Pat Putnam's a boxing writer I admired immensely -- one of the best ever. Sorry to see this childish what-was-he-thinking? tarnish his legacy: http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-spw-putnam2-2008may02,0,5138153.story Does he deserve this punishment?
Although he was not my favorite boxing writer, I question the severity and the logic of the response. If the award if bestowed for "overcoming adversity", for instance, then Pat's being a story teller and a fake about his past justifies the removal; but if it is simply an award given that has his name on it because because of his contribution to the sport of boxing, then his falsification of his past has no bearing on that contribution. No human being is without skeletons in the closet -and we should consider things like severity (was he a child molester?) and relation to the issue at hand before just digging up a corpse for a kangaroo court.
The last paragraph is by far one of the best things i have read this year. Bravo and please, excuse me in advance for i WILL plagerize this line in the appropriate setting.:thumbsup
I don't know the whole story other than that he lied about being imprisoned in Korea.... not the most honorable thing to do as some people really went through hell there and in Vietnam, but he still wrote his own articles right? So while he's a bad person, he could still have been a great writer. Being a flawed person outside of the ring never stopped Robinson from entering the Boxing Hall of Fame, and rightfully so.
It ain't plagiarizing if you have full consent and consideration to use it -and you do... However... "someday -and that day may never come- I will require a service from you. But, as it is, please accept this gift on the day of my daughter's wedding." (A no-prize to anyone who can identify the source of that quote!)
