A Legend passes on.

[Colin Macqueen]

R.I.P. Mohammed Ali


Colin

[Jim_Kennedy]

Who knew?

"I'm the best. I just haven't played yet"- Muhammad Ali

[Will Lozier]

A huge loss. He was the GREATEST!

[Jon Wiggett]

R.I.P. Mohammed Ali


Colin

Certainly a one of a kind. He greatness as a boxer was only second to how he tackled parkinsons.

[John Connolly]

He was often seen through a social prism that refracted his brilliance into many colors. But he was periodically devoid of any light whatsoever - an imperfect hero if ever there was one.

[Jon Wiggett]

He was often seen through a social prism that refracted his brilliance into many colors. But he was periodically devoid of any light whatsoever - an imperfect hero if ever there was one.

[John Connolly]

Jon,


He had many positive cultural influences - brilliantly colored in that regard. And as is the case with us all, he had moments that were mistake-laden. He was the complete package in the realm of social consciousness, that's all. A perfect representation of the era's zeitgeist.

[Terry Lavin]

Very few risked more than he did, and he did it at the early height of his fame. That's nothing short of heroic. I was 13 when he wouldn't report for the draft. My mom told me he was standing up for himself, even if it seemed like he was disrespecting his country. An early civics lesson from my color blind mom.

[John Connolly]

Very few risked more than he did, and he did it at the early height of his fame. That's nothing short of heroic. I was 13 when he wouldn't report for the draft. My mom told me he was standing up for himself, even if it seemed like he was disrespecting his country. An early civics lesson from my color blind mom.

I think there were a few American teenagers in 1967 that risked a bit more than Ali.

[jim_lewis]

Some of us who were in Vietnam don't share the enthusiastic admiration of Ali. BTW, I don't think many who saw Sugar Ray Robinson fight would agree that Ali was the better boxer.

[Terry Lavin]

Very few risked more than he did, and he did it at the early height of his fame. That's nothing short of heroic. I was 13 when he wouldn't report for the draft. My mom told me he was standing up for himself, even if it seemed like he was disrespecting his country. An early civics lesson from my color blind mom.

I think there were a few American teenagers in 1967 that risked a bit more than Ali.

That's a cheap shot. Of course those who served in that pointless conflict gave it all. I lost family in that war and in Afghanistan. I merely pointed out that he sacrificed his career and his freedom by objecting to service. That's patriotic, too.

[John Connolly]

Ali's position wasn't defensible on all fronts, as Jim alluded to. I do not wish to pick apart his stance, nor those who would suggest he risked so much. That's fruitless. I only wanted to shed light on what I think, at day's end, were actions (military non-service being only one of them) that were not as righteous as many others have supposed. He was a complex personality that moved through the world the best he knew how - which was far from perfect. And that's ok because it makes him more like one of us - filled with light and shade.   

[Rich Goodale]

I've had the privilege of shaking hands with both Sugar Ray Robinson and Muhammad Ali, the former in the (very) old Garden when he was retired and watching a Knicks game behind me and my Dad and the latter when he was doing the tables at Caesar's Palace in the early 1980's and I was playing poker.


Sugar Ray was the ultimate gentleman and Muhammad was the ultimate human being--the most imposing person I have ever seen up close and personal.  Both of them had human flaws, but Ali transcended all sport whereas Robinson defined what it was to be a boxer.


RIP Ali, and Sugar Ray.....