#T2Q's Toss Up Thursday, 11/28/13 (PHOTO)

(VIDEO) #Knockout Game Will Get Some Kid Hurt (or Worse)

First, I want you to watch the video...


Is this not one of the most ridiculous things ever? I don't get it. What in the world has happened to kids parents? How can you have a child capable of something like this unless you're not doing your job? I know all parents aren't slackers, but let's be honest: most of the kids in this video probably do not have proper parenting structure at home.

I love boxing and cage fighting, so I understand the fascination of seeing someone knocked out.  However, at least those people know that they're in a fight.  These people on the street do not.  The fact that these teens target women and children as well makes it even more disturbing to most people.

For those of you who jog or walk with earbuds in your ears, then I would advise you to make sure one of your ears is free to hear around you.  Society gets crazier and crazier each day and a walk to work or a jog in the neighborhood can lead to a concussion or worse.

As for the people perpetrating this act, don't think you're not putting yourself in harm's way as well.  There are more open-carry gun laws being passed and licenses to carry permits being issued.  One mistimed swing can result in you being shot.

Kung Fu is Life

My favorite kung fu movie of all-time!

I treasure a lot of things from my youth.  I only needed a few things to make me happy: football, comic books, and kung fu movies.

What was so enjoyable about kung fu movies was the fact that there was never a complicated plot.  In fact, 90% of those movies from the 70's and 80's had the same plot: student cherishes master, master gets killed by his rival, student goes into the woods and trains until he's good enough to avenge his master's death.

Simple, right?  Mix that simple plot in with mind-numbing action for two hours and it's a young boy's paradise!  I spent my Saturday afternoon's from noon to 2 PM watching "Blackbelt Theater."  A different martial arts movie every week.

Flash forward to 2013 and as a 41 year old man, I haven't grown out of my love for kung fu flicks.  I can appreciate Jason Statham movies, but modern day martial arts movies are completely different from old school kung fu movies.  Most of the kung fu movies that I enjoyed took place in some ancient time in Chinese history.  No guns, cars, or anything like that.  Primitive weapons like blow guns, spears, swords, and other things that encouraged a lot of hand-to-hand fighting.

However, one of the most intriguing parts of these old movies were the supernatural effect!  Seeing these people do things like leaping 20 feet in the air or catching arrows being shot at them is what attracts most kids.  It gives the characters super hero elements that young kids like me could enjoy.  In fact, I was probably close to six years old before I was smart enough to realize that all Asian people didn't have some sort of kung fu ability.  I thought that it was taught in schools over there like the alphabets were taught here.

Needless to say that I was disappointed when I got to 2nd grade and met my first Asian friend.  He couldn't even break through when we played "Red Rover" at school.  I guess he should have spent his Saturday afternoons watching "Blackbelt Theater."

They don't make too many kung fu movies any more.  Recently, I got to enjoy "The Man With The Iron Fists" starring RZA, Russell Crowe, and Lucy Liu.  It was a pretty good movie which took place before modern times.  Mix in the fact that the RZA pretty much did the entire soundtrack for the movie and you have a perfect combination for me: Wu Tang Clan and kung fu.

"Out of my way!  It's a tax free weekend at the mall!"

Dazed & Confused

"I am the greatest!"

I'll give you this bit of info upfront: the moral of this story is to "always ask questions."  Sometimes, you can save yourself from a headache if you just ask "how" or "why?"  On to the story...

I used to think that my fighting skills were on-par with the best. That, of course, is despite the fact that I'd only been in one fight in my life at the time and that was in kindergarten. A kid and I had a dust-up over who would get the last swing on the playground. We were racing to the swing set and he pushed me down. I wasn't happy about him cheating and pushing me down.  So, in the end, I took a swing (at him) to get the swing.

But, that was 14 years prior to this incident. It was 1990 and I was an 18-year old freshman in his second semester. I'd started developing my "college personality" and had made plenty of friends. My school was located in the middle of nowhere, so we were frequently bored. We did whatever we could to entertain ourselves. This time, I wish I'd been studying instead of participating in relieving boredom on this night.

Someone on the 3rd floor had over-sized boxing gloves. Huge gloves filled with plenty of cushion, but still packed a punch like a well-swung pillow. A college guy's dream, right?  What started out as four of us swinging in the hallway for fun resulted in a crowd of 50+ people in front of the dormitory fighting for money.

I'm a huge boxing fan. I watched many matches with my father as a kid and in my mind, I had the technique needed to beat anyone. For a while, I was right. I disposed of my first seven opponents pretty easily. We would basically duke it out until someone gave up or got knocked down. For every dollar my dorm mates would bet, I'd get 50 cents of it if I won. So, I was making pretty good money with roughly 20-30 people betting on me each fight. 

I was some where around $70 when a suggestion was made that I fight James. James was a country, cornbread-fed, no-neck having football player from Clarksdale, MS. We nicknamed him "Donkey Kong" although I think James had more muscles than that barrel-tossing primate. Someone went to his room to get him while I pondered if I should consider an early retirement.

"Tim," I whispered to my roommate and holder of my money,"I don't think I want to fight James, man."

"Yeah, he is pretty big," he replied. "Maybe you should quit."

Since I had Tim's reassurance of me making the right decision, I got ready to take the gloves off until someone said, "$5 on this fight and the winner gets $3 per bet!"

