The Bulldog of Bergen and The Hurricane

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

The Bulldog of Bergen and The Hurricane





The Bulldog of Bergen and The Hurricane11-4-08Cinderella Man was one of the nicknames (along with Bulldog of Bergen) that were given to James J. Braddock. You’ve probably heard of the movie Cinderella Man (starring Russell Crowe, Renee’ Zellweger, and Paul Giamatti – and directed by Ron Howard). This was yet another movie that sparked my interest and made me dig to get more information. I love movies like this.Three of my favorite sports movies are about boxing (and boxing is one of my least favorite sports). Cinderella Man, Resurrecting The Champ (past blog – see Archives), and The Hurricane are three tremendous movies. They are “Wade Must See flicks.” The true stories behind these movies are what draw them to me. I think what “life-lessons” I saw in them just made me fall in love with them. I actually would call them “Life” movies instead of Sports movies.Cinderella Man’s story was an inspiring drama about never giving up (and much more). There are so many movies about never giving up, but something about this one grabbed me. What makes it better is the movie is pretty true to the real life story of the boxer known as Cinderella Man (the account of foe, Max Baer is probably harsher than Baer really was, but much of the movie is right on target with the true story).In the summer of 1935 James Walter Braddock won the Heavyweight Championship of the World as a huge underdog. He beat a younger Max Baer in a unanimous decision. This only capped off an incredible up and down career (after the Baer victory, Braddock lost his title to up and coming Joe Louis). He was born in Hell’s Kitchen in New York City and turned pro at the age of 21. In three years he had a 34-5-7 record with 21 knockouts.His fast rise in the ranks would be followed by a huge slump. He would only win 11 of his next 33 fights.I don’t want to give away too much of the story (in case you watch the movie or read about the Man), but Braddock suffers through injuries and the Great Depression. He gave up boxing during this time to work as a longshoreman. My words would not do Mr. Braddock’s story justice so I encourage you to read up on this remarkable human being. Here some links for that purpose: http://resources.jamesjbraddock.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_J._Braddock

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RINFZ_8BhIw - Braddock vs Baer

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0352248/ To read about movie on IMDB.com

http://www.boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=012072&cat=boxer Braddock's fights

The Hurricane came out in the Box Office in 1999. Another overwhelming boxing movie about life more than anything. If you haven’t heard this story or seen the movie, please put it on your Netflix cue and move it to the top (or go rent it).Rubin “Hurricane” Carter was a middleweight boxer in the early 60’s who was imprisoned for three murders in New Jersey in 1966. Both the convictions and release were controversial. He was in jail for almost 20 years prior to his release. Carter’s boxing career was definitely overshadowed by the Patterson, NJ murders. His professional record was 27-12-1 (1 draw) with 8 knockouts and 11 TKOs.Rubin Carter’s cause was picked up by many people including Bob Dylan (who wrote the song “Hurricane” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EotM7FH8uQg and the movie Renaldo and Clara http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaldo_and_Clara), and Muhammad Ali.

He wrote the book, The Sixteenth Round: From Number 1 Contender to #45472 http://www.amazon.com/Sixteenth-Round-Number-Contender-45472/dp/0140149295.

This book was eventually read by a young man named Lesra when he was learning to read at the age of 16. Lesra was so engrossed in and moved by Carter’s story, he and his Canadian caregivers picked up the cause and were a huge reason for Carter eventually being release from prison, for good. Also to come out of this was another stirring book, Lazarus and the Hurricane: The Freeing of Rubin “Hurricane” Carter (written by Sam Chaiton and Terry Swinton). http://www.amazon.com/Lazarus-Hurricane-Freeing-Rubin-Carter/dp/0312253974

Again, my words will not do this story justice so please watch the movie and read all you can on this story.

Resurrecting Interest in the Past

Resurrecting Interest in the Past
10/21/08
Resurrecting The Champ stirs and results in research and interest


This past weekend, one of my goals was to clean my desk off in our home office. I didn’t get too far (due to many factors) when I came across a bunch of papers clipped together.
I looked down at it, read for about five minutes and then started jotting notes on sticky tabs.
The pack of papers was RESURRECTING THE CHAMP: The original Times story – May 4, 1997.
We enjoy movies of all sorts, but really enjoy movies that cause you to put aside other things to take the time to dig and research and read more about the true stories or the facts that led to the cinematic presentation. Even if the movie is fiction, chances are, if it is good, there are some interested items that inspired it. A few months ago we watched one of those movies on DVD. In a future blog, I will list and talk about some of these flicks.
RESURRECTING THE CHAMP.
The movie stars Samuel L. Jackson and Josh Hartnett (who is steadily becoming one of my favorite actors). Basically it is about and up-and-coming sports reporter (played by Hartnett) who be-friends a homeless man (Jackson). He soon finds out that this man is a boxing legend who many believed to be dead. In IMDB.com’s plot synopsis it says “What begins as an opportunity to resurrect Champ’s story and escape the shadow of his father’s success becomes a personal journey as the ambitious reporter reexamines his own life and his relationship with his family.”
This movie was wonderful from the start. I liked it a lot, but it is what this movie caused inside of me that made it one of my favorites. It caused me to dig and take interest in the True Story. It almost forced me to dig deep into it. Like many Hollywood movies, RESURRECTING THE CHAMP, in my opinion, was loosely based on the truth. I learned the differences (which I have no problem with in this case) through the research.
The “real life” event was experienced by Los Angeles based-reporter J.R. Moehringer who published an article that “retraced” the life of heavyweight boxer Bob Satterfield. I won’t talk about it and ruin any of it.
Really, you need to watch the movie and then read the 1997 original story. To read RESURRECTING THE CHAMP: The original Times story – May 4, 1997, go to http://www.latimes.com/news/columnists/la-me-champ,1,754330.story?coll=la-news-columns Whether you are a boxing fan or not, you will be pleased with this movie and the true story behind it.
For J.R. Moehringer's Memoirs go to http://www.tenderbar.com/