I don't know about other sports fans, but there are times when I miss the old Mike Tyson. The Mike that just knocked fighters out. Too bad I didn't have this blog when Mike's career was going full force. To write about Mike Tyson is to express what strength, power, fearlessness and heart put into one man can produce. Mike Tyson was a throwback to a time when men were killed in the ring. I'm not talking about bare knuckle brawlers, I'm talking about Spartan Gladiators up against deathly odds in the Colosseum of Rome. A gladiator's life was meaningless to everyone but himself and he was forced to risk it for the entertainment of the people.
Folks may have thought many of Mike's statements were crazy, but when Mike said he'd fight a lion if the price was right, I'm sure in his fearless heart he believed every bit of it. And if a lion were ever to attack Iron Mike I'd bet my money on Tyson. Punch, bite, claw and kick, whatever it takes to protect yourself and destroy an enemy attack. Self preservation is all that matters.
True Warriors don't always fit into our neat and safe world, there's just too many rules and niceties for them to follow when dealing with so many fools. A true warrior lives by one code and one code only, Survival of the Fittest. Mike didn't box for the sport of it, Mike boxed as a way of surviving in this society. Unfortunately, there's no use in this society for old worn out warriors who've been used up and no longer entertain the crowds. Nothing in society but carnival sideshows await such a demised brute. Maybe that's what professional boxing has become these days, a sideshow for high paying patrons. But for those of us who know the heart of a warrior and what it takes to survive this rat race of liars, cheaters and fools, we understand that Mike Tyson was just a man who couldn't be tamed. Some may call that a beast of a man, but I'd like to think of it as the unharnessed strength and courage that allowed men to conquer the land, animals and elements of this planet over thousands of years.
Someday we may need a Mike Tyson to look up to and teach us once again the brutalities of survival. Someday, we may have to fight a lion over food, water or protection of our family. Only then will people understand what it is that drives a warrior like Mike Tyson. At that time, which I'm sure many hope will never come, the meaning of what it is to be a Man will be as clear as crystal. Until then, our Iron Warrior has been tamed by a more loving and humble source:
No comments:
Post a Comment