Olympic ring

Anthony Bradley never stays in one town for long. No matter what country he is in, however, the 49-year-old boxing coach stills considers his home to be the 2700 block of South Marshall Street.

Last Thursday morning, he sat on his front porch with family and friends during a typically brief stop.

"It feels great as always," the 1972 South Philadelphia High grad said about being back home.

Bradley had just returned from Newport News, Va., where he had been visiting his wife, Marilyn, fresh from a military stint in Iraq.

The coach had no sooner settled in Philly than he was preparing for another trip, one that would be the most significant of his career.

He was off to the Olympics.

Bradley will be one of two assistant coaches leading Team USA in Athens, Greece. The former Army boxing champ caught a flight to Washington, D.C., last Thursday, and from there stopped in Frankfurt, Germany, and finally Athens.

The coach’s family was understandably beaming last week. His father Willie, 75, couldn’t help but take some of the credit.

"I am very proud," he said. "I was a little strict on him [growing up], but it paid off."

Younger sister Vernice, 42, was so overwhelmed by the news, she didn’t even believe it. Her first reaction, in fact, was, "You’re kidding!"

"He called me up and asked, ‘Now that you see it in black and white, do you believe me?’" Vernice said. "I have tears of joy for him."

The opening ceremonies don’t take place until next Friday, but the athletes and coaches departed a couple of weeks early to adjust to their environs and the six-hour time difference.

The head start also will give Bradley and his fellow coaches time to prepare for the boxing competition, held Aug. 14-29.

It won’t be Bradley’s first experience with international matches.

The 2003 USA Boxing Coach of the Year spent part of last summer in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, coaching Team USA in the Pan American Games. Bradley, who has been coaching amateur fighters for 22 years, also served as head coach for last year’s boxing exhibition between USA and Kazakhstan, as well as in the 2001 world championships.

Last year’s travel log included trips to Brazil, Columbia, Romania, Russia and the Ukraine. Add 24 years in the 82nd Airborne Division and 18th Airborne Corps E-8, and Bradley has seen it all.

In Athens, the coach doesn’t plan to do much sightseeing. With heightened security and the threat of terrorism, the athletes will stay in the safe confines of the Olympic Village.

Bradley said the boxers have no worries about the overseas trip.

"We’ve got a bunch of young guys who don’t worry about that," he said. "The young guys just want to have fun."

Besides, this is a business trip. Team USA is looking to make up for its mediocre showing at the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney, Australia, when it brought home two silver and two bronze medals. Cuba and Russia, both consistently tough competitors, are expected to give the Americans a challenge.

Head coach Rasheer Abdullah and assistant coaches Bradley and Joe Zanders will prepare their boxers mentally as well as physically.

"You never underestimate no one," said Bradley, a former Army middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight champion. "You never look past the little countries that you never hear about."

Among the Americans, light heavyweight Andre Ward and middleweight Andre Dirrell, who both hold wins over Cuban boxers, have legitimate shots of winning medals, the coach said. Bradley will watch film of all the opponents as part of the training regimen.

The coach will stay connected to home with some cards and small gifts that his family and friends gave him. But it’s their blessings that "mean more than those material things," he said.

Through the wonders of e-mail and cell phones, Bradley will keep in touch with loved ones. He especially cherishes phone conversations with his mother, Rose.

"I call her from all over the world," he said. "I can call her night and day to talk about anything."

However, the coach won’t do too much talking to locals, since he doesn’t speak Greek. He said he isn’t too concerned about the language barrier.

"When they raise a guy’s hand in victory, I’ll know what that means. When we leave on Aug. 30, I’ll know what that means."

It’ll mean another stop in South Philadelphia, where he plans to spend time with family and grabbing his favorite foods.

"There is nothing like being home," Bradley said.