I.O.C.-WTF

 The I.O.C.(International Olympic Committee) announced yesterday that wrestling will be dropped as an Olympic sport in the 2020 Summer games. This seems ludicrous and tantamount to heresy. Wrestling, like boxing, is one of the earliest sporting contests. Wrestling is a fundamental combat sport and pits athletes of the highest caliber against one another in a contest of strength, agility, mental toughness and control . Unlike boxing, the goal is not to beat the opponent into submission, but rather to gain control and either out-score or pin the enemy. Wrestling was included in the original games in Ancient Greece- this fact alone should preclude such a move by the I.O.C.

 The sentiments of Socrates about wrestling would seem to say it all. Wrestling is one of the most grueling contests of sport that requires intense stamina, and boundless will and drive. To banish this sport is absurd. And a banishment it is. There is no real professional wrestling...yeah I know there is that comical theater parading as a sport that has amused the howling unwashed for decades. But that is not wrestling. These amazing athletes have college wrestling...then the Olympics and that is it.

 I wrestled as freshmen  in high school( gave it up when Lacrosse took over my passion) and then in intramural matches at Lehigh. You may know that wrestling is a religion at Lehigh and the school has over the years been a powerhouse of champions in the sport. Friday night matches in Grace Hall..".the snake pit" were high decibel crowd scenes with students, professors, and townspeople alike screaming and spilling beer and hoping for a pin by the Engineer mat-men. When I was at Lehigh, Bobby Weaver, a future Olympic Gold medalist, was on the team. He was  man small in stature but with the heart of a lion and the balls of Hercules. As students we were lucky enough to see him take on and beat the best in the country in his drive toward Olympic Gold.

From local wrestling aficionados, the newspapers report that they think the I.O.C. is following the cash. Wrestling is not viewed as a popular sport with the sponsors..but sports like golf...recently added ...are favored by the beer and boots guys who parse out the dough for T.V. 344 wrestlers competed in London in 2012 and the U.S.A has generally been a medal heavy team in wrestling...113 medals..the most of any nation.  Apparently, the I.O.C is considering wakeboarding or competitive "sport" climbing for the next games. These to contests seem like poor substitutes...in fact, I do not even know what the Hell "sport" climbing is....

Prison Blogging - Shaun Attwood Interviews Shannon Clark Part 1

Eight years ago, I met Shannon Clark in an Arizona prison, a non-violent offender, serving almost a dozen years for robbing $800-worth of goods that were later returned to their owner by the police. In 2005, I introduced him to Jon’s Jail Journal as “Shane” and started posting stories about him to the Internet. Fascinated by the concept of blogging, Shannon spent hours in my cell, pouring over print-outs of my old blog entries. Endlessly, we debated blogging and discussed my blog readers’ comments. By the end of 2005, and with outside help, Shannon managed to launch his own blog, Persevering Prison Pages, which has championed human rights and attracted media attention.

For speaking out, the prison came down hard on Shannon. His good time was pulled, effectively extending his sentence by a year, and in the past year he was moved from prison to prison five times. Getting moved is extremely stressful and disruptive. Despite this, and in defiance of senior prison staff, Shannon kept blogging. He’s a brave soul indeed.

Shannon was recently released, so I interviewed him about the perils of prison blogging. Part 1 of the audio is in the YouTube video.

Shannon is now living happily in a house with his new girlfriend from the UK, who originally found out about him through Jon’s jail Journal. 

 

Shaun Attwood   

Crawley Observer Story

Ex-convict give pupils a tough talk on pitfalls of drug crime|: http://www.crawleyobserver.co.uk/news/local/ex-convict-give-pupils-a-tough-talk-on-pitfalls-of-drug-crime-1-4762048

Shaun Attwood

Fashion Week

I assume my readers...all 11 of them...know it is unlikely that I will be found in some NYC venue sitting beside a runway drooling over suits  that look 3 sizes too small for the wearer. My clothes selections run toward Brooks Brothers suits for my professional days and Cabela's or L.L. Bean or even Duck Commander for my field pursuits.When not working or chasing game I am most comfortable in a pair of Lee jeans, a cotton button down and a Timberland fleece vest with some Bean loafers or Ariat cowboy kicks down below.
Nevertheless, as nod to Fashion Week, I offer these Orvis pants embroidered with Pheasants. I scored them on Ebay  a while back for a price that would make the Affordable Wardrobe guy jealous. A few bucks for tailoring...narrowing and tapering the legs and adjusting the seat...and these heavy cotton bird-adorned beauties were ready for the Lodge.
I recently sported these slacks at an end-of season cocktail party  for one of the shooting clubs to which I belong. It was no fashion Week Runway but the like-minded audience certainly commented with approval.

Question Time

Hello Shaun,

I'm from the school you spoke to on Friday morning. I'm sorry I didn't talk to you afterwards I was trying to take everything in but can I just say that I honestly thoroughly enjoyed your talk and it really has opened my mind up to a lot of things. I even spent Saturday watching some of your YouTube videos and explaining your story to my boyfriend which led to a rather heated discussion about how prisoners should be treated!

I would just like to ask a little question really, and that is just how do you feel about people taking drugs now? Obviously you don't want them going through those hard times but do you think drugs are acceptable if you take prison out of the equation? 

