The Passion

Happy Easter....Sportsman and spouse headed to New Orleans for a long weekend. Dinner at Commander's Palace...Jazz at Snug Harbor and Vaughn's...WWII Museum tour...a few drinks in the French Quarter and a little gaming at Harrah's on the river. Carry on my friends.

1: Chatting with Shannon about his Freedom

More Porn

Sportsman's pornography. This is a newly released K-80 by Kreighoff  with beautiful engraving. The wood in the stock is equally breathtaking. This is just another example of art meeting function. Sadly, this Over/Under is a bit out of the price range....but not if Joey wins a World Championship.

Boxing News

I realize I have been remiss in reporting on the boxing front. The heavyweight fighter I manage, Joey Cusumano is training for another 4 round bout to take place on April 13th in North Jersey. The team is getting excited for Joey's return to the ring and Joey is looking fit and fierce. He will be returning to Philadelphia after the fight and living here under the Sportsman's watchful eye....he will now be training with Fred Jenkins ( who trains heavyweight world title contender Bryant Jennings.) At the Seders our Jewish friends are attending this week there is a phrase: "Next year in Israel."
The Cusumano team is saying:"Next year in Vegas!"

Diaper Bag

The header may have thrown you off. What, you may ask, is the shotgun obsessed degenerate dice player on about now. What I am on about is this wonderful diaper bag I saw on EBAY. Why did no one buy me this in 1995 when I had 2 kids in diapers and another one the way shortly? I was constantly bemoaning my plight as I went afield with the wife and babies with some hideous pink and blue shoulder bag contraption strapped to my person....the bag, one of several in the wife's line up,festooned with duckies or lambs or some such crap.  Said bag was bulging with infant poop supplies and sippy cups and related gear. I longed for a more masculine diaper bag. I had dreams of designing and marketing such a bag. I never got around to it. When you have infants ages a few days, 2 years and 4 years, and a partnership in a law firm in the offing...you find it hard to set aside time to design, produce,  market and distribute anything. If I had realized that vision...the result would have been nearly identical to this rig. I would have offered it in the shown fatigue green as well as wetlands camo. Any man would be fine with hoisting this diaper bag on the hated Target or Superfresh excursion if the bag looked like this. Every man dreads being caught with the pink and blue diaper bag over the shoulder when you are near the dairy section and the wife and babies are over near the bread aisle. Without infants to legitimize your bag...people look at you like you may be some kind of  Fire Island beach queen.

My kids are now all well past the age where they can administer and regiment their own defecation. So I have no need for a diaper bag anymore. Nevertheless, this one was so cool, and represented the manifestation of the material musing of a young dad...that I said F*#k it and bid on the damn thing anyway.I won  will use it as a range bag at the Skeet and Trap Club.

Alton College Visit

With Will and Elliot

Shaun Attwood

Things That Make A Sportsman Anxious

The minutes that tick by while waiting for the barman to replenish your drink

Ealing, Hammersmith & West London College Visit

Shaun Attwood

Herschel Grammar School Visit

With Daniel and Ellie

Shaun Attwood

Doing What Comes Naturally

                                         Primordial Sushi

Guest Blogger/Writer

 

