Gym

Eric Rothmiller, sweat trickling down his face and along the contours of his thick, muscular chest, had just gone a few rounds with a 25-pound heavy bag. Pity the bag. In jail three weeks, Rothmiller packed a lot of frustration in each punch yesterday in the gym at the Gloucester County Jail. His blows were as solid as his 5-foot-8-inch, 190-pound frame. Now, Rothmiller was cooling down, waiting for his turn at the ping-pong table, where, the inmate boasted, he is the best in the jail.

SEVENTEEN-YEAR-OLD Naasir Westbrook's life revolved around three things: boxing, preparing for the SATs and pulling up to school early every morning in the Buick Regal his parents bought him, so the girls would swoon. "He liked the girls to see him pull up in his car," Westbrook's mother, Teauntay Gilliard, 35, said Sunday, smiling sadly as she scrolled through photos of her son, who was gunned down Thursday night on 5th Street near Watkins in South Philadelphia, blocks from his home and a few doors away from his grandmother's house.

The old brick building at 2917 North Broad Street might be staggering, but the former Joe Frazier's Gym, much like its rugged namesake, has an iron jaw. Standing in defiant isolation, the structure, which for 42 years housed the famed Philadelphia fighter's training facility, has endured the best shots that age, urban decay, and commercial evolution could deliver. Finally, earlier this week, with its future very much in question, the building that was Frazier's gym apparently was saved by the bell.

About 300 people demonstrated Monday night outside the Northeast City Hall to protest cuts in the number of hours public school gyms are open to youth groups. The cuts were ordered last month by the Department of Recreation and the Board of Education to save money. Weekday times were cut by one hour, Saturdays by four hours.

Ground has been broken for a $5 million gymnasium that is expected to spur growth at the Jewish Community Centers of Greater Philadelphia branch in Lower Merion. About 100 people attended ground-breaking ceremonies last Sunday at the Kevy K. and Hortense M. Kaiserman Branch, City Avenue and Haverford Road in Penn Wynne, spokesman David C. Friedman said Monday. The gym will rise where the branch's tennis courts are now, and it will connect the center's swimming pool and classroom buildings.

JOE FRAZIER got into a fight, growing up in Beaufort, S.C. Beat the bejabbers out of a guy of the white persuasion. Had ‘til sundown to get out of that hardscrabble town. Headed north. By car? Bus? Train? "He rode the dog," Martha Frazier-Rhodan said yesterday, confirming the story with a wistful smile and a head nod. The dog? "Greyhound bus," she said. "That's what Joe always called it. The dog. " Rode the dog to New York, where his brother Tommy lived. New York was too loud, too crowded, too cold.

As Mayor Goode and City Council debate the constraints that accompany bare- bone budgets and discuss the merits of cuts in services vs. reductions in manpower, the Somerton Youth Organization is about to be given a long-term lease on its athletic fields and, a few months hence, a new gymnasium. In times of fiscal austerity, such matters tend to raise eyebrows. But not in this instance. The long-term lease, providing for a nominal annual payment for the site, and the gym to be built upon it are the result of a campaign promise made some years ago by Councilman Brian O'Neill.

Police are still investigating the brouhaha that erupted at the high school gymnasium after a close wrestling match between Audubon and West Deptford ended in a disqualification Wednesday night. Tempers flared when West Deptford's Eric D'Ippolito, who moments earlier was declared the winner at 135 pounds, was disqualified after Audubon's John Meccierello said he was bitten during the match. Two unidentified male fans in adjacent cheering sections then stood up and began hollering and gesturing at each other, according to Audubon principal Bill Westphal.

Dorothy Kaufmann moved effortlessly from slant board to dumbbell rack to weight machine. Kaufmann, on this day clad in a black leotard, tights and a sky-blue sweatshirt, has been coming to Al Berger's gym in Haverford long enough to sleepwalk through her hour-long exercise and weight-training routine. In her 70s, Kaufmann is part of a clientele that is, for the most part, over 55. "They limp in," said Berger philosophically, "and they leap out. " Berger, has been in the fitness business for 53 years.

The Grier Street playground is history. The large wooden play gym was removed last week after Warminster Heights residents complained about rowdy teenagers who gathered at the park - and about the drug syringes and broken beer bottles they left behind. "Thank the Lord," said Deborah Evanson, a resident who had requested that the play area be torn down. While she and other residents said the playground's removal might not solve the problem, they said it would be safer for neighborhood children, who at times took the dirty needles home.

