Social Purgatory

I've been pondering what made Muhammad Ali so intriguing to so many people - and across so many cultural lines. Furthermore, I'm wondering what makes boxing so appealing. Rather than just the brute and gruesome violence or even the strategy and training for competition - I think it has to do with the one-on-one format.

In real life our challenges and matches are hardly ever one-on-one - and even rarer face-to-face. Our opponents don't look you in the face and punch you. They smile in your face and cleverly and very indirectly inflict their damage. Life would be all that much easier if we knew who we were pitted against and vice versa. In all actuality, real life is more like all-out warfare and less like boxing. It's possible we love to watch boxing and see ourselves in the ring facing a single challenge.

The only similarity I see between boxing and real life is the individual. While you're not face-to-face with your opponent trading shots, you are just you. You might have a coach, but really it's just you facing a challenge w/ no real helpful allies. You have to possess both the talent and drive to succeed - even when you're shook and on the way down. No one can either hurt or aid you but what you see in front of you. Your senses don't lie.

I remember this line from Goodfellas. It's in the scene where Ray Liotta feels a gun to his head and immediately knows it's a cop. He knows it's a cop because a wise guy wouldn't have said anything - he'd have just shot you. And that's much more realistic than being in a ring w/ someone and duking it out until you have an undisputed winner. Matter of fact, life would be much easier that way too.

Truth is, life is not that simple and there's a very good reason. If someone tells you they're going to do you in, you can do something about it - therefore making it either more difficult or impossible all together. Sometimes you're just in the way and don't know it. You're just collateral damage for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. No matter the reason, no one's going to tell you anything - they're just going to hurt you. It's not personal right?

It's a game for sure. Either accept it and participate, or hang up and go somewhere else.

What ever happened to the guy who did neither? Did he end up old and incapacitated - or did he laugh all the way to the bank?