4 February 2012, 11:08 pm
I guess I just had to get this off my chest. Just over 50 years ago as a youngster I used to play sandlot baseball with a group of kids in my NY neighborhood. Most of us were around 10-12 years old at the time. One guy in particular was a year older than me. Although I moved away from the neighborhood I always remembered his name. As an adult I recall watching some pretty good fights on TV and was surprised to see that this one guy who was at most a year old than me was now a boxing referee on TV. Although we were now adults he still had the same unmistakable boyish irish face that I remembered as a kid and of course his name hadn't changed...........Wayne Kelly. I read in the newspaper orbituary this week that he had just passed away. When I tuned into the Chavez, Jr fight tonight I was pleased when I saw that Jim Lampley explained that 2 trainers and 1 referee had passed away this week. I understood that more attention was placed on the passing of Dundee but I was also pleased when Lampley repectfully mentioned that Wayne Kelly had passed away this week too. To get to the point........ I admit that I waited for Michael Buffer to also make the announcement as he asked for a moment of silence as the bell tolled 10. To my dismay and surprise Buffer announced that boxing had lost 2 special trainers this week and made no mention of Wayne Kelly's passing at all....... For a second I wondered if Buffer's omission had something to do with the fact that Kelly was a referee but then I remembered that Buffer had announced the passing of Arthur Mercante Sr who also lived in my NY neighborhood and who was instrumental in helping Wayne Kelly become both a pro boxer + a referee...... I wanted to say thanks to Jim Lampley for mentioning the passing of Wayne Kelly and say thanks for nothing to Michael Buffer for failing to mention the passing of Wayne Kelly I would have expected better of Michael Buffer and I wondered if anyone else felt that Buffer really showed no class in failing to include Kelly's name tonight ?... Read More »
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