Philly Gym Wars

     From January, 2012, to March, 2013, Philadelphia hosted just two all-local main event fights.  One was the showdown between undefeated heavyweights Bryant Jennings and Maurice Byarm.  The other was the age-old Philadelphia vs. New Jersey match between Angel Ocasio, of Philadelphia, and Jason Sosa, of Camden, NJ.
     These contests brought a different feel to the crowd than any other main events did in Philadelphia during that time period.  Even though Ocasio and Sosa are not both Philly natives, Camden is close enough.  Take the case of former NABF Light Heavyweight Champion Richie Kates!
     Kates, of Millville, NJ, was an outstanding light-heavyweight contender in the 1970s.   He won the NABF title in 1974 at the Arena in West Philadelphia when he knocked out Jimmy Dupree, of Jersey City, NJ, in one round.  Kates twice fought Victor Galindez, of Argentina, for the WBA world title—he got robbed in their first fight in South Africa-- and he fought the best 175-pounders at the time when the division was loaded.  His 1978 Spectrum brawl with Matthew Saad Muhammad, in which each man was knocked down, is regarded as one of the most thrilling fights in Philadelphia’s storied boxing history.  Kates was an adopted Philadelphian.
    Dwight Muhammad Qawi, of Camden, NJ, who boxed in the 1970s and 1980s and won world titles at light-heavyweight and cruiserweight, was another adopted Philadelphian, as was the legendary heavyweight champ Jersey Joe Walcott, also of Camden, years earlier.  We had plenty of local champs:  junior middleweight Robert Hines, cruiserweight Nate Miller, junior welterweight Gary Hinton, lightweight Charlie “Choo Choo” Brown, bantamweight Jeff Chandler and his high school classmate and adversary Johnny Carter and so many other outstanding fighters who came out of the Philadelphia/South Jersey area.  What happened to those days?
     Walcott fought Hall-of-Famer Harold Johnson, of Manayunk; Hines boxed Kevin Howard; Miller boxed Qawi; Hinton and Brown collided; Chandler and Carter met for the world title.  It seems today that Philadelphia fighters no longer want to fight each other despite the fact that Philly vs. Philly always has been the recipe for success on local promotions. Years ago the Arena and Convention Hall in West Philadelphia and later The Spectrum in South Philadelphia would be filled with fight fans because of the local rivalries.  Sure, times have changed but change is not always for the better.  Answer this!  Is boxing in a better place today or was it in a better place years ago when local matchups dominated the Philly fight scene?
     Look at the atmosphere at a Flyers game when Pittsburgh or New Jersey is in town or an Eagles game when New York is in town.  Do I need to mention the atmosphere when the Phillies host the Mets?  Those games have playoff atmosphere.
     In days gone by, when a Philadelphia fighter boxed out of town, the host city knew what it was getting in the way of style and toughness.  Today, however, is there anything that separates a Philadelphia fighter from a fighter based in Chicago, Detroit, New York or Boston?  Philadelphia is known for being a concrete jungle, a sports city that has more ‘fair weather fans’ then most cities.  What we need is a good rivalry.  Why can’t the promoters, matchmakers, managers and fighters understand?
    I get so tired hearing today’s manager complain that Philly vs. Philly knocks off a local fighter.  Baloney!  Derek Ennis defeated Gabriel Rosado three summers ago in front of a boisterous crowd at the Asylum Arena, yet Rosado has far surpassed Ennis as a contender and as a viable attraction.
     Let Philadelphia crown its own champ!  If we could re-kindle these rivalries like we had in Philadelphia’s glory days, then perhaps Philadelphia would have other world champs alongside Bernard Hopkins and Danny Garcia. 
     I’ve heard stories all the time about “gym wars”, newspaper bouts, smokers, and all the different fights that fighters used to have.  Back then the fighters knew each other the same way they know each other now, yet they fought one another and learned more about themselves.  That’s the way it should be.  Let fighters challenge to be the Philadelphia Champion and make another Philadelphia fighter take it away from them.  In college sports a lot of Temple University players know St. Joseph’s players, and Villanova Players. Even in the pros players know one another and compete against one another.    When you apply for a job, or try out for a team, people don’t pass up on an opportunity because their friend is working for the same opportunity.  Fighters should not pass up an opportunity to move up in the rankings because they know one another.  The fighter that who normally turns down the fight simply doesn’t want it bad enough.
     It’s up to the fighters, trainers, managers, matchmakers and promoters to put this into play.  The fans will love it.
     Be the next Robert Hines, Bennie Briscoe, Bobby Watts, Tyrone Everett or Joey Giardello and build a strong reputation instead of building a career off of meaningless fights.
     Two rivalry main events in a year-and-a-half?  No wonder why the fan base is so much smaller now than it was years ago!

The author is a Temple University graduate who is now a part of Peltz Boxing.  Follow us on twitter @Peltzboxing and our intern @bamboxinginc

 

 

reprinted for Main Line Sportsman readers courtesy of Brittany Rogers and Peltz Boxing. Cogent thoughts on some local boxing issues.  

Ladybridge High School Visit, Bolton

With Ralpheal, twin brother of the dream team reader duo



With Abdul

With Ralph

Shaun Attwood

Sportsman's Friday Evening

 I suppose one could sit at home, on the sofa, remote in one hand and the other hand stuffing Cheetos or some other cooker extruded nightmare snack food into one's piehole, Seinfeld re-runs on T.V. and no plans. Sure, you had a long and stressful week.Yes, so did most of us.

 Your long and stressful...even exhausting week....is no excuse to wallow around your abode like a slug. The saying is: "Life is too short." Go find some action and enjoy yourself.

