Another Concussion

In September of 1966 I started my freshman year at St. Paul's High School (an all-male Jesuit institution in Winnipeg). The best way I can describe it is a bit of insanity mixed with a whole lot of testosterone... It was a really fascinating place - a bastion of unfettered "maleness" :-)

BTW - I was one of very few freshman who made it through the first day of school without getting tossed in the "bird bath"... That was the big round sink in the downstairs rest room. It was about 6 feet across - about 10 people could stand around it and wash their hands at the same time... The "cleansing of the freshmen" was a long standing tradition... But that's not the point of this post :-)

One fall morning my sister and I were waiting for our respective (city) buses. My bus arrived first and one of my classmates (Curt Little) was already on board. As we pulled away he asked if that was my sister. I said "Yes" and he said "She's ugly" !!!

Now - the last thing I wanted to do was fight (pain avoidance was one of my core values) but I had to stand up for my sister so I told him it was on. He said "Seriously?" and I said "Seriously!" And he said "OK - how about we box in the school gym during lunch tomorrow?" Alarm bells were going off in my head but it didn't really matter - I agreed.
Despite Curt's complete nonchalance about the upcoming battle I was feeling pretty good about my chances. He was a couple of inches taller than me but skinny as a rail - I probably had 20 lbs on him. And I had gone 3 for 3 in my fights in Germany...
But just to be safe I asked around. Unfortunately, Curt was new in town and nobody knew anything about him...

Meanwhile word of the fight had been spreading through the school like wildfire - it was even announced in some of the classrooms... Odds were set and bets were placed... By the time the lunch bell rang the next day I was scared sh*tless but there was no way I was backing down - not after what he said about my sister...

The kid who sat next to me volunteered to be my corner man - he helped me put the gloves on in the locker room and gave me some pointers... And then there was the slow climb up the stairs to the gym... I was really wishing I could turn back :-)
The wrestling mats had been laid out... The bleachers were full - I'd estimate that over half the student body was there. And a loud cheer erupted as the "fighters" emerged from the stairwell...

The "referee" gave us the rules - we touched gloves - and I came out swinging... But there was a problem - by the time my fist got to where his face used to be it wasn't there anymore... I could not connect...
On my 3rd or 4th punch he slipped to my left. The next thing I knew I was flat on my back, the 10-count was (apparently) over and there were 3 or 4 people hovering over me asking if I was OK.

The fight had ended in a knockout after 15 seconds... I never touched him and I never saw his hand move...

When I saw Curt in the classroom after lunch I asked him what the hell he had hit me with. He held up his fist and said "Just one of these"... That's when he revealed that his father had been a professional boxer and had trained him since the age of 5... Yeah - that would have been nice to know beforehand - it would have definitely changed the odds. But at least it made me feel better about having gotten my @ss kicked in such a public manner :-)

I still felt bad for the guys who bet on me - but they should have known better. And interestingly enough - there wasn't much of a bruise - Curt had just hit me right "on the button"...
I probably should have gone to the doctor (usually a good idea after getting knocked senseless) but I never told my mom and sis about the fight. I just stayed home the next day because of the "mysterious" migraine...

And that's how (just a month or 2 into the school year) I became the most notorious freshman at St Paul's - and the butt of countless jokes for months to come :-)