Posted on 12/01/2006 3:54:05 AM PST by mcg2000
They didn't even keep their shirts on.
Instead, hundreds at The Peabody Thursday were exposed to the AARP-age man boobs of Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton, 66, and former heavyweight champ Joe Frazier, 62.
As I watched the exhibition match between a bouncing braggart and a punch-drunk former great, I had to keep reminding myself that this was a fund-raiser for the Shelby County Drug Court.
Otherwise, I would have left in disgust.
I know it's supposed to be entertainment, but what's entertaining about seeing just how far Smokin' Joe has declined?
During three one-minute rounds, Herenton batted at Frazier's head as if he were toying with a child. When Frazier managed to swing, I worried that the momentum would send him reeling to the floor. He's just that feeble. If that's your idea of entertainment, you would have had a blast.
To keep my conscience quiet, I kept telling myself: This is for the drug court, which saves millions by sending nonviolent offenders into rehab, not jail.
The black-tie crowd would have heard just how life-changing the 10-year-old program can be, if they'd quieted enough during dinner to watch the video of the riveting stories told by several graduates.
The court needs $1.6 million a year to operate at full capacity. This spectacle was expected to raise $100,000. This is the equivalent of holding a bake sale to reduce the national debt.
The county could raise $1.6 million -- a pittance given the county's $940 million operating budget -- by increasing property taxes by 1 cent.
That hike would cost the owner of a $150,000 home an additional -- brace yourself -- $3.80 a year.
The real battle should be with the County Commission, which could, if pressed, find the money to pay for a program that saves money by dramatically shrinking recidivism rates.
Instead, the court's nonprofit foundation, which organized the event, elected to appeal to the public's appetite for any mayoral mess with a faux fight.
But the most lasting sting of "Knockout: A Fight for Life" is that it sets in stone the most unflattering perceptions about the mayor.
Said Herenton in July: "I'm a macho kind of guy and, you know, the idea of getting in the ring with Joe Frazier probably reaffirms some of the things that people thought about me anyway."
When Herenton's detractors complain to me about the mayor, they don't mention taxes or the expansion of his empire through annexation or even crime.
It's his attitude they can't stand. The braggadocio is befitting a boxer, but inappropriate for a public servant.
Even when the boxing mayor is dancing around a ring for a drug court that was still underfunded when the last bell rang.
Contact Wendi C. Thomas by e-mail, or call (901) 529-5896.
Politics aside, this woman should show Frazier the respect that this warrior deserves. He was one of the toughest men to step into the ring. He was a tank. Feeble? I'll lay odds that Joe could knock this author on her arse with a one-finger knuckle head thump!
I agree that the mayor is a pos!
LLS
Frazier looked like he wasn't long for this world. All joking aside, she could probably slap him around pretty good.
Git her Joe!
agreed
I wouldn't chance it. ;-)
LLS
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