INDIANAPOLIS — The young boy’s body lay cold in the casket. No life. Spirit elsewhere, bits glowing in the hearts of the mortals gathered in the Stuart Mortuary chapel for his funeral, but most now inhabiting the celestial heavens beyond their grasp.
“Forever 17,” said his mother as she looked upon the lifeless face before the casket closed forever.
We all looked for the last time. And the visceral pain just gnawed at our stomachs. While many of us trust God’s greater plans, we all felt the injustice as we stared into that young face, which could not stare back and would never again smile in the way for which its owner, Xavier Fairley, was known.
The X I knew still played with stuffed animals in my daughter’s room. (Social media memories courtesy of Jasmine Townsend)
I don’t know if I ever said more than two words to Xavier (X, as I knew him), but I knew his smile. He’d been a guest in my house many times as a friend of my daughter. He would make her laugh and be a good listener and friend. She was sad when he moved to Arizona and happy when he returned. I can picture him smiling on Facetime with her many times when I’d pop into her room for a word.
This happened at a party? There are witnesses? WTF? Who are these so-called friends that you were partying with? What is their story? They won’t pay respects to your family by helping authorities arrest the killer?
We’re all sitting there today wondering about what justice looks like.
We know what it doesn’t look like.
It doesn’t look like another troubled kid feeling tough and righteous by taking out another life in a vigilante frenzy.
Those in the crowd with some experience exhorted us to trust the Lord when he says “vengeance is mine.”
We turned to Jesus’ words in Matthew 24: “…Because of the increase in wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. …Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.”
Minister Carlton Amos (if I’m reading the program correctly), an Black man in his sixties, laid it bare: He’d lost his brother, his grandson, his nephew … more. He is so tired of the cycle he knows so well. He once hated himself for what he did to others and others for what they did to him. He couldn’t turn himself around, but in learning to lean on a power greater than himself, he found some footing.
He remembers picking up his grandson after he’d been locked up at a facility for getting into some trouble. His grandson told him how he’d used his incarceration as an opportunity for self reflection and prayer. The kid said he’s planned to try to turn his life around. One week after returning to Arsenal High School, he’d been in a fight. “I’m trying to change,” his grandpa recalled him saying. “But they just won’t let me.”
He was dead within the week.
Indy, we have to be the change. Right here. Right now. For X. And for all the brothers and sisters, the daughters and sons that are falling all around us. We have to change for our country. For our world. We must be that fabled City on Hill, shining as a beacon of human progress and enlightenment.
If not us, then who? If not now, then when?
People know who killed X. He was killed at a party, for heaven’s sake. All evidence condemning the killer needs to be turned in to the authorities – or someone trusted who is capable of dealing with the authorities – pronto.
Please contact Indy Homicide Detective Doug Swails at 317-327-3475 or douglas.swails@indy.gov with any information that could help catch Xavier’s killer.
Please don’t be a stereotype, a caricature, another statistic. Please be human. Human of the evolved type. Not the eye-for-an-eye type, the old-school model hellbent on an eternal loop of head-on collision with a wide scatter-shot pattern of collateral damage. This communal trauma continues to grow with each minute we remain plugged-in to this reality in which we continue to wake.
We must change the channel. The vibe. The frequency.
* * *
X, your funeral was gut wrenching. Any time spent truly contemplating this kind of loss is gutting.
Overnight in Indy, my husband tells me, we’ve had 7 more shootings in five places across the city. Five males. Two females.
We have nothing if we lose faith in the hope of brighter days.
While life remains, we must find ways to smile, laugh and dance. We must do these things to lift our spirits so that we can soldier on and muster the best performance we can for the days we have left. We must fight the good fight. And feel around us the army of angels who we’ve lost along the way encouraging us. Please learn the lessons offered by the legions of lives prematurely laid down.
Learn to feel … we must feel … even as the numbness threatens to deaden our troubled minds.
When it rains on a funeral, I feel like God is crying. Like nature joins in the mourning. In the grief. It rained all weekend in Indianapolis. Spirit lives in the water. It flows in, among, around us. And it waters flowers.
The Pitch Bitch will no longer be on a solo mission. In mid-April, she joined forces with long-time Indy Eleven-centered soccer conglomerate Bloody Shambles, which now is hosting the Pitch Bitch’s creative contributions.
Need to catch up? Following below are the pieces she’s shared so far. We’ve got 12 more 2018 home games to go! If you need/want more, check out James Cormack, the Pitch Bitch and Guy-Jo Gordon getting their podcasting pipes warmed up. The Bloody Shambles crew plans to record again tomorrow night ahead of Indy’s 1 p.m. away game Sunday against New York Red Bulls II. The Pitch Bitch loves to join the faithful Brickyard Battalion flock to watch away games at Union Jack Pub, 924 Broad Ripple Ave.
