Bruce Lee vs. Mike Tyson

I am a member of the boxingscene forums and have had much fun discussing topics there over the years. I took a long break from posting there but in the last week I've been going back and building my post count up. Sometimes debates can be quite heated on there and when I am in the mood I am up for a good debate. Going through some of my history there, I thought I would post a debate with a guy named leff, who made the mistake of questioning my opinion on what was meant to be a fun hypothetical discussion. He asked for proofs on what can't be proven since one of the relevant parties in this discussion was only about seven years old when the other one died. He sure got a detailed answer from me! This is from four-and-a-half years ago:

ME (just chiming in in the spirit of the threat):

Bruce Lee would move around Tyson and frustrate him enormously, then take out his legs and drop him and stomp his face in when he was down.Tyson was great but had trouble with movers.

Leff:and your proof on lees fighting abilitys are?

ME:What the hell are proofs? Who can PROVE anything? It's a theoretical discourse. The only thing you can PROVE are facts and given that Bruce will never fight Tyson, there are no facts, one can only make theories based on what they have read about or seen regarding the fighting styles of either person...

Leff (here's where he gets a bit smug and pompous, just right to be taken apart):uuuum

you know evidence that lee could fight at all dont exist,
kinda does that tyson could.

pluss lee 130
tyson 215-220

get it?

Me (this is where he got more than he bargained for):

Yes I do get it. First of all, unfortunately I did not know Bruce Lee, he was a bit before my time. I can only go by what other people say about him and what I've seen in documentaries and I've read his book. Is it possible that he didn't know what he was talking about? Maybe, yes, look, maybe he had someone else ghost write the notes that became Bruce Lee's Fighting Method and all the other books that have been issued under his name. Yes, maybe one day we'll find out that he was a farce. Maybe we will learn that the fights that I've heard about in interviews didn't happen and were all made up;that he really didn't know what he was talking about, that the possibility as remote as it is, does exist. Then tyson would turn his jaw bone into powder and knock his head off his shoulders if they were to actually fight. But the point here is that this whole thread is a what if as are many of the threads on this forum. Of course there are many variables that can affect the outcome of a fight(so and so could come into the fight drunk, so and so could have the flu, so and so's mother may have died the night before, etc). But when you add to a thread, you are placing your opinion and to place an opinion you have to work with what you know. I believe that it was Tyson who said that everyone has a plan until they get hit. So anything can happen. Since I put my opinion down I based it on what I know about Lee andTyson. Yes, Tyson when he was motivated is one of my all time favorites and yes, I've seen most of his fights. If Tyson fought Lee in the boxing ring with gloves no less, he would bring his weight to bear on Lee and the odds of Lee even surviving or coming out uninjured are in question. I'm basing my opinion on Lee knowing what he was talking about and having been in many street fights. If he wasn't and like I said before if that wasn't true, then that changes everything. But assuming that he did know what he was talking about and was an experienced street fighter, and I am talking about a fight on the street, (maybe I didn't make that clear in my other post, not in the ring, which I am here), Bruce wouldn't fightTyson's fight, he would use fast footwork and stay out of Tyson's range (and yes, I know Tyson could potentially kill him with one punch). He would fight dirty on Tyson when he saw an opening, if he could flick a finger jab to the eyes or he would, as I said in the other post kick him in the knee. The dirty fighting is what i think would tip the scales towardBruce and neutralize the size advantage. But, like I said there are always variables. If we base everything strictly on size, Dempsey 187 Willard 245 Dempsey TKO Round 3 with seven knockdowns in the first round alone. Granted the size between Tyson and Lee is even more distanced than that, but I already said how I think Lee would neutralize it in a street fight where they both have the opportunity to face off ie no sucker punches.

That was fun!

Controversies And Commanders

As those of you who know me are aware, I read a considerable amount on American History with a particular emphasis on the American Civil War. I have read well over 100 books on the subject and find books describing specific battles in detail and biographies as the books on the subject I enjoy reading the most. That said, sometimes it's good to come across a book that has a slightly different twist. Eleven years ago I found one of these books and pull it out and reread it from time to time. It's written by one of my favorite Civil War writers, Stephen W. Sears and is called Controversies And Commanders: Dispatches From The Army Of The Potomac.

It's not a massive tome describing the history of the Army of The Potomac like it sounds it would be but is rather is a compact little series of ten thirty or so page essays. The battle descriptions take a back seat to descriptions of drama behind the scenes and descriptions of some fascinating character. Stephen Sears rehabilitates General Joseph Hooker for his performance in the battle Chancellorsville, a battle which damaged his reputation, and while it didn't finish him as the top general in the Army of the Potomac, it did leave him on thin ice and he would be removed as top general close to two months later right before the battle of Gettysburg. Sears, a biographer of General George McClellan, is no admirer of McClellan, and its McClellan who dominates most of the essays in the first half of the book until President Lincoln finally loses patience with him and removes him. There is a detailed essay on the intrigues by many of the generals in the Army of the Potomac to remove McClellan's successor in the essay titled, "The Revolt Of The Generals". Again, it's politics, not battles that dominates this book and there are few more political generals than Daniel Sickles, described in the fascinating essay, "Daniel Sickles, Political General" about the man who killed the son of the author of the "The Star Spangled Banner" for love triangle reasons and managed to avoid prosecution and become one of the generals in the Army of The Potomac who ran afoul of the commanding general at that point, George Meade and engaged in much feuding with him. One of the most fascinating essays is the "Raid On Richmond" about the Union cavalry attack that included an instruction to kill Confederate President Jefferson Davis, a note that added to a lot of controversy and led to questions on who sanctioned that order. There's an essay on the controversy surrounding General Phil Sheridan's relief of General Warren just a few days before the end of the war. Great book that I cannot recommend any higher. Anyone looking for a description for how adults in positions of respect and power behave in situations of incredible pressure could do much worse than to read this book.

