PRO WRESTLING IS REAL.PEOPLE ARE FAKE

Story by Peter Vuono   (title by Kenny Anderson)

     I live in the Boston area. As I speak, a very festive parade is being given in Boston for the newly crowned NBA champs, the Celtics. so many of my friends live and die with the Boston sports teams and good for them for as their teams succeed, so too does the feeling of well being that it gives to the devoted fans.
     One thing, however that is somewhat germane to all this celebration is the fact that I rarely so much as dare tell people that I am not a fan of most conventional pro sports. People look askance at me when I tell them that the last time I was at Fenway was about 20 years ago when I was paid to make balloon animals for a charity softball game. They look at me as if I have two heads when I tell them that I was last at Gillette Stadium when it was Sullivan Stadium and I was watching Hulk Hogan wrestle the Iron Shiek. Because I have always been a wrestling fan, people look at me as if I were a low brow or someone who is completely factually unencumbered  when wrestling was, in fact, THE catalyst which caused me to lift weights and procure a career in teaching Special Children.
     Football, baseball and basket ball fans pay hundreds of dollars for tickets and nearly the same for parking. If their team doesn't win, they go away feeling like they lost a family member . A feeling that will linger for days. My son and I go to wrestling as "smarks", which is someone who is in tune to what is really happening  in the ring. We see the most unique bonding of entertainment, comedy and breath taking athleticism that anyone could possibly pay to see and we walk to the car with a feeling of great joy which caused us to forget our problems, but for only a few hours.
     The last big league I went to see(TNA) had the biggest names and yet, I paid only $35.00 per ticket and nothing for parking. People go to the movies in droves and pay millions to see a film based on pure fantasy, but I've never left a theater after a movie while listening to a patron complain that what he or she saw was"fake".
     Also, extreme violence often takes place after an important soccer, baseball or basketball game. We've seen cars burned and overturned, people trampled and in 2004 the very tragic demise of a 21 year old bystander at a Boston Sports celebration who was killed when a misplaced pepper ball hit her in the eye.
     I've not seen this type of violence after a wrestling match because it is perfectly constructed to allow the fans to vent while they are watching the events in the ring. Again, I DO hope that your team wins and that you savor the victory but do not besmirch those of us who love the only sport mentioned in the bible which told of Eve wrestling with her conscience in the book of Genesis and the story of Jacob who wrestled with an angel.
     Like the patrons of the ancient Roman arena, we too need our diversions; our bread and circus.
I am happy to hear about yours. Allow me to enjoy mine.


" I am convinced that the only people worthy of consideration in this world are the unusual ones . For the common folks are like leaves of a tree, and live and die unnoticed".- The Scarecrow from The Wizard of Oz

BLIND FAITH
By Peter Vuono

     Some of my best memories from my youth stem from the Brockton, Ma. YMCA. It was here that I took the knowledge I learned from Muscular Development, Iron Man and Strength and Health and applied it in becoming a powerlifter. I enjoyed both the thrill of becoming stronger and the many friendships I made.Harvey Perala took me under his wing and he has been both my coach and sensei for over 40 years. Another friendship I fortuitously made was with John Cronin. John was so sincere and friendly that it was an easy thing to do in becoming his friend. John, like my future friend, Teddy Arcidi, was a "boss of the bench". We all marveled at his bench press which was in the mid 300's . In the 1960's it would have been nationally ranked.
     John and I each went our own path but I had heard from time to time that he was doing well and together with his wife, Alice, raised a wonderful family of 4 children. He also served a dedicated and precarious career as a firefighter and retired unscathed. John and I found a road that led us back to each other and we've been training together each Sunday for the past two years.
    Even now, at age 65, he raises eyebrows of friend Tom Kenney and all others who may catch him effortlessly bench pressing a pair of 65 lb. dumbells for an easy 15 reps. This, at 65, is a feat in itself but what is more extraordinary is that John is doing it while blind.
     A few years after his retirement, John ruptured his esophagus. This, by no means is a minor medical occurrence. In fact, it's the same injury that took from us, pro football player/wrestler- tough guy Dick the Bruiser. While undergoing surgery, John incurred a stroke. By the time he came out of the stroke, not enough blood was allowed into the optic nerve, thus leaving him blind.
     This however, only served to show the rest of us the magnitude of John's inner strength. He is always jocular and willing to either tell or listen to a joke. He cares about his friends and what they have to say and his physical strength still arouses my competetive spirit.
     Back in the 70's one of my favorite songs was a little known tune by John Dawson Read entitled "A Friend of Mine is Going Blind". Every time I now listen to it, I think of John. One verse reads,"A friend of mine is going blind but through the dimness, he sees so much better than me. And how he cherishes each new thing he sees; they are locked in his head. He will save them for when he's in darkness again"
     This is the John I know. He's taught me that in spite of any medical issue I have, that I shouldn't sulk and feel sorry for myself but rather take  the new challenge head on and do something positive with it. He's shown me that ill health doesn't mean that life ends; it just changes. More than any other man, he's strengthened my blind faith.