around the ring

Working the bag, lifting weights, jumping rope and taking as much as he gives in the ring. Jack can almost always be found here when not working or at the meeting. He's spending about half of the extra money he makes on a boxing trainer and is trying to get everything he can out of the time he spends here.

Jack finds a trainer, an ex-soldier and full time athletic trainer for the East Miskatonic Fightn' Cephlapod's football team. Lee Masterson. In the off season Coach Masterson spends his time at the Athletic facility cross training other athletes and teaching phys-ed and anatomy classes.



"Your doing a mighty good job at getting hit by that big Buck, but your not hitting him hard enough! Golly, I've seen a boxer take a shot or two and fight on, but not fifteen or twenty and stay on your feet. You've got a gift Jacky my boy, but unless you keep your hands up and start taking a swing when there's an opening, i'm afraid your more of a punching bag then a boxer! Now hit the shower!"

Midmornings, especially during the semester and particularly during the weekdays, Professor Longfellow arrives at the gymnasium to work out. He wears a sports coat instead of his usually sharp suit and tie, and his dress shirt is down graded to an older work shirt. He begins by dancing a light jig, flitting and jiggering about the floor like some chipper children's toy. He's light on his feet but it's clear that his age is causing him trouble. He breaks into a sweat and heads to the boxing equipment.

He carefully (and efficiently) wraps his hands in gauze and pulls out a pair of well worn and well oiled leather gloves, lovingly fitting them onto his hands. It is especially clear here that he simply doesn't have the youthful vigor to damage as he once did. His hits are light and precise. He huffs and puffs at the bag for near half an hour, but eventually slows and then stops. He also strikes up a hearty conversation with anyone and everyone, waving greetings and shouting 'Hulloooos' at all standersby.

Coach Masterson would give the Professor a nod of acknowledgment. As he watched Jack Conoway's opponent go down after a bell-ringer of an uppercut, he'd shout at the fallen man in a mad stream of obscenities. The nearly unintelligible ramblings of Masterson caused many of the gyms patrons to shirk away from their exercises and merely stop and watch as the old man blew his stack once again.

"You Donkey!" He howled at the nearly unconscious man.

The Gym is quite busy today with dozens of patrons moving about and making use of the schools expensive equipment. Many of them were student athletes, but there were a number of folks that simply paid to use the facility.

Masterson's temper didn't diminish quickly...

Jack shows up mid morning still wresting the littel sleep he's gotten from working long into last night. Being mindful to stay out of any students ways he starts his normal warm up of some rope jumping but only some light weight lifting and a little time on the heavy bag to get the guns starting to fire.

Standing before the speed bag and taking a deep breath 'Jack tries to remember some of the motivations giving to him by coach Masterson and some of the finer fancy explaining prof Longfellow has given him on faster recovery between punches' and starts swinging. Anyone who knows about boxing could tell that he starts hitting way to hard as he tries to avoid the speeding bag flying out of control before he can get his fists back up. Slowly, and without taking too many hits to the face, his punches become more controlled as he finally starts to use the speed bag correctly.