Las Vegas Sun

There’s a scene in “Slap Shot,” the greatest sports movie ever made (for adults), where Jim Carr, the voice of the Charlestown Chiefs, tells Dave “Killer” Carlson he was watching some little kids play hockey when one said “I’m Killer Carlson” and “he picked up his little stick and creamed that other kid.”

Well, life is imitating art in southwest Missouri where 6-year-old kids are competing in bare-knuckle ultimate fighting matches held in a makeshift ring in some guy’s garage.

“We’re not training them for dog fighting,” said Tommy Bloomer, the 34-year-old father of two of the “Garage Boys,” as the little brawlers are known. “As a parent, I’d much rather have my kids learning how to defend themselves and getting positive reinforcement than out on the streets.”

I’m not a parent but if I were, I’d much rather have my kids learning how to drop down a bunt and hit behind the runner. I guess I’m just old-fashioned that way.

Click on the Associated Press story for more on the pint-sized, two-fisted brawlers.