Last thought June '76...

There's a follow-up to my high school Strat-o-matic story I am compelled to pass along, lest anyone fingers me as some sort of hellion from school days.

When it came time for high school graduation, most everyone I knew was given some sort of gift by their parents (or in some cases a double dose of gifts if their parents were divorced and remarried by then). For the most part, the gifts weren't especially elaborate, though a few people I knew cashed in with some nice prizes.

For me, however, I felt embarrassed by the whole thing. Graduating from high school was nice, but I figured it was the least of what was expected of me. And since I probably concentrated more on sports and things like Strat-o (and conducting the opening day of our '76 season in the back row of Mr. Schmidt's 4th period Marine Biology class) than I did school work, I felt a bit ashamed to accept any gift for merely getting a diploma.

My dad must have let my mom in charge of the gift, and once she got wind of a few of the "gifts" other kids in my grade were receiving and, very kindly, asked me what I would like, within reason, as a graduation gift. When I told her that I really didn't want anything, I realized that her feelings might be hurt, that it wasn't as much the gift, it's just that she wanted to do something nice for me.

She insisted that she had to get me something, though I was a tough sell. Clothes might have been an option for some kids, but, as anyone who has ever seen my wardrobe can attest, that's never been one of my strong suits. (Indeed, looking at my present-day collection of t-shirts, sweatshirts and varied jogging suits, I am reminded of Andy Rooney's long-ago comment about old Army buddy Lindsey Nelson, of whom Rooney said, "He's the only guy I know who dressed better during the war than he does now"). How about a new watch? No need, I was using one of my dad's old ones, and it told time just right. But the more I resisted, the more my mom pushed forward. "I've got to get you at least a little something, just to make me feel good," she said. "Are you going to make me buy you a nice shirt or pair of pants and make me take them back?"

Well, I finally realized that I might not get too many more of these offers, even though I was terribly reluctant to ask for anything. But, just as my mom was about to storm out to Penney's and buy me a shirt or something, I blurted out a new idea. "Hey, George Foreman is fighting Joe Frazier tonight, and I would love to go see the fight on closed-circuit TV at the Long Beach Arena," I said. Hardly a traditional graduation gift request, but it was good enough for my mom. "How much does it cost?," she said. I looked at the ad in the Long Beach Press-Telegram and it said tickets were $5-$25. I certainly didn't need the best seat in the house, but when I told her "About $10," she promptly handed me $30. "You probably don't want to go alone, so call up a friend to go with you, and you can pay for him, too, and get something to eat," she said.

Wow! I was suddenly ecstatic, so I called my friend Bob Carter, who was more than willing to accompany me, especially since this was my treat. We bought a couple of $10 seats, then moved down closer to the big TV screen for a better view. Parking was only $2, I believe, and the rest of the money bought each of us a hot dog and a drink.

This was a couple of nights before our HS graduation, and it was Foreman-Frazier II, held at the Nassau Coliseum, home of the Islanders. You might remember some promotional photos the two did before the fight, trying to recapture the bicentennial theme (one photo in particular that I thought hilarious at the time was of Smokin' Joe dressed in a Betsy Ross outfit). What we remember most about the fight is how Joe came into the ring and flung off his hooded robe, unveiling a completely shaved, bald head, which drew roars from the crowd. This was long before head shaving became the "in" thing, and I wondered if Joe did it because he noticed that Earnie Shavers had recently shaved his head, too. Foreman was hardly fazed, however, and this fight was only a bit less one-sided than their first bout over 3 years earlier. Foreman scored a 5th round TKO. On the undercard was a rather-boring 10-round heavyweight bout between Howard Smith and Johnny Boudreaux, the former a So Cal product I followed in those days, the latter having been recently featured in an SI article about up-and-coming heavyweights (with Larry Holmes and Dino Dennis...remember?). However, Boudreaux couldn't crack an egg with his punches, and despite some slick boxing skills, was eventually outpointed by the capable Smith, who scored a split-decision win.

Still, it was exciting just to be in there, watching the closed circuit, and once I began to work and earn my own money, I would spend some on almost any upcoming closed-circuit fight. Carter was so enthralled by the whole experience that we made sure to buy closed-circuit tickets for that September's Ali-Norton III at Yankee Stadium the day they went on sale, and we had near front-row seats in the LB Arena to watch on the big screen that night. A story for another day. I had been to a handful of closed-circuit fights with my dad in years past (including Frazier-Ali I), and there really was a special buzz inside a theater or arena when it was closed-circuit time. It's a crowd buzz and anticipation that is hard to replicate.

In retrospect, I still remember that HS graduation gift joyfully, and I have to wonder of all of the gifts my classmates received for graduating, if anyone remembers theirs as fondly as I do mine!