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Comments (0)Some 45 years ago, I received an offer from public relations man Phil Zacko to attend a professional wrestling show promoted by Vince McMahon, Sr. at the then fairly-new Baltimore Civic Center.
With a chance to write an off-beat column, I readily accepted. I wandered into a dressing room an hour before the first match was scheduled to find villains like Killer Kowalski and heroes like Haystacks Calhoun engaging in a friendly game of pinochle or hearts. For me, that was the story. Needless to say, it was the last invitation I received from McMahon and Co.
I had grown up watching Antonino Rocca and Gorgeous George, who served as a role model for Muhammad Ali, and even financially-strapped former heavyweight boxing champion Primo Carnera wrestle when television was first becoming popular. Putting two fighters or wrestlers in a ring was a low-cost production. There were shows almost nightly from across the country, but an adolescent soon discovered how carefully choreographed were the pro wrestling scripts. A designated hero had as much chance of losing as John Wayne in a gunfight.
But this was minor league compared to the extravagant wrestling shows now being staged by Vince McMahon, Jr., who can entice close to two million gullible fans to buy his pay-per-view mat extravaganzas at $50. a pop.
From its infancy, television has evolved into a huge industry that can produce money capable of funding our government TARP programs. But such cable sports networks as ESPN needed new sports to fill its 24-hour programming.
Someone with imagination decided there was a new and younger generation out there that needed to be catered to, and, voila, the birth of extreme sports. Daredevil motorcyclists fly through the air doing somersaults and crazy stunts to earn the envy of Evel Knievel. Every sport now pushes the envelope, the bigger the risk, the greater the audience.
And nothing seems to match the newfound popularity of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), an amalgam of boxing, tae kwon do, wrestling and judo dating back to the ancient Olympics and Greco-Roman wrestling.
I have watched several hyped MMA matches staged in a cage, and dog-fighting quickly comes to mind thanks to Michael Vick’s recent downfall. Watching a man on the ground get a horrific kick in the head is simply not my cup of tea. True, most of the fights are stopped quickly at the first sight of blood, but the damage has already been done.
No, I am not a Pollyanna. I quickly acknowledge that my favored sport of boxing is undeniably dangerous. I personally witnessed two fatalities following knockouts
. The first occurred locally in 1963 at the then Baltimore Coliseum .Ernie Knox, managed by Baltimore icon Mack Lewis, was knocked out by New York heavyweight Wayne Bethea. Knox was rushed to the hospital, regained consciousness for a moment, but then died of a brain hemorrhage.
In 1980, fighting on the under-card of the first Roberto Duran-Ray Leonard match in Montreal, Cleveland Denny died in the ring after being pummeled by Gaeten Hart. The referee was a slow-footed senior who clearly did not react in time to save Denny from his fate.
Brain damage to such classic fighters as Ray Robinson resulted mostly from the great number of bouts they fought to earn what a headliner like Oscar De La Hoya or Floyd Mayweather can demand today in a single match. But the top attractions now fight so infrequently that the risks of serious injury have greatly diminished
Still, the growing supporters if MMA insist that the risks of their sport are less than that of boxing. This has become a more immediate issue since Maryland will stage its first sanctioned MMA event at the First Mariner Arena, October 24, after finally receiving the blessing of the state legislature.
For a state badly in debt, increasing the number of events under the Maryland Athletic Commission aegis became an easy decision. The boxing and wrestling 10 per cent tax will be cheerfully pocketed.
For promoter John Rollo, it was also a no-brainer. Rollo runs a martial arts gym in Canton, and several of his students or instructors will appear on the show. He acknowledged that the sport had to overcome a negative image. “Part of the problem,’’ he recently told the Baltimore Sun, “was, a lot of places, there weren’t any rules. You could hit people in the groin. About the only thing you couldn’t do was no fish hooks and no eye-gouging.’’
This, reportedly, will change for the better in Maryland, which used the rules governing MMA events in New Jersey and Nevada as its guidelines.
“Safety first,’’ preaches Pat Pannella, executive director of the Maryland Athletic Commission, who has always been a stickler for rules. “Protecting the participants is our top priority. For example, we will not allow a fighter to kick a rival who is on the ground.’’ He will even make sure fingernails are trimmed.
One of Pannella’s principal tasks was making certain he had experienced referees and officials overseeing matches. The majority of the men he has approved have gained experience working MMA matches in New Jersey. MMA fighters will be tested for drugs much like pro boxers, but steroid testing, for the time being, has been deemed too expensive.
Pannella acknowledges that he has witnessed MMA shows only on TV or in exhibitions staged in Maryland. He will attend his first live show in Virginia, October 4, and it should prove educational.
Meanwhile, the heated debate continues. Thirty-seven states now sanction MMA, but New York remains a holdout despite the popularity of such films as “The Karate Kid’’ and Bruce Lee’s body of work. There is also the persistent argument that MMA will produce a steady stream of revenue and create much-needed jobs.
In June, 2008, Bob Reilly a Democrat from Albany, spoke for the majority before the state assembly, calling MMA a “disgusting’’ spectacle. The bill never reached the floor. “I find the rules themselves speak against the sport,’’ added Reilly, ‘’and make a clear statement that the purpose of the fight is not to demonstrate skills, but to damage your opponent.’’
The British Medical Association has also viewed MMA (cage fighting) and Ultimate Fighting (staged in an open ring) as dangerous as pro boxing. Dr. Vivienne Nathanson, BMA’s head of Ethics and Science, said MMA and Ultimate Fighting did not qualify as sports in her judgment, comparing them to “cock-fighting.’’.
“Large amounts of money can be earned by participants, promoters and others linked to Ultimate fighting, but no amount of money can compensate for permanent brain damage and premature death,’’ added Nathanson.
I am certain that Pannella means well and will do everything possible to protect the MMA fighters from serious harm. But there’s the rub. Make it too safe and it could quickly lose its appeal like NASCAR minus spectacular wrecks. Safe or not, it is too loose, wild and barbaric for my taste. What’s next—the Christians vs. the Lions?. I’ll take the Lions minus six.
