Reuters - Wed Mar 21, 3:35 PM ET
U.S. boxing promoter Don King (R) attends Pope Benedict's general audience with Italian boxer Luca Messi at the Vatican March 21, 2007. REUTERS/Dario Pignatelli (VATICAN)
Posted on 03/22/2007 12:47:59 AM PDT by NYer
Promoter Don King received a papal blessing and presented Pope Benedict XVI with specially made world championship boxing belts denoting the Pontiff as the "world champion of peace and love" at the Vatican today. King sat in the first row on the steps of St. Peter's Basilica with an unobstructed view of the Pope's weekly public audience as a crowd estimated at 25,000 looked on from St. Peter's Square.
U.S. boxing promoter Don King (R) attends Pope Benedict's general audience with Italian boxer Luca Messi at the Vatican March 21, 2007. REUTERS/Dario Pignatelli (VATICAN)
You know, every time I think life can't get any weirder, it goes and pulls one of these little numbers on me.
I wonder if BXVI will try on one of the belts when no one's looking?
NO KING BUT JESUS
POPE BENEDICT XVI held a general audience yesterday and sitting front and center with his hair neatly combed (relatively speaking) was boxing promoter Don King.
Only at the Vatican.
King didn't actually get to bend (or gnaw on) the pontiff's ear - very few secular folks do - but he was able to hand the Pope a green-and-gold boxing belt and a hand-written letter asking for prayers for everyone from George W. Bush to the world's aged and infirm.
"I was thrilled to be there. It was a deep spiritual experience," the boxing promoter told the Associated Press.
King, 75, was in Italy visiting Luca Messi, a fighter in his stable. Messi's brother is a Catholic priest who helped facilitate everything.
Jeremy Staat, a college roommate of Pat Tillman at Arizona State and a former NFL player himself, has been deployed to Iraq.
Staat, a Marine Lance Cpl., was a defensive lineman for the Steelers from 1998-2000 and with the Rams in 2003. He also spent time in the Arena League.
He joined the Marines following Tillman's death in Afghanistan in 2004.
"The way I look at it, we're spreading freedom, and you have to support the troops and you have to support the war," Staat told Honolulu's KITV.
The 6-5 Staat dropped 50 pounds and enlisted at 260. He graduated from the San Diego Marine Corps recruit depot last March.
John Elway and Jon Bon Jovi were discussing which is more hazardous to your health, being an NFL quarterback or being a rock star.Bon Jovi decided it had to be rock star. His reasoning: "You've seen Keith Richards, right?" *
I am glad God often lets people get old enough to begin to sense his presence inside them and around them. He's like a calm patient ocean with the tide coming in and wearing away at the beach a little each time. It has been that way for me, and maybe Don King, too, if your self-centeredness can finally erode a little. I appreciate Don King's respect for the Pope and the power of prayer.
"Only in The Vatican!"
He just might give it a try!
Was at the Vatican last month and some friends saw a couple of motorcycles go by and wondered what was going on...a car came in behind and the window rolled down to show a smiling waving Benedict. No crowds, just random folks wandering around the Vatican..He seemed to enjoy it!
I really think popes should be Italian (you know, my own issue)...but, I must say...he seems like a pretty cool guy!
Thank you for your excellent and timely commentary! This is so true. And for the more obstinate, sometimes He needs to hit them on the head with a 2 x 4 ;-)
So, I guess someone advised Don the floor length white mink coat was a fashion no-no.
This is incredible no? I think I read somewhere that he's not even a Catholic, yet he loves and respects the Pope. God bless the U.S., the Pope, and Mr. King.
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