The Wire is Still the Best Show on Television

It should be a fact that you all know, but I'll just emphasize it right now: The Wire is the best show that was ever broadcasted on television anywhere in the universe. David Simon still has his show questioned and still responds with the most acrid of defenses to show that this world he created is real, and One of my favorite characters, Dennis "Cutty" Wise, embodied a changing attitude that sadly was not as pervasive as necessary to see a counter to urban decay, as he tried to reform himself from convicted murderer to boxing trainer to help keep kids off the corners.

In Toledo, with the recent spate of austerity that kills social programs, public schools there have killed many sports for younger athletes, which will be damaging for coaches who will no longer have the opportunity to engender skill development in middle school and freshmen teams as they used to and will probably struggle to be competitive with their varsity teams.

In the face of that, it is refreshing to see kids pulled off the corners and having their minds and bodies stimulated in a refreshing way through pugilism. Boxing requires an apt body as well as an apt mind, and not just to play chess in between rounds, but to make sure your face doesn't end looking like a meteor hit it. I don't know how many math problems you can ask a kid while he's jumping rope or dodging punches, but to teach him to problem solve in order to get out of getting his face punched in is a valuable skill for both the neighborhoods these kids live in as well as keeping their minds stimulated for school. Though it is $30 a month per student according to the article as opposed to Cutty's free gym, it is refreshing to see kids given a bevy of options to train in the sport. While boxing may be a way out, the mental exercises of the sport could also be a way in to college for many of these kids.