JG RINGSIDE

[billy boy balbo]

one of my favourites was

I was in PJ Clarke's, a N.Y. pub for the sports crowd. LaMotta could be found at the bar daily with his co-writer on RAGING BULL.

LaMotta was relaxing with his back against the bar -- trademark stogie in his mouth. A sweaty little guy in an ill-fitting suit came through the front door, spotted Jake 'n made b-line for him.

The little guy planted himself in front of LaMotta, regaling him -- and all in the bar -- with how he saw Jake KO some guy in New Orleans, demonstrating by wind-milling punches furiously...much too close to LaMotta's face.

LaMotta didn’t move a muscle or change expression. The guy's swings an eyelash away.

Sure enough, one landed flush on the cigar -- flattened it against LaMotta's face, like Wile e Coyote.

After a long pause, Jake looked heavenward: "Why me?"

 

[Capaedia]

I read all 40 pages in one day and enjoyed every line. My non-fan girlfriend was able to really enjoy the ones she caught a glimpse of. Such was his talent as a writer.

RIP John Garfield. You will be missed

 

[doug.ie]

r.i.p.

i only found out today and i am gutted here.....i was in touch with him a lot on and off the forums.....gutted.

 

[Boxed Ears]

I'm thinking about ole Joe just now. I hope he got every bit as much from the sharing of himself here as we got out of it. I mean, I hope the reaction made it worth it for him. All the time and effort was considerable, even for someone who loves to do the sharing.

 

[jorodz]

I'm thinking about ole Joe just now. I hope he got every bit as much from the sharing of himself here as we got out of it. I mean, I hope the reaction made it worth it for him. All the time and effort was considerable, even for someone who loves to do the sharing.

this is my first time on this thread and i can't wait to read it all. JG seemed genuinely humbled by the praise he received on here. At the very least, he knew how much he was appreciated

 

[lupa]

REFLECTIONS OF PACQUIAO

First saw Pac when he came to Wild Card in L.A. after destroying Ledwaba, who looked a world-beater at 122, but Pac was only a hot item to boxing insiders and gym rats. Most fans couldn't say Pacquiao, let alone spell it.

He was in his 20s then, more child than man/child. Understood 'n spoke no English, but had the most engaging grin, 'n gracious nature. He shared a grungy single room at a nearby motel with Gerry Penalosa, his friend and mentor, living on greasy fast foods. Their days were regimented: roadwork at the crack of dawn, running the seamy streets of Hollywood; training at WC twice a day and going to church on Sundays. The hard-partier hadn't surfaced at that time.

Pac had boundless energy.

With his huge calves, he sprang around the ring sparring, like a kangaroo.

What he threw looked like arm punches, which I told him, and he giggled, "but they keep falling down," he said. Still at Jr. feather --with big gloves -- he sparked sparring partners, some as heavy as welters, with that left that had a mind of it's own.

Even though i spoke no Tagolag or Spanish, we got along well-- mostly with improvised sign language. Think his people spoke-up for me, realizing I had no ax to grind or wanted any perks, just observing 'n reporting best I could.

Manny and his team always made me welcome', whether it was at meals, all the pre-fight hoopla, in his suite in Vegas, at the fights, 'n on the Team Pac bus back to L.A. (deafeningly quiet after the last Marques fight)

Saw him last before the third Marquez fight. The delightful boy had transitioned to man; years of life experience in his eyes and the price on his face. The cherub had become Zorba the Greek.

Great stuff here

 

[SamO408]

Readin through JGs stories, man I miss him

 

[Trail]

Readin through JGs stories, man I miss him

The man was a legend [MENTION=1651]SamO408[/MENTION]. I was fortunate to have regular contact by email with him, his stories of fight nights were unbelievable. He would never comment too much on a fight if he wasn't there/ringside, and hell he was at some classics. Joe's stories of Stillman's gym, the 5th St Gym and the legends he trained alongside was the kind of stuff I would have died for.

 

[DB Cooper]

Huge loss. I remember reading and enjoying JG's informed opinions. RIP Champ.

 

[Theron]

Is there any way to see the stories and questions he answered over at ESB?

