Reader feedback 11.17.04

DON’T OVERLOOK AMATEUR BOXING

As a 35-year coordinator of St. Martin Boxing Club, 22-year
state and regional director of the New YorkState and Region I Silver Gloves,
Golden Glove Board member, and past president of the Niagara District USA
Boxing, I found the account of Rochester
boxing to be a bit incomplete and misleading (“Knock-out,” October 20).

            Rochester
amateur boxing, as is the case with amateur boxing nationwide, is governed and
regulated by USA Boxing, a subsidiary of the USOC and IOC. Locally, it is
governed and promoted by a democratic Local Boxing Committee, a subsidiary of
USA Boxing. Most of the considerable amount of Rochester
activity has been at several USA Boxing member clubs — Baden
Street, SWAN, and St. Martin.
There is no Avenue D Recreation USA boxing club. Montgomery
is a member, though their activity has diminished. Their leadership has opted
for professional boxing in the past year or so.

            The amateur
boxing clubs’ purpose is youth development. As with all responsible youth
coaches, the idea of obtaining wealth through professional sport is strongly
downplayed lest it damage balanced youth development. For example, though St.
Martin has produced a number of outstanding boxers over the past
35 years, including national champions, none of the 17 who have boxed
professionally has become wealthy. The same is true of similar clubs. Thus the
goal of youth development is essential.

            There is a
great amount of amateur boxing activity year round. For example, St.
Martin boxers participated in 57 shows in the past year, ranging
from recreational-level shows to national competition. Baden
Street runs the Junior Olympics, and Baden’s
Lord Johnson is the LBC’s Junior Olympic chair.

            St.
Martin brought the Silver Gloves Tournament to Rochester
and the northeast in 1982. It runs the New York State Tournament, the Region I
Tournament, and organizes the Region I team in national competition.

            Rochester
boxers have often been dominant in the New York State Golden Gloves and the
Niagara USA Boxing Tournaments. A number of girls now also participate. That
amateur boxing is safe was proven by exhaustive studies by JohnsHopkinsMedicalSchool
and other studies worldwide.

            All this
activity is due to the efforts of many volunteers. Volunteer coaches must be
certified by USA Boxing, pay membership dues, and contribute to their clubs.
Volunteer referees and judges also must become certified and registered. Their
expenses are entirely borne by themselves. Volunteer doctors are always a
critical shortage.

            Lower-income
minorities are the main contributors to amateur boxing in Rochester
and most other places. This may be a reason why it gets so little media
attention. The article mentions old-timers of the past and a professional fan
club. Unfortunately, they seldom support these youth programs. Local leaders
must struggle with the present and the future.

            All youth
development clubs are hard-pressed to survive financially and depend on meager
donations. The courageous efforts on behalf of the many needy and at-risk Rochester
youth depend on community support. A test of a community is whether it supports
efforts such as these boxing clubs. We are actively engaged while others simply
talk about the bad aspects of our community.

            Don Simkin, Crawford Street, Rochester

KNOCKED OUT

Damn, that boxing article was good (“Knock Out,” by Frank De
Blase, October 20). Thank you, Frank. Keep it up, and
that rag will be a lot more interesting.

            David Spampinato,
Vassar
Street, Rochester

LIGHT A CANDLE

I agree with the writer who thought that we ought to have a
day of remembrance (“Grief, Shared,” The Mail, November 10). For various
reasons I would like to suggest November 22. I will light a candle on that day
to reflect the loss of a little more of our democratic way of life and my
sadness at the continuation of this utterly corrupt, potentially despotic
regime that rules in the name of a higher order, but wouldn’t know goodness if
it bit it in the tail.

            I am so
disgusted by this junta and the strangely delusional people that follow it that
I am truly embarrassed to live in this country controlled by these fringe
radicals. I was hoping that we might be able to join the civilized world again,
but it looks like we will be stuck in a greedy, un-American retro empire, where
the very rich are literally getting richer as we speak and the rest of us are
struggling to hold on to some remnant of the American dream.

            Robert Benvenuti,
Delaware
Avenue, Rochester

WORK THROUGH OUR HEARTBREAK

What does it mean when a free people voluntarily calls back
into office a government that sent their children to war on a lie while
borrowing billions of dollars that they and their children’s children will have
to pay back without jobs or education…

            A
government that has violated its constitution in the name of security while
leaving our borders unprotected… a government that allowed the world’s most
dangerous terrorist to escape and attacked a dictator of our own making who had
never attacked us… a government that ordered the imprisonment and torture of a
people it claimed it was liberating… a government that is dismantling and
selling its own environment… a government that has embarrassed and diminished
its nation among the world community of nations….

            In short,
what does it mean when a free people chooses a government that is bent on the
destruction of their own country?

            It means that
a little over half of its voting citizens, through laziness or ignorance, or
lack of curiosity, have failed to adequately inform themselves before voting.
It means that perhaps they voted on the basis of a single issue of personal
belief rather than on the aggregate fitness of the candidate. It means that
they turned a blind eye to the well-publicized crimes of this administration.

            It means
that just under half of this nation’s people saw with clear eyes the
incompetence, greed, and moral bankruptcy of the Bush gang. It means that all
in this powerful nation will have to participate more deeply in the suffering
of this world.

            Just under
half of our nation is mourning and fearful of what the next four years will
bring. We wonder if our freedom and our nation will survive until the next
election… if there is one. But nearly half of America
is a lot of people, and most of the rest of the world would like to see things
change here. That is a lot of people and a lot of energy.   Life is not over. We can still find one
another and build alternatives, mount challenges, and spread decency and
dignity through simple acts of service and human kindness. We must act from our
highest selves, regardless of the outcomes of our efforts. The alternative is
to live as whipped zombies, neither dead nor alive.

            All things
come to an end. This time will test us, but it will pass. We can never know the
full power and ultimate results of our good efforts. Nor do we need to know. We
must simply do what we see before us that needs doing… what our spirits demand
of us. Courage is the choice to work through our heartbreak; salvation lies in
the smallest contribution to a better world.

            John Kastner, Ericsson Street, Rochester

WRITING TO CITY

We welcome and encourage readers’ letters for publication.
Send them to: themail@rochester-citynews.com or The Mail, City Newspaper, 250
North Goodman Street, Rochester14607.

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once every two months.

This article appears in Nov 17-23, 2004.