Bengal Bouts create `blessed closeness'
Charles Rice
Right or Wrong?
"This was the only thing that made law school worthwhile." A law student, now a successful attorney, told me that some years ago after he had won a Bengal Bouts championship in his third year of law school. He was kidding about law school — I think. But people do react that way when they participate in the Bengal Bouts. Let me try to explain why they do and why the Notre Dame community should support the Bouts.
Knute Rockne began an informal boxing program at Notre Dame in the late 1920s. Dominic (Nappy) Napolitano, the legendary director of non-varsity athletics, carried it forward to begin the Bengal Bouts in 1931. Every year, all proceeds go to support the Holy Cross missions in Bangladesh, where 48 Holy Cross priests, 57 sisters and 46 brothers labor to bring physical as well as spiritual aid to some of the poorest people on earth.
"One dollar of American money over there," notes Father Bill Seetch, Boxing Club chaplain, "can feed, shelter and clothe a family of five for a day. The equivalent of two cans of soda pop can do that half of a world away."
In a letter to Notre Dame students, Archbishop Lawrence Graner, of Dacca, East Bengal, wrote, "I wonder how many know just what the purpose of the Bouts is [and] what this program means to a small, but solid group on the other side of the world, who are carrying on the tradition of Notre Dame in its truest form."
In 2000, the Bouts raised the record sum of $71,000 for the Bengal missions. With continued support from students, we can equal or surpass that total this year.
The Boxing Club, of which I am privileged to be faculty advisor, will conduct the Bouts in the JACC this year on Feb. 22, 26 and 28, with the finals on March 2. You can support this cause by buying tickets, taking ads and encouraging others to attend.
The Boxing Club provides a unique experience to the participants. "At Notre Dame," said assistant coach Pat Farrell, who is also the University of Notre Dame pilot and a former Bengal Bouts champ, "boxing is ... an extension of the classroom. The vast majority of our boxers have never before been in the ring. They learned about themselves. They learned to deal with adversity under pressure. You are on your own in the ring. No substitutions, no time outs. Above all, no excuses. No rationalizing that someone else's missed block or tackle may have altered the outcome."
The Club is run by the student captains: Brian Hobbins, Josh Thompson, Pete Ryan, Dennis Abdelnour, Rob Joyce, Mark Criniti and Matt Fumigalli. They run the practices, make the pairings and bring the younger boxers along effectively.
Incidentally, visitors are welcome at the practices in the JACC. Throughout the program, safety is the primary concern. If you like the XFL — the Xtreme Football League — which signals our athletic culture's descent to a new level of violence and voyeurism, you won't like the Bengal Bouts. The practices and the bouts are tightly monitored by medical personnel under the supervision of Dr. James Moriarity, University chief of medicine. Entering our eighth decade, we have never had a serious injury. We pray and work that it will remain so.
The Bengal Bouts' proceeds began their climb from the $10,000 range when Emily Schmidt,'99, took over the business end, including promotion, in 1996. Meghan Kelley, '02, who worked with Emily, now runs the show and has taken it to even greater heights. She is ably assisted by Ellen Quinn, '01, Dave Peloquin, '03 and Laura Anderson, '03. They are an impressive team.
The Bouts are under the supervision of Rich O'Leary, director of Club Sports. Rich works through an exceptional group of volunteers. Columbus, Ohio, developer Tom Suddes and Chicago lawyer Terry Johnson, who are Bengal champs from 1971 and 1974, are the head coaches. In addition to coach Farrell, the assistant coaches include former Bengal champs Chip Farrell, '98, Ryan Rans, '98 and John Christoforetti,'97.
We have a living link to Rockne and Nappy in 87-year-old Jack Mooney. Jack delivered papers to Rockne, who used to sneak him into football games. Every day at practice, Jack actively coaches the boxers; his primary concern is their safety and personal development during and after the program. Jack's assistant is former professional boxer Jack Zimmerman, who is also a poet of note. Coach Farrell works the corners at the Bouts, along with Judge Roland Chamblee, '73, of the Superior Court in South Bend who is a four-time Bengals champ and Sweet C. Robinson, a former police officer and professional kick-boxing champion. We also have an ecclesiastical bell-ringer in Monsignor John Hagerty, a Notre Dame man who takes his vacation from his duties as pastor of Notre Dame Church in Hermitage, Pa., to work on the Bouts.
So why should the Notre Dame community support the Bouts? Let Archbishop Graner answer. "I wish I could conduct you and the whole student body on a complete tour of the Bengal missions," he said. "I believe your enthusiasm for the Bouts and for the Bengal missionaries of Holy Cross would know a blessed closeness and intensity never before felt."
We look forward to seeing you at the Bouts.
Prof. Rice is on the Law School faculty. His column appears every other Tuesday.
The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
All Viewpoint Stories for Tuesday, February 13, 2001
