Rocky and Adrian

At first, he was nobody.  He struggled just to get by.  He didn't have a fancy job, fancy clothes.  He didn't have good friends.  He couldn't even afford to keep a locker in his gym.  He didn't think highly of himself, and he was given no reason from anyone else to think anything more of himself.  He was a reject at everything.

Then he met this girl.  And he tried to get her to look at him the way he looked at her.  But she was shy.  Really, really, really shy.  She, too, had been told all her life she was a loser.  And she found little reason to believe anything different.

And somehow, these two rejects found each other.  And liked each other.  And once they did, that was enough.  They were hooked.  And there was never anyone else.  Just them.

And then he was given an opportunity.  One that he almost turned down.  But he didn't.  And he never thought he would win.  He never thought he would do anything.  And he and his girl kinda didn't know what to do with themselves, but once she knew he was serious about it, she helped him focus.  And when he came to her, afraid, she held him and told him to give it his best shot.  And he did.  And he got the shit knocked out of him.  A lot.  And he accomplished what he hoped he would accomplish, which taught him the most-- the very most-- important lesson of his life: He Was Not A Loser.  And once he learned that lesson, his girl came out to him and told him she loved him.  And then he went to the hospital.

But there's a wide gulf between Not Being A Loser and Being A Winner.  Some people never travel that distance.

And he was well on his way to not traveling that distance.

He got himself to Not Being A Loser.
But with one word, she fueled the fire that made him become a Winner.
"Win."
He told her he would do anything for her.
She said, "You know what you can do for me?"
He leaned in to hear her whisper her request.
"Win."

And so he did.
And he didn't stop for five movies.
She said one word, and he did that one word in five movies, over and over again.

I love Rocky for so many reasons.
The biggest is probably that one of my friends told me he saw many of Rocky's qualities in me.  "Life just seems to keep hitting you," he told me, "and you just keep getting up, like Rocky."  I hadn't seen myself like that before, and I don't really see myself that way now.  But I'd like to be that way.  And I strive to be that way.  And I really like being compared to Rocky like that.  And since finding my wife, I've liked Rocky even more.  I will always be there for my wife like Rocky was for Adrian.  And when my wife dies, I will open up an Italian restaurant in Philadelphia and name it after her, just like Rocky did.  And then I will reconnect with my boxing passion and I will fight my final fight, not only for myself but for my dead wife and the millions of fans who were disappointed with the previous movie and often don't even think of it as a part of the regular storyline.  And then I will make a startling comeback with The Expendables franchise.  But this I promise: I will NEVER become an outspoken Republican.  Ever.  And I will forgive Sylvester Stallone for such missteps.  He can't get everything right.