We are All Linked to Boston's Trouble and its Triumph

Leo Boxer and future Captain of Team USA Lamar Fenner Defeated the Chechen Terrorist Tamerlan Tzarnaev in 2009; Boston and Massachusetts 1st Responders defeated Tamerlan and his kid brother who attacked Boston and America in 2013.

The big Russian kid in the photo had the reach, the height and the weight on Lamar Fenner.  Lamar had a Catholic education and coach Mike Joyce.  No contest.

I get to Leo between 4:30-5 AM every morning.  My e-mails contain Alumni updates and dates notices.   In the mix was a note from my friend, Chicago playwright, film maker, actor, journalist and author Mike Houlihan.

Pat=One of the Chechyan (sp?) terrorist brothers fought Lamar Fenner last year in the ring! See Deadspin story.
HouliHouli

I checked it out, the fight was in 2009.  Lamar had not been fighting since 2010 due to an eye injury. I remembered also that Lamar and Mike Houlihan had joined Leo/Celtic Boxing Coach Mike 'Pickle' Joyce for an evening out with Boston-born actor and star of Rescue Me Denis Leary a few years back.

You may recall that Rescue Me concerned 1st Responders -NYFD Firemen - who ran to danger on 9/11 lived with the consequences of that heroism.

Mike Joyce taught Lamar Fenner to "to work inside" -heart matters.

I posted a blurb, or blog about Lamar's defeat of the Chechen kid who repaid American welcome with a couple of pressure cookers he and his little brother had packed with nails, BBs, ball-bearing and explosives set to a timer made from a kid's toy.  Their thank you to Boston and America tore off legs and limbs of scores of strangers and murdered a little boy and two girls.

Boston, despite the mouthings of political know-it-alls, is a great town full of splendid human beings.  You can walk Boston itself in a day on foot which is not a bad idea given the traffic and the parking.  My buddy Mark Manning and his massive family grew up in the projects of Dorchester. Mark became a skilled surgeon, did twenty five years in the Air Force and practices in Del Rio, TX.I have friends in Dorchester and South Boston, as well as some shirt-tail cousins.  My friends the Jordans of Oak Park, once lived in Watertown, where the little brother monster was grabbed.  My daughter Nora worked and lived in Boston for the better part of year, until the marketing company for which she worked tanked.

On one visit in the early 1980's my fiance and I were treated to dinner at Mr. Anthony's by a guy in his late forties we had met in a bar near Fenway Park.  We were introduced to Jimmy, by a mutual friend.  He was fascinated that with Illinois, the Civil War, Camp Douglas and Abraham Lincoln, as well as the fact that Mary and I were high school teachers.

We thought he was pulling our legs, but our friend assured us that Jimmy meant what he said.  The next night, Mary and I were treated like Kennedys at Anthony's Pier 4 and everything had been "paid with cash including a very generous tip for the staff."

Several years later, my wife Mary held up a front page picture of Jimmy touted as Most Wanted Man in America. " This is our pal Jimmy."

Well, He was nice to us.

Today, people are saying the same thing about the Brothers Tsarnaev.  Mike Joyce put things very well in today's Chicago Sun Times article about Lamar's fight with Tamerlan:As for Tsarnaev, 

Joyce said he was stunned by the allegations that he was a terrorist. “It boggles my mind,” he said. “Boxing is an individual sport, a fraternity. It requires a lot of dedication. For a boxer to get involved in something as insane as terrorism, I just don’t know.”

I'll try, Pick.

• Lamar's father was Chicago Fireman - a 1st responder
• Lamar's Mom and Dad chose a Catholic school for him - where he was coached by you, Herman Mills, Eddie Perkins, Luther Rawlings and the great Bob Foster.  
• Lamar learned accountability from his parents, you and teachers like Bob Foster ( who authoritatively and rhetorically tuned-up Lamar on more than one occasion, Brother O'Keefe, Brother Finch, Pete Doyle, Ed Adams and Mike Holmes,
• Lamar knew that 7,000 plus Leo Alums had his back and that he was accountable for his actions and would own the consequences forgetting Christ.
• Lamar saw a crucifix on every wall at Leo and that it was there for more than a decoration

Lamar Fenner won a decision.

Tamerlan Tzarnaev and his little brother decided not to be reminded of anything of real consequence.

They never were taught that we are all linked to Boston.