The Greatest of All Time

[JDM]

Has died.

RIP. Muhammad Ali.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/sports/muhammad-ali-greatest-all-time-dead-74-n584776?cid

[hiro]

Sad news indeed.

RIP

[Mjolnir]

Godspeed, brother...


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"One cannot awaken a man who pretends to be asleep."

[Frank R]

The greatest mouth ever. Draft dodger. The Sonny Liston fight was rigged.

[donlapalma]

Truly the greatest of all time. A man that transcended the sport. RIP.

Sent from my SM-T700 using Tapatalk

[LittleLebowski]

Rest in peace. Just watched the second Liston fight, didn't look rigged.

[RevolverRob]

The greatest mouth ever. Draft dodger. The Sonny Liston fight was rigged.

With due respect, and I mean that sincerely, thank you for your service.

Ali converted to Islam in 1965, before he was drafted. His objection to war was on religious and personal reasons, and his conscientious objector application was rejected when he was drafted. His conviction for draft evasion was later overturned by the Supreme Court in an 8-0 ruling, therefore he was not a draft dodger. And he suffered for his personal convictions, losing, as many did during Vietnam, prime years of their lives and careers.

___

Ali was a great boxer. A great promoter. A great man at giving you the one-liners everyone loves. He also served as inspirational and cultural leader for an entire class of people who had been and in some ways still are systematically repressed by our culture. He remains one of the few people who spent most of his non-professional life serving as a role model and embraced that role in life with very limited problems (compared to say...how many athletes today had serious personal issues with drug abuse, etc). Let us not forget as well, that even though he suffered with Parkinson's he traveled the world for charity and worked hard to be a good father to his family.

We should all be so lucky to influence positively so many people in our lives.

Rest in Peace Mister Ali.

-Rob

[Wondering Beard]

Ali converted to Islam in 1965, before he was drafted. His objection to war was on religious and personal reasons, and his conscientious objector application was rejected when he was drafted. His conviction for draft evasion was later overturned by the Supreme Court in an 8-0 ruling, therefore he was not a draft dodger.
-Rob

How the Supreme Court decided (http://althouse.blogspot.com/2016/06/how-supreme-court-decided-draft-evasion.html)

[RevolverRob]

How the Supreme Court decided (http://althouse.blogspot.com/2016/06/how-supreme-court-decided-draft-evasion.html)

And SCOTUS still vacated his conviction, therefore he is not a draft dodger. Whether by technicality or otherwise - The bottom line is that his conviction was not upheld at the highest level.

[11B10]

With due respect, and I mean that sincerely, thank you for your service.

Ali converted to Islam in 1965, before he was drafted. His objection to war was on religious and personal reasons, and his conscientious objector application was rejected when he was drafted. His conviction for draft evasion was later overturned by the Supreme Court in an 8-0 ruling, therefore he was not a draft dodger. And he suffered for his personal convictions, losing, as many did during Vietnam, prime years of their lives and careers.

___

Ali was a great boxer. A great promoter. A great man at giving you the one-liners everyone loves. He also served as inspirational and cultural leader for an entire class of people who had been and in some ways still are systematically repressed by our culture. He remains one of the few people who spent most of his non-professional life serving as a role model and embraced that role in life with very limited problems (compared to say...how many athletes today had serious personal issues with drug abuse, etc). Let us not forget as well, that even though he suffered with Parkinson's he traveled the world for charity and worked hard to be a good father to his family.

We should all be so lucky to influence positively so many people in our lives.

Rest in Peace Mister Ali.

-Rob


Speaking as a guy that was drafted in 1967, I can tell you my initial opinions of Cassius Clay were NOT very nice. As time passed, I saw past the facade that was the public man - and began to detect the soul of the spiritual man. His deeds spoke louder than any words. Muhammed Ali has been so many things to so many people, convincing me that the Greatest is now in the Greatest place. I'm with you on all points, Rob. May God rest your noble soul, Muhammed Ali.

[Shawn Dodson]

"I'm young, I'm handsome, I'm pretty, and I can't possibly be beat!"

[11B10]

Speaking as a guy that was drafted in 1967, I can tell you my initial opinions of Cassius Clay were NOT very nice. As time passed, I saw past the facade that was the public man - and began to detect the soul of the spiritual man. His deeds spoke louder than any words. Muhammed Ali has been so many things to so many people, convincing me that the Greatest is now in the Greatest place. I'm with you on all points, Rob. May God rest your noble soul, Muhammed Ali.


Yup, I'm replying to my own post again. I just saw a rerun of Ali's statement about why he was refusing to report for the draft and cannot let it go. He said basically he won't "go 10,000 miles to help murder and burn another poor nation simply to continue the domination of white slave masters of the darker people the world over." Listen, I have no illusions about the motives for the Vietnam war, but for Ali to say it was about slavery and nothing else is beyond intelligent discourse. I didn't remember those words and was extremely disappointed to hear him say them. I have to believe he changed his thinking in later years.

[hufnagel]

"A man who views the world the same at 50 as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life.”

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/boxing/2016/06/03/muhammad-ali-best-quotes-boxing/85370850/

11B10: your last part, you probably are right.

I know I personally don't view the world the same as I did 30 years ago.

[Chance]

And SCOTUS still vacated his conviction, therefore he is not a draft dodger. Whether by technicality or otherwise - The bottom line is that his conviction was not upheld at the highest level.

I'm afraid I can't agree with that. If Ali wasn't a draft dodger, then Casey Anthony was a good mother.

Ali went on to do some very noble things, and I respect him for that, and am open to him shifting his beliefs over time. But that doesn't whitewash his past.