$3 per person if I win? My greed choked out my common sense.  Don't judge!  Do you know how much that is for a college student? That thought quickly left my mind as James exited from the dorm into the parking lot where we were gathered. He was 5'6", 235 lbs. and was probably less than 12% body fat. He was a nice and jolly guy and always had jokes. "What's up, 'Chubb Rock?'" he started. "Someone told me that I can make $50 if I whip you."

"Chubb Rock" was a nickname I picked up in college. It came from a popular, chubby rapper at the time. James laughed as he slid on the boxing gloves. Tim collected the money from the gamblers. A group of ladies stopped by to see what the commotion was all about, so now there's the pressure of female presence making the stakes higher.

Someone said "ding, ding" to simulate a bell and James and I swung at each other like a low budget movie version of "Real Steel." The fight between us would later be described as "two guys throwing dynamite" as we scrapped like our lives depended on it.  I went toe-to-toe with a guy whose chest is so wide that he can't even reach across to scratch his other arm and I beat him. "You made $87!" Tim whispered emphatically.  Before I could respond, I heard a familiar deep voice say, "I'll fight him."

I turned around and saw our residential assistant. He was 6'5" and probably weighed about 240 lb. and his nickname was "Roughhouse." You would think that the origin of his nickname or his height would have concerned me, but I wasn't bothered by either. You see, Roughhouse was an ordained minister. And a minister can't fight. Right?  Besides, I'd just beaten "Donkey Kong."  I was 8-0.  I was invincible.

Roughhouse only agreed to fight if no money was placed on him as he slid on the gloves. Although he was much taller than me, I figured I'd wear out his stomach and once he dropped his guard, take out his head. I had it all planned out.

"Ding, ding." 

Roughhouse hit me so quickly that I wasn't sure if I'd been hit at all. Before I could make a decision on if I'd been hit, I felt two more blows that confirmed that I was definitely under attack. By the time I counted the fifth or sixth blow, I was dazed and confused. I stepped back to get my composure and by the time that I refocused, I didn't see him. I was facing directly towards Tim and he was laughing uncontrollably. "Where did he go?" I asked.

By this time, I'm noticing that I'm facing the crowd and that everyone is laughing. Roughhouse had hit me so hard and so many times, that I'd spun around and faced the other direction without even knowing it. I turned back around to face him, but he was taking his gloves off and laughing.

My undefeated streak was over. Not only did I lose, I didn't even get to throw a single punch. I never saw his punches coming.  I only saw them leaving my cheeks. I congratulated Roughhouse and asked him where he learned to fight like that. "Oh, I'm a blackbelt," he replied.  "You didn't know that's how I got my nickname?"

O_o

Star Wars, Angry Cops, and Feisty Ladies

Watch this video...



Okay, first of all, what's up with the brothas with accents in Boba Fett gear? LOL! What club did they attend dressed like that?

Second, here's a piece of advice to everyone out there: if a cop asks you to turn around, lie down, and / or shut up, then it's in your best interest to do so. Cops are severely underpaid and under-appreciated. They tend to get agitated with you if you force them to do more than what is necessary. It's easier to comply and sort things later rather than get rowdy and potentially catch a beat down.

Finally, this is the way news is delivered today. No longer do your local news channel have exclusives. Everyone has a cell phone with a camera, so now, everyone is a reporter. But, despite the fact that there are so many video witnesses, cops don't appear to be shy when it comes to bringing the pain.

Now, as far as the video is concerned, I don't think the police had the situation under control and that's why it got out of hand. There was no reason to struggle with the lady like they did. Because he appeared to be upset with her being stubborn, he lost his cool and his aggressiveness provoked the actions of the lady who intervened. In a situation like this, I do feel that the police should be firm, but calm when emotions are this high. I would have cuffed both ladies to each other and told them I'd be outside whenever they wanted someone to unlock them.

Now, here's the same video, but from a different angle. Does your perspective change? Who's at fault?



Are you allowed to defend yourself against a cop if he / she swings on you or do you just lay there and pray for the butt whippin' to stop?

I know this much: I'd much rather deal with Angry Birds than angry cops.

"Boom," Goes The Dynamite!

I was going to have a lengthy blog on this, but after listening to former "Talk Soup" host, Hal Sparks, chime in, I don't think there's much left to say. Just listen:



Hal was on the money and although his peers on the set may have been hesitant to agree given their profession, he took a strong stance and didn't back off.

I used to be a small-time sports reporter for a brief time in my life. The toughest question I ever had to ask someone was, "Why do you think your team wasn't able to pull off the win?" to a crying 10th grader.

Ask that to a high school student who just lost a girls' state basketball championship and it can bring about an emotional answer if they choose to answer at all. But, put a camera in the face of someone who is mourning a death can get your sleeves whipped off a la this video!

There is no news in a tragedy other than the act itself. What could the family possibly say that I really need to hear?

"He was a good guy."

"He didn't bother anybody."

"He was a good father."

What do you expect a grieving family member to say with a microphone in his/her face? Something insightful?

The media needs to back off some times. News isn't reported any more, it's created. In an effort to make more of what was already a tragedy, the news crew got too close and got some "might-nots" put upside their heads. ("Might-nots" means might not get up, for the slang-impaired.)

Keep fooling around with raw, human emotion and before you know it, "BOOM", goes the Dynamite.