 

[Duo]

He would never comment too much on a fight if he wasn't there/ringside

[MENTION=1890]Trail[/MENTION], those of us familiar with JG's literary output, like you and I, know that while Joe expressly claimed not to discuss what he did not witness in person, that self-imposed restriction on his own comments was actually not strictly set in stone.

While he repeatedly claimed to be "just a fan" (blatant BS, as he had far too much of a competitive background in amateur boxing to be that self-effacing), he was more than capable of analyzing and breaking down action footage brilliantly. In many ways, I consider one brief article he wrote with mostly short sentences to be his most fascinating piece of work on boxing history, where he melds his assessment of a then virtually unseen legend on film against his own eyewitness experiences to drop single mention bombs along the way.

After reading this piece from September 2005, the guy whose career and footage I found myself looking at far more closely wasn't Joe's main subject, but that of another forgotten great he only name drops once, two-thirds of the way through, and wonder who besides Joe could have ever compared Burley to Le Bombardier Marocain. I'm hard pressed to imagine anybody else who could have threaded a comparison stringing Burley with both the Casablanca Clouter and the Black Uhlan of the Rhine:

http://home.earthlink.net/~joerein/charley_burley.html

Given more time, I would have humorously countered his badgering of me to start up a blog by pestering him to do more blending of his experiences in boxing with vintage footage of historic events he was not in attendance to witness live. I wonder what additional name bombs he might have dropped from his first hand reminisces if we'd gotten him to link rare footage of legends he never saw before with those he knew and saw in action live.

Joe's daughter [MENTION=10250]Kimley[/MENTION] deserves enormous appreciation from all of us for overcoming her father's long stubborn resistance to finally become computer literate and get online to become known to us around the world. Mr. Rein, you raised a lovely daughter.

If Kimley could break down Joe's reluctance to join us all here, then I'm sure, given time, we could have likewise prevailed on him to loosen self imposed restrictions limiting himself only to fights and fighters he personally saw and knew. If he could name bomb single mentions of Greb, Walker, John L., and Schmeling among fighters he never met or saw in action, through a single brief pithy article about yet another legend he never met witnessed in action himself, what other unexpected names might he have uniquely popped out in additional such contributions?

Only a matter of time before we got him to relax and open up more, but I'll flip that coin and be thankful to want what guys like Joe and [mention=117]Burt[/mention] have already given us.

Burt's brought some valuable differences from JG to the table. He came on board at the former ESB Classic years ago with detailed knowledge of Fitzie Fitzpatrick for example, who JG had never even heard of (until learning about the Irish Blockbuster for the first time from a very stunned yours truly).

On New Year's Day last year at the former ESB Classic, [MENTION=406]McGrain[/MENTION] created a thread asking if Floyd Patterson was robbed against Joey Maxim. Burt said he thought Maxim-Patterson could have gone either way, exactly one minute after Joe submitted his third post on that same thread, where JG unequivocally asserted in his first two posts there that Joey schooled Floyd. The good Mr. Bienstock and the good Mr. Rein repeated their divergent opinions on Maxim-Patterson more than once online, and posted alternate views a few other memorable times on other bouts witnessed by the two of them, interesting opinions of contrast between these two fine gentlemen.

Maxim-Patterson gets a good spotlight though because of the extant kinescope of that broadcast, allowing us today to view something of what they were attending. (Funnily, a few ignorant dim-bulbs at the former ESB Classic questioned Burt's authenticity, and suggested he was plagiarizing JG. Nobody who remembers Burt's arrival at ESB, rapid learning and evolution of his distinctive posting style from text walls to a more readable format, and contributions to threads like last year's Maxim-Patterson discussion ever questioned his authenticity though. We knew right away Burt's the real deal, and of a distinct Great Depression/Greatest Generation raised vintage from the WW II and Atomic Age bottled JG. I know New Yorkers from both their age groups, and my father's right between their ages, so it wasn't hard for me to distinguish when and where they came from by their syntax and sensibilities. My mother's older best friend is online, was a Bobbysoxer in prewar NYC, and her email content reflects her origins.)

to JG and BB, and always a worthy thread to recharge with fresh activity for drawing new fans to JG's boxing legacy.

