goes From Ring To Courtroom

I watched this fight. It was brutal. I have followed  the news about Abdusalmov.
Now we read the following in the NY Post:



The family of a Russian boxer who was beaten into a coma filed a $100 million lawsuit against the state Friday, saying officials should have stopped the Madison Square Garden slugfest and that he got shoddy medical care following the bout.
Magomed Abdusalamov, 32, who absorbed 312 punches during the Nov. 2 heavyweight brawl against Mike Perez, was advised by state officials to go to a hospital when he urinated blood after the fight — but no ambulance was provided, the court papers say.
The suffering fighter and his panicked family were forced to find a cab outside The Theater at Madison Square Garden at the height of the Saturday night rush.
Abdusalamov languished in a coma at Roosevelt Hospital for several weeks and may never walk again.
The fighter’s kin claim in court papers that officials allowed him to be “violently beaten, bludgeoned, punched and pummeled by his opponent without proper, timely or adequate recognition, termination and or/rescue.”
“They should have stopped the fight,” said his cousin, Amin Suleymanov. “Eveybody could see that.”
Suleymanov said he visits Abdusalamov in the hospital every day and has been forced to serve as the caretaker for his shattered wife and three children.
Abdusalamov’s condition is so grave that his three young daughters — ages 9, 4, and 1 — have only been permitted to see him twice since his hospitalization.
Filed by attorney Paul Edelstein, the papers accuse state athletic officials of failing to assess the severity of Abdusalamov’s injuries after the grisly bout and exacerbating his long-term suffering.
He was “permitted to sustain life threatening injuries including . . . acute traumatic brain injury, significant and permanent brain damage, coma . . . due to the improper, untimely and inadequate medical care and treatment on the part of the respondents,” the filing states.
Abdusalamov’s cousin, Abdullabulat Chartaevich, has said that state boxing officials failed them.
“They didn’t even take his blood pressure,” Chartaevich told The Post in the days after the fight. “He did say he had a headache, so the trainer and doctors should have seen something.”
The Dagestan native suffered a broken nose and hand in the first round and was visibly disfigured by the fifth round. During Round 7, two ringside doctors inspected Abdusalamov, but cleared him to continue.
Perez nearly knocked Abdusalamov down with a vicious jab in the final round, but the referee and his own trainer let him finish the 10-round fight.
Abdusalamov’s case is currently under investigation by the State Athletic Commission, which did not respond to a request for comment Friday on the fight and its aftermath.

Monday, February 24, 2014

Reading on the Plane

I mentioned in the last post that I am heading to Park City Utah this week for some skiing and to celebrate the birthday of one of the Lehigh boys who is a dear friend. This book will be my reading for the airport and the plane. Great stuff from the pens of Hemingway and jack London, Ring Lardner, O. Henry and even Homer.

Saturday, February 22, 2014

Plastic Jesus



For some reason I tend to hum/sing this song when traveling up a ski lift. A poignant scene from a great movie.

I am heading to Park City, this week to ski Deer Valley and Alta. One of the Lehigh boys has a significant birthday and 9 of us are heading out West to ski and fete him in style.

Friday, February 14, 2014

Camo at the Games

 6 time U.S. Winter Olympian and avid hunter/outdoorsman Todd Lodwick was chosen by the team to carry the flag in the opening ceremonies.
 He also wore a camo helmet yesterday in the jumping competition portion of the Nordic Combined. He can ski, he can hunt he can ski jump....a real sportsman! Good luck Todd...wear that Mossy Oak camo with pride.




Wednesday, February 12, 2014

The Podium

                                  The New Yorker scores another Gold Medal with this cartoon.

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

End of Season

 Now that the time for chasing ducks and geese is over, a hunters thoughts do not abandon shooting. Well, some still chase sky-carp(snow geese.) Some actually dream of golf on a warm afternoon. No thank you. I adhere to the Samuel Clemens adage that golf is a good walk ruined.

 Still other sportsmen get out their flyrods and anticipate a day in Central Pennsylvania fishing the Letort or the Yellow Breeches for big trout. Fly fishing is an admirable pursuit and one that used to captivate me. Now I only dabble during the Summer in the Adirondacks. Most of my fishing is of the Surf variety as it affords the fisherman the leisure to sit in a beach chair with a cold beer in hand.
 Once the season ends I usually attack the skeet and trap ranges. It is an exercise in improving ones shooting. It is fun and inexpensive. It also has a cathartic quality as one gets to blow shit up with a shotgun...much better than the frustration of missing a 6 foot put.
My Beretta 686 Silver Pigeon has been cleaned and chokes changed for use on the clay birds. I shot a few rounds last Saturday. Hopefully, this impending Nor'Easter will not interfere with a few more rounds this weekend.

Monday, February 10, 2014

Bode Botchs Downhill

 The hype started early on Saturday after Bode Miller turned in the fastest runs in downhill training. My family and I saw Bode win Silver in Salt Lake in 2002 from front row seats.We have followed him thru a pathetic showing at Turin in '06 and some redemption in Vancouver in 2010. We were camped in front of the TV last night to see if he could finally win the Gold in the premier event of the Winter Olympics.
 His run started strong. The in the middle of the course my son said:" He is standing up too straight." It was clear he was losing time. On the "lake jump" he was flying sideways and it was now clear this run was not going to get him on the podium. At the bottom he sank to a seated position and clearly looked dejected.
The camera panned to his wife, the smoking hot volley ball player-model. She actually pulled her hood over her face as she recognized that her man's performance was not good enough for a medal.

Miller has 2 more events and I hope he can earn Gold in one and cap his career on a high note.

Thursday, February 6, 2014

Winter Games

 I am excited for the opening of the Winter Olympics
 I am eagerly awaiting a chance to watch the men's downhill on Sunday. ( I hope NBC does not screw us based on the time difference and let us opt to see it in real time regardless of the hour.)

Famous Sportsman-Limited Circle

W. Burling Cocks (left), famed steeplechase trainer for whom the Radnor Hunt racecourse is named, holds the Radnor Hunt Cup in the Winner’s Circle in his early days as a jockey.

Tuesday, February 4, 2014