Shame and Literacy Redux: Rapper Challenges Boxer to read ‘Cat in the Hat’ on Jimmy Fallon August 22, 2014 – Posted in: Content, Reading / Literacy

Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson and Floyd Mayweather Jr. (Jemal Countess / Ethan Miller / Getty Images) Right on heels of our last post, Shame and Literacy, comes this doozy. Rapper 50 Cent has challenged Floyd Mayweather, who many consider the best pound-for-pound boxer in the universe, to appear on Jimmy Fallon’s late night TV show and read the Dr. Suess classic “Cat in he Hat.” If he does so successfully 50 Cent will donate $750,000 to a charity of…

A Heavyweight For Illiteracy March 17, 2014 – Posted in: Alphabets, Reading / Literacy

Wladimir Klitschko is the World Heavyweight Champion. He currently holds 4 different championship belts and is pretty much considered the undisputed king of the ring. His latest fight might be his toughest yet – illiteracy; the global scourge that effects over 250 million children who do not have access to education. The project is called Klitschko vs. Illiteracy and it is the brainchild of the Klitschko Brothers Foundation in cooperation with the German charity organization BILD hilft e.V. Ein Herz für Kinder. For the project Klitschko dipped his…

Kaplan Boxing Archive: From Contender To Champ April 19, 2010

Poster For An Exhibit of Materials From The Hank Kaplan Boxing Archive. (All Images Courtesy Of Hank Kaplan Boxing Archive At Brooklyn College.) The rags to riches story behind Brooklyn College‘s Hank Kaplan Boxing Archive just got a little richer: on April 16, 2010 the collection’s chief archivist, Professor Anthony Cucchiara, became the winner of a $315,000 endowment from the National Endowment of the Humanities (NEH) to organize the largest and most extensive boxing collection…

The Biggest Jew in Chicago Part 3 March 24, 2010

According to its press book, a movie was loosely based upon Terry Druggan, his partner Frankie Lake, and their activities. William Wellman’s The Public Enemy (1931), starred James Cagney as Tommy Powers/Terry Druggan and featured Edward Woods as Matt Doyle/Frankie Lake. The 1923 tragi-comic death of Sam “Nails” Morton was depicted in the movie: An avid horseman, Nails (in the film, “Nails Nathan”) was riding in Lincoln Park one morning, a stirrup broke, the horse…

Ernest Hemingway: Down For The Count September 4, 2009

In 1922, Heavyweight Champion Jack Dempsey was the toast of Paris. He was feted and fawned over, the women obliging, the men in awe. Champion for three years, he was used to celebrities wanting to put the gloves on and spend a fantasy few minutes sparring with him. A fighter who took all that occurred within the ring with extreme seriousness – it is not a playground1 – he nonetheless indulged many: he allowed silent…