Post by Kurt Howgate on Apr 20, 2005 10:01:11 GMT -5
Found here in the Record Journal.
CCI officer enjoys strong-arm tactics
By John Pettit, Record-Journal staff
CHESHIRE — Bristol native Maurice "Moe" Baker was a world champion arm wrestler from 1967-71. His daughter, Danye, came into the world in 1969.
"I guess you can say that I was kind of born right into arm wrestling," she said. "It's always been a part of my life."
Indeed. Danye Baker, a 35-year-old lieutenant at the Cheshire Correctional Institution, will compete at the three-day Ultimate Arm Wrestling Championships that get underway today in Las Vegas.
"It sounds kind of harsh, but I'm just going to plow through everybody," the heavyweight said. "Usually when I go to local tournaments, because I've arm wrestled for so many years, if I know you don't know how to arm wrestle I'm not going to hit you with everything I have. I'm not going to rip your arm off. In Vegas, there's no holds barred. If you don't know what you're doing, you shouldn't be there. Vegas is no place to play."
A lifelong Bristol resident, Baker has worked at CCI, a Level 4 maximum-security men's prison, for 12 years and has been a lieutenant for two years. Following in the footsteps of her father, who competed on ABC's "Wild World of Sports" and once appeared on "The Mike Douglas Show," she began arm wrestling in local tournaments at age 15.
"My father used to have to sign a waiver because I was under age," said Baker, who stuck with the sport and placed second in the 1993 American Arm Wrestling Association national tournament in New York. She advanced to the world tournament in Stockholm, where she took third.
Baker did even better in the 1996 nationals, where she went undefeated to move on to the world tournament in Virginia Beach, Va., where she placed second behind a Russian puller. That performance landed her a spot in the Sports Illustrated feature "Faces in the Crowd."
Baker took a hiatus from the sport after the 1996 tourneys. She said she quit because she bought a house and wanted to get her life in order. She came out of retirement at the Connecticut Fall Classic Arm Wrestling Championship last October at Cadillac Ranch in Southington. She placed first and later arm wrestled in a Pennsylvania competition and at the Cam-Am Championships in Taunton, Mass. Baker, who has lost 75 pounds over the last year and weighs an even 200, took first place in both of those tournaments.
"I missed it," said Baker, who works out five or six days a week and trains with fellow arm wrestlers in the Bristol area. "It was time to go back."
She is antsy to flex her muscles in Las Vegas, where the female winners earn $900. Fox Sports Network will broadcast the matches.
"It's going to be huge," said Baker, who left for Las Vegas Wednesday.
She has to pay her own way to the competition, but said her colleagues at CCI are extremely supportive of her arm wrestling.
"When I went to Sweden in 1993, they actually took a collection for me and paid for my flight to Sweden," she said. "The people at work are great."
CCI Maj. Tim Farrell said Baker "has a lot of energy and is willing to take on any challenge."
"I think arm wrestling gives her confidence, both mental and a little bit of physical," Farrell said. "That's good to have in this type of job. We work in a negative environment and she's out there doing positive things. We support her for it."
She has even been featured in an article in the inmate newspaper.
"Most of them think it's cool," she said of the inmates. "They want to challenge me to arm wrestling. I certainly wouldn't do that. How am I going to justify breaking an inmate's arm? Seriously, the inmates know and, believe it or not, they're very supportive of me."
She hopes to return from Vegas as a champion.
"The best of the best are going there," she said. "You better know what the hell you're doing. All countries are invited. I'm ready to go."
CCI officer enjoys strong-arm tactics
By John Pettit, Record-Journal staff
CHESHIRE — Bristol native Maurice "Moe" Baker was a world champion arm wrestler from 1967-71. His daughter, Danye, came into the world in 1969.
"I guess you can say that I was kind of born right into arm wrestling," she said. "It's always been a part of my life."
Indeed. Danye Baker, a 35-year-old lieutenant at the Cheshire Correctional Institution, will compete at the three-day Ultimate Arm Wrestling Championships that get underway today in Las Vegas.
"It sounds kind of harsh, but I'm just going to plow through everybody," the heavyweight said. "Usually when I go to local tournaments, because I've arm wrestled for so many years, if I know you don't know how to arm wrestle I'm not going to hit you with everything I have. I'm not going to rip your arm off. In Vegas, there's no holds barred. If you don't know what you're doing, you shouldn't be there. Vegas is no place to play."
A lifelong Bristol resident, Baker has worked at CCI, a Level 4 maximum-security men's prison, for 12 years and has been a lieutenant for two years. Following in the footsteps of her father, who competed on ABC's "Wild World of Sports" and once appeared on "The Mike Douglas Show," she began arm wrestling in local tournaments at age 15.
"My father used to have to sign a waiver because I was under age," said Baker, who stuck with the sport and placed second in the 1993 American Arm Wrestling Association national tournament in New York. She advanced to the world tournament in Stockholm, where she took third.
Baker did even better in the 1996 nationals, where she went undefeated to move on to the world tournament in Virginia Beach, Va., where she placed second behind a Russian puller. That performance landed her a spot in the Sports Illustrated feature "Faces in the Crowd."
Baker took a hiatus from the sport after the 1996 tourneys. She said she quit because she bought a house and wanted to get her life in order. She came out of retirement at the Connecticut Fall Classic Arm Wrestling Championship last October at Cadillac Ranch in Southington. She placed first and later arm wrestled in a Pennsylvania competition and at the Cam-Am Championships in Taunton, Mass. Baker, who has lost 75 pounds over the last year and weighs an even 200, took first place in both of those tournaments.
"I missed it," said Baker, who works out five or six days a week and trains with fellow arm wrestlers in the Bristol area. "It was time to go back."
She is antsy to flex her muscles in Las Vegas, where the female winners earn $900. Fox Sports Network will broadcast the matches.
"It's going to be huge," said Baker, who left for Las Vegas Wednesday.
She has to pay her own way to the competition, but said her colleagues at CCI are extremely supportive of her arm wrestling.
"When I went to Sweden in 1993, they actually took a collection for me and paid for my flight to Sweden," she said. "The people at work are great."
CCI Maj. Tim Farrell said Baker "has a lot of energy and is willing to take on any challenge."
"I think arm wrestling gives her confidence, both mental and a little bit of physical," Farrell said. "That's good to have in this type of job. We work in a negative environment and she's out there doing positive things. We support her for it."
She has even been featured in an article in the inmate newspaper.
"Most of them think it's cool," she said of the inmates. "They want to challenge me to arm wrestling. I certainly wouldn't do that. How am I going to justify breaking an inmate's arm? Seriously, the inmates know and, believe it or not, they're very supportive of me."
She hopes to return from Vegas as a champion.
"The best of the best are going there," she said. "You better know what the hell you're doing. All countries are invited. I'm ready to go."
) i hope to see her at alot more tournaments and practices....