 

[Trail]

Is there any way to see the stories and questions he answered over at ESB?

A lot of the posts Joe put on ESB are here in this thread, I resurrected a lot of them, I had a lot more but due to Hewlett Packard not being that good with computers I lost a lot. I still have a few emails of stuff he sent me answering questions posed.

 

[Trail]

[MENTION=1890]Trail[/MENTION], those of us familiar with JG's literary output, like you and I, know that while Joe expressly claimed not to discuss what he did not witness in person, that self-imposed restriction on his own comments was actually not strictly set in stone.

While he repeatedly claimed to be "just a fan" (blatant BS, as he had far too much of a competitive background in amateur boxing to be that self-effacing), he was more than capable of analyzing and breaking down action footage brilliantly. In many ways, I consider one brief article he wrote with mostly short sentences to be his most fascinating piece of work on boxing history, where he melds his assessment of a then virtually unseen legend on film against his own eyewitness experiences to drop single mention bombs along the way.

After reading this piece from September 2005, the guy whose career and footage I found myself looking at far more closely wasn't Joe's main subject, but that of another forgotten great he only name drops once, two-thirds of the way through, and wonder who besides Joe could have ever compared Burley to Le Bombardier Marocain. I'm hard pressed to imagine anybody else who could have threaded a comparison stringing Burley with both the Casablanca Clouter and the Black Uhlan of the Rhine:

http://home.earthlink.net/~joerein/charley_burley.html

Given more time, I would have humorously countered his badgering of me to start up a blog by pestering him to do more blending of his experiences in boxing with vintage footage of historic events he was not in attendance to witness live. I wonder what additional name bombs he might have dropped from his first hand reminisces if we'd gotten him to link rare footage of legends he never saw before with those he knew and saw in action live.

Joe's daughter [MENTION=10250]Kimley[/MENTION] deserves enormous appreciation from all of us for overcoming her father's long stubborn resistance to finally become computer literate and get online to become known to us around the world. Mr. Rein, you raised a lovely daughter.

If Kimley could break down Joe's reluctance to join us all here, then I'm sure, given time, we could have likewise prevailed on him to loosen self imposed restrictions limiting himself only to fights and fighters he personally saw and knew. If he could name bomb single mentions of Greb, Walker, John L., and Schmeling among fighters he never met or saw in action, through a single brief pithy article about yet another legend he never met witnessed in action himself, what other unexpected names might he have uniquely popped out in additional such contributions?

Only a matter of time before we got him to relax and open up more, but I'll flip that coin and be thankful to want what guys like Joe and [mention=117]Burt[/mention] have already given us.

Burt's brought some valuable differences from JG to the table. He came on board at the former ESB Classic years ago with detailed knowledge of Fitzie Fitzpatrick for example, who JG had never even heard of (until learning about the Irish Blockbuster for the first time from a very stunned yours truly).

On New Year's Day last year at the former ESB Classic, [MENTION=406]McGrain[/MENTION] created a thread asking if Floyd Patterson was robbed against Joey Maxim. Burt said he thought Maxim-Patterson could have gone either way, exactly one minute after Joe submitted his third post on that same thread, where JG unequivocally asserted in his first two posts there that Joey schooled Floyd. The good Mr. Bienstock and the good Mr. Rein repeated their divergent opinions on Maxim-Patterson more than once online, and posted alternate views a few other memorable times on other bouts witnessed by the two of them, interesting opinions of contrast between these two fine gentlemen.

Maxim-Patterson gets a good spotlight though because of the extant kinescope of that broadcast, allowing us today to view something of what they were attending. (Funnily, a few ignorant dim-bulbs at the former ESB Classic questioned Burt's authenticity, and suggested he was plagiarizing JG. Nobody who remembers Burt's arrival at ESB, rapid learning and evolution of his distinctive posting style from text walls to a more readable format, and contributions to threads like last year's Maxim-Patterson discussion ever questioned his authenticity though. We knew right away Burt's the real deal, and of a distinct Great Depression/Greatest Generation raised vintage from the WW II and Atomic Age bottled JG. I know New Yorkers from both their age groups, and my father's right between their ages, so it wasn't hard for me to distinguish when and where they came from by their syntax and sensibilities. My mother's older best friend is online, was a Bobbysoxer in prewar NYC, and her email content reflects her origins.)

to JG and BB, and always a worthy thread to recharge with fresh activity for drawing new fans to JG's boxing legacy.

