The Old Fashioned 3-Point Play

TOF3PP is commentary on two topics from the sports world, and one major headline from American pop culture.

The Bucket 

The world has sadly lost one of its greatest champions. A boxing champion, and maybe more importantly, a champion of love.

We knew Muhammad Ali the boxer (56-5 37 KOs) as an Olympic gold medalist, a three-time heavyweight world champion, a swaggering competitor, and a truly fearless man who faced down many opponents in and outside of the ring. And, while he did not walk away from the game with an unblemished record, he did end his life undefeated.

If you are following along on social media following Ali’s June 3, 2016 passing you are probably seeing pictures of Ali with a litany of iconic world figures – Prince and Michael Jackson, Martin Luther King, Jr and El-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz (okay Malcolm X), Elvis Presley and The Beatles, Nelson Mandela, the 1996 Olympic Torch in Atlanta, former U.S. Presidents Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter  etc. The Champ personified transcendence.

I won’t spend time here revisiting all of Ali’s well-known accolades and iconic stories, as it’s impossible to outdo some of the mainstream media giants that are currently covering this story. However, I just want to call attention to and salute Ali for never living his life to promote himself as infallible to the public – every clip I’ve ever seen of The Champ was seemingly imbued with authenticity. Starting in the 60’s well before there was a “100” emoji, or before “hunnid” was a part of the lexicon.

Ali did sell his fights. He called the round in which he would knockout an opponent. He gave his opponents embarrassing nicknames, or recited humiliating poems about them predicting the fighter’s imminent demise come fight night. He once joked about being quick enough to turn off the light in a room to go to sleep, and making it into bed before the room was dark. Some of The GOAT’s antics were over the top, but relative to the nature of the fight game they were real. His signature plain white trunks with a simple black or red trim and white boxing shoes clashed with his immense talent in the techniques of the “sweet science” that was beyond entertaining.

Boastful or mouthy (e.g. trash talking) athletes tend polarize opinions among fan bases, but in a sport like boxing opposing fighters did have the opportunity to shut the Louisville Lip up – and with the right shot maybe even permanently. At least for one night. Philly’s legendary “Smokin” Joe Frazier and the hard-hitting Ken Norton both took full advantage of their moments to quiet Ali by landing some of the game’s most memorable shots. However, despite being knocked down by Frazier and receiving a broken jaw from Norton, The Champ had the last laugh versus both men. Ali earned a unanimous decision against Norton in their third and final bout, and Frazier retired before the 15th round of their third and final fight “The Thrilla in Manila.”

Muhammad Ali (né Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr.) went toe-to-toe with racism after returning to Louisville following the 1960 Summer Olympics. At 22 years old he defeated a reigning 35-1 world champion in Sonny Liston by 7-round TKO – a feat only bested by Mike Tyson at 21 years old. A couple of years later Ali took on the U.S. armed forces (and the general public) as he refused to participate in the Vietnam War. In his mid-20’s Ali took on the U.S. judicial system to appeal his 5-year draft evasion conviction in hopes of being granted a license to return to boxing.

Following the resolution of that ordeal, which robbed him of almost four of his prime years as boxer, Ali would go on to author his celebrated career which culminated in a crushing defeat, an 11-round TKO, by Larry Holmes in 1980. The punishment sustained in that fight – The Champ fought once more after Holmes – arguably contributed to the emergence of Ali’s most tenacious opponent: Parkinson’s syndrome.

Ali was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 1984, and unfortunately this development was my first real introduction to The Greatest. For over 30 years it has been as if this once great athlete with this mythical background who was so widely beloved, and possessed this abundance of a great spirit and charisma and panache, seemed to steadily fade into an existence of anonymity and silence. An amazing hero from my father’s era was quickly replaced by names like Payton, Rice, Johnson, Jordan, Tyson, Bonds, Strawberry, and O’Neal. My era of athletes was forming. This would be an era of athletes with popular nicknames and unique logos, signature sneakers and apparel lines, commercials and movies, and 9- or 10-figure lifetime endorsement deals.

The underlying trend here is that today’s athletes increasingly – right or wrong – seem team oriented, or league focused, and eventually self-centered. Muhammad Ali’s story seemed to be about this country and its people and then, and only then, the Peoples’ Champ.

Rest Eternally In Power, Champ.

The And 1 

Hard to follow up paying homage to Muhammad Ali with an entertainment note, but hip hop has a 22-year old artist currently trying to shake things up in Roc Nation’s Vic Mensa. Honestly, I haven’t fully caught on to Mensa’s work outside some appearances on Shade45’s Sway In The Morning show, but if Hov has signed him one would have to think there’s potentially some kind of J. Cole factor going on with the Chicago native. I do have to praise Mensa for dropping his EP There’s Alot Going On and including the track “16 Shots” which speaks out on the unresolved November 2015 killing of 17-year old Laquan McDonald  by the CPD.

There is quite a bit going on in the world, and hopefully hip hop’s recent trend of thought-provoking projects with true resources behind them continues throughout 2016.

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