ArsGeek

Yes, we’re an aspiring bunch. Dawn with her camera got us into a bit of a spot with a tollbooth dude who essentially insinuated that people taking pictures of New York (i.e. tourists) are, you know, terrorists. After warning us that we could spend up to 5 days in the clink and have to pay lots of money, he then gave us directions to where we needed to go.

Because terrorists need directions too, I guess.

But then, the awesomeness factor started to magnify. We were in Manhattan! Our hotel was easy to find and extremely vertical in nature. About 10 feet wide and six hundred tall. A nice place all in all. Jonathon has made it to NYC for ComicCon!

We hurried into our rooms, got organized and found out that we were definitely in for a treat.

Yes, that’s Teddy Atlas. And Teddy Atlas is truly an awesome guy. Thanks to the Dr. Theodore Atlas foundation who helped in a big way to make this trip possible, we are here in New York. Thanks to Teddy, Russ and the folks at ESPN and to boxer Gentleman Chazz Witherspoon, our trip, our first half day in NYC has already been amazing.

A few days ago we heard from our friend in the sports world Russ. Russ works with ESPN on the Wednesday Night Fights. Through some of the fine folks who work with him, he let us know that he was able to get us into the fight tonight. We were jazzed. We thought we’d be seeing the fights, Russ and Teddy would get to meet Jonathon and we’d all have a good time.

Did we ever! We were ringside for the fights. Not just ringside seats, but sitting right behind the bell itself, behind Teddy and ahead of the crowd. It was amazing. Teddy came right over and gave Jonathon a huge welcome, and continued to talk with him throughout the fights. He will always remain in my mind now a wonderful person. First with helping us to get here and now with just being a great guy.

After Gentleman Chazz fought (and won) we all got a big surprise. Chazz came out of the ring after being declared winner, shook a few hands, came right over to Jonathon and gave him his gloves. What a trip-defining moment - it was really amazing.

Chazz came back towards the end of our evening and signed Jonathon’s gloves for him, got some information and promised to send Jonathon some cool stuff. Russ came out of the ESPN trailer afterwards to inform us that Jonathon had been on National television as Chazz hung out with him. Wow.

I was excited about this trip before, now I am truly exhilarated! We all want Jonathon to have a good time and now I know that he’s already had a great time and we’re only on day one. I know that the look on Jonathon’s face made my week already. This whole trip has already been worth it. Here’s to an amazing four more days with Jonathon and the rest of us here on the ArsGeek crew. And thanks again to everyone who made this trip possible. You all rock in a big way.

-Ben

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