The Next Great Boxing Hope - Meet Shakur Stevenson

I had the great pleasure last Friday afternoon to meet a young boxer who many believe is the best American hope to win a gold medal in the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Shakur Stevenson in training. Remember the name.

His name is Shakur Stevenson, and last year he moved from Newark, NJ to Hampton, VA which is how he found his way into my sights. Actually, Andi Petrini @andipetrini, the sports editor at the DAILY PRESS, put him on my radar. As I did some research, it was amazing that this assignment fell to me. The article sent by Shakur's "people,"  was a recent one from USA Today, and written last month after the 17-year old had won yet another world amateur title. He's 17-0 in international competition.

I had a great talk with Stevenson at his grandparent's house in Hampton, where he is taking a break from boxing, but getting ready to begin training again in November. Amazingly, both of his coaches are still based in Newark. But, it's not entirely out of the realm of possibility. Mary Cain, the young phenom distance runner, who recently turned pro, has legendary Alberto Salazar as a coach, and he's still coaching runners in Oregon, while Mary just graduated from Bronxville HS, just outside of New York City.

I'm not going to give the highlights of the interview away, because it will be shown in a soon to be released DP sports page. Could be as early as tomorrow (Wed.), and I'll put an addendum on the top of this post with a link to the story. As I like to say, stay tuned. :)

Tales from Wagner College - Tom Chimento, Dr. Lieberman, Bill Anderson, the Rev. Jesse Jackson visit and ensuing "exclusive" interview for the S.I. Advance

Kudos to Tom Chimento, my former classmate at Wagner College. Every Thursday for the past few weeks, he has been posting a wide array of “Throwback” pictures on Facebook, capturing the essence of the people we knew at our old beloved “School on the Hill.” Even though Tom was a couple years ahead of me, there are enough familiar faces in most of the pictures to brighten my day, as well as the day of quite a few other folks, from the looks of the attached comments.

The Wagnerian gang - Spring 1983. Scott Lieberman in front
Geek with painter's hat in back, next to NY Post reader
Thanks for posting Tom C.!

Last week, to my surprise, Tom posted a Wagnerian picture, circa 1982-83. Now I always love to hear about my old college newspaper, for two reasons. First, I was blessed to serve as editor or co-editor in chief of the paper for three semesters while in college. Secondly, the Wagnerian was recently named the 14^th most influential college newspaper in the United States, by none other than the Princeton Review!

Of course, the comments followed. Scott Lieberman, managing editor of the paper during that school year, was fronting the group in the picture, and made notice of the old gang. Scott, who is now an esteemed cardiologist in Tyler, Texas, actually became famous for his picture of the Columbia space shuttle as it disintegrated on its way back to Mother Earth. He may be the most noteworthy journalist to emerge from the Wagnerian. We have some famous writers who graced the staff, but that’s for another post.

Dr. Scott Lieberman's picture of the Columbia
gained worldwide attention

Bill Anderson also chimed in. Bill, who was managing editor in the fall of 1983, commented on how it was an important year for Wagner news because of the student killed on a Korean Air Lines hijacked jet, the return of one of our graduates from medical school in Grenada, and the visit of the Rev. Jesse Jackson to our campus.

Ah yes, the Good Reverend’s visit. What a lesson I learned that week.

In 1983, Jackson, already an esteemed minister, as well as public speaker and figure, decided to run for the 1984 Democratic nomination for President. At the time of his visit to Staten Island (weeks before his Hymietown comment cost him the nomination), he was polling in strong double digits and had a legitimate chance to win at the upcoming primary.

We knew that his visit to the Island was going to be short, and his time at Wagner would be very brief. There would be a speaking opportunity, followed by several questions. Twenty minutes tops.

Being the cub reporter (albeit a sports one), I angled for a good spot in the audience. When the time came, I got my hand up high enough to be noticed. And I was.

“Reverend Jackson, being that the 20^th anniversary of the March on Washington just passed, do you believe that any true progress has been made with the Civil Rights movement?” The question went something like that.

Jackson gave a great answer, and by that I mean his response was awesome, and full of true Jesse Jackson verbiage. In truth, the gist of his answer was “some progress, but a lot of work still needs to be done.”

Wow, so Rev. Jesse Jackson answered my question.

I became doubly sure of what a great question it was the next day. On the front of the Staten Island Advance was news of Jackson’s visit to Staten Island. In a sidebar was a promo for Stevie Lacy-Pendleton’s “exclusive interview” with Jesse Jackson.

My first thought was “wow, how did she get a whole interview in such a short time?” Then I flipped to the interview page and found the answer.

I believe it was the third “interview” question that read, “Rev. Jackson, do you believe that any progress has been made with the Civil Rights movement?” And Jackson’s great response from the previous day was now in print, as part of a perceived one-on-one interview.

In a huff, I called the paper, and asked to speak with Ms. Lacy-Pendleton. The surprised voice on the other end noted that she was not in. Unsatisfied with that response, I went on a short tirade about how dare this reporter take other people’s questions and claim them as her own. She may have never received the message.

