Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 75 -- April 16, 2022

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Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, athlete, activist and actor, was born 75 years ago today, on 16-April-1947. I vaguely remember watching basketball games on television with my dad and hearing the name Lew Alcindor. I had never heard the name "Alcindor" and wondered where it came from. I remember watching him when he played for the Bucks and the Lakers. He studied Jeet Kune Do with Bruce Lee. I remember when he converted to Islam. It was not as controversial as Muhammad Ali.

I loved the way he played the co-pilot in the Zucker Brothers' Airplane!.

Ali vs Frazier I, 50 Years -- March 8, 2021

 

Palm Springs Desert Sun, 15-March-1971

Fifty years ago today, former champ Muhammad Ali met heavyweight champion Joe Frazier for the first of three times. Many people called it the "Fight of the Century," and they may have been right. Joe Frazier won a unanimous decision after fifteen rounds at Madison Square Garden. I was a Smokin' Joe fan for some reason ;0) 

In these ads we see that two theaters, a drive-in and a hardtop, were showing the fight the next week in Palm Springs. I suppose this was a repeat of the closed circuit coverage.

Muhammad Ali, RIP -- June 5, 2016

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Muhammad Ali, who may have been The Greatest of All Time, is dead.  He inspired some great documentaries.  When We Were Kings told the story of The Rumble in the Jungle, Ali's 1974 fight in Zaire against George Foreman.  No one expected Ali to win.  Some people expected Ali to die.  I still get the chant "Ali, boma ye!" stuck in my head.

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Facing Ali allowed several of his opponents to tell their stories.  I was sad to see the condition of many of the men, who I remembered as young and strong.

I remember a program he did on ABC's Wide World of Sports where Ali sat with Howard Cosell and watched movies of past heavyweight champs.  Ali said he would have beaten each one.  I wonder if he would have beaten Jack Johnson or Joe Louis.  In either case, it would have been a heck of a fight.  I would like to see the show again.

And of course Ali's 1975 fight with Chuck Wepner, the Bayonne Bleeder, inspired the movie Rocky.