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Message: [QUOTE="Townie72, post: 1782499, member: 780"] Well, you are leaving out a lot of stuff about Ali that might not re-inforce your argument. Throughout his career, Ali humiliated and embarrassed his opponents. The fight against Ernie Terrell is the best example. That’s the one where he called Terrell and “Uncle Tom, “ And asked him, “What’s My Name” in a fight Ali extended on purpose so he could punish Terrell. One sports writer wrote, “It was a wonderful demonstration of boxing skill and a barbarous display of cruelty." He also called Floyd Patterson an “Uncle Tom”, Henry Cooper “A Bum”, Doug Jones “An ugly little man” and he said he was going to donate Sonny Liston to a zoo after the fight because he looked and smelled like a bear. (I don't think Sonny Liston "got the joke".) I always liked Ali as a fighter, but ... It's unclear to me that your view of what it takes to be "The Greatest Athlete" --- the criteria you use --- might not be called "The Best Person that was a great Athlete" or "The Athlete I like Best". ("An affinity for Children?" - What's that got to do with athletic ability?) If "service to others at a cost to you personally" is the key criteria, than Ted Williams wins it easily. After living through the Ali years and reading Creamer's Book "Babe", it's pretty clear that to me Ruth was a bigger deal for a longer time than Ali. He went from being 0ne of the top pitchers in baseball to reinventing the game, When Ruth hit 54 HRs in 1920, the #2 HR guy in MLB hit 18 HRs. I was never clear how much of Ali’s refusal to submit to the Draft and how much if it was cult-gangster Elijah Muhhamed Ali was a great fighter … maybe the best ever. But I’ll pass on electing him the Greatest” title for his humanitarian behavior. [/QUOTE]

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