Monday, May 21, 2018
Time To Hit The Reset Button – Indy Eleven V Bethlehem Steel FC REVIEW
Zach Steinberger scored Indy’s solitary goal against Bethlehem Steel in a 1-2 loss.
A disappointing week — with an early exit from the U.S. Open Cup, the only open, true test of soccer champions offered in this country — morphed into a disappointing weekend for Indy Eleven with a 1-2 home loss on Saturday to Bethlehem Steel.
In post-game comments, Indy head coach Martin Rennie was ready to push the reset button. His tired team was ready for a refreshment of minds, bodies, and spirits. He was the first to admit that the squad’s teamwork, passing and movement were off, that too many opportunities were given away because of rushed play. And, he said, he offered no excuses for himself or his team regardless of their recent grind of several games on the road with several talented players benched to injury. (Click here to read the whole post at BloodyShambles.com.)
Thursday, May 3, 2018
Pleasure And Pain Aplenty, Parting Shots From A Rough Ride – Indy Eleven V FC Cincinnati REVIEW
Ayoze from the spot gets his first goal for Indy Eleven (Photo: Clyde Townsend)
Minute 5, Cincy’s Corben Bone is not shut down as he streamed into Indy’s left defensive channel and launches a cross into the box where his striker Emery Welshman escaped a brief interaction with Brad Ring, somewhat akin to a do-si-do, before what looked from the press box to be rather incidental, off-balance contact with Carlyle Mitchell. To the ref it looked like a PK. Cincy midfielder Kenney Walker nails his shot. 1-0.
The hosts redoubled their efforts to regain the upper hand. It did not take them long.
Hungry Indy striker Jack McInerney worked for his meat, feasting on his interception of a Cincy pass in the 24th minute, Cool Jack Mack drives a shot toward Spencer Richey that sent the visiting goalie into full panic mode. In diving to block McInerney’s first effort, Richey set his rival up for a rebound shot. McInerney, a veteran of MLS and the U.S. Men’s National Team, embodied cool, calm, collected focus and, with ease, guided the ball into the net. 1-1. (Read the whole post at BloodyShambles.com.)
Thursday, April 26, 2018
Soaring Like Eagles, Indy Eleven’s Power Animals Emerge – Charlotte Independence V Indy Eleven PREVIEW 4/28/2018
Indy Eleven going through final preparations before heading to Charlotte tomorrow.(Photo: Pitch Bitch)
Today’s soccer story is not about individuals. It is about a team. About vision. About internalizing identity. Today’s soccer story is about what Indy is — and what it aspires to be.
Thanks to an upbringing among the hippies and woodland folk of Bloomington, Indiana, and the surrounding country, the Pitch Bitch is inclined to look toward her natural environment for signs and signals — for messages.
Today, the message was power — in the form of first an eagle and then three hawks. These magnificent creatures will bookend this soccer story. [I had so much fun writing this piece. Hopefully, you will enjoy reading the rest of it at BloodyShambles.com.]
———
Finally, we’re going to be podcasting throughout the season. In our first experiment, I talk a little about my soccer background — and Guy-Jo Gordon gives us a rundown on the futsal-driven community building an Indiana crew has partnered with in Cuba. (Guy-Jo is currently in Cuba and with his local partners has organized and hosted a new futsal tournament for men and women players.)
So where do we stand today, May 23, as we head into Memorial Day Weekend?
Indy Eleven faces the New York Red Bulls II at 1 p.m. on the road this Sunday, May 27. The next home game will be at 7 p.m. against the Charleston Battery on Wednesday, May 30 at Lucas Oil Stadium.Tickets start at $15 at IndyElevenTickets.com or by calling (317)685-1100.
Currently, the team’s record stands at 4-2-3 (WLWWDLWDL) with nine USL regular season games played so far. On the road, the team is unbeaten. All three losses have come at home: once to Bethlehem Steel and twice to Cincinnati F.C. Cincy currently sits at the top of the USL Eastern Conference standings, boasting 20 points collects in 10 games. Indy has 14 points in 9 games played. (In professional soccer, a win worth 3 points, a tie is worth one and a loss is worth nothing.)
This is me, Rebecca Townsend, in my library at home in Boone County, Missouri, a few miles south of Columbia, approximately 2010. (Photo credit to Clyde Townsend)
This timeline is a work in progress: I’m sorting through old files and papers, trying to create a visual map documenting my professional journey thus far. This is an evolving scrapbook.
As I have for well over a decade, I continue to enjoy coaching soccer in the inner-city. Here are some shots of my Tab Rec teams taken over the years, including one from the year I coached with my bro (also a true devotee of the game).
