Tony Zale

They used to say of Tony Zale, the fighter, that you could knock him down. But if he got up, you'd had it. Tony Zale always got up. If you saw the "Rocky" movies, you remember the fight scenes? Bloody, brutal, about as scientific as a cave drawing, they took you back to the dawn of history, or a 4 a.m. saloon fight. Who or what would you say were the models for these fights? Dempsey-Firpo? Any Marciano fight? Custer's Last Stand?

Tony Zale, who died last week at 83, was the middleweight champion when he joined the Navy in 1942. Shirley Povich of the Washington Post recalled that when Zale registered at the Great Lakes boot camp, the registration officer demanded: "Name and occupation." "Anthony Zaleski," said Zale, giving his true name. "Professional boxer, middleweight." Said the officer, "I'd hate to be in your shoes, Zaleski. Tony Zale is due here this week."

Tony Zale will be buried Monday not far from where he was born and worked in the steel mills before embarking on a boxing career that took him to the world middleweight championship. Zale died Thursday at a Portage nursing home after several years of battling Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's. He was 83. His funeral will be at the Stilinovich and Wiatrolik Funeral Home in Merrillville, followed by a Mass at St. Andrew's Catholic Church. The burial is to be at Calvary Cemetery in Hobart.

In the midst of World War II, Navy man Tony Zale and Marine Bob Waters fought an exhibition. It wasn't supposed to be much more than a sparring session without headgear, just a couple of rounds of sticking and moving to entertain the troops. Both men were to pull their punches to avoid serious injury. But somehow, at the end of a round, Waters forgot himself and threw a stinging left hook that caught the unsuspecting Zale.

Tony Zale, who died last week at 83, was the middleweight champion when he joined the Navy in 1942. Shirley Povich of the Washington Post recalled that when Zale registered at the Great Lakes boot camp, the registration officer demanded: "Name and occupation." "Anthony Zaleski," said Zale, giving his true name. "Professional boxer, middleweight." Said the officer, "I'd hate to be in your shoes, Zaleski. Tony Zale is due here this week."

In the midst of World War II, Navy man Tony Zale and Marine Bob Waters fought an exhibition. It wasn't supposed to be much more than a sparring session without headgear, just a couple of rounds of sticking and moving to entertain the troops. Both men were to pull their punches to avoid serious injury. But somehow, at the end of a round, Waters forgot himself and threw a stinging left hook that caught the unsuspecting Zale.

Former world middleweight champion Rocky Graziano was in critical condition today, four days after suffering a stroke, according to a published report. The New York Daily News reported in today's editions that Graziano was stricken at his home and taken to New York Hospital. A spokeswoman at the hospital told the Associated Press that the 69-year-old former boxer was a patient, but said she was not permitted to discuss his condition.

Former world middleweight champion Rocky Graziano was reported in stable condition today and resting comfortably in Lenox Hill Hospital after collapsing at his home. Graziano, 68, was taken to the hospital Sunday after he "went limp all over," his daughter, Audrey Weisman, said. "It doesn't look good," Weisman said. "He collapsed totally--physically and mentally." Weisman said her father went to the hospital last week for a checkup and "came home the next day worse than he's ever been."

Former world middleweight champion Rocky Graziano has been hospitalized after collapsing at home, according to his family. Graziano, 68, was taken to Lenox Hill Hospital after he "went limp all over" Sunday at his apartment, his daughter, Audrey Weisman, said. "It doesn't look good," Weisman said. "He collapsed totally--physically and mentally." Doctors didn't reveal a diagnosis.

Babe Ruth, 53, who rose from being a teen thug in a Baltimore street gang to become arguably the most famous of all American athletes, died 51 years ago today. Even though it was widely known he had been battling throat cancer for two years, the news still shocked Americans. President Herbert Hoover, recalled giving a speech in 1930 in Los Angeles and being approached afterward by a boy asking for three of the president's autographs. Hoover asked the boy why he wanted three.

Tony Zale will be buried Monday not far from where he was born and worked in the steel mills before embarking on a boxing career that took him to the world middleweight championship. Zale died Thursday at a Portage nursing home after several years of battling Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's. He was 83. His funeral will be at the Stilinovich and Wiatrolik Funeral Home in Merrillville, followed by a Mass at St. Andrew's Catholic Church. The burial is to be at Calvary Cemetery in Hobart.

They used to say of Tony Zale, the fighter, that you could knock him down. But if he got up, you'd had it. Tony Zale always got up. If you saw the "Rocky" movies, you remember the fight scenes? Bloody, brutal, about as scientific as a cave drawing, they took you back to the dawn of history, or a 4 a.m. saloon fight. Who or what would you say were the models for these fights? Dempsey-Firpo? Any Marciano fight? Custer's Last Stand?

Las Coloradas Beach, 1956: Eighty-two men, including Fidel Castro and Ernesto (Che) Guevara, landed in the Oriente Province on Dec. 2 after sailing from Mexico on the cabin cruiser Granma. Havana, 1991: Every night on CubaVision, they show a movie. Cuban television has two working channels. One runs nothing but the Pan American Games, morning, noon and night, hosted seven days a week by a guy named Hector, morning, noon and night. Hector looks bushed.

More than 1,000 people, including current and former baseball players, team owners and Chicago fans, attended a memorial service Saturday for former Chicago White Sox owner Bill Veeck. Veeck, who also once owned the St. Louis Browns and Cleveland Indians, died Thursday of cardiac arrest at age 71. "You are a prince in all the good senses of the word," the Rev. Thomas J. Fitzgerald said in his homily at the Church of Saint Thomas the Apostle on the South Side.