Possessing a badge that represents more than just bravery, adorning uniforms that define
them. The passion to protect gives the momentum to prevail. Hearts are put into work and into
preparation for the match. But as their fight approaches the similarities in there. Police
officer Rob Piland and fireman Rob Ralph set out on a familiar journey with their brothers to
represent their departments as they battle one another for the honor to call themselves the
outright champions of Evansville's Guns and Hoses title belt.
This is beyond the bench.
Evansville's quiet downtown district has come alive with the addition of a new arena. On April 21st
Main Street will light up as the Ford Center will be host to the fifth annual Guns and Hoses
charity boxing event. In 2011 police officers dominated their way to winning 11 of 15 votes
against rival firemen. Come fight night whenever you have a good night or successful night like we
did last year we were 11 to 4. When you have a successful night you watch all that hard work
training pay off. The highly anticipated upcoming event will be marked as the grudge match as
both sides train heavily for preeminence over the lesser opponent. The police want to maintain
supremacy. The firefighters want revenge. The Hoses team has definitely looked to get that
belt back this year. This is the grudge match so to speak. We've got two grudge match Ford
Center. It's going to be some awesome fights man. It's going to be a heck of a time.
At the end of the night victors will hold the title belt with pride as they take the lead
in the series but the true champions are the children and the many charities that benefit
from the proceeds of the event. The proceeds from Guns and Hoses in the beginning this
started off as a joint fundraiser for a home for people that suffered from Prada Willie
Syndrome. Officer Burnetton's daughter suffered from this and we were going to have the money
with the fund to upkeep kids kingdom in downtown Evansville. When it grew so rapidly we decided
that we would start taking half of the funds for those two issues and the other half we
would vote on as a board and we have three firemen, three police officers and an AMR
member. So the seven of us vote on all kinds of local charities that we give to you. The
emotional impact that having the firefighters and the police officers raising this money
to help people gives it that much more emotional impact when we make a contribution to the
community.
Come on.
Winning all four years fireman Rob Ralph has used his overbearing strength and toughness
to pound opponents into defeat.
Nickname of course is Butterbean. Quite a few people know me of course just by my nickname.
I think there's still a few guys on the fire department that don't know my real name.
That's the funny thing about it. Ralph is stationed at Firehouse 14 where 24 hour shifts are
common.
While days may go by quietly as today a call can come at any moment.
The men return after a routine run and begin their morning by preparing breakfast for the
crew or even getting in the quickest of workouts.
While Bean uses his talents to overpower opponents police officer Rob Piland used his
skill to win two of his three boats in a more tactical fashion.
In the line of duty tactics are required by Rob as he patrols the south sector late into
the night.
It's a very tough job. Sometimes a very unappreciated job. But I feel we do get great support from
our community. I work with a bunch of great guys. I love my department. I love my job.
I love what I do. These guys give their hearts, put their hearts into their work every day.
Training is similar for both Rob and Bean. Days consist of crucial cardio mixed with
weights and sparring. As the fight nears motivation seems to increase the camaraderie of the
brotherhood between departments drives the preparation for fight night.
Yeah, I tell you what, the overall teamwork aspect of course, it plays right into what
it is we do.
With one spot open on the hoses an inter-squad fight has been set up between firemen to battle
for the final position to represent their station as well as their department.
With an overpowering performance, Jesse Martin earned his spot with the hoses. Following
the match, station 14 returns to their duties after providing medical support.
This year, I know the firemen are ready for us. They were very upset about the loss they
received last year. They're ready for us this year. They've got a lot of tough guys coming
back. We have a lot of tough guys coming back.
As the fight approaches, tension begins to tighten.
We've been training all year long for three one-minute rounds each to take back the title.
I'm confident the firefighters will take back the title.
Teams grow closer.
We're confident the guns team's going to learn all the weapons so we're guns.
Hard work and dedication begin to show.
All involved have pride in their department and belief they will prevail.
This is how we do it down here.
The proof will come in 14 days. The countdown has begun.