Though I still write and have a heart for journalism, after losing my full-time position as news editor at Indy’s local alt weekly in 2014, I became a professional massage therapist, working to help build Lift Therapeutic Massage, a well-respected, independent studio near the Eli Lilly headquarters in Downtown Indianapolis.
I do some freelance journalism (such as the Hoosier Times story shown here and the two examples offered below: the first from Sophisticated Living Indianapolis, the next from Farm Indiana), but most of my creative efforts are now focused on personal endeavors to be publicized later on.
Also, a boxing story written in 2013 garnered the interest of John Bansch, a legendary Indianapolis Star sports reporter who also volunteered as publicity chair for the Indiana Golden Gloves. He knew he was going to die (which he did last spring, the day before the Gloves started) and he recruited me to take on his duties — essentially hitting up local media to support amateur boxing. So now I sit ringside during the tournament and publish the commemorative program for the championship, telling the stories of incredible athletes such as Frank Martin, the first Indiana fighter to win a National Golden Gloves title in 23 years. I’ve hyperlinked this photo of Martin to a digitized copy of the story I wrote for the 2017 Golden Gloves program:
From left: Ike Boyd, Rebecca Townsend and Frank Martin following Martin’s victory in the Indiana Golden Gloves in April 2017.
2015
In my one-year contract as sideline reporter for Indy Eleven broadcasts to local television and national streaming audiences, I covered one of my life’s greatest passions (soccer) from an intimate vantage point. Some of my favorite memories include witnessing the posturing between the opposing coaches and the refs that one can only truly appreciate from close range.
More clips to come, but for starters, here is my interview with the legendary Thomas Rongen, then coach of the North American Soccer League’s Tampa Bay Rowdies, in town for a May 30 match against Indy Eleven.
Here’s a brief clip from later in the season with Indy Eleven coach Tim Regan.
Also in 2015, while working toward my degree at the Indiana College of Sports and Medical Massage, I took the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator test. My answers placed me in the “supervisor” category: ESTJ. Here’s a brief summary of the characteristics associated with ESTJ personality types.
2014
A year of great highs and lows. 2014 took me to Brazil for the World Cup.
2014 also saw me lose my job at NUVO a month after returning home from the Cup. No, I did not lose my job because of my sabbatical at the Cup. At least not that anyone would admit to my face. I was told by the managing editor (who himself would quit a short time later), “NUVO is moving a new direction, we’re going to have to let you go. We feel you’d be happier at a place with more resources.” “Who wouldn’t be?” I thought. And the ironic thing is, aside from being heartbroken and feeling betrayed, I was happier as soon as I drove out of the parking lot and never had to check my NUVO email again. I had been a one-woman newsroom, unable to stick to just one beat. Keeping up with the avalanche of information dumped on me 24 hours a day was exhausting. [Also, I’d been through the personal wringer during this time: the loss of my mom (57) and grandma (93) in 2010, my dad (60) in 2011, a catastrophic flood at the cabin I grew up in Monroe County in 2012 and a four-year, total-gut-job home renovation project in Indianapolis that lasted from 2012-2016. One of those years we were commuting back and forth between Bloomington and Indy. The last year of that project (while in massage college), I lived in an RV in the back yard of our Indy house with my husband, then 12-year-old daughter, two dogs and a cat. Chaos.]
The afternoon after I lost my NUVO job, at my soccer coaching job on the International School of Indiana’s beautiful grass fields just across the White River from the Indianapolis Museum of Art, I thought, “Yeah, I’m happier already. Who is the loser here? Me, out on this glorious field inspiring the Lady Gryphons to greatness? Or the people who will likely die of heart attacks, cracked out on their laptops under fluorescent lights in partitioned cubicles?”
On more than one occasion in the newsroom, I’d been exhausted and overwhelmed, certain that I’d die at my desk and no one would care — that all the effort it took to be a committed journalist would be a waste.
So it came to be, following a blissful vision of health and balance that began to unfold to me one night under the stars near the lighthouse on the coast of Salvador, Brazil (just a few hours after the U.S. Men’s National Team conceded defeat to Belgium in the Round of 16), I entered the Indiana College of Sports and Medical Massage in Carmel (now Indiana Massage College). Downsized out of my alt weekly job after earning an SPJ award for my coverage of the shrinking Star newsroom (see the 2011 section), I figured I may need another trade to support myself as a journalist. Given the political headwinds blowing ever since, perhaps the temporary pause in active-duty, front-line journalism served as a blessing — an opportunity to breathe deeply and release stress during a period of intense national anxiety, compose my thoughts on “fake news,” “citizen journalism,” and the roles different forms of journalism can play in democratic society.
