Dave Rosenberg vs. Bob Dunning - Who is the fittest of them all?

Recounting the Mayor's Physical Fitness Challenge from long ago

As a longtime columnist in the City of All Things Right and Relevant, I've had the opportunity to write - sometimes critically - about a number of our esteemed leaders, everyone from city mayors to city managers.

There's an old saying that politicians should never get into a fight with someone who buys ink by the barrel, but that rule was often broken by those who wielded the gavel at City Council meetings.

I won't name names, but one mayor with a regal presence I often addressed as "Queen," another math-challenged mayor said the city was caught in a "Catch 23" dilemma and yet another was so boring that I recommended the city pass out free No-Doz to his fellow councilmates so they could stay awake during those long post-midnight meetings.

Without picking favorites, I will say that I probably used up most of my ink that was purchased by the barrel on just two mayors: Dave Rosenberg and the late, great Julie Partansky.

Dave and I used to word wrestle at every opportunity, he by announcing some new and novel initiative and me by blasting his new and novel initiative.

I remember one time he decreed a Mayor's Physical Fitness Challenge, so I suggested he and I pick five "events" and go mano-a-mano to determine who was the fittest Davisite of all. Or at least the fittest of the two of us.

A modern pentathlon, if you will, with all five events taking place on the same day.

After much haggling, we decided on Ping Pong, Putting, Penny Pitching and Power Walking. And then, because we couldn't come up with a fifth event that started with the letter "P," we settled on shooting free throws.