BOXING

Just saw Mr. Dan Rafael do a post about the 20th Anniversary of the Arturo Gatti/Wilson Rodriguez fight. I remember it like it was yesterday.

Along with the Kennedy McKinney/Marco Antonio Barrera fight, I feel in love w/ boxing watching this fight that night.

I'll have to do a longer posting about boxing and the love I shared of it w/ my Dad ... and how it brought us together when many other things pushed us  apart. However, for now, I just wanted to post this picture.

For anyone that doesn't see that Boxing/MMA etc. are true art forms, think again. YouTube this fantastic, Shakespearean Battle, and be amazed.

In my #boxing collection is the site poster from Gatti-Rodrguez, the epic fight that took place 20 years ago today: pic.twitter.com/8RaGHQc7bM

— Dan Rafael (@danrafaelespn) March 23, 2016

Thinking some good thoughts about my Dad

November brings with it my Dad's birthday. Obviously, he's been gone for 3 years now, and I'm trying to work on remembering the good times with him.  Let me tell ya, I should have done the schlepping from Jacksonville, to Melbourne every weekend to make sure  he was ok.

Perhaps it is the fact that I'm actually in a Psychology/Mental Health Counseling Graduate program, or going to therapy... I'm starting to become more grounded when it comes to thinking about growing up as a kid with and living life as an adult as the son of Elliott Sincoff...Not totally there... but I have moments of being there, and loving him 100%.

I know I've shared before, but if someone were to ask what the coolest thing about your Dad was, it had to be how he made me appreciate that boxing (and later, on my own as a result, MMA) is an art form.  If done right, it is like ballet, or poetry.  It can bring a tear to your eye. 

First off, he was the first one to tell me to forget The Heavyweights (too slow), they were bullshit. Every week, we would put on Telemundo, and turn the sound low as we didn't speak Spanish. It was boxing from the Los Angeles Forum. Every Mexican and  Latino fighter that was great, and went on to great things fought on that show.  I dug the Mexican/South American fighting style of trading body shots that the fighters did the "fighting in a phone booth" kind of way.

I can't think of certain fighters (Erik Morales, Marco Antonio Barrera) w/o thinking of him. I dig Marco so much  I almost thought we could have named Tobin "Marco Antonio" :)

When I say that boxing (if done right) is an art form, I truly mean it.  It can be up there w/ any great play, film, concert, etc.  Here, watch a bit Marco Antonio Barrera vs. Kennedy McKinney from 1996.  Tell me you don't see something special. A story w/ a beginning, middle, and end. One that will just blow you away.

Just amazing stuff, right? Just watch a couple rounds...

It took me a long time to feel like I wasn't a little kid around him. I'm still awaiting a time where I can remember the good stuff, the laughs, the love, more than the negative stuff. I'm not there yet, but I'm working on it.

I do know I miss all the late night phone calls where he would scream "where the fuck are you (TV turned up so loud like he was going to chainsaw  a drug dealers arms off), you are missing this motherfuckin' fight!"  

We would argue about my cholesterol, my weight, decisions I made..... The only 2 subjects we agreed on, and could talk about w/o a lecture were boxing and politics.   The fights of late haven't been as dramatic, as passionate, or as amazing of late. Some of it is the lack of great fighters. I'd like to think some of it is my father no longer calling me at 1AM on a Saturday night/Sunday morning to discuss the fight we just watched.

Little Post Birthday Blog Post (and a couple of good podcast guests!)

Hey Kiddos

It's a 44 year old Ethan Sincoff blogging to you today. That's right, Mr. Podcaster/Blogger/Husband and Dad par Excellence has reached turned another page of the calendar!  The # has hit me pretty hard,.. but it is sort of one of those "what are you gonna do" type things.... It certainly beats the alternative of  pushing up daisies... but to think I used to run around the East Village at 3am... and that Kirk Miller probably STILL runs around the East Village at all hours... makes ya feel old! I need a nap right now, actually.

So birthday was great..v. mellow and understated. Vicki and Tobin took me out to a great dinner at Orsay in Jacksonville. W/O doubt my favorite favorite FAVORITEST restaurant here... I had duck.. and it was yummy.... Vicki looked gorgeous.. Tobin rocked and behaved.. much red wine was imbibed. What's that deserty thingy w/ the crispy sugary top?? It was yummy, we had that.... Crème Brule I think that's it... it was yums.

Vicki also got  me a great, and I mean great set of headphones so I could podcast and sound good. I'm finally waking up to the fact I should do a little, and I mean a little bit of prep work so the show can sound better. It's hard to believe I've been doing the show for over 2 years... I'm just finally starting to "network" a bit in the podcaster FB community pages... a lot of the podcasters are business type success type podcasts... I'm like "um, I talk about mma, and jokes, and being jewish and stuff".... lol fits right in.

I would be remiss if I did not reference two great podcast guests I have had on recently.
Virginia Jones is this lovely gal shown below. She is a comic, based in Los Angeles.. and she's really hip.. and I've bet she has seen The Cure in concert... and does sort of Gothic karaoke as well... she used to live in Portland.. and she was on "Portlandia"... you should check out her website and follow her on Twitter. She is awesome, and not really "comedienne like" in the sense that a lot of the comics (aside from Kass Smiley) that I've had on... don't like to "share" the show.. but Virginia was awesome.. and was able to riff.. and laugh.. and I can't say enough groovy things about her.

Please Follow Virginia on Twitter, and Facebook, check out her YouTube Page. Go see her comedy gigs. She's very funny, and I feel will be very big one day!

That was a Thursday, on Friday morning, I had a special recording of a show w/ one of my favorite MMA peeps in the world, Rosi Sexton.  What a great person to talk to! She was warm, and funny.. and really "got the show" in the sense I told her "hey I'm a goofy guy who talks about random stuff, but loves MMA, and we will get to MMA,... but there may be time where I'm going to tell you an anecdote, or say something silly"... She totally rolled with it.

I dig Rosi because she is sort of an "old school" fighter.... Really seems to love the sport for the sports sake. She's kicked butt, and fought all over the world for a bunch of different organizatons.. not to mention she is interesting to talk to about non MMA stuff as she has a really interesting background (interests/education/being a parent etc.)

Please keep an eye on Rosi's website. I'm sure that as she transitions to new MMA venture type stuff, she will update us all. Support her, and all of her sponsors! She's Britain's Sweetheart!!!

I think I timed the interview perfectly in that I didn't piss her off, and I didn't say anything stupid!! lol again, in the case of both Virginia, and Rosi, it pays to do some homework before podcasting!!

BTW: As far as "new school" type fighters; I don't have a problem with "The Ultimate Fighter" or fighters/performers that have a larger than life persona.. I just have a hard time reconciling it w/ who the real person is... vs. who the performer is... "how does the hype machine get started?" "who tells the person to tweet constantly?" "How do they make sure to snarl and show their tattoos?" ... because they do snarl, and they do show tattoos!