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BOOMERS FOR BALBOA FEELING ROCKY'S PAIN Who says old guys have to step out of the ring?

'Boomer Surgery' one way for boomers inspired by 'Rocky Balboa' to keep fighting the good fight through middle age

Date published: 12/22/2006

By MICHAEL ZITZ

NE DAY you wake up and the girl behind the counter at Wawa is calling you "sweetie."

And she's not calling you that because you're sweet.

Suddenly, people are addressing you as "sir" or "ma'am." (Thankfully, nobody's called me "ma'am" yet.)

The same people who used to let doors slam in your face are holding them open for you like you're dragging an oxygen tank.

No thank you, sonny. Baby boomers can fend for themselves.

All this extra attention may sound nice.

None of it is good.

It can make you feel old and feeble when you're not.

Don't accept that. Cast it out. Stomp it to death. Shout to the heavens that you're not gonna take it anymore.

That's the theme of Sylvester Stallone's new movie, "Rocky Balboa."

Movie critics are mocking the idea of a geezer fighting, but Stallone's film is likely to resonate with boomers.

"Rocky Balboa," the Stallone sequel out this week, is about refusing to be counted out because of the calendar.

"It's over," a younger fighter snidely tells Rocky when he comes out of retirement.

"Ain't nothin' over till it's over," Rocky mumbles.

"Where is that from, the '80s?" the young fighter asks sarcastically.

"That's probably in the '70s," Rocky says.

In modern Western culture, perfectly capable people are continually pressured or shamed into stepping aside--or stepping down--because of age.

It's always been wrong. Now more so than ever, because advances in health care are keeping people competitive at times when their grandparents and parents were slowing down.

"People are gonna say you're crazy," Rocky's son says in the film of his desire to return to the boxing ring in middle age.

"What's crazy," Rocky asks, "about standin' toe to toe, sayin', 'I am'?"

Rocky's right.

The simple fact is that the American economic system won't be able to bear the weight of nearly 80 million baby boomers plopping themselves down on the couch at 55, 62, 65--ages when people used to be put out to pasture.

60 IS THE NEW 40 If you go by the gospel according to "Rocky," Balboa was 31 when he fought Apollo Creed for the first time back in '76. That means he's 61 when he steps into the ring for "Rocky Balboa." To put that in perspective, the oldest heavyweight champ in history was George Foreman, who won the IBF and WBA titles at age 45 when he knocked out Michael Moorer in 1994. --From wire reports INSIDE: See a review of 'Rocky Balboa' and Stallone's thoughts on making yet another sequel, Page D2.

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Date published: 12/22/2006