It invigorates me to look back and know I produced a solid body of work during my tenure. (And I know I have plenty more in the tank.)
Consider the variety of topics my NUVO news desk covered…
Keeping track of the State of Indiana’s activities on environmental issues occupied a good deal of my time. Here are some examples:
2013
Editing retired U.S. Congressman Andy Jacobs Jr.’s weekly Thought Bite columns led to a sweet but brief friendship. Jacobs, a 30-year member of the U.S. House of Representatives, prolific writer and a veteran of the Korean War, passed away in 2013, less than two years after I met him. I was honored to publish the following tribute (click the hyperlinked picture to read the full piece):
***
Here you can see two examples of my cover stories, as well as the results of a re-design the publisher carried out while I was working at NUVO. I received a promise that the news section would never drop below two pages. Months later, I was fighting off an attempt to cut it further.
The following story is among my favorites from the NUVO days. Randy was able to stay in school and graduate — and school officials were on the hot seat. This story also provided and example of how I would publish web packages using my photos, video and info graphics to complement my written stories.
Also during this time, a professional soccer team developed in Indy from the ground up — and I had a front row seat. I produced many web exclusives as the team developed over the seasons, but I also may hold a state (possible national) record for most print real estate dedicated to soccer coverage. The feature pictured below was released just ahead of the team’s inaugural game. Anyone recall another Indiana soccer story that garnered a cover plus five whole pages inside?
The same week we ran my Indy Eleven story, I covered efforts to bolster inner-city quality of life (among other items) — and we ran an opinion piece by Dr. Louis Profeta. “Your Kid and My Kid Are Not Playing in the Pros” probably still holds the record for one of the most popular pieces we ever posted online. Dr. Profeta introduced himself to me at the gym one day after I finished boxing. He, too, boxed, if I remember correctly. That conversation led to him running his piece with me. Lucky NUVO!
This year was an endurance test: a presidential AND a gubernatorial race, not to mention a slew of local offices up for grabs. (We’d just had a mayoral election in 2011!) But most importantly, a story I edited and contributed to with my data analysis and reporting skills, “Separation Anxiety: The Twisted Web of Church and State” earned SPJ Indiana Pro Chapter’s first place for investigative reporting in 2012.
Here’s what my election guides looked like. (The latter won SPJ’s second best political coverage for a non-daily in 2012.)
2011
As soon as I returned to Indiana, I began winning awards for NUVO, including for my 2011 Election Guides. Within a year, SPJ’s Indiana Pro chapter asked me to be on their board and soon promoted me to vice president, a position I held until resigning in early 2017. (Please note the local reporting awards are judged by out-of-state chapters and our chapter reciprocates by serving other regions’ judging needs.)
On June 8, 2011, NUVO ran a letter from the publisher announcing my arrival as news editor:
Though I love traveling the world, it felt great to be welcomed home to Indiana in 2011.
2009
As I was wrapping up my thesis, my advisor and I distilled its core findings into an article for the peer-reviewed journal Literary Journalism Studies.
My authentic coffee-or-wine-stained cover of the issue of “Literary Journalism Studies” containing an article on my theory of writing culture.
In the summer of 2009, for a number of reasons but driven chiefly by the financial burden of having an unsold house Missouri while we were paying to live in Downtown Chicago, I resigned from Dow Jones and the family returned to Missouri where I began volunteering at KBIA while I plotted my next career move. During that time, I helped bring the KBIA team a 2011 Edward R. Murrow investigative reporting award for a nuclear industry whistleblower’s chronicle, “Safety Culture at the Callaway Plant.”
By the end of the year, the Missouri Broadcasters Association offered me an opportunity that presented one of the greatest challenges and triumphs of my career: the chance to build a multimedia newsroom from the ground up inside the magnificent Missouri State Capitol.
Newspapers, radio and television stations statewide would pick up my stories, video clips, photos and audio packages from Missouri News Horizon. Here are two examples pulled from the online archives of the Southeast Missourian and KOLR Springfield’s OzarksFirst.com.
Here is an example of a citizen environmental blog picking up a piece I wrote for statewide distribution:
2008
Working with these dudes (and Ian Berry, not pictured) was one of the highlights of my professional career thus far. From left: Tom Polansek, Theopolis Waters and Andrew Johnson with me at the Chicago Board of Trade, New Year’s Eve 2008.
Seven months after moving to Jersey City, I was given what the recruiting editor said was the fastest promotion in Dow Jones history when they sent me to Chicago to be a commodities reporter, which put me at the Chicago Board of Trade on the day during the financial crisis when the Dow Jones Industrial Average bottomed out.
