SF in Budapest - Sports & Recreation

Hungarians: László Papp

nospam@example.com (SF) — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 00:01:00 -0700

Today we are honoring László Papp, Hungary's greatest boxer.

Dubbed the "Mailman" from his day job as a mail carrier for Magyar Posta, Papp is considered the greatest amateur boxer of the 20th Century. He racked up an astounding 55 first-round knockouts as an amateur and is an Olympic boxing legend by virtue of his three gold medals. Standing only 5' 5", Papp was nonetheless tough competition for any of the great middleweights of the day due to his most powerful weapon, a blockbuster left hook. So devastating was Papp from the left side that he is often erroneously classified as left-handed.

Born March 25, 1926, László Papp caught the boxing bug from his father who died tragically when Papp was only 11 years old. At 19, Papp took up boxing in earnest, joining the Budapest Railway Sports Club under the tutelage of legendary coach Zsigmond Adler. He had instant success, knocking out his first three opponents while learning new tricks along the way.

His first major triumph came in 1948 when he stopped John Wright at the London Games to bring home the gold for Hungary.

After winning three gold medals in successive Olympics - 1948, 1952 & 1956 - Papp felt it was time to show the professional boxing world what he could do. His first pro fight was a victory over Aloïs Brand in Cologne, Germany in 1957. Papp's training regimen for this maiden bout (or lack thereof) is a testimony to the health-enhancing quality of everyday life in Budapest:

"I was very excited. I was not well prepared and I was away from home. I could not get the food I like: hot paprika, spices and onions that help to give me strength. Instead of feeling strong I felt sick. My heart was beating madly as I awaited my turn. When I finally climbed into the ring, all I wanted to do was to kill my opponent. I won."

Unfortunately, László Papp's career in the ring was short-lived. As a result of his defying the authorities by fighting outside of Hungary, the government coerced Papp into retirement in 1962, declaring professional boxing "incompatible with socialist principles." This was a propaganda bungle of the highest order, and one epidemic of the communist regime of the day; János Kádár's government was always somewhat clueless about the PR gains that could have been realized had they allowed Hungary's greatest actors, musicians and sportsmen to showcase, on a world stage, the level of home-grown talent that could be fostered by a socialist system.

Still and all, by all accounts Papp's life was a long and rich one, even if he never fought Robinson, LaMotta, Graziano, Fullmer, Olson or any of the other greats of the ring of the day. He retired undefeated, with a record of 27-0-2. After his days in the ring, Papp lived in Budapest and had a long career as coach of the Hungarian Olympic team for 20 years. And despite his lack of big-money bouts, he could still afford to cruise the streets of Buda in an Opel Rekord - quite a prestige ride for a Hungarian in 1962.

In 2003, Lászlo Papp died in Budapest at the age of 77. He remains an icon to a new generation of Hungarian fighters like Gyula Káté and Pál Bedák who have the chance to complete Papp's unfinished business inside the ropes and showcase Hungarian boxing talent more often than every 4 years.

Tank Driving School

nospam@example.com (SF) — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 00:21:00 -0800

"A T-55 tank in your hands.
A 22 ton steel war monster, with 580 horsepower.
Unstoppable.

YOU are the warlord now... and the world's most capable off road vehicle (GSzP-055, A modified version of the PT-76 amphibious tank chassis) is still waiting for you to cross the rivers and hills with some scary grin on your face."

So reads the press release of TANK.HU, a "tank driving school" located in Tatabánya, a small burg about 65 km northwest of Budapest. A conspicuous billboard above the escalators in Déak Tér station brought my attention to this odd attraction.

I regret to say I have not been to this school of tanks, as it does not fit into my fiscal plans. A visit to their website lists the price for individuals to learn the art of tank piloting at between 70,000 - 220,000 forint per person (between $300 - $1200). Ah, no.

But it is affordable for groups, and Tank.hu make no bones about who they are targeting: British grooms-to-be, and about 12 of their best buddies.

One of the depressing trends in Budapest tourism is its popularity as a destination for Anglo stag parties. These events are staged by the biggest macho hicks the UK can vomit forth, and the practice has reached epidemic proportions - as a walk through District V on any Friday night will show you.

You can't imagine that any self-respecting Hungarian male enjoys seeing these fat-assed louts stomping through the streets of their great city, every man jack of them binge-drunk, looking for prostitutes, and being led by the biggest fool among them wrapped in a Tottenham Spurs banner. It has to be up there with Trianon, the Rákosi terror and the crushing of the 1956 revolution by the Soviets as national humiliation on a grand scale.

But finally some bright entrepreneur has come up with a constructive solution about what to do with these yobbos: Take them to an obscure location well out of Budapest, teach them the rudiments of armored vehicular operation, offer them the pick from a stable of decommissioned Russian tanks and let them all have a go at one another! It looks like a fine way of extracting their Euro from them while keeping Budapesti women pure and the architecture of its bars intact.

For your parties' group rate, you all get a crash course in tank driving, practice in a rudimentary armored vehicle and then actually driving it in the presence of one of the instructors. As you would imagine, it's more economical doing this in groups than for the individual, and group participation lends itself to lots of macho antics in the imaginary killing fields that will be recounted time and again in the pubs of Cheshire and North London.