This weekend found this sportsman at Valley Forge Casino for boxing matches and other sporting pursuits. There was an enjoyable card of fights..Club Level stuff...but fun to watch. There were cocktails and beers followed by  a turn at the Craps table. I took this photo...and pissed of the Pit-Boss...from my perch at the end of the table waiting for the stick-man to push down the selection of dice. C'mon eleven!!

Question Time

Hello Shaun,

I am a student at Barton Peveril College, which you visited a few months ago. Firstly I would like to say how engaging and interesting your talk was and I was telling all of my friends about it afterwards! This encouraged me to buy your book which I have just finished reading recently. If you don't mind, I have a few questions that I thought of whilst reading your book. I hope there's not too many for you to answer.

We are now studying 'Beliefs' in Sociology and I noticed how both you and Wild Woman turned to religion to help you cope with your time in prison. Why do you think this helped you? It sounds strange but do you ever think it was almost destiny that took you to prison in order to become a better person than you would have been without the experience?

Meditation helped me tremendously. It calmed my mind down. Facing a life sentence, I couldn’t stop worrying if I’d ever be free again. The uncertainty was the hardest part of the punishment. My brain was constantly in overdrive, releasing unhealthy stress hormones such as cortisol, pushing me to the brink of mental exhaustion and madness. Meditating for months on end, sometimes for several hours, short-circuited the negative thought loop I was stuck on. My brain went quiet. I felt altered states of consciousness. The end result was less stress and unhealthy hormones. Meditation is a powerful coping tool.
Yes, I often think that destiny took me to jail to make me become a better person, and I wonder where destiny is leading me now.  

Another thing that really got to me was the violence that you described. After your presentation I actually went on YouTube and looked at one of the videos which I had to stop halfway through because it was too harrowing. You mentioned you became desensitised to it but were you always detached from it or did you find yourself following the same mind set as the other prisoners?

At first, I went into shock. Most of the newcomers had the same look as if they couldn’t believe what they were seeing in a world that revolved around violence. Over months, seeing daily acts of violence made the shock wear off, until I had what the prisoners call “dead eyes” – a face not showing any emotional weakness or sensitivity. It’s a mask prisoners wear as they learn, often the hard way, that weakness is quickly exploited by predators.  

Finally, I would just like to ask your view on the current prison system both in the UK and USA. Personally I feel it doesn't work as it leads to the same problems just in a more confined space and leads prisoners to lead a deviant career without changing their behaviour in the future. Do you think you would have benefitted more from a different form of punishment or know of those who you think would have?

I benefitted from my punishment, but most I saw did not. In America, the justice system is simply a business model for various interests, including private prisons and politicians, to make money by exploiting mostly non-violent drug offenders, people with addiction issues who need treatment. They are often non-whites from poor neighbourhoods who can’t afford to defend themselves with pricey lawyers. They are further criminalised in prison, where violence and drugs are a way of life. They get out unemployable and commit more crimes, which keeps the prison industries in business.   

I won't be expecting you to be able to answer all of my questions but I was very inspired by your experience and also found myself questioning similar things whilst studying 'Crime and Deviance' in Sociology. I would be really grateful if you would be able to answer just a few.
Best wishes,

Chloe Lebbern

A2 Student at Barton Peveril College, Eastleigh

Click here for the previous question time

Shaun Attwood

Locked -Up Abroad: Raving Arizona

National Geographic Channel just emailed that my Locked-Up Abroad epsiode's premiere day is April 24th 9pm EST. It will show how my blog started with my aunt smuggling my writing out of Sheriff Joe Arpaio's jail to expose the inhumane conditions. 9pm EST = 2am in the UK, at which time they want me to do a live-tweet during the premiere so I can interact with viewers, answer their questions, and share my feelings as I watch the episode live. If you haven't seen the trailer yet, here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nlz6v2U7Cpo

Shaun Attwood

The Catholic High School‏ Visit, Chester

Shaun Attwood

Holy Trinity School Visit, Crawley

 
Shaun Attwood

DNA Evidence Gets 18 Innocent People Off Death Row

The facts on some of the 18 set up by corrupt prosecutors and detectives out to "solve" murder cases to advance their careers. Prosecutors like Noel Levy and Sherri Bevan Walsh who suppress evidence and coach witnesses to lie. These prosectors and detectives are the real murderers in these cases.

Click on the image to see it full size.