Machete

About three-and-a-half years ago, Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez teamed up for the ambitious film, Grindhouse, which I saw in the theater. That film consisted of two films paired together with trailers to fake films that was intended to invoke the spirit of the old b movies from the 70's. The whole thing was long but I found it to be a fairly enjoyable experience, if not a masterpiece. It wasn't intended to be a masterpiece so it accomplished its goal of being a fun homage. I know there were a lot of people who didn't like it at all. One of the trailers was for a movie called Machete and it was that trailer, which featured the great Danny Trejo in the lead, that got the biggest response from the crowd when I saw the movie. So well did that trailer go over, that it was decided to make it into a film of its own. It was one of those rare times where a trailer was made for a film that did not exist and a film had to be subsequently built around that trailer.

Well the movie that was made opened a few weeks ago and I went to see it. I don't go much these days to the theater to see films, not like the old days when I used to see movies all the time it seemed. I recommend it, its not for everyone, of course. It's more of an entertaining action film rather than a literary film or some sort of high drama. Danny Trejo is "Machete", a former Mexican federale, who runs afoul of Steven Seagal, a drug dealing federale and the fun ensues. There is a great cast in the film, with Jeff Fahey as a particularly oily campaign manager (and much more) for Robert De Niro's racist state senator, Lindsay Lohan as Fahey's daughter. Jessica Alba and Michelle Rodriguez are very easy on the eyes. Don Johnson plays a sleazy redneck sheriff-type. I'll be picking this one up on DVD, too bad its not doing better at the box office. It could have a fun sequel.

Bara Hack (Part Two)

A year or so ago I made a post on here about the Bara Hack site in Pomfret. Well, two months ago I finally got the chance to go there for the first time since that day back in 1983 when I went on an elementary school trip. A friend of mine came across the caretakers of the site and they gave us an invitation to come and see the place, an offer which we gladly accepted. Well, there were no haunted sightings while we were there. In fact what we felt was a strong sense of peacefulness. It's a very relaxing place. The girl who is the caretaker explained that the voices that people have heard there are actually people in houses off in the distance as the place sits in a valley and there is a sort of echo there. You can't see any houses with all of the thick overgrowth as the place is quite deeply situated in the woods but apparently sound travels well there.

The Idiot at work is no longer there

Since I haven't updated this blog in awhile and I had made in the past here some detailed posts about an annoying problem at work, the guy who wouldn't stop trying to make problems, I decided to post an update. Three weeks ago he was finally fired. He proved the adage, "give an idiot enough rope and he'll find a way to hang himself". Well, this guy certainly did that. He was warned time and time again to knock off his crap, crap that I've gone in much detail about in prior posts. He received so many warnings. All he had to do was shut up and stop trying to make problems. After coming in to work drunk and belligerent, he still had a job, he just received more warnings. He and I had some explosive conflicts and I warned him very strongly to stop and he might quiet for a few days but would be right back to trouble making in a week or two .

Finally one day he hid the keys that I needed to open everything up in the morning and that was it. He wanted a confrontation, he got one. I didn't yell, I just persistently asked him why he felt the need to engage in this sort of garbage. At first he tried to be sarcastic but he didn't know how to deal with my relentless persistence and finally took a punch at me to try to scare me off. It didn't work. I kept after him and finally he threatened to slit my throat, a threat I recorded on tape. Finally there were no more chances for him. His luck ran out and he was finished. Now he has to find a job at a place that will tolerate him and I am sure few places will tolerate him as much as the company he used to work for did.

Philadelphia

Thursday I took the New Century bus to Philadelphia, something I try to do a few times a year. It is a grand old city that I like because I can cover a fair percentage of it on foot in a day. The Reading Terminal Market is a stellar eatery with farm fresh foods from the Amish farms in Pennsylvania. Their Philly Cheese steak is unbelievably good with top notch bread and fresh provolone cheese. A visit there is not complete without having Chocolate Chip Cookies from the Famous 4th Street Cookie. Then I walked over to the Eastern State Penitentiary, I haven't gone inside yet I usually have a lot of places to see when in the city and decided not to spend the time going through but maybe next visit I'll go in. I just walked around the perimeter which is a fun thing to do. It's on a big hill with a view of the downtown skyscrapers and there is large garden around the perimeter. Then I walked over to Ritenhouse Square, which is one of the better downtown city parks I have seen, it's like a cleaner version of NYC's Union Square. I recommend anyone with a free day to visit the city and explore.

I am back

After a long break from here devoting my attention to writing my various books and other pressing concerns, I am back here. I am going to maintain the effort to keep the blog up and keep communicating about what's going on as I see it to those few (or many?) who might be reading here. Keep your eyes peeled, I have a lot to discuss in these here parts...