Tips of the Week Three American Council on Exercise-certified personal trainers who are students at Rowan and group-exercise instructors give advice on what to do to get in shape. Consult a physician before beginning any fitness program. Beginner If you work a 9-to-5 job, it's difficult to get to the gym early in the morning and it's hard to get there after work. Don't give yourself excuses. Here are some tips to get to the gym after a long work day: Always have an extra set of workout clothes in your car. Plan your workouts on your lunch break.

Mike Lupoli's dyslexia nearly derailed his academic career. When he was in sixth grade, his school principal, unaware of his handicap, cautioned him not to consider college. Lupoli disregarded that warning. "I had to work a little harder," he says, "but I graduated with honors. " For the last 19 years, Lupoli, 56, has been a phys-ed teacher at Sabold Elementary School in Springfield, Delaware County. He believes his dyslexia has proved a professional advantage that has enabled him to contribute to the well-being of his youthful charges.

The old brick building at 2917 North Broad Street might be staggering, but the former Joe Frazier's Gym, much like its rugged namesake, has an iron jaw. Standing in defiant isolation, the structure, which for 42 years housed the famed Philadelphia fighter's training facility, has endured the best shots that age, urban decay, and commercial evolution could deliver. Finally, earlier this week, with its future very much in question, the building that was Frazier's gym apparently was saved by the bell.

THE NORTH Philadelphia gym where legendary boxer Joe Frazier trained - which has recently housed a furniture store - has been named to the National Register of Historic Places. Preservation officials said they were notified of the designation yesterday by the National Park Service. The historic designation protects the building from demolition or major changes to the exterior, which is still etched with "Joe Frazier's Gym" in the stone on the facade. The landmark three-story building, on Broad Street near Glenwood Avenue, was listed as an endangered property last year by the National Trust for Historic Preservation due to its cultural significance.

Jesse Hart said it took just one look around Joe Frazier's old boxing gym on North Broad Street as a wide-eyed 8-year-old to become inspired. Huge portraits of Frazier covered the walls, the champion's old robes hung in a back room, and the city's fiercest fighters trained in his ring. This was a place, Hart said, where a man came from nothing to become a world champion. It inspired Hart, now a professional super middleweight, to chase his dreams. On Tuesday, the site of Frazier's gym was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

HIS NICKNAME is "Danger," the kind of guy who doesn't need a gun to end a fight. Michael K. Castro fought most of his battles in rings and the gyms where he trained as a Muay Thai kickboxer. But Atlantic County authorities say he allegedly shot and killed a 77-year-old Army veteran during a burglary last year in rural Mullica Township. Castro, 32, was arrested Tuesday in Dania, Fla., where he had moved and was in the process of opening a new Muay Thai gym. The former Burlington County resident described himself as a two-time Muay Thai world champion who has worked as a kickboxing instructor at gyms throughout South Jersey.

IT'S A COLD winter day. People are hurrying along the sidewalk, heads bent against the wind, when they spy a familiar figure at the corner. "Hey, I like your new coat," the man calls to a woman passerby. "You should be wearing rubbers," he calls to a man. The cheerful greetings, uttered from the southeast corner of 3rd and Green streets, in Northern Liberties, never failed to perk up the passing pedestrians. That's where the Joe Hand Boxing Gym is situated, and the friendly man at the corner worked there.

KISSIMMEE, Fla. - Jeremy Horst needed to throw, but the Wisconsin air was too cold. His trusted gym in Green Bay was under new ownership. He embarked on a search for a winter baseball solution in the football town. First, Horst found a gym with six tennis courts that was big enough for him to reach 180 feet in long toss. The Phillies lefthander asked the club's instructor when he could throw. It usually was available at 9 p.m., which was a problem for Horst, father of two young children.

IN A PERFECT high school basketball world, the older guys lead their younger counterparts, everyone gets along and the team stays intact. But at Delaware Valley Charter this season . . . That guy transferred. These guys were banished. And a couple more walked/stormed out of the gym. Luckily for coach Jason Harrigan and the other remaining players, Da-Shon Giddings did not allow himself to be sidetracked by the negativity. That's not how he rolls and everyone is eternally grateful.

IN A STORY published in last Friday's Daily News , coach William "Speedy" Morris, of St. Joseph's Prep, suggested that Roman Catholic High should be banned from playing any more games in its gym because it's "illegal" . . . three-pointers cannot be attempted from the corners and near-wings because the court is so narrow. Here's a follow-up statement from Morris, who coached at Roman for 14 seasons ending in 1981, as provided by Bill Avington, the Prep's director of communications: "I regret saying that Roman's historic gym should be outlawed.