Source: TopCriminalJusticeDegrees.org



Shaun Attwood

Offseason

 For the members of the Waterfowl Club, the real ahrd work often begins when the hunting ends. We have a nice fresh water pond on our Club property. However, the damn has been el;aking and the pond became so overgrown and clogged it was no longer a resource to attract ducks and geese.

 This weekend we had Club work days to address this problem. We had previously rented heavy equipment to dig out the dam and replace the drainage and pipes. Now we have control over water level and flow.

 So on Saturday we got busy cutting out some of the trees and clearing the vines and bushes and brush that made the pond useless.

 This is extremely hard work. We had 10 guys going at it with chain saws and power whackers with blades and axes and saws and old fashioned grab and cut  and pull... We dragged tons of brush behind the pick ups and dumped in the woods. We drained the pond and once clear we will fill her up again.

After all he effort, we hope top have a renewed environment to attract waterfowl and other species of critters. In the hunting season, we can control the flow to flood some of the corn nearby and plant some millet to grow for natural feed for the birds. We cut and stacked about 3 cords of firewood to season for the fireplace and outdoor pit for next year. By the end of the day we were all wiped out...but satisfied that the project will pay dividends when we take to the blinds next Fall.

Sunday Funnies

                                            See Jane...at 19....shoot skeet.

Greetings from the Abyss by Jack (Part 10)

Jack is serving life without parole, and has terminal cancer. Throughout my incarceration, Jack was a positive influence. He encouraged me to keep writing, to enter short-story competitions, and we proofread each other’s chapters. Jack is seeking pen pals, so anyone interested please email me at attwood.shaun@hotmail.co.uk for his details. 

Unfortunately, I’ve been a bit under the weather. Something has gone haywire, and I’m having a few problems walking again. I’m getting around, but I have to use my cane. I’ve also managed to develop an infection that has caused the lymph nodes in my neck and under my left arm to swell. I’ve been on antibiotics for the last two weeks. The swelling has gone down some, but I still look like I’ve got a golf ball stuck in my throat. My chemo port is blocked again. I have two options. 1: They take me to the chemo clinic and they work their magic and manage to clear the blockage or 2: I have to go back to hospital and have the port surgically repaired. I’m hoping for 1 but expecting 2. Well, if nothing else, my life isn’t boring. 

Thank you for being an emergency contact in the event of my death. I can’t begin to express how much of a relief this is to me. My terminal health care needs are relatively simple. I wish to be kept reasonably pain free, but I do not under any circumstances wish for my life to be prolonged by means of artificial circulation or breathing, nor do I wish to be artificially administered food or fluids. I hope I don’t sound selfish or defeatist, but to be honest, Shaun, I’m tired. I’m plum worn out. I know I can do the chemo again, I’m just not sure if that’s the right thing to do. Yea, I know I’m snivelling and sounding weak, maybe I’m just depressed right now, but things do seem rather bleak and my prospects aren’t exactly the greatest.  

Thank you again for everything you’ve done for me. I appreciate it more than you’ll ever know.

 

With much love and appreciation, 

Jack

Click here for Jack’s previous letter

Shaun Attwood

Sandra Gregory

I met Sandra at Towers School in Ashford, where she amazed the students with an important cautionary tale. Sandra was sentenced to death in Thailand for attempting to smuggle heroin out of the country. Her story was featured on Banged-Up Abroad (watch episode here), and her book, Forget You Had a Daughter is well worth a read. Link to Sandra's talk to schools.

Shaun Attwood

Guards Watch Schizophrenic Prisoner Bleed To Death in Arizona

Link to disturbing video of guards watching Tony Lester bleed to death: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nhct543_KR8 The Arizona Department of Corrections fought in court to try to prevent this footage from being aired.

Shaun Attwood

Constantine in Arpaio's Immigration Parade

Pic of my latest facebook friend Constantine Yakubovski in Sheriff Joe Arpaio's jail in 2009. Arpaio's guards made him stand near the front of the immigration parade to give the media a false impression of how international the operation was - as opposed to it just being Mexicans. Constantine just got in touch after reading Hard Time.

Shaun Attwood

Hurtwood House Visit, Dorking

Just got back from speaking to a sixth form in Dorking, overwhelmed by a fantastic reception - the type that puts me in a good mood for the rest of the day. Pic with Bella and Jack.