That's a damn good post [MENTION=290]Duo[/MENTION]! We somehow have to keep Joe's legacy alive...which is why I'm glad you and [MENTION=1730]Theron[/MENTION] have once again jumped in on this thread.

 

[Trail]

[MENTION=1890]Trail[/MENTION], those of us familiar with JG's literary output, like you and I, know that while Joe expressly claimed not to discuss what he did not witness in person, that self-imposed restriction on his own comments was actually not strictly set in stone.

While he repeatedly claimed to be "just a fan" (blatant BS, as he had far too much of a competitive background in amateur boxing to be that self-effacing), he was more than capable of analyzing and breaking down action footage brilliantly. In many ways, I consider one brief article he wrote with mostly short sentences to be his most fascinating piece of work on boxing history, where he melds his assessment of a then virtually unseen legend on film against his own eyewitness experiences to drop single mention bombs along the way.

After reading this piece from September 2005, the guy whose career and footage I found myself looking at far more closely wasn't Joe's main subject, but that of another forgotten great he only name drops once, two-thirds of the way through, and wonder who besides Joe could have ever compared Burley to Le Bombardier Marocain. I'm hard pressed to imagine anybody else who could have threaded a comparison stringing Burley with both the Casablanca Clouter and the Black Uhlan of the Rhine:

http://home.earthlink.net/~joerein/charley_burley.html

Given more time, I would have humorously countered his badgering of me to start up a blog by pestering him to do more blending of his experiences in boxing with vintage footage of historic events he was not in attendance to witness live. I wonder what additional name bombs he might have dropped from his first hand reminisces if we'd gotten him to link rare footage of legends he never saw before with those he knew and saw in action live.

Joe's daughter [MENTION=10250]Kimley[/MENTION] deserves enormous appreciation from all of us for overcoming her father's long stubborn resistance to finally become computer literate and get online to become known to us around the world. Mr. Rein, you raised a lovely daughter.

If Kimley could break down Joe's reluctance to join us all here, then I'm sure, given time, we could have likewise prevailed on him to loosen self imposed restrictions limiting himself only to fights and fighters he personally saw and knew. If he could name bomb single mentions of Greb, Walker, John L., and Schmeling among fighters he never met or saw in action, through a single brief pithy article about yet another legend he never met witnessed in action himself, what other unexpected names might he have uniquely popped out in additional such contributions?

Only a matter of time before we got him to relax and open up more, but I'll flip that coin and be thankful to want what guys like Joe and [mention=117]Burt[/mention] have already given us.

Burt's brought some valuable differences from JG to the table. He came on board at the former ESB Classic years ago with detailed knowledge of Fitzie Fitzpatrick for example, who JG had never even heard of (until learning about the Irish Blockbuster for the first time from a very stunned yours truly).

On New Year's Day last year at the former ESB Classic, [MENTION=406]McGrain[/MENTION] created a thread asking if Floyd Patterson was robbed against Joey Maxim. Burt said he thought Maxim-Patterson could have gone either way, exactly one minute after Joe submitted his third post on that same thread, where JG unequivocally asserted in his first two posts there that Joey schooled Floyd. The good Mr. Bienstock and the good Mr. Rein repeated their divergent opinions on Maxim-Patterson more than once online, and posted alternate views a few other memorable times on other bouts witnessed by the two of them, interesting opinions of contrast between these two fine gentlemen.

