ANNOUNCEMENTS

******** COMMENTS FROM THE RING IS PUBLISHED WEEKLY EXCLUDING HOLIDAYS ***** ********

ANNOUNCEMENTS 2

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Thursday, December 21, 2017

Seasons Greeting from 'The Brick'

   ENTRY 403




SEASONS GREETINGS


Welcome to the last entry of 2017.  The next time there will be an entry on this blog will be January 3.

It has been a rough year for me, and I am more than happy to say goodbye to it.
Especially the first part of the year.
However, mid-year I met an awesome new coach and became part of a great team of boxers.
This coach is fair with his athletes. He does not seem to have any 'favorites' and that is very important. Everyone on the team should be treated equally, and the athletes should be rewarded as too how hard they work. That is exactly how this coach works.

I had a very successful Golden Gloves. I worked hard to get there. Thanks to coach for allowing it to happen. Also, thanks to my employer for giving me the time off to do so.
As I have mentioned in the past, working full time and trying to be a full time athlete at the same time is very difficult and also very stressful.
Thank you to everyone who has to put up with my crap during training camps.

Speaking of training camps, the Brampton Cup training camp starts in about a week.
I don't know if I will be going. There may not be anyone else in my division to be an opponent. However, I will attend the training camp anyway. You never know. Besides, it helps my team mates.

Also for 2018, my media production company, Metropolis Community Media is bringing back RAdiO C \65.  
Surprise!
We are currently conducting limited test broadcasts, and we are hoping to have our full regular programming up and running by mid-January.
RAdiO C \65 is based at a studio in the Stockyards area of Toronto and will feature a multi-format programming schedule. Featuring a mix of all types of music, news and sports, documentaries, and comedy programs.
You can listen through the link on the right of this blog.

That all being said, goodbye to 2017. 
Here's to a great 2018 and a great Christmas season to all.

Cheers.

--'The Brick', Golden Gloves Silver Medalist

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Wednesday, December 13, 2017

My First Golden Gloves

   ENTRY 402




MY FIRST GOLDEN GLOVES EXPERIENCE

It has happened. I have competed in my first Golden Gloves.

Unfortunately, I did not win the final. 
I walked away with a silver and a nice painful welt under my left eye.
However, it was a great experience.


Golden Gloves Silver
I feel that I did quite well.
Although, my opponent, Jack Chisamore, is a coach. 
Let's all be reasonable about this. It is a very high expectation to win against a coach. Not impossible, but quite a reach. 
I am satisfied that I tried and that I even had the opportunity.

I am also happy that I am getting a lot of ring time with this coach.
I have been in the Silver Gloves and Golden Gloves. That's two tournaments within three months. Also with the same opponent.

Now that the Golden Gloves is over, the coach has told me that I can have a break.
Therefore, I will be taking this week off from the gym, but I will be returning for regular training next week.

What is next?
I am really not sure, but I need to stay in training and in good conditioning because the coach at any time could tell me he has found an opponent for me on an upcoming card.

The two silvers look good hanging from my trophy shelf.



WHAT'S THE DEAL WITH METROPOLIS TV AND RAdiO C-65?

I have had a few questions about the state of Metropolis TV and RAdiO C-65.
In particular, What happened to them?

Let me explain.
RAdiO C-65 was an internet-based radio station run by my broadcasting company, D-I-T-O Productions of Toronto.
It was taken down earlier this year due to financial and time restraints. I wanted to channel more resources into Metropolis TV.
That being said, Metropolis TV is an internet-based TV production service also run by D-I-T-O Productions of Toronto.
We have stopped producing programming temporarily but will be starting again soon.
We no longer cover boxing, which was our main type of programming.
The reason we have stopped is a combination of a few things.
One being time. For the past few months, I was juggling my full-time job plus training for both the Silver and Golden Gloves.
Another reason we no longer cover boxing is due to the fact that YouTube for some reason frowns upon boxing. They appaer to be removing monetization from boxing videos on their system with the message 'Not advertiser freindly'. At least from mine. I find that very odd since boxing is shown on TV all the time with lots of advertising. 
The advertising revenue is important to Metropolis TV because it is the main source of income to help pay the production costs. I do not get paid for covering these events.


Not to worry.
Metropolis TV is planning new programming for 2018. 
Stay tuned!


-- 'The Brick', Golden Gloves Silver Medalist

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Wednesday, December 6, 2017

Dreams Of Gold

   ENTRY 401




Dreams of gold.  

The Golden Gloves tournament starts tomorrow. However, my division does not have preliminaries so I will go right to the finals. 
My opponent will be Jack Chisamore from Kingston.
Our bout is during the very last session on Sunday afternoon.

I finally did it. I made it to the Golden Gloves. I have been trying to get to that tournament for three years, and something always happened to prevent me from going.

Being in the last session gives me an additional three days to train.
My work gave me the entire weekend off so I will be training today, Thursday, and Friday. 
On Saturday, if anyone from my team will be competing, I will go in and watch.

On Sunday, it will be my turn in the spotlight.
Weigh-ins are at 8 AM. That means getting up at 6 AM because I have to allow an hour to get there. Bus service is not the best that early on a Sunday morning, and there will be no subway service either.

The key will be to work my butt off in the gym until then. 
I have extra time, I should take advantage of it.  
I have to get lots of sleep on Saturday night.

My weight is very close to what it should be, but I need to be careful.
It is going to be a salad and chicken breast diet for the next few days. Then a nice load-up breakfast on Sunday.

For anyone interested in seeing the Golden Gloves live, here is the address:

Don Valley Suites Hotel
175 Wynford Drive
Toronto

There are six sessions:

Thursday 7PM
Friday 1PM and 7PM
Saturday 1PM and 7PM
Sunday 12noon

I will be in the Sunday session.

The bout schedule is here (subject to change): Golden Gloves Schedule 


--Paul "The Brick" Brec, Silver Gloves Silver Medalist