Shaun Attwood

A Test

In the movie "A Bronx Tale",  Sonny, played convincingly and powerfully by Chazz Palmetieri(who wrote the screenplay), advises his young protege about a test for whether a woman is one of quality. If you have seen this film, you know the test involves automobile door locks in the days before the ubiquitous power lock.

Since that test is now effectively obsolete....perhaps this statement offers a new criteria for selecting a mate.

A Day At The Races

 I noted in a prior post that I was headed to sunny Florida. The weather turned out to be not so sunny for most of out trip. Saturday started out overcast with a chill breeze. This was a perfect day to head to the racetrack. A $40.00 dollar cab ride from the Marriott Harbor Beach dropped us right at the gate. We quickly purchased programs, cocktails, and secured a mezzanine spot overlooking the paddock to scope the horses for the 4th race.

 There was a large crowd on hand. It appeared many of the fanny-packed sneaker and sweats set were there for the casino games and not the horses. We ignored the throngs of slot junkies and watched the horses enter and parade in the paddock. Then it was off to the betting window and from there, trackside along the rail near the finish.

 I always enjoy hearing the trumpeter give the call to post. Then I get a chill when the bell goes of and the gate opens. For that minute- plus that the beautiful thoroughbreds are charging  down the track, you have visions of cashing a nice trifecta. Then some spoiler who was stalking the pace crushes your vision at the top of the stretch. I did not have much luck picking winners. However, one of my buddies cashed in on the 5th race as shown in the ticket above. He had 30 across and cashed a respectable $140.00 ticket.

 While I was sipping rum, my buddies opted for the storied PBR. I can only tolerate PBR when I have already had 7 or 8 of something else.

Sometimes when you are at the paddock, you pay attention to horseflesh...and sometimes fillies of a different species.

Postcards from T-Bone (3)

Peace My Brother, 

Please tell the students at T-Bone Appreciation Society that I have read and appreciate all of their comments on my Facebook wall. Tell them things are terrible in Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s jail. We get no sunshine, no exercise or running, nothing but two meals a day and a very small 13-inch TV fixed to a wall 20 foot in the air. Two buns with peanut butter in the morning with an orange or a grapefruit, and some type of slop in the evening that’s whatever old meat they’ve got on hand mixed with beans and water. It’s called slop! It’s not enough to keep my strength up, and I have no money for commissary. There are 70 guys in each pod, 35 out at a time for showers.

When I get free, I will be out there in England, and you can finish writing my story. How is your niece, Yasmin, doing? I am praying for her. 

Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers. 

I miss you, man. 

Each one, teach one. Steel embrace. Strength and honor. 

T-Bone 

Click here for T-Bone’s previous postcard

Shaun Attwood

Plumpton College Visit

Lyndon

Andy

Shaun Attwood

Revisiting Papa

 At Lehigh there was a mid-level English course on Hemingway. Taught by James R. Frakes, this course opened the entire compendium of Hemingway's work to this eager undergrad. This weekend while sitting on the plane heading to Florida, I re-read several short stories from "Big Two Hearted River" and revisited "A Clean Well Lighted Place." and "In Our Time." The stories are of course vivid and direct.. declarative sentences and laconic descriptions of place and person and activity,dialogue with coursing undercurrent.  Interactions between men and women and men and the outdoors and the sporting world hint at familiar themes of temptation, resonsibility, living well or behaving poorly,order, mess and lonliness.

 "The Battler" allows us to observe while Nick Adams is hopping freights and along the tracks meets an old washed up boxer. When I was 20 I had only seen a few professional prize fights."My Old Man" takes the reader to the racetrack as a kid who hears scurrilous talk about his father When I was 20 I had been to the racetrack only twice. The reader witnesses Nick Adams fly fishing the stream he knew as a younger man. I had not read these stories in years and the re-reading was as fulfilling as the first time around.

The  travel and  boozing and hunting and boxing and fishing and bullfights and camping and skiing and experience with women all resonate in a different way to me now. When I was 20 and hearing Frakes lecture on these stories and evoking my response from my own reading, I lacked the experience that I have now. I did not know why the line" Is dying hard daddy?" from "Indian Camp" was so critical. "In Our Time" features "The End of Something" and at 20 I was ill equipped to appreciate the dynamic of Marjorie leaving Nick after their brief conversation.

I am hooked all over again...I must read more. I think I will even tackle A.E. Hotchner's biography of Papa once again. Perhaps I will even finally come to terms with what Jake meant when he said: "Isn't it pretty to think so ?"