PONOMA!!!

Yes, you read correctly "PONOMA" as in "PONOMA, CA."

As much as people tell me how horrific, brutal, and primitive the sport of Boxing, I must admit I have a fascination in it. There's something about the fact that it is 1 person vs. 1 person, a couple of gloves for "protection," and 1 will against the other's. I'm not going to justify the sport, heck, I know that I wouldn't be able to do it. I prefer team sports where I do not have to depend on only myself and blame only myself. I prefer the ability to blame others and myself (mostly others).

The point of this is while my mom and sister were in town this weekend there was a big Welterweight Championship fight: Cotto vs. Mosely . I had no idea about it until the day of and after walking around all day suggested to my sister we just see if they even had tickets at Madison Square Garden. They had tickets and even though they were a little more expensive then I had hoped I did not have any other plans and the thought of watching championship boxing in the Garden where Ali-Frazier took place was compelling enough. We got there at about 7:30pm. I thought for sure the main event go on by 9pm (6pm PST for PPV), but I was wrong the main event started at 11pm. The undercards were good, a few went all 12 rounds, there were two 1st round knockouts, grand entrances with mariachi music, and "Sugar" Shane Moseley was a hometown boy of sorts hailing from Pomona, and now living in Claremont. The crowd was fiercely Puerto Rican in support of Miguel Cotto so decided I would not dare to openly cheer for Moseley, but just planned on enjoyed the fights.

As the entrances began Moseley came out first and up on the jumbotron of Madison Square Garden his hometown of "PONOMA, CA" (the announcer was correct, however, in his pronunciation). I noticed immediately and just the sight of this made me feel like I was in some bizzaro David Lynch world (mostly because I could not stop thinking of Michael Michael's recap of a scene from Inland Empire, which I still have not seen, where one character repeatedly says "POMONA....POMONA...," but in my mind it was replaced with "PONOMA"). Immediately the fear of rooting for the underdog disappeared and I yelled "PONOMA" throughout the rest of the fight. This word has infected my brain now. Each time I think of Pomona, whether its the school, the city, Pomona, KS, or even typing the word "Pomona," I have an urge to switch the nasals. Moseley, ended up losing, but PONOMA wins.