The History Channel updates visitors on historic events throughout world history with “This Day in History.” There were a number of notables for February 29:
1940: Hattie McDaniel, who played “Mammy” in the classic civil war film, Gone with the Wind, was the first African-American actress (or actor) to win an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. The film swept the Oscars, hosted by comedian Bob Hope, with eight wins.
An old friend recently told me she had not seen the famous scene between Jack Nicholson and Tom Cruise in A Few Good Men. Can you believe that?
Early last December, the Commonweal Institute hosted a progressive roundtable in San Francisco with a talk by Rob Stein, founder of the Democracy Alliance. It was sponsored by CREDO Mobile and the Tides Foundation.
The roundtable’s purpose, in the description of the video, reads:
[...] to address a crucial need: building and strengthening the network of organizations that provide the intellectual infrastructure for the progressive movement.
The historic Cow Palace in San Francisco may be relegated to the dustbin of history with its possible sale to Daly City for land development.
Ultimately, say Yee and Daly City officials, the 68-acre property will be used to build a grocery store, bank, housing and other projects that will benefit people in the underserved areas - including San Francisco’s Visitacion Valley - that border the Cow Palace.
The legislation, SB 1527, that would pave the way for its destruction splits the local community on either side. However, some local activists rallied against the sale, and launched Save the Historic Cow Palace in an effort to prevent such events from ever taking place.
San Francisco’s Cow Palace holds a special place in my heart and in my family’s history.
My father’s uncle, boxer Johnny Ortega, once fought the great Mexican bantamweight Jose Becerra there one summer night in June 1957. (For more on Johnny Ortega, my older brother, Mario Ortega, Jr., penned a retrospective on our great uncle last year.)
Updated on 03/02/08 at 10:30pm: Mario added his thoughts on the potential closing and destruction of the Cow Palace from a boxing writer’s perspective:
The arena also has a rich boxing history. The Cow Palace hosted several amateur tournaments, including the respected San Francisco Golden Gloves beginning in the early 80’s, that featured many local fighters that went on to professional boxing fame. On October 14, 1949, the first professional boxing event of record was held at the arena, as NBA Heavyweight Champion Ezzard Charles defeated Pat Valentino, of San Francisco, via eighth-round knockout in what was by all accounts a memorable battle. A remarkable 19,870 spectators paid $167,870 to see the pride of San Francisco make a go at Charles’ title. Come backing Joe Louis took on Andy Walker, the California State Heavyweight Champion from San Francisco, at the Cow Palace on February 3, 1951, grossing $96,000. In another memorable bout, Sandy Saddler regained his World Featherweight title from Flash Elorde at the Cow Palace on January 18, 1956 by TKO, when the referee stopped the bout due to a cut. Elorade, a bloody mess, was ahead on all three cards at the time of the stoppage. The crowd, almost entirely for Elorde, booed the end result of the gory battle. Boxing greats Willie Pep, Gene Fullmer, Joey Maxim, Raul Macias, Sugar Ray Robinson and Eder Jofre all competed in the Cow Palace ring during the arena’s strong run from the early 50’s to the early 60’s. My great uncle, Johnny Ortega, fought the legendary Mexican fighter Jose Beccera at the Cow Palace on the June 15, 1956 undercard of Macias’ NBA Bantamweight title defense against Dommy Ursua.
Boxing events were held sparingly at the arena in the 70’s and 80’s. Only one boxing event was held at the Cow Palace in the 90’s, a David Tua-headlined card in 1998. In December of 2003 the last boxing card was held at the arena and was unfortunately a forgettable and poorly run event. The event, promoted by Rose Jewel Promotions - the company of former WBO titlist Lupe Aquino and his wife Jamie, was nearly cancelled the day of and left it’s customers outside for over an hour after the scheduled start time. There were several long delays in between the bouts, attributed to the taping of the card, leaving the crowd displeased with their experience. Reportedly several of the fighters on the card were paid with bad checks. It is regrettable that may be the last boxing memory at the once great Cow Palace.
November 22, 2008