Maxim-Patterson gets a good spotlight though because of the extant kinescope of that broadcast, allowing us today to view something of what they were attending. (Funnily, a few ignorant dim-bulbs at the former ESB Classic questioned Burt's authenticity, and suggested he was plagiarizing JG. Nobody who remembers Burt's arrival at ESB, rapid learning and evolution of his distinctive posting style from text walls to a more readable format, and contributions to threads like last year's Maxim-Patterson discussion ever questioned his authenticity though. We knew right away Burt's the real deal, and of a distinct Great Depression/Greatest Generation raised vintage from the WW II and Atomic Age bottled JG. I know New Yorkers from both their age groups, and my father's right between their ages, so it wasn't hard for me to distinguish when and where they came from by their syntax and sensibilities. My mother's older best friend is online, was a Bobbysoxer in prewar NYC, and her email content reflects her origins.)

to JG and BB, and always a worthy thread to recharge with fresh activity for drawing new fans to JG's boxing legacy.

That's a damn good post [MENTION=290]Duo[/MENTION]! We somehow have to keep Joe's legacy alive...which is why I'm glad you and [MENTION=1730]Theron[/MENTION] have once again jumped in on this thread.

 

[Trail]

[MENTION=1890]Trail[/MENTION], those of us familiar with JG's literary output, like you and I, know that while Joe expressly claimed not to discuss what he did not witness in person, that self-imposed restriction on his own comments was actually not strictly set in stone.

While he repeatedly claimed to be "just a fan" (blatant BS, as he had far too much of a competitive background in amateur boxing to be that self-effacing), he was more than capable of analyzing and breaking down action footage brilliantly. In many ways, I consider one brief article he wrote with mostly short sentences to be his most fascinating piece of work on boxing history, where he melds his assessment of a then virtually unseen legend on film against his own eyewitness experiences to drop single mention bombs along the way.

After reading this piece from September 2005, the guy whose career and footage I found myself looking at far more closely wasn't Joe's main subject, but that of another forgotten great he only name drops once, two-thirds of the way through, and wonder who besides Joe could have ever compared Burley to Le Bombardier Marocain. I'm hard pressed to imagine anybody else who could have threaded a comparison stringing Burley with both the Casablanca Clouter and the Black Uhlan of the Rhine:

http://home.earthlink.net/~joerein/charley_burley.html

Given more time, I would have humorously countered his badgering of me to start up a blog by pestering him to do more blending of his experiences in boxing with vintage footage of historic events he was not in attendance to witness live. I wonder what additional name bombs he might have dropped from his first hand reminisces if we'd gotten him to link rare footage of legends he never saw before with those he knew and saw in action live.

Joe's daughter [MENTION=10250]Kimley[/MENTION] deserves enormous appreciation from all of us for overcoming her father's long stubborn resistance to finally become computer literate and get online to become known to us around the world. Mr. Rein, you raised a lovely daughter.

If Kimley could break down Joe's reluctance to join us all here, then I'm sure, given time, we could have likewise prevailed on him to loosen self imposed restrictions limiting himself only to fights and fighters he personally saw and knew. If he could name bomb single mentions of Greb, Walker, John L., and Schmeling among fighters he never met or saw in action, through a single brief pithy article about yet another legend he never met witnessed in action himself, what other unexpected names might he have uniquely popped out in additional such contributions?

Only a matter of time before we got him to relax and open up more, but I'll flip that coin and be thankful to want what guys like Joe and [mention=117]Burt[/mention] have already given us.

Burt's brought some valuable differences from JG to the table. He came on board at the former ESB Classic years ago with detailed knowledge of Fitzie Fitzpatrick for example, who JG had never even heard of (until learning about the Irish Blockbuster for the first time from a very stunned yours truly).

On New Year's Day last year at the former ESB Classic, [MENTION=406]McGrain[/MENTION] created a thread asking if Floyd Patterson was robbed against Joey Maxim. Burt said he thought Maxim-Patterson could have gone either way, exactly one minute after Joe submitted his third post on that same thread, where JG unequivocally asserted in his first two posts there that Joey schooled Floyd. The good Mr. Bienstock and the good Mr. Rein repeated their divergent opinions on Maxim-Patterson more than once online, and posted alternate views a few other memorable times on other bouts witnessed by the two of them, interesting opinions of contrast between these two fine gentlemen.

