Does anyone else appreciate the irony of a football team called “the Saints” running a bounty program in which devastating and potentially injurious hits to opposing players were rewarded with cash payouts? In unrelated news…
Hugo Correa may want to consider another line of work… like street performer, or carnie.
That’s because Correa, a Mexican boxing agent, is accused of pulling the old bait-and-switch when he recently sent Genaro “Panterita” Garcia to the Philippines to take on featherweight champion Rey Bautista.
The only problem: Bautista was supposed to fight Genaro “Poblanito” Garcia.
Before you ask, the difference is substantial — Poblanito, boasting a 38-8 record, has fought eight world champions; with a record of 10-11, Panterita’s last defeat came at the hands of his mother-in-law.
The crazy part is that Correa’s little shell game might have worked, if not for the fact that Panterita’s nickname was stitched, in giant letters, on the front of his trunks.
These are boxers, folks, not brain surgeons.
So the other day I ran into Marilyn.
No, not that Marilyn. (Though we are in Los Angeles, and you never know who’s walking down Sunset.)
Actually I was several miles east of Hollywood — not far from my special lady’s primary residence — when a woman who looked to be about my mother’s age suddenly stopped me on the sidewalk:
Woman: You must be going to the gym.
Me (looking down at my basketball shorts): Oh, no, this is just what I’m wearing on account that it’s 90 degrees outside.
Woman: But you do work out, right?
Me: Guilty, why do you ask?
Woman: Because I bet you would really enjoy my Finnish Folk Dancing Group.
Me: Come again?
Woman: Well, it’s great exercise, and we travel all around the country, even the world. We used to have 12 couples, but now we’re down to just six.
Me: Yeah, the recession’s been tough on everyone.
Woman: What?
Me: Have a nice day.
When I recounted the experience to my better half, she asked me to describe the woman.
“Oh,” she replied, “that’s just Marilyn. You really needed to keep walking.”
Officials in Japan are expected to announce soon whether Hiroshi Hoketsu will become the country’s oldest-ever Olympian. Hoketsu, who turns 71 this month, qualified for the Japanese equestrian team during a March 1 dressage meet in France.
Dressage, I’ve come to learn, is the French term for a competitive sport that is considered “the highest expression of horse training.” It is occasionally referred to as Horse Ballet, although I prefer to think of it as “Dancing With The Mares.”
No word yet on whether Nancy Grace will represent the American team.