There is a package offered called "Commando Day" where you get to integrate bivouac, military exercises and paintball wars into the military-geek tank driving experience. There's even a lunch included - though you have to prepare it yourself with a mess kit (I told you this guy who started this was smart).

No info as to whether this is where you train to steal display tanks during Hungary's annual 1956 uprising protests. Could be - only a Hungarian from the far-right of the political spectrum would be able to afford the day rate.

Football in Budapest

nospam@example.com (SF) — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 00:13:00 -0800

Did you know there was pro football in Budapest?

No I don't mean that ersatz brand of football with the black and white ball that guys in oversize nylon t-shirts play here. I mean REAL football - NFL-style!

I think of this because one night not long ago at Nyugati Pályaudvar station, I saw two Wolves players get off the tram in full game gear - jerseys, pads, cleats, the whole bit. This is strange to see in America, let alone Budapest.

So I did research and found that there is a football league here called the CEFL (Central European Football League). It consists of eight teams from Austria, Hungary, Slovenia, Slovakia and Serbia.

I'm still not clear on how the leagues are structured. Formerly Budapest had FOUR pro teams to boast of - The Wolves, Titans, Cowboys and Vipers. Not even New York, with three major league baseball teams in the 1950s, matches this embarassment of sports riches. (Actually the Vipers are/were from "North Pest" - so I guess that's really like having a team in New Jersey).

In 2006 the Budapest Wolves made it to a Bowl-level game against Vukovi Beograd, losing 27-26 to their Serbian rivals.

But then the leagues were contracted, signaling the end for a couple of Budapest's teams. And in the post-realignment world of 2008 the Wolves sank into mediocrity with a 5-5 record, while the CNC Gladiators from Vienna took the CEFL Bowl III title from the Vukovi Beograd by a score of 14-8.

Scoring 8 points in a bowl game... not sure what was going on there. That's hard to do, unless the CEFL has amended the standard NFL rules to include a penalty kick.

I would like to see one of these games, but cannot. Why? Because I don't know where the stadium is. Really, the first thing these teams need to do in training camp before filling the Gatorade buckets and handing out the shoulder pads is upgrade their website so the fans can find out the 2009 schedules and where the HELL these teams play their games.

But it's real football. Somewhere. With real cheerleaders too.

Gellert Baths and Bar

nospam@example.com (SF) — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 09:32:00 -0800

Given the weather Dave, Britta, Rob, Andi and I thought it was high time we all warmed up via a trip to the Gellert Baths.

The experience of patronizing this opulent Budapest thermal bath has escaped all of us till now. One Metro and one bus transfer later the five of us were at the Gellert ticket window. After paying the pricey admission fee ($16.50) we paired off and guessed where the dressing rooms were (instructions at the Gellert are meager at best). After you figure out the dressing rooms then you are left to figure out how the place works. Kind of inhospitable treatment for the admission price, we thought.

The Gellert has a beautiful main room, but the large pool was quite cool - outdoor summertime temperature. As none of us trudged here through the falling snow to swim laps in a chilly swimming pool, we took a pass on it. Most people congregated in the smaller 30 degree (celsius) pool to the rear, and thats where we went as well. This is the only warm pool in the Gellert which is co-ed. When I realized this, I understood why the most beautifully appointed thermal bath in Budapest is given such mixed reviews in all the guides and much of the local tourist press.

You do have a range of different pools, saunas and services available to you if you want to go stag in the men's area, so Dave, Rob and I went off to investigate.

The men's main pools are a bit warmer than the co-ed, and it is indeed in a lovely setting. There is also a steam room, a sauna bath with three chambers of varying temperatures, massage rooms, and a small polar bear tub. Clothing is optional in the guy area, though most males in this area chose to wear little white aprons that are provided. The aprons are a little absurd, they really cover not much and leave your butt hanging out. They were popular with the crowd on this day though. Not sure if there is a fee for them, but knowing the Gellert I would count on it.

So let's be completely honest here. The Gellert is for tourists and huppies (Do you really have to ask? OK, a huppie is a Hungarian yuppie*). At an admission price that compares to cover charge at a velvet roped club in Los Angeles, no Hungarian could go here very often. So if you want to take a real authentic Hungarian thermal bath with a bunch of Japanese, German and British tourists, go for it at the Gellert.

After about 2-1/2 hours we got dressed and moved on out to the Gellert Hotel bar. Not the greatest bar I've ever been to. Slooooooow service from starchy pincérek in a room that's as cold as the large Gellert co-ed pool. The bar proudly advertises cocktails like the "Woo Woo", whatever that is, but the real deal here is the beer. They have many good ones, most notably Leffe on draught, which gives me a soft spot for the stuffy old place. Leffe is one of the best dark beers I've ever had. I didn't know the brewers of France had it in them.

They served us some small complimentary appetizers to go with the not complimentary music - a classical guitar duo playing a selection of not unpleasant sambas. We didn't know we had to pay for the music until calling for the bill - a "cover charge" of 450 ft appeared in the middle of the drink list. Bad form, folks.

*You can also say "muppie" for "Magyar" (Hungarian) Yuppie.