And up until Tom’s posted picture and Bill’s comment, I had totally forgotten about the incident. On a whim, I did a search on the Ms. Lacy-Pendleton. She appears to be gainfully employed with the Advance 30 years later; in fact, she is listed as a senior columnist and the deputy editorial page editor.

Great for her. I’m sure there’s a wonderful explanation why her involvement with the Jackson visit was listed as an exclusive interview the next day. There’s probably a legitimate reason.

I just never got to hear it.

Mrs. McGrath Goes to Japan -- Donations Welcome. No, Really :)

Elizabeth and Jim

I am proud to announce that my wife Elizabeth,
shown on the right, will be serving as a citizen
delegate for Sister Cities of Newport News next
month. Where the designation is an honor, it
is also quite expensive. (Comparing point of
note -- did you know that Olympians families
have to raise their own funds to go see their
son/daughter compete?) I've given until it hurts (still) and now I'm happy to ask on her behalf. Of course, Elizabeth has a link and a statement. The 
link is below. Please read and feel free to support her cause.

http://www.gofundme.com/c8jx1w

Hi, everyone! I am departing on October 15. I could really use some support, as I am preparing to purchase my ticket and meeting my host family in Neyagawa, Japan. I am looking forward to this adventure. I will represent not only the City of Newport News but also Juvenile Services Education. For those in the Southeast Virginia region, I plan to sell Krispy Kreme doughnuts to help with expenses as well. 

Please spread the word for this worthwhile cause on your social media pages. Thanks in advance for your support. 

Love, Mrs. McGrath

John Harvey Starts Rev City Sports

My friend John Harvey, former sports editor of the Virginia Gazette in Williamsburg (VA), has started a new venture, and indeed it is a bold one. A couple of months ago, he made the decision to launch Rev City Sports, (revcitysports.com), a website dedicated to the coverage of youth, high school, amateur -- basically, all sports offerings in the greater Williamsburg area. 

An operation which started from a Blogger.com platform has since found its own web home (thanks to Williamsburg Web Works), and some early sponsorship assistance. Of course, as noted in John's introduction below, he is in search of site advertisers, as well as story ideas.

"RevCitySports.com is the premiere online site or sports news in greater Williamsburg. If a sporting event is happening in the area, you can find the results here. From youth sports to middle school sports, to high school and college athletics, you can find it here. John Harvey is a veteran sports writer in the area with 15 years experience covering everything from Pickleball to football. If folks have a story idea or if a company would like to advertise on the site, have them contact me at jharvey@revcitysports.com or via Twitter @RevCitySports."

Fortunately, John has a lot of juice behind the operation. As a reporter, he was recognized by the Virginia Press Association as one of the top writers in the state, garnering 22 VPA awards for sports writing, as well as photography, page design, headline writing and multi-media production. Fans of Rev City are quick to note the video footage which accompanies several of the articles, as well as the sharp use of graphics and sleek two-column design for stories.

Readership is on the upswing, so be the first on your block (especially if your block is on the Historic Triangle!) to give an eyeful to Rev City Sports.

"Life Treats You the Way You Treat It" - Book Update

Labor Day has rolled past, and it is time to assess where D'Shawn and I are with the book project.
At our current rate, we'll be ready for the holidays. The publicity pictures have been taken and a working cover has been designed.

The photo day was interesting. D'Shawn poses for pictures all the time between the bodybuilding routines and other photo shoots. Me, not so much.

That's not a problem. Fortunately, I'm the organizer of the story and not its main subject. It would be odd for me to end up standing out in any picture of us. As I always joke -- a line I stole from 1980's comedian Steve Mittleman -- Let me tell you about my modeling career. I used to model socks  --- on the radio <rim shot!>

The working book cover looks great!

I hope that this ends up being the cover we go with. Some Facebook comments have noted that it looks too much like an evangelist looking toward the heavens. I think it fits the topic. D'Shawn says a lot of things about belief and confidence and looking for inspiration. In my frame of mind, this picture is a great metaphor for the message.

Right now, I'm figuring that we are at roughly 75 pages. Keep in mind -- we're not setting out to rewrite "War and Peace." Our aim starts with the minimum of 150 pages. The goal is to provide the type of book that someone could carry around in a purse or gym bag. I'd like to push closer to 200, but realize it will be a lot of work. But there will be some pictures of Body By D events, and perhaps some excerpts from other writings about D'Shawn, the gym clients, trainers, and surely the BBD movement in general.

Lex Gillette

We have found a worthy candidate to write the forward. Lex Gillette is one of the most amazing people you will ever encounter. Blind since the age of 7, he has become renowned for his feats in the long jump, clearing about 22 feet as a world class Paralympic athlete. He also writes music, plays instruments, and does a number of other things that one might not expect from a person who is sight impaired. However, he lives daily by his own creed - "No need for sight when you have a vision!" Travis Masters, my editor at TrackNation magazine, found Lex's story a couple of years ago and gave me the assignment. Our article can be found at this link http://tracknation.com/trackside2/ on page 19.

As it stands now, we are on target to have the book ready toward the middle of November, and just in time for the Holidays! Plan ahead and get ready for our drop date.