Throughout his life, Leon Spinks lived through the highs and the lows. A gold medal in the 1976 Olympics, later becoming the undisputed heavyweight champ after upsetting the legendary Muhammad Ali in 1978. After losing a rematch with Ali, there were 16 more losses, the murder of his son, Leon Calvin in 1990, and numerous health issues.
Hank Aaron made me a better human being. Watching him go through his home run chase in 1973, and having the excitement of witnessing history soon after, are one of the best parts of my life. Then there are the other parts, the haters. When Mr. Aaron shared his mail with the world, it was as chilling as the penmanship.
The next time you’re in a Walgreens take a peek at the photo montage behind the cash registers. The black and white photos feature a smiling man standing by the pharmacy section. The man is wearing a lab coat and tending to customers. If you do not recognize that man, it’s okay, nobody else does.
Tommy Lasorda had a potty mouth that would make one smile. If there was such a category, he would have led the league in curse words. Back in 1990 I was at Mark Light Field watching the Miami Hurricanes when I got to witness Mr. Lasorda’s F-Bombs. They were all aimed towards me and I was loving the verbal abuse.
The passing of Hall of Famer Phil Niekro brought back memories of this great human being. It was 1995 when I came across him outside of Shea Stadium. By then he was the manager of the female baseball team, the Colorado Silver Bullets, and there he was walking with his baseball players. I talked trash with him of how I could strike out all of them and he just laughed it off.
Being on the other side of the bars inside the jails of Rikers Island I got to witness and hear about wicked doings. During my 20 years as a Correction Officer this story comes to mind on the 40th anniversary of an Icon’s death. It was 40 years ago when football broadcaster Howard Cosell informed the world of John Lennon’s assassination. His chilling words of “DEAD ON ARRIVAL!”
Hank was one funny dude. He was quick witted and had perfect timing with his comeback lines. Ray and I would always try to convince him to host “Saturday Night Live.” His dad hosted the show one time, and all it would take for Hank to get on that stage was one phone call to the producer Lorne Michaels.
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