RIP Muhammad Ali

[GGGG]

I did.  Terrell wasn't calling him "Clay" with intent to ridicule.  He was doing it out of habit.

Newspapers, etc. were doing it intentionally.  They refused to call him by his legal name.

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/ernie-terrell-boxer-who-won-a-world-title-but-suffered-a-savage-beating-after-inadvertently-calling-9947176.html

I have to imagine that to be a boxer, you have to mentally hype yourself up any ways you can and try to give yourself a mental edge. Terell, after initially accidentally calling him Clay, decided to do it again and again. Ali decided to use that as motivation for himself. Unfortunately for Terell, Ali just happened to be the greatest boxer of all time and the most mentally strong athlete across all sports.

[ChicosBailBonds]

I did.  Terrell wasn't calling him "Clay" with intent to ridicule.  He was doing it out of habit.

Newspapers, etc. were doing it intentionally.  They refused to call him by his legal name.

You may want to read it a third time

[ChicosBailBonds]

I have to imagine that to be a boxer, you have to mentally hype yourself up any ways you can and try to give yourself a mental edge. Terell, after initially accidentally calling him Clay, decided to do it again and again. Ali decided to use that as motivation for himself. Unfortunately for Terell, Ali just happened to be the greatest boxer of all time and the most mentally strong athlete across all sports.

DING DING DING

[GGGG]

Ah I see.  I read the initial part. 

[ChicosBailBonds]

Boxing was the every man sport back then.  No PPV, the fights were on ABC's Wide World of Sports on a Saturday afternoon or Saturday night.  I remember Earnie Shavers taking on Ali when I was kid, still think Shavers won that fight as do many others.  It was equal access for anyone with a TV and a set of rabbit ears.  Different times for sure.

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

Boxing was the every man sport back then.  No PPV, the fights were on ABC's Wide World of Sports on a Saturday afternoon or Saturday night.  I remember Earnie Shavers taking on Ali when I was kid, still think Shavers won that fight as do many others.  It was equal access for anyone with a TV and a set of rabbit ears.  Different times for sure.

Funny you say that because after Ali, Shavers is my favorite fighter. Two completely different styles. Ali could move and Shavers just hit hard as all hell.

[GGGG]

It was starting though.  The Rumble in the Jungle and the Thrilla in Manilla were both only on closed circuit.  Same with the Duran/Leonard fights.  You are correct that you could still catch some other matches....like the first time I saw Mike Tyson was on WWOS.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRPn7R_6r4o

[jsglow]

Ali was many years ahead of his time.  He understood that sports was meant to be entertaining. Man was he entertaining. I had a big Ali poster in my room as a kid. And in later life, showed his wonderful true character in his quiet charity work.  True American hero.

[warriorchick]

It was starting though.  The Rumble in the Jungle and the Thrilla in Manilla were both only on closed circuit.  Same with the Duran/Leonard fights.  You are correct that you could still catch some other matches....like the first time I saw Mike Tyson was on WWOS.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRPn7R_6r4o

Beat me to it.  I think it can be argued that Muhammad Ali actually ushered in the PPV era.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Funny you say that because after Ali, Shavers is my favorite fighter. Two completely different styles. Ali could move and Shavers just hit hard as all hell.

I honestly don't know if any man on the planet punched harder than Shavers.  I'm sure some boxing aficionados will know better than I, but that guy was an amazing puncher.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Ali was many years ahead of his time.  He understood that sports was meant to be entertaining. Man was he entertaining. I had a big Ali poster in my room as a kid. And in later life, showed his wonderful true character in his quiet charity work.  True American hero.

+1

[ChicosBailBonds]

Beat me to it.  I think it can be argued that Muhammad Ali actually ushered in the PPV era.

Agree.  Boxing has never been the same since. 

[brandx]

I think that answer is fairly obvious

I'm not afraid to say why. Only one segment of the population still called him Clay - racist whiteys!

[ChicosBailBonds]

I'm not afraid to say why. Only one segment of the population still called him Clay - racist whiteys!

PATHETIC.

Why is this crap allowed?  You may want to look at some of the stories today that refer to him as his former name, and the authors are not racist...or white for that matter.  You, are truly pathetic.

[GGGG]

While I think brand should modify his post, I don't see many authors calling him Cassius Clay in the same manner that rocket did - the present tense. 

[brandx]

Beat me to it.  I think it can be argued that Muhammad Ali actually ushered in the PPV era.

You could be right, but I remember PPV becoming prevelant during the Leonard, Hagler, Hearns era

[real chili 83]

This is why we can't have nice stuff.

[jesmu84]

https://www.youtube.com/v/ID3-vqADnRY

More:

Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go 10,000 miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on Brown people in Vietnam while so-called Negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs and denied simple human rights?

No I'm not going 10,000 miles from home to help murder and burn another poor nation simply to continue the domination of white slave masters of the darker people the world over. This is the day when such evils must come to an end. I have been warned that to take such a stand would cost me millions of dollars.

But I have said it once and I will say it again. The real enemy of my people is here. I will not disgrace my religion, my people or myself by becoming a tool to enslave those who are fighting for their own justice, freedom and equality.

If I thought the war was going to bring freedom and equality to 22 million of my people they wouldn't have to draft me, I'd join tomorrow. I have nothing to lose by standing up for my beliefs. So I'll go to jail, so what? We've been in jail for 400 years.

The guy was incredibly intelligent person, without much of a formal education. I'm sure he could still teach us a thing or two about being a dignified, reasoned, self-respecting human.

[ChicosBailBonds]

While I think brand should modify his post, I don't see many authors calling him Cassius Clay in the same manner that rocket did - the present tense.

You're saying what Rocket did is at the same level, or worse than what Brandx just did?  Simply, wow.  I would re-read what Rocket said, again.  Plenty of high praise for the man, unlike Brandx who lobs racial nonsense with ZERO repercussions.

[GGGG]

You're saying what Rocket did is at the same level, or worse than what Brandx just did?  Simply, wow.  I would re-read what Rocket said, again.  Plenty of high praise for the man, unlike Brandx who lobs racial nonsense with ZERO repercussions.

I never said that.  I never claimed to know rocket's motivations.  I simply find it disrespectful. 

[warriorchick]

You could be right, but I remember PPV becoming prevelant during the Leonard, Hagler, Hearns era

By PPV I would also include pre-cable times where folks went to the movie theater to watch, and Ali and his promoters invented that for all practical purposes.

[ChicosBailBonds]

I never said that.  I never claimed to know rocket's motivations.  I simply find it disrespectful.

Fair enough.  I find Brandx's comments disgusting, pathetic, racist, and completely out of bounds.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Ali in the suite with Shula and a few of my NFL counterparts back in 2000. 

[MU82]

Pathetic on your part.  Way to make it political....again.

Insinuating that somebody intentionally used a racist reference is not politics. It is calling somebody out.

Pathetic on your part to leap to Boo-Boo's defense AND equally pathetic to attempt to bring politics into it AND doubly pathetic to act outraged -- or as one Scooper might say, fauxraged.

That's a Classic Chicos hat trick. Congrats!