MUHAMMAD ALI IS 70
I’ve been to a World Series Game 7, Two Stanley Cup Finals and several Super Bowls and not one of those events was any better than the Ali-Frazier fights or the Ali-Foreman fight.
When you have a rooting interest in a fighter in a big fight, that’s about as good as it gets.
Maybe I should say as good as it used to get because there aren’t many fighters to root for nowadays.
Of course, I didn’t see any of those Ali fights in person. I saw them on closed circuit TV in a theater.
You would have to be of a certain age to remember those. And unless you went to a theater or an arena (or Three Rivers Stadium, where Ali Frazier I was shown) you probably won’t believe me when I tell you that those events had every bit as much tension and electricity in the air as any live event.
I was a huge Ali fan, even though I disagreed with his views on Viet Nam. (Yep, I was a conservative in the middle of all of those hippies in the mid 60s and early ’70s.) But I admired him for having the guts to back up what he said at the cost of losing his license to fight and despite the threat of going to prison.
And, boy, did I love to watch him box.
I’ll never forget riding through a lake-effect blizzard from Kent, Ohio to Cleveland in March of 1971 in my late buddy Dave’s VW Beetle to see Ali-Frazier I.
Back then, white people rooted for Joe Frazier. He was the black great white hope.
Dave and I were one of about 20 white people in the Music Hall in downtown Cleveland and I remember hoping that everybody knew we weren’t rooting for Frazier.
That’s almost 41 years ago and it’s still in my top 10 favorite moments in sports. Ali-Frazier II and the Thrilla in Manilla are also in the top 10.
In the last few years, I gained a lot more respect for Frazier and lost a little for Ali.
I saw a documentary on Frazier and Ali’s treatment of him was a little over the top.
But there’s not a team or a player in any sport who gave me more thrills and more enjoyment than Muhammad Ali.
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Date: January 17, 2012
Categories: Sports