During the chaos, I achieved a career milestone: my bylines in the Wall Street Journal. Not the front page, and no major investigations, but still, I had arrived …
This picture of some of the pieces I wrote for Dow Jones Newswires and the Wall Street Journal shows the variety of headlines and issues I was handling during the Dow Jones days.
2007
The stack of papers is the total data requests I filled for newsrooms around the country the morning after the tragic I-35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis in which 13 people were killed and more than 100 injured. I was the sole employee on duty that morning at the National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting.
My investigative environmental work is featured in Mizzou’s alumni magazine.
Despite the tragic fashion decision I made by wearing those shoes, I was happy to be featured in MIZZOU Magazine. I especially like this quote the reporter used: “Environmental reporting isn’t just about the scare of the day,” Townsend says. “The journalist’s role should be to consistently assess the health of the environment and let people know what you find.”
The public media outlet KBIA on campus allowed me to fulfill a lifelong dream of broadcasting the news on the radio. In recognition of my efforts, the news director Sarah Ashworth gave me a sweet certificate:
In addition to completing an independent mapping project with Professor David Herzog, I also earned a Mapping Boot Camp certificate with Professor Brant Houston.
By the fall of 2007, I had a full-time reporting gig at Dow Jones Newswires, relocating to Jersey City. My daily reporting focus shifted from the environment to the economy, which was on the verge of an epic meltdown.
This is Missouri Agricultural Leaders of Tomorrow Class XII on its trip to DC in 2008. That’s me two to the left of Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns. We watched his staff at the National Agricultural Statistics Service release one of its top secret crop reports. (Yes, just like from “Trading Places”!) Together our ALOT class traveled to every corner of Missouri, plus DC, and our experience culminated on a two-week tour of France and the Czech Republic. This underscores why I love agriculture. It is a global beat that involves nearly everything.
2006
I earned an A in investigative journalism from Professor Brant Houston, former president of Investigative Reporters and Editors, for a story I did using computer-assisted reporting techniques (joining tables in two separate spreadsheets of public information) to illustrate the challenges the county sewer inspection team was having in keeping up with the demands of the job, allowing local water treatment providers to operate on expired permits. The story made the Missourian’s front page on November 28, 2006.
An “enterprise join” learned from the investigative journalists at the University of Missouri enabled me to write a front-page investigative story on the county’s sewage treatment inspection backlog.
Less than one month after moving to Columbia, on Jan. 23, 2006, I made the Missourian front page for the first time — with another story about water quality.
The state environmental officials did not want to turn over the study that ended up leading to this headline, but my Missourian editor, John Schneller, encouraged me to stay on them. Persistence paid off!
2005
In my seventh year of covering the livestock industry, I’d spent a lot of time writing about animal welfare issues and interviewing some of the world’s leading researchers on the topic.
In 2005, SPJ’s national membership magazine put out a call, looking for “extreme journalists” to interview. I wrote and made a case for agriculture as an “extreme” beat. Quill agreed and sent a writer to interview me. They even gave me a shoutout on the cover.
I’m proud to report that while working for AgriNews, a publication taken almost exclusively by rural, white farmers, I was able to produce award-winning coverage about issues faced by migrant workers.
(Even though I’d been married for almost 5 years at this point, I still used my maiden name at AgriNews because I’d started with the company as Wilson and I wanted continuity in my byline. The award below came in 2006, while I was already at Mizzou, for a story written in 2005, so I switched to Townsend.)
The Society of Environmental Journalists includes some of the world’s finest journalists — enabling them to support each other in bolstering the media industry’s — and the public’s — understanding of some of the most complicated issues this planet faces. I’ve attended SEJ conferences in Texas, Montana, Florida, Wisconsin and Vermont.
During what would be my last year with Indiana AgriNews, I joined teachers from all over the world for a week in Bloomington as we explored worldwide food and resource issues. This undertaking foreshadowed a continued interest in food systems, the environment and world economy, which I continued to build on the commodities desk at Dow Jones and as a member of Class 12 of Missouri’s Agricultural Leadership of Tomorrow (ALOT) educational/leadership development program.
2004
My job at Indiana AgriNews offered the opportunity to write many articles about the intersections of the biomedical and agricultural industries. Here’s an example (that’s my picture, too):
Dick Holden was my editor from 1992-1996 at the work study job I held at Earlham’s Office of College Relations all four years of my undergraduate career. He wrote this letter to me in 2003. As you can see, he was a solid writer. As you may imagine, I learned a lot from him.
1998
In late 1997, I received an invitation and a challenge to start a restaurant at the corner of 54th and College (in the same location Yat’s occupies now). I accepted the invitation, wrote a business plan, secured a $20,000 private investment and a $100,000 SBA loan and managed to have Modern Times Urban Truck Stop and Bookstore open in less than 6 months. Though I closed a year and half later, I count several victories for this project: 1) Most restaurants close in less than a year. We did better. And a lot of people loved us. We grossed more than $250,000 during our time of operation. 2) We did not have to claim bankruptcy. 3) We are still remembered for our legendary style.
