THE CHAMP IS DEAD. ONE OF A KIND!

June 4, 2016

The tributes to honor Cassius Clay / Muhammad Ali are many and wonderful.  I was surprised how many folks I know have had personal encounters with him.  It's sad to acknowledge the passing of an icon.  The Parkinson's Disease that he courageously lived with for over thirty years took its toll and yesterday, we lost him.  Of course, this is all old news and even this story has been told many times.  This one:

I was invited to a gathering at a restaurant on La Cienega many years ago.  It may have been to honor Ali or some other reason.  The place was packed.  Suddenly there was a parting of the gathered throng and Ali came in.  He waved. And..  and.. he was glowing.  Literally.  The man was surrounded by light.  We did not meet.  But, to see this guy in person and surrounded by a blue white aura was a moment that I'll never forget.

I'll never forget another connection to The Champ. It was the winter of 1964.  I was working at a Disney owned Celebrity Sports Center in Denver.  The night of the fight, the guy who tended the pin setting machines (it was an eighty lane bowling alley with other sports activities) had placed a bet on the 'kid' who was coming up against Sonny Liston, the bruiser from Arkansas, ten years  (or so) his senior.  The pin setter guy had a radio back in the bowels of the bowling lanes and had placed a sizeable bet on Clay.  The bowling lanes were set up in two sections of the Center and I was on the intercom with the pin setter, so I could hear the radio narration of the fight.  When  Clay  knocked Liston out, the pin setter was ecstatic! He'd won a bundle!  I remember being excited, too, though I was not really a fan. Immediately,  I got on the PA system to announce the result and the whole place erupted in cheers!   There's a wonderful photograph of Clay standing over Liston moments after the final punch.  He whupped the ugly old bear!

Our heroes come in many guises.  Muhammad Ali (does "Ali" really mean 'sword of light?' Well, it does mean 'high' or 'exalted'),  this extraordinary man, embodied every guise that an admirer would ever need.  He spoke his Truth.  He lived his Truth. He made us laugh.  He was so pretty!  

Hopefully, there is no 'rest' in peace for this hero.  If there's an opportunity to have fully functioning functions again, that would be my sincere wish for a man who touched the hearts of millions with good will and honesty.  What a legacy. 

June 4, 2016

michaelsheehan