Despite Threats, Brockton Needs To Construct Statue For Rocky Marciano

40 years ago next Monday, former undefeated heavyweight champion of the world Rocky Marciano died instantly when a private plane that he was a passenger in struck a tree near a small airfield outside Newton, Iowa.

Marciano, who remains the only heavyweight champion in boxing history to retire having won every fight in his professional career with an unblemished record of 49-0, was pronounced dead on the eve of his 46^th birthday.

Marciano, the son of immigrants from Italy, was born and raised in Brockton, Massachusetts.

“The Rock from Brockton,” who almost succumbed to a case of pneumonia when he was a toddler, is a member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

As a fitting tribute to the fighter that Ring Magazine ranked the sixth greatest heavyweight champion ever in 1998, a bronze statue of Marciano was planned to be unveiled outside of Brockton High School’s football stadium in time for his birthday on September 1.

Unfortunately, construction on the statue, a gift provided to the city of Brockton by the World Boxing Council (WBC), has been delayed because of financial difficulties and threats.

WBC President Jose Sulaiman revealed that sanction fees paid to the council by boxing promoters have dropped nearly 50 percent and construction of the $300,000, 24-foot bronze statue will now not be completed until later this year, or sometime in 2010.

“The statue has been started and we stopped it,” said Sulaiman this past spring. “My opinion is that the statue will be in about six months restarted, when we have enough cash.”

In addition to the serious economic potholes noted, a bizarre string of e-mail threats sent from the Chicago area have also derailed work on the statue.

Brockton’s Director of Community Services, Moises Rodrigues, said that the WBC has received in excess of 1,000 menacing emails from a person or group who, inexplicably, want the Rocky statue based in “The Windy City.”

“The council had hit a little bump on the road from the e-mails they were getting from this psycho in Chicago,” Rodrigues said.

Larry Siskind, the Brockton Historical Society President and a member of the statue committee, predicted that the warnings stem from a harmless loser. Still, he admitted that such consistent barrages of hate mail are a tad worrisome.

“We’re very confident it’s just a bunch of blowhards,” said Siskind. “But, you know, they have maintained a steady stream of invectives.”

More than virtually any pugilist in history, “The Brockton Blockbuster” deserves a commemoration to celebrate his unrivaled dominance in the ring.

Marciano was once quoted as saying, “What could be better than walking down any street in any city and knowing you’re the heavyweight champion of the world?”

"The City of Champions" warrants to be recognized as the city where one of the greatest heavyweight champions of all-time learned to walk, live and fight.

No set of hardships or torments should permanently halt the construction of Rocky Marciano’s statue.

“In the ring, I never really knew fear,” Marciano claimed shortly after he retired.

Hopefully, outside of the ring, political figures in Brockton don’t understand the meaning of “fear” either.

Derek Jeter's an Icon...Jim Rice is, and Always was, Nothing!

Former Boston Red Sox outfielder and undeserving Hall of Famer, Jim Rice inexplicably criticized New York Yankees icon Derek Jeter at a news conference Friday before the start of the Little League World Series in South Williamsport, Pa.

“You see a Manny Ramirez, you see an A-Rod (Alex Rodriguez), you see (Derek) Jeter,” said Rice, 56, who had a cameo in the prequel to Brokeback Mountain-Fever Pitch, and who revealed during his Hall of Fame acceptance speech that he is a devoted fan of The Young and the Restless. “Guys that I played against and with, these guys you’re talking about cannot compare.”

The surly and unlikable eight-time All-Star selection, who was elected to Cooperstown by the skin of his grundle this summer on his 15^th and final year of eligibility out of shire pity, continued his unfounded rant.

“We didn’t have the baggy uniforms. We didn’t have the dreadlocks,” Rice said. “It was a clean game, and now they’re setting a bad example for the young guys.”

Granted, Rodriguez and Ramirez are not ideal role models and their legacies have been badly tarnished in recent years.

However, it is curious and comedic that Rice, who has been employed as a commentator for the New England Sports Network (NESN) since 2003, chastised two Yankees and Ramirez instead of Boston’s resident juicehead, David “Big Papi” Ortiz.

One can presume that “Theo and the Trio” gave Rice a sensual Lewinsky in appreciation for his inane speech shortly after he returned to Beantown from Williamsport.

The most puzzling portion of Rice’s tirade is his inclusion of Jeter, one of the classiest and most universally respected athletes in modern sports history.

Jeter, 35, who captured more crowns by the time he completed his 1996 rookie year than Rice did in his entire 16 seasons as a member of the Red Sox, has personified professionalism both on and off of the field since he became a mega-celebrity at the age of 22.

When informed of Rice’s nonsensical remarks, Jeter reportedly appeared shocked and dumbfounded.

“I didn’t know I was like that,” quipped Jeter, a ten-time All-Star selection and four-time World Series champion. “That’s a first for me.”

In every conceivable aspect, Jeter is a winner and Rice is a loser.

“Mr. November,” a three-time Silver Slugger Award winner and the all-time hits leader among shortstops, is a ballplayer that any Major League Baseball executive would covet.

Sports Illustrated senior writer Peter King, a shamelessly biased fan of Boston’s sports teams who lives in that city’s South End, wrote in his NFL column Monday, “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Derek Jeter’s the best baseball player of my lifetime.”

Derek Jeter may not actually be the best player of any “lifetime.”

But, he is by far a more accomplished and skilled player than Rice ever was.

Perhaps Rice can ponder that absolute fact during a commercial break for The Young and the Restless.

*R-I-P-C-N-G-N-S-P