RIP Muhammad Ali

[fan_since79]

Some of the reports are conflicting at this point. 

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-boxing-ali-condition-idUSKCN0YQ00M

[JAHV76]

https://www.google.com/amp/www.nbcnews.com/news/sports/amp/muhammad-ali-greatest-all-time-dead-74-n584776#

 

RIP Champ!

[Amazing Larry]

In before "Floating Like a Butterfly in Heaven" headline. 

In all seriousness he was a great boxer. The sport wouldn't have been the same without him. 

[Schildog]

RIP Cassius 

[fan_since79]

Title changed to reflect the sad reality.

RIP.

 

[arch stanton]

He had a pretty good run. To this day he's one of the most revered athletes around the world.  

RIP

[ten ocho recon scout]

He was a beast. How does everyone feel about him outside of the ring? (Not taking sides, just basing off of some of the talk at work tonight)

[Spirit]

It's heartening to scroll through my Facebook and Twitter accounts to see so many of my rightwing friends and family moved by the death of a Muslim. 

 

RIP, Champ.  You were the greatest.

 

 

 

[Amazing Larry]

6 hours ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

He was a beast. How does everyone feel about him outside of the ring? (Not taking sides, just basing off of some of the talk at work tonight)

Outside of the ring I thought he was mostly a self aggrandizing jackass but whatever. There have been worse. 

[Redondo]

RIP Ali

[Chuck]

That one time he visited the Angels clubhouse in Tempe.

[Adam]

Man maicer is a good looking man

[Kevin]

40 minutes ago, Adam said:

Man maicer is a good looking man

Never seen a better looking piece of glass.

[JAHV76]

2 hours ago, Kevin said:

Never seen a better looking piece of glass.

This post is sponsored by the China Doll Company.

[Redondo]

 

[Ray McKigney]

7 hours ago, Lawrence said:

Outside of the ring I thought he was mostly a self aggrandizing jackass but whatever. There have been worse. 

See: Jim Brown

 

RIP Champ

[Vegas Halo Fan]

20 hours ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

He was a beast. How does everyone feel about him outside of the ring? (Not taking sides, just basing off of some of the talk at work tonight)

When he was fighting, at first I disliked him - a lot. I came to understand what he was doing for what it was - promotion - and to understand more of what he was as a man. He did a lot of humanitarian things, especially after his boxing career was over.

[Tank]

liked him a lot when i was a kid but got tired of the "i'm the greatest!" schtick. probably started my dislike of arrogant athletes.

my favorite moments were when he was interviewed by howard cosell. howard could spar with him as well as anyone, and it was entertaining.

i'll be honest, i have never really warmed to the idea of him being the greatest athlete of the century (personally i would have voted for jim thorpe or babe ruth, but that's besides the point). he was certainly entertaining, but i just never saw a boxer as great an athlete as others in sports.

[Ray McKigney]

1 hour ago, Tank said:

liked him a lot when i was a kid but got tired of the "i'm the greatest!" schtick. probably started my dislike of arrogant athletes.

my favorite moments were when he was interviewed by howard cosell. howard could spar with him as well as anyone, and it was entertaining.

i'll be honest, i have never really warmed to the idea of him being the greatest athlete of the century (personally i would have voted for jim thorpe or babe ruth, but that's besides the point). he was certainly entertaining, but i just never saw a boxer as great an athlete as others in sports.

I think Bo Jackson is the greatest athlete of the last hundred years. If he didn't get hurt, who knows what he would have accomplished.

[Tank]

bo jackson, good call. should most certainly be in the discussion.

 

and jeff davannon, too.

[ten ocho recon scout]

Bo was my hero as a kid.

Ali is definetely in the conversation. I think jordan was probably the most dominant athlete of any of the major american sports though. I dont know hockey well enough to say whether a guy like gretzky had flaws or not.

But jordan could do it all. Outside scoring, inside scoring, dominant defense 1vs1. The rings to match it. Its a testament when you look at the studs of the nba in the 90s, and see how many dont have rings, simply because bad luck had them in the league the same years as jordan.

It blows me away that he scored 40 points in a game once....when he was 40 years old.

Like ted williams, he lost time during his peak (yo play baseball), so his numbers should have been even better.

[ten ocho recon scout]

As a huge bo jackson fan, i have to admit, i think he was overrated as a baseball player. I think the mystique was his physical tools, and the potential to do a lot with them. But when you look at his numbers, i dont think they match the legend. Reminds me of puig to be honest.

Football was a different story. It would be hard to argue theres ever been a more dominant running back. He could run past and around you, or through you all the same.

[arch stanton]

Ali lost 3 years from age 25-28 because he refused to go to Vietnam. He probably would have owned boxing during those years. And the US was where he was least popular. Jordan never got hostages released. Bo never attracted crowds like Ali had everywhere he went. You could argue that other athletes accomplished more in their fields of competition but none have the worldwide audience that he had.He hasn't thrown a punch in nearly 40 years and he's still an icon.

[ten ocho recon scout]

Not sure any other athlete got hostages out...but, was ali that popular in SWA because of skill, or because he was a muslim? If he was max stein with everything else being the same, would he have gotten the hostage out?

As far as crowds and popularity, id argue jordan is still about as popular today as when he was playing. And i think it says something that legends like magic and bird took a notable side seat to jordan when the dream team was put together.

Ill add this, as far as ring performance, you can mention guys like mayweather and say they were as successful as ali. Not sure how many names you could list with jordan. Maybe bill russell, but i think the difference in eras kills that argument a bit.