I ask this because I have seen someone die due to drug intake in front of me, had to deal with a sister who would sleep with older men to get drugs (and several times ended up pregnant, youngest 13) and a brother who went to prison for drug dealing and it absolutely killed me to think of what he could have gone through in there. I don't think people that deal or do drugs are bad people at all, and don't deserve to go through experiences like you did.

Lastly I would just like to say how much I respect you for deciding to go into schools to share your story and warn us of be dangers and reality that is out there. I've always thought of the negative consequences of drugs and am rather anti-drugs for my own personal use after my experiences but I had truthfully never thought of the realities of what prison could do to you and what you have to endure.

Thanks again for your talk it has truly enlightened me,

Claire

 

My response: 

Thanks, Claire. Your story is really moving, and I appreciate you sharing it. So sad to read about the devastating consequences drugs have brought to your brother and sister, and that someone died right in front of you.

You asked how I feel about people taking drugs, and if drugs are acceptable if prison is out of the equation. I’d rather young people didn’t do drugs, and channelled their energy into positive things. In my opinion, the present equation of how society treats drug users is all wrong. People tend to do drugs because something is missing from their lives, or they have some kind of inner turmoil. I feel that a lot of them are vulnerable young people, and should be given counselling, therapy, drugs education and be guided into positive activity. Instead, they are rounded up and thrown into prisons where hard drugs are readily available. Where I was incarcerated, scared young people ended up joining gangs and graduating from doing soft drugs before their arrests to shooting up heroin and crystal meth. Surrounded by criminals, they learnt that way of life. They had little chance of adapting to society when they were released with drug addictions that had multiplied in strength. They nearly all came right back to prison. It’s a disaster for society and the taxpayers, but big business for prison industries and politicians. 1 in 100 adults are now in prison in America, and private prisons are paying politicians to tighten laws even further. I don’t want vulnerable young people going through hard times like that here in the UK, but with the US private prisons setting up shop here, it’s going to get more like America.

I wish you happiness in life, 

Shaun 

Click here for the previous Question Time

Shaun Attwood Chris Dorner

Flyer

The weekend forecast here on the Main Line is for some snow. Not the barrage and blizzard expected to hammer points North.We will get a few inches I guess. My wife is in Florida with her girlfriends so she is amused by the looming Winter weather and I am on Dad duty at home.... and the Waterfowl Season (except for Snow Geese) is over.

The radio forecasters were droning on this morning about when and how much. I changed from the weather reports and sat in traffic listening to Corelli on XM...there was a sudden flood of memories of weekend days as a kid in the mid 70's waiting for the snow so we could do some serious sledding.

Sledding took place about 500 yards from my house on the hill at Ashbridge park. This was an old dairy farm from the early 1800's that had been purchased by the township and made into a very nice municipal space. In the center of the grounds was a fairly steep and long hill in the middle of what had been a pasture.

My brothers, myself,  and other guys from the neighborhood would drag the Flexible Flyers from our respective  the basements. A serious application of steel wool would have the metal runners gleaming. We would then pilfer candle stubs from the candlesticks in the dining room in order to wax the  runners.A few drops of 3-in-1 Oil on the metal bars that acted as the steering mechanism would loosen the action from the  dust and rust acquired over the off months.

Next we had to gear up for the cold. This was the mid 70's and we had no Goretex boots or nylon ski pants. You wore Hanes thermal long johns under your Levi's and pulled on about 6 pairs of socks. Next, one grabbed the bread bags my mom saved and pulled them over the  6 pair straight- jacketed feet to supposedly keep out the wet. Little did we know then that the bread bag or newspaper bag really just made your feet sweat and hence made your feet even more cold. Over the bagged feet would go the front zip rubber boots with about a micron of rubberized cotton insulation. This rig was like something from a freezing fox-hole in Bastogne but we were sure we were properly shod for several hours of sledding.Up top was a sweatshirt over a long sleeve Tee and maybe a hand me down "Mighty Mac" or a "P" coat for the cool older guys. Pilled up and holey wool gloves with faux leather palms passed for hand warming.

A fresh piece of brown string thru the holes on the cross piece of the sled  to pull the vehicle and we were down the drive way and off to "The Park." The best times were when the snow was on a weekend and we could go night sledding. We would hit the hill and there would be 20 or 30 kids screaming and laughing, gliding down or walking back up. The candle nubs used on the runners would now be lit behind little snow packed wind-breaks and some of the older guys would be sneaking a smoke. The gloves were useless after 3 runs and your feet were freezing after 5 or 6. But you stayed out. You were 10 or 11 and the cold was scoffed at and you did not want your older brothers and their buddies to call you a candy ass if you packed it in early. We would sled in trains with our thinly gloved hands holding the metal curved back runner of the sled in front.....and wipe each other out and stack 3 on a sled or mount the Flyer backwards or sitting...we would yell at the kids who walked up the middle of the hill instead of the sides. Finally, after your Levi's were soaked thru and your feet were freezing and your hands were numb, you pulled your sled home. On a few occasions...like a weekend night snow, my Mom would greet us with home made ginger bread with lemon sauce and hot chocolate. The wet gear was piled in the basement and the sleds were against the house. You went to bed hoping it would be cold tomorrow so the sledding would be good again.

Those Were the Days-"Sky Game" (1939)

A short film about the Tabasco King and his waterfowl hunting on Avery Island. Those were the days!