I will remember the fights with George Foreman and Joe Frazier and maybe more than anything else, I think I will remember how it seemed like Howard Cosell made Muhammad Ali and Muhammad Ali made Howard Cosell..
It was almost like they built each other up and made each other bigger than life and louder than life in the public eye and how they played off each other so well…The first thing that came to my mind were those days when Cosell would interview and talk to “The Champ” and how their personas/personalities just grew, as they carried on in their discussions on TV and on radio..
Muhammad Ali and Howard Cosell, I will never forget how they played off of each and carried each other into “The Spotlight”…..
from William Nack at www.espn.com and long-time Sports Illustrated writer:
Muhammad Ali had come a long, winding road to that clearing in the African jungle(Zaire, for the George Foreman fight). The truest of American originals, bigger than Babe Ruth, bigger than Joe Louis, he was the most singular performer on any sporting stage in modern history. Ali never aimed to be an antiwar activist or civil rights advocate, but he adopted those roles in reaction to the times in which he lived and the circumstances of his very public life. His religious beliefs led him to duck the military draft at the hottest moments of a divisively unpopular war in Vietnam, and that turned him into a national symbol that the antiwar movement needed. He swore off the life of a civil rights demonstrator when someone dumped a bucket of water on his head as he walked a picket line in front of a segregated Louisville, Kentucky, restaurant when he was in high school, but he became a voice for social change following his conversion to Islam and refusal to be drafted.
Also coming in from ESPN.com/http://espn.go.com/sports/boxing/ali/news/story?id=3171301
In a 1972 interview with David Frost, Ali was asked, “What would you like people to think about you when you’re gone?”
Ali answered: “I’d like for them to say: He took a few cups of love. He took one tablespoon of patience. One tablespoon, teaspoon of generosity. One pint of kindness. He took one quart of laughter. One pinch of concern. And then he mixed willingness with happiness. He added lots of faith. And he stirred it up well. Then he spread it over a span of a lifetime. And he served it to each and every deserving person he met.”
from USA Today Sports:
Boxing’s odd couple: Muhammad Ali and Howard Cosell
CLICK HERE to check it out and this is pretty good stuff here…
Growing up in Miami, Florida, I had the distinct privilege of meeting Muhammad Ali who was named Cassius Clay at the time at the age of 6. He had won the Olympics in 1960 and came to visit our church Mt.Zion bible study class. I can remember sitting on his lap as all of us gathered around and he said that he was going to be the heavyweight champion of the world. As kids we kept saying that whenever he fought that we were going to vote for for him. (Which meant we liked him). Ironically, a few years later just before he fought Sonny Liston, him and Jackie Gleason were on 9th street and 3rd avenue pool hall promoting the fight and were doing an exhibition pool shooting match. Ali shot first and the kew ball jumped off the table and I picked it up and handed it back to him. He said thanks lil man and gave me a 50 cent coin. I was so excited that I said I would never spend it. My oldest brother and I shortly after we left to go home we stopped by a local store and bought some grapes. The last time I saw him personally was in 1969 when he opened up a “Champ Burger” business on 62nd street and 17th avenue, just a block from our house. It was so many people out there for that grand opening that they had to have police officers directing traffic. He was a class act and above all things he stood for something other than the sport that he was involved in.
Well said Mr. Jenkins, well said…
There is no doubt that the ‘Louisville Lip’ could back up what he said too….
America loves a winner. What I truly appreciated about Ali was his willingness to take a stand even when he knew it could cost him his career and all of the money that goes with it. Not only did he do it in a time when your message could easily get drowned out or twisted but in a time that the laws were directly against you. Today you can direct your message in seconds to nearly anyone in the world exactly as it was intended with little fear of government over sight yet few if any people with a lot to lose are willing to take a public stand on issues important to them or their community. He was rightfully the greatest of his time and even in death for so many reason. I hope that future generations remember and embrace not only his greatest in the ring but his willingness to speak truth to power.