Maxim-Patterson gets a good spotlight though because of the extant kinescope of that broadcast, allowing us today to view something of what they were attending. (Funnily, a few ignorant dim-bulbs at the former ESB Classic questioned Burt's authenticity, and suggested he was plagiarizing JG. Nobody who remembers Burt's arrival at ESB, rapid learning and evolution of his distinctive posting style from text walls to a more readable format, and contributions to threads like last year's Maxim-Patterson discussion ever questioned his authenticity though. We knew right away Burt's the real deal, and of a distinct Great Depression/Greatest Generation raised vintage from the WW II and Atomic Age bottled JG. I know New Yorkers from both their age groups, and my father's right between their ages, so it wasn't hard for me to distinguish when and where they came from by their syntax and sensibilities. My mother's older best friend is online, was a Bobbysoxer in prewar NYC, and her email content reflects her origins.)

to JG and BB, and always a worthy thread to recharge with fresh activity for drawing new fans to JG's boxing legacy.

That's a damn good post [MENTION=290]Duo[/MENTION]! We somehow have to keep Joe's legacy alive...which is why I'm glad you and [MENTION=1730]Theron[/MENTION] have once again jumped in on this thread.

 

[Trail]

Fucking hell, website's fucked, sort it [MENTION=1]Jay[/MENTION].

 

[Duo]

Fucking hell, website's fucked, sort it [MENTION=1]Jay[/MENTION].

Y'know what [mention=1890]T[/mention]? Looks like [MENTION=1]Jay[/MENTION] and crew got us through the down time with JG's content and original CHB post contributions intact.

I hadn't been posting long when the great ESB Crash of 2007 wiped those boards clean of all previously extant member contributions, and we all remember what the closure of the old CHB Lounge did to all those friendly thread questions and posts JG created there during the last several months of his life. Yeah, CHB's been down a few times, but always resurfaced intact. I'll take it! JG RINGSIDE remains right here.

As Mr. Rein himself said back in post #26 , "So, grab your buds by the scruff of the neck. Keep the feedback comin'" Damn straight!

 

[Trail]

Y'know what [mention=1890]T[/mention]? Looks like [MENTION=1]Jay[/MENTION] and crew got us through the down time with JG's content and original CHB post contributions intact.

I hadn't been posting long when the great ESB Crash of 2007 wiped those boards clean of all previously extant member contributions, and we all remember what the closure of the old CHB Lounge did to all those friendly thread questions and posts JG created there during the last several months of his life. Yeah, CHB's been down a few times, but always resurfaced intact. I'll take it! JG RINGSIDE remains right here.

As Mr. Rein himself said back in post #26 , "So, grab your buds by the scruff of the neck. Keep the feedback comin'" Damn straight!

I gave all the content to Jay and thread starter, I saved it all to a word document long long before the crash (all of the stuff I have is ESB stuff as he was never bothered for posting on here) and long before Mr Rein died. I still have the document here and also a load of emails Joe sent me before he passed. I was in regular contact with him by email, and had many a good email chat with him. I wasn't fortunate enough to meet with him [MENTION=1779]DobyZhee[/MENTION] was, he met him in Vegas at one of the fights they both attended.

I remember Joe's first scare before he passed away, he sent me a picture of him in his hospital bed that his daughter had taken, he looked in a real bad way, but he pulled through...and he was in contact with me close to his passing away. The amount of people I've put onto his work is countless, from people on ESB to people on here, to friends of mine, to my family members who enjoy boxing. The man was a legend. Spread his word...

edit: [MENTION=1]Jay[/MENTION] and his cohorts are legends for saving the site (and Joe's work).

 

[Trail]

Found this on an email Joe sent me - it was about what they did to a gym bully when Joe was training...

Here's the blindfold story, Trail

As 4th 'n 5th graders, we all played basketball at the local church gym, and also had a weekly free-for-all in the church ring, refereed by the priest. The ground rules were:

Each kid -- maybe 10 or 15 -- was blindfolded and held an empty soup can with a marble in it 'n wore a 16-ounce glove (bigger than we were) on the other. When the bell rang, the kids shook the can with the marble 'n swung furiously at any sound. The last one standing was the winner.

Word got to the priest that a really big kid was bullying the rest during the week.

Right before the bell, he removed all blindfolds but the bullies'. We beat the hell outta that kid.

 

[wodawoda]

Good post!