Investing Rocky Balboa

In 1976 a little known Italian American with a funny voice wrote and starred in a movie about a long shot fighter from the rough streets of South Philadelphia.

The film, shot in just 28 days and on a budget of just over $1 million was a sleeper hit – earning $225 million in global box office sales and was the highest grossing film in 1976.

It went on to win three Oscars including Best Picture and it turned the writer and star into an instant celebrity.

Of course, the movie was Rocky and the actor was Sylvester Stallone.

The Italian Stallion and Growing Up

It’s been many years since I saw that movie I even remember when my dad took me to see it when I was nine.

But for some reason this morning, I had to watch it. Waking up at 5 AM on a Saturday morning to watch a movie from 1976 is not something that I do most weekends. But when I watched it today it really brought back some child hood memories of how I felt after the movie.

Although my wife was upset because I woke her up by turning on the TV and asked me to shut it off, I just couldn’t – as I was once again enjoying the movie and the lessons it brought.

As a kid growing up in Waltham,MA, I had two strikes against me: I both looked young for my age and was extremely small for my age – in fact, I am still waiting for that growth spurt my mom promised

At that time, it bothered me – as it does for many undersized kids – especially when people thought my brother and I were twins when I was 12 and he was 9!

But watching that movie in ’76 somehow made me feel like anything was …read more