Me in 1998 making a Chicago dog in the Modern Times kitchen. And a snippet of the menu:
1997
This letter from my supervising attorney at Roberts & Bishop, Kevin S. (RIP), is among my most treasured endorsements. Berkley rejected my application, but a decade later the University of Missouri offered me a free ride, so everything worked out as it should. During my time at Roberts & Bishop, I interviewed new clients and filed initial paperwork in personal injury and discrimination cases. Also, I solicited new corporate clients and helped a senior partner organize, edit and publish a book on practice management.
1996
Me with my hustlin’ Quakers defensive line getting our game faces on ahead of a 1995 match at Kenyon. We earned a program win record during this year, my senior season.
In the summer of 1995, I enjoyed taking classes at IU and my co-ed soccer team (read: three girls and 14 guys), Hoosier Outdoor, beat Pegasus, a team led by IU soccer alums, in Bloomington’s recreational soccer tournament, a highlight in my three-decade soccer career!
1992
My graduation project from Bloomington’s Harmony School required me to relocate to New York City, where I worked an editorial internship for Sassy Magazine, a national publication for teen girls.
This is the evaluation of my supervisor, Christina Kelly, a senior writer and editor. I particularly like this part: “I really am very impressed with Rebecca. She shows a lot of promise, and I think she’ll be a success at whatever she decides to do.”
I enjoyed talking to Marlon Wayans. This interview happened before I had real training in professional boundaries, so before I prepared to leave the office where I was speaking to Marlon and one of his friends — and driven by a fluster of hormones and ambition, I used the strongest pickup line I knew: “Has anyone ever told you that you are a total babe?” It must have been hard for a comedian not to laugh in my face as his assistant kindly moved me toward to he door. Still, It looks like that theme inspired me as I wrote …
Observing street life in the city and talking to some of the characters I met presented the opportunity for me to slip “The Best Thing About NYC Subways” into the magazine:
Here’s a feature Steve Hinnefeld wrote for the Herald Times wrote upon my return:
Upon returning from NYC, I did some freelancing before leaving Bloomington for Earlham College in the fall.
Here’s a feature I wrote on storied drummer Kenny Aronoff:
Did you know that Kenny Aronoff started the famous Roach Motel across Indiana Avenue from IU’s Dunn Meadow?
1991
At 17 years old, I moved out of my mother’s house and began living in Downtown Bloomington, supporting myself by working at the Red Chair Bakery on Kirkwood. When I resigned that job before moving to New York City, the bakery’s owner wrote a recommendation for me.
Me on break in the summer of 1991, enjoying a Dagwood’s sub on the Kirkwood Avenue curb in front of the Red Chair Bakery (now absorbed into the Village Deli).
Indiana’s first National Golden Gloves title holder in 23 years is ready to defend his title.
My interview with Martin is featured in this year’s Indiana Golden Gloves Championship program… It’s a treat to watch talented athletes learn to elevate their game: a solid example for all of us!
Hope friends, media and fun seekers will show up at 7 p.m. tonight, April 6, at Tyndall Armory, 711 N. Pennsylvania St., Downtown Indianapolis, as the championship rounds of Indiana Golden Gloves begin, and again at the same time next Thursday, April 13, to watch Martin get to work in the ring.
National champion exhibits mental, physical toughness in pursuit of boxing dream
Story and Photos By Rebecca Townsend
Frank Martin, winner of the 2016 National Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions in the 141-weight class — the first Indiana representative to win a national Gloves title in 23 years — must defend his state title before he can advance to nationals — and attempt back-to-back national victories — a feat that no one in the elite club of Indiana representatives to win a national title has accomplished except Marvin Johnson. Martin is shown here working out at his local club: Indianapolis Boxing and Grappling in the 2900 block of East Washington Street on Indy’s near-east side.
Going into the Indiana Golden Gloves at this time last year, Frank Martin was hungry — eager to fight his way back to the National Golden Gloves tournament where, in 2015, he was denied a national title in a controversial split decision.
He credits increased mental focus and an uncompromising training regimen as the keys to accomplishing his goal: Martin won the 2016 state title in the 141 weight class, advancing to nationals in Salt Lake City where, after earning victories in five fights in a five-day gauntlet featuring the top amateur fighters in the nation, he carried home the championship belt — the first representative of Indiana Golden Gloves to bring home a national title in 23 years.
