More than 30 years ago, photographer Richard Younker stepped into a crowded St. Andrew's Gym on Chicago's North Side, looking to capture some arresting images from a Golden Gloves boxing competition.
Posted on 01/03/2009 11:37:10 PM PST by malkee
More than 30 years ago, photographer Richard Younker stepped into a crowded St. Andrew's Gym on Chicago's North Side, looking to capture some arresting images from a Golden Gloves boxing competition.
He was standing ringside before a fight when a wiry kid with a sculpted helmet of hair—future Gov. Rod Blagojevich—asked him to take his picture. Younker remembers Blagojevich was the only fighter that year who asked—but without the request, Younker said he never would've snapped the pictures.
"I sort of pick out subjects whose faces look interesting," Younker said Friday. "I saw him there and said, 'This is definitely not somebody I'm going to photograph.' "
But Younker obliged, snapping three shots of the 18-year-old Blagojevich, including one in which he winks Palin-like while his coach appears to advise him.
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
"The future governor, in Younker's memory, lost his fight that March night. Another coach, Pat LaCassa, told the Tribune in 2006 that Blagojevich, who had a short boxing career, lost his final fight because he kept his gloves up to defend his face.
LOL. Chicken. Worried about those future photo ops, apparently.
Chicago Tribune has a whole slew of stuff on Blago for Sunday - timelines, pictures, Dec 9th US attorney press release. It’s all here:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/
Ping.
This is mostly old stuff. I was looking for something new.
It seems like we as a country are overrun and soon to be overloaded with crooks like him.
Hmmmmmm...lota GAY oooozing out of that picture.
Caption: Rod, he said $500.00 if you take a dive!”
Yeah. Who wrote this crap?
Now we know where all those fighting metaphors came from.
Unless you have been in the ring yourself, you have no right to call “chicken” on anyone who has. And anyone who has would never call another a chicken. It takes guts to get half-naked into a square surrounded by people with another guy who is going to try to beat your brains out.
Your right on there. I ran a USA Boxing club for a couple of years that I just had to close. These young men and woman have guts to even get in a ring. They are winners the moment they do. Being in the corner with many of them I have been in awe at their grit and determination.
Oh, I agree wholeheartedly. Definitely not a chicken. But a bum nonetheless.
Round two: Blago gets up off the canvas and spills his beans all over BO.
I feel for this guy, and I'll tell you why: he was set up, because he dared ask for more than the other boys and girls in the dirty game were wanting him to have.
That's right; I said, SET UP! By his own father-in-law, who is a dirty politician himself.
What Blago did is not out of the ordinary for politicians. That's how they do business every where.
He simply didn't play the game the way they wanted him too.
Gee, I hate to tell you this; but yes he was set up. What I don’t understand is why you feel for someone that is crooked? If he weren’t crooked and this happened would be another story; but to feel for people that are at the very root of distruction of this country. No way.
This was obviously a carefully posed photo. The tipoff is that amateur boxers always wear helmets when in a ring. Blago took his helmet off. The reason likely had something to do with vanity about his hairdo.
Not to mention the fact that while he is crooked, he's still a human being isn't he?
How would you like to be in his shoes, with all your buddies (including your own family members) selling you out because you won't crook the way they want you to?
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