VICTOR

By Peter Vuono

   In 1922 6 year old Adolph Truesdell hated his given name. In part it was because he was often bullied for it. When he could take the bullying no more, he took on and beat up and older bully. From that moment on all friends, and acquaintances called him "Tuffy".

   Tuffy would join the US Army and fought in WWII. After the war he took on a penchant for two things; he loved animals and pro wrestling. Truesdell had a very interesting and unique angle however in his act. He would certainly wrestle men but also his PET ALLIGATOR which he kept in a tub in his bedroom!

   After an accident with his pet which caused Tuffy to suffer 45 stitches he retired his gator and pondered what he could do next. There was no internet back then but Tuffy got a call that a mother bear was accidentally shot to death in Ontario and had two cubs. Upon receiving the "tip", he drove the same day 500 miles to Ontario before the authorities could claim the body.

  The mom black bear was dead as was her baby girl cub. Still surviving, however was the male cub and Tuffy wasted no time in taking him home. He would name the male "Victor", give him a home and fed him all sorts of treats such as Coca Cola that Victor should never have had. Then, Tuffy got the idea to train Victor to wrestle.

  At an early age, the vet would cut the claws short enough so that they couldn't tear opponents apart. Next Tuffy would put a muzzle on Victor for his matches only. It's VERY hard to ascertain how many matches Victor hade. He wrestled pro athletes, Tuffy himself, pro wrestlers and audience volunteers . His record was approx. 10,000-0-1. The only draw was to Peggy Jones, the heaviest female wrestler of all time.

Victor would become a celebrity and was on Tell The Truth, Johnny Carson, Mike Douglas and of course, Ed Sullivan. In an old Youtube video, Sullivan can be seen feeding Victor his beloved Coca-Cola!

 Animal rights activists often criticized Tuffy and personally I would have to agree that it was exploitation for profit. In fairness to Tuffy, however, because of his love for his pet and his zeal for making a living it caused him to be blinded in knowing that Victor MIGHT have fared better in the wild.

   Victor passed in 1975 at age 17. All other substitute bears that Tuffy used failed miserably and bear wrestling would be banned in the US in and around 1992. Truesdell's wife, Lee stated that Tuffy was devastated upon Victor's death and although exploitation was INDEED  in effect Victor lead a happy life albeit not a terribly long one and in an odd sort of way it endorses adoption of pets. Victor would have died had he been left alone. Like wise, all pets in shelters WILL live short lives if we don't adopt. The story of Tuffy and Victor  is one of love for a pet and adoption of them  and is clearly illustrated here in this unique friendship.

  On March, 30, 2001, Tuffy would pass away at age 84. At the Swain Memorial park in Hyson North Carolina the grave of Tuffy A. Truesdell bears the engraved emblem of a smiling bear.

 

THE FINEST KIND

By Peter Vuono

  One of my favorite movies is one filmed locally called "The Finest kind". I like it because the most dramatic scene was filmed at the Supreme House of Donuts on Crescent St. in my home town of Brockton. Other beautiful scenes were filmed by the sea in New Bedford and Fairhaven.

  In the movie's tear jerking and action packed climax, Tommy Lee Jones tells his son, "Some day if you ever have a son, the first time you look at him you get a feeling all at once that you'd die for him. A little thing you've never seen before and you'd stone cold die for him".

  I think that this thought is probably agreed upon by most of us who are parents but as I was driving along one day, I thought of the movie and then asked myself" We would die for our kids but what does it say about a man who would and DID die for his dog"?

  When we think the Pittsburgh Steelers we are full of fond memories and excitement about Franco Harris, Terry Bradshaw, Jon Kolb, Mike Webster, LC Greenwood, Jack Lambert and, of course, Mean Joe Green et al. All sports heroes  for certain but there was one who gave his life for his pet who stands far above so many others.

   Steve Courson was a Massachusetts native. He played for the Steelers in 4 Superbowls and won two Superbowl rings. Upon his trade to Tampa, The 300lb Courson who registered an official 605 bench press in a contest, contracted  a virus of the heart and was a candidate for a transplant!.

   He decided to get off steroids and write about the sad abuse of them in the NFL in his fine book, "False Glory". Amazingly, he nursed himself back to good health. He was  clean and was no longer in need of an artificial heart. He went to Tampa Bay camp, worked hard to get his weight up and won the "Ed Bloc" trophy from his teammates for the best  injured player comeback for the Bucs that year.

   In 2007 at his home in Farmington Pennsylvania, Steve decided to take on by himself the chore of felling a 44 foot tree on his property. After the cut a strong wind caused the tree to fall the wrong way toward his black labrador retriever. The former offensive lineman still had great speed and rushed to quickly and successfully push his dog out of harms way. In doing so, the tree fell on Steve killing him instantly. When EMT's arrived, his dog was standing guard over Steve's lifeless body.

  So when I hear Tommy Lee Jones prophetic words in the movie talking about dying for a loved one, somehow I always think of this football hero who became so much more than that.

  Josh billings once said, that "A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself. Steve Courson knew it and acted upon it. He was truly, "The Finestkind".

  

 SO WHAT IF IT'S A "WORK"!

By Peter Vuono

   I noticed this morning that a great many of my FB friends are livid with the thought that the Tyson/Paul fight was not legitimate; that it may have been staged. First, you the reader need to know two Carny terms used by wrestlers. The first one is "work". This means the match is predetermined and the wrestlers trust each other to not  hurt each other, take home their pay and perform again a day or two later.

  The second term is a "shoot". This is a term which means that someone got hot under the collar and the match is quite real. This happens rarely as wrestlers want to be safe so that they can"work" again.

  Did anyone actually say that the Tyson/Paul match was legitimate? I don't think so and I don't fault the fighters or promoters for staging a fight if that is what happened. YOU got excited to see the fight and were entertained. Secondly, both Paul and Tyson were unharmed as far as this author knows and took home a great deal of money to feed their families.

  Do you remember Evil Knievel's Snake river Canyon jump with the Sky Cycle? He went over the canyon half way, parachuted and had no intention of risking a complete jump. You and I were "worked".  Sports that actually are legitimate run the risk of seriously hurting the athletes and fans!

  Think of the concussions involved with  pro football players and CTE. How many fans are injured a soccer games by fans trampling others. Remember after a Boston Red Sox celebration where a young girl had a misplaced pepper ball shot in her eye causing her death? There's a lot to say about an event being "worked". We wrestling fans know well of the "predetermined" match. We can usually guess the outcome and go home both entertained and delighted. So my question is," Why can't you"? There are so many more things in life so much more important.

  One final note; with the enormous amount of "scammers" out there, don't forget that YOU can be worked and taken advantage of in just about every facet of your life. Something to keep in mind if the fight was indeed a "work"  Worse things could happen to you. I hope they don't