The Detroit-born boxer developed his athletic skills as a high schooler in Fort Wayne, Ind., where he played football, wrestled and ran track. The 22-year-old started boxing just before he moved to Indianapolis four years ago, honing his skills at Indianapolis Boxing and Grappling under the tutelage of coaches Pat McPherson, a local police officer, and Ike Boyd, a two-time Indiana Golden Gloves champ. Frank includes his father, also named Frank, as another primary component of his coaching team and he recognizes the importance of the tireless support from his brother, JC.
Though Martin is proud of his accomplishments, he said their full weight has barely registered with him because he continues to focus on the challenges and opportunities that lay ahead. Two weeks prior to his return to the Indiana Golden Gloves ring to defend his title, Martin took some time out to talk about his development as a boxer.
Q: How did it feel heading into that fight for the national championship last year?
A: I was all the way locked and loaded; it was nothing but excitement to show how hard I was working. I was working extra hard at the gym and in conditioning.
Q: Tell us about the fights you experienced to get to the final bout. What stands out?
A: My first fight was a 5-0 decision against a guy from Pennsylvania. He was tough. It was a good fight to get first. Once I got that out of my system, I was ready for anything.
I had five fights. I fought every day. I fought a guy from Cincinnati. That was a good fight — a lot of action. I dropped the guy several times – twice count to 8 counts.
I dropped three of my opponents — knocked three down — including 7-time national champion Virgil Ortiz from Texas. He is now a professional — one of Golden Boy Promotions’ top prospects. I knocked him down in the final.
Q: What was the key to earning that final victory?
A: I was mentally all the way there. I knew I had put in the work, so I knew I was gonna get the fight because I had worked so hard. I had no doubts going in; I didn’t question myself or how hard I’d been training. Nothing like that. I knew I was ready. And getting the knockdown was key. If I wasn’t favored going in, I had to make the judge’s decision as easy as possible.
A loss motivates more than anything. And critics… Any fight I ever lost, I go back and look: What didn’t I do enough? And I fix that the next time out.
Q: What was the key to earning that final victory?
A: I’ve matured in my work ethic. I was honest with myself. I pushed myself to the limit. I could accomplish anything I wanted to, if I pushed. Because I was in the best shape I could be in. That’s where my confidence came in. I was true with myself I didn’t take shortcuts. I was out running — late at night, at 2 in the morning, because it gave me a curve. I knew no one else was doing that. It made me mentally strong knowing that my opponents were not doing that, 9 times out of ten.
Q: How was your national victory announced? What was your reaction?
A: It was 3-2 decision. Fighting out of Indiana, we’re not known, not the favorites. When I heard it was a 3-2, I felt like I pulled it out because I’d knocked him down. The guy was supposed to win the whole thing. He had a good team around him. He was more of a favorite. When that 3-2 came, it was a nail biter because it can be about who are are and where you come from — in amateurs and any boxing. I was glad I was able to pull it off, though I feel it should have been a 4-1 not a 3-2, but the judges scored it like they scored it and I’m thankful that God blessed me to get it.
Without him, a lot wouldn’t possible — me even fighting.
Q: How so?
A: People are put in certain situations. I could be paralyzed and have the dream of boxing, but I’m blessed to be 100% healthy. There are people who want to but the can’t walk or move. He blessed me to be able to do everything I want to do, what I love.
Martin knocks down professional boxer Pablo Sanchez in an April 3 sparring match at IBG. One of his coaches, local Indianapolis police officer Pat McPherson, watches.
Q: How have you developed a knockdown punch?
A: You have to have power, of course. You gotta know how to pinpoint your shots. Power is not everything. Knowing the right time to attack and exactly the right spot.
Q: Do you have anything specific you look for when trying to find that spot?
A: No…
Q: You just know it when you see it open up?
A: Yep, I just know I’ve got that eye.
Q: A lot of young guys will be watching you now. Can you offer them any training tips?
A: To the fighters: Be honest with yourselves about how hard you’re working and working out. Don’t take shortcuts. If you do, when you have to fight, you might have a doubt. Just a little doubt can change a whole game plan. I just feel like a better man will win the fight. You should go into the fight 100 percent ready.
Q: What does it mean to you to be the first fighter in 23 years to bring Indiana a national title?
A: I’m glad and blessed to be the one to break that bar. It really hasn’t hit me. I was excited that I did win, but I just felt that honestly I’d put in so much work that I had to get it. I knew I was 100% all the way in. I’m glad and I’m pretty sure it motivated a lot of other fighters, making them want to do the same thing. I’m glad to be a role model but I still have so much more to do. It hasn’t hit me: I’ve got bigger things in store.
Q: What has happened since winning that title?
A: We won a couple more national championships: Ringside and Title .. and I fought in the USA tournament and got on the USA team. And I’m ranked number two in the country.
It’s like everything is panning out how it’s supposed to.
Q: How have your coaches influenced you?
A: In the beginning, when I first started boxing, I didn’t work to my limit. They were able to get inside my head and help me find my inner self and my work ethic. And now I’m able to motivate myself, pushing myself and my work ethic. They helped me get to that point where I can do my own thing. Like when I’m in the gym by myself, I can get the same intensity as if they were around.
Q: What do they say? Do any of their words stick with you?
A: They say a lot! They would tell me: Don’t get in my own head, or don’t get in my own way. If I’m not in my own way, I can do whatever I want to do.
Q: What’s it been like to be on Team U.S.A.?
A: It’s broadening my perspective. It’s what I need. It’s helping my learning experience. It helps my confidence in learning so many aspects of the boxing game. Boxing is an ongoing learning process as I’ve been on the up and up.
Q: You went to Europe?
A: I fought in Bulgaria against an opponent from Turkey and a guy from Italy, who I knocked out in 15 seconds. Plus, I got to spar with a fighter from Poland.
Frank Martin and Pablo Sanchez spar at IBG.
Q: What’s the relationship between amateur fighting and your professional prospects?
A: I still have a lot to learn, but even though my style is changing, it’s not really suited for amateurs where they award points for the total number of punches landed and not necessarily how effective the punches are. I’m really a slow-paced fighter — I’m more into effective shots. In amateurs, it’s about who is landing more. But I’m more of a power puncher. If he’s hitting with a lot of piddly shots, even if they’re not affecting me, they’ll give it to him because he landed more. In the pros, it’s more about the effective shots. I’m ready for the pros. A lot of these guys I’ve fought have turned pro.
I feel that turning pro would take me to the next level and will motivate me to do things. It will get more serious with us taking trips and getting to work and going to camps.
Q: What is pinnacle of your dream?
A: I want to be more than just a boxer. I do want to be one of the best that laces up their gloves, but that’s not all I want to be. I don’t want people to say, “He’s a good boxer, but that’s about it.”
When somebody asks about me, I tell them a little bit about my story. It’s not to be cocky or show off. I’ve been working so hard. I’m not working this hard to be a nobody. I could be a role model to people without being an athlete and give them stories about how to take a different road. But I’ll have a bigger impact with the story I have now.
I know a lot of people have guidance. Some people don’t. I’ve always had family members tell me things. I’m not one to let things go in one ear and out the other. If someone tells me something, I’ll take it and think about it. You don’t have to go with it. But sit and down and think about it before you don’t agree. And then you choose what you want to do. But always hear a person out. At the end of the day, people will make their own decisions. But I’ve learned a lot by hearing people out. Always listen and give what someone says a chance. And then you decide after you give them chance.
I’m trying to get the word out there on who I am. If I stay under the radar, I won’t get done what I want to get done. I’m humble but you’ve got to speak up to be heard.
Here we will journey through my life as Rebecca Townsend (aka Coach Willie Mack, aka The Pitch Bitch), an investigative, multimedia journalist and ag specialist, soccer coach/player, massage therapist, mother, wife, friend and sports nut. (My teams include Indy AlleyCats Ultimate Frisbee, Indiana Fever/Pacers, Indy Eleven, the Indianapolis Colts, Indiana University — especially soccer and basketball, Earlham College and Mizzou.) I’m currently writing “Becca’s Balls: A Hoosier reporter goes rogue during Brazil’s 2014 World Cup.”
Hoosier Shangrila represents many levels of experience.
Hoosier Shangrila at the Hash Road Hideaway is a rustic retreat near the Monroe/Brown County line. Magnificent Indiana hardwoods line the hills encircling Lake Alison, a small spring-fed lake. A funky old cabin in which each wing represents a separate era of the property’s history sits at the lake’s edge. I grew up there. It’s not for the faint of heart. But to some, it is paradise.
People seeking solace from the everyday rat race have sought refuge at Hash Road for generations. Folks interested in camping, renting rooms (or the whole place) may email me at hoosierchild at gmail for details. The average rental fee is $100 per person per night.
Hoosier Shangrila also captures the vibe of my massage practice, focused on relaxation, deep tissue, sports massage, trigger point work and stretching to help clients obtain their body work goals and improve their overall quality of life.
Hoosier Shangrila began as a riff on the “Shangrila” literally embedded by the previous owners in a plaque at the property gates of my Midtown Indianapolis estate.
Ultimately, Shangrila represents belief in an idea more wonderful than one can conceive of on one’s own — enlightenment, heaven on earth — a connection to something timeless and eternal. Something I’m looking to achieve here in my home state: Indiana.
Hoosier Shangrila 