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Monday, June 6, 2016

Muhammed Ali's Uniqueness.

Besides having been the most famous man on earth, and how your feelings about him reflected more about you than about him, he brought
something to his sport that almost no one else of his contemporaries did.
He always, even at his most undignified moments, brought total dignity to every element of his life.
Mostly nobody else in his sport had a shred of it.
Particularly among heavyweights.
With Laila Ali, Ali's daughter---Ali discouraged her from becoming a boxer.
She became one anyway.
Joe Frazier, who had like eleven kids, tried to make all of them fighters.
And they all sucked.
Early in the run of his show, David Letterman did a remote segment with Joe Frazier in Philadelphia, following Frazier to the laundromat,
where he picked up his laundry.
He was obviously mocking him.
Can anyone imagine Ali putting up with that sort of thing?
In an interview, Thomas 'Hit Man' Hearns was once asked what he wanted to do after he quit fighting.
He replied "I wants to be a axter".
I once auditioned Former Heavyweight champeen Ken Norton, who was actively attempting to become a "axter".
Hell, he made "Mandingo"
He appeared to have marbles inside and around his mouth.
I didn't hire him.
George Foreman ended up selling cookware--the George Foreman grill.
Ali never pitched anything.
Mike Tyson put a huge tattoo on his face, and spent half his life in the slammer.
Nuff' said.
Ron Lyle, a very colorful fighter, committed and was convicted of second degree murder.
Leon Spinks was a moron. Probably still is.
Sonny Liston was mob-controlled and thug that he was, did "God knows what?" to his fellow citizens.
The heavyweight ranks in Ali's time was littered with thugs and criminals.
But they tried to put Muhammed Ali in jail for his political beliefs.
And Ali handled it all with dignity.
Around the time of Ali's legal troubles, Joe Louis was hired as a "Greeter" at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas.
He would stand around in the blackjack pits and you could have your picture taken with him just by gambling and asking.
Joe looked like he never had any idea where he was.
I'm glad Ali didn't end up like that.
He was simply one of a kind.
God bless us all for having had him.


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My books, "Show Runner" and it's sequel, "Show Runner Two", can be found at the Amazon Kindle Store.
Along with the newer ones, "The Man Is Dead", and "Report Cards".
They are all compilations of blog entries that have since been removed from the blog.
So this is the only way you can find them.
You can search by typing in my name, Cindy Williams, Laverne and Shirley, The Odd Couple, or Happy Days.
Check them out.
You don't need a Kindle machine to download them.
Just get the free app from Kindle, and they can be downloaded to an IPhone, IPad, or Blackberry.
The paperbacks, "Mark Rothman's Essays" and my new novel, "I'm Not Garbo" are not e-books.
But they are available for people without Kindle.
I have many readings and signings lined up for those, and the thing about Kindle is you can't sign one.
If you'd like one of the paperbacks, personally autographed, contact me at macchus999@comcast.net