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Message: [QUOTE="Fireball Jr., post: 1781101, member: 404"] Spot-on post. I "interviewed" Ali twice in Cleveland in the '70s -- you didn't interview him, he was just on auto-pilot -- and he was majestic, magical, magnificent. He was always "on," which made it all the sadder to, ironically, see him struggle to muster as much as a whisper for about the last half of his life. I'm 67, have no regrets in life, none, if I had a mulligan, though, I’d have had someone snap a pic of me "interviewing" Ali in the locker room at the Cleveland Arena following a charity show that, I'm pretty sure, was Don King’s first production after he came home from "college." As to his size, I was surprised how tall and muscular he was up close. Great experience -- and great memory -- sitting at press row and watching the tassels on his shoes flutter when he went into the Ali Shuffle 10 feet away from my pre-spectacled eyes. Saw Ali speak in my college gym, too, during his forced exile from boxing. He was great. You're so right, Crusty, the SCOTUS did its job well when it unanimously riled Ali had been done wrong. So, so wrong. I remember the personal joy when that ruling came down and I set out on Akron's main downtown drag to interview people for the daily rag. He was so much more than a boxer. I'm glad social media and hate radio didn't exist when he was in his prime. He was, no question, The Greatest. My heart starts beating faster thinking back to maybe my greatest sports thrill ever, watching Ali, on closed-circuit at the Akron Armory, pull out the rope-a-dope and do the unthinkable -- topple big, bad, ol' George Foreman in the Rumble in the Jungle. I was standing on a chair, screaming, rejoicing, hugging strangers like it was V-J Day in Times Square. I was hoarse for two days. The only thing I regret and troubles me is how Ali abandoned his close friend and adviser Malcolm, who had Ali's best interests in mind unlike Herbert Muhammad and all those phony hangers-on. Ali felt forced to pick sides, sad, he knew what Malcolm's ultimate fate would be when he abandoned him. I guess nobody, even Ali, is perfect. [MEDIA=youtube]IfUHYUpmTFs[/MEDIA] [/QUOTE]

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