Song Of The Day 7/25/2016: Warren Zevon – “Boom Boom Mancini”

Wide Room of Sports – In addition to raising a family, retaining a job, producing various forms of entertainment and researching underwater volcanoes, I also follow professional sports. Well, two. And out of those two I only get wildly emotional and/or analytical about pro football. I do follow the Mariners, but given their history that can be as painful as mortification of the flesh. As for the rest, at least I know who the current Stanley Cup champion is, and over the past year or so I've been paying a little more attention to pro basketball, which for many residents of Sonics-less Seattle is mortification of the flesh.

So I don't have a lot of room for sports that are more on the periphery of the mainstream American athletics consumer. (Yes, I know soccer is making inroads, acknowledged, go back to your pale ale.) That's why I thought in this filler week between premium features I'd look into a few athletic endeavors that aren't teeming with corporate endorsements, or fantasy league components, or interested fans. (I meant drink your pale ale, not throw the glass at me. Take a joke, Cascadia!)

Boxing used to be a big deal. It's still the best stage play in sports. My favorite song about boxing (not counting any of Muhammed Ali's poetry set to music) is Warren Zevon's "Boom Boom Mancini" from Sentimental Hygeine. With a Stipe-less R.E.M. serving as backup band, Warren doesn't stray very far from the straight facts of the story of former lightweight champion Ray Mancini, who rose quickly through the ranks of the World Boxing Association in the early '80s. The turning point was Mancini's match against South Korean Duk Koo Kim, which Mancini won in the fourteenth round. After the fight Kim collapsed into a coma and died four days later, which sent Mancini into spiraling depression and self-incrimination.

Well, there's a cheery opening to the week. Never mind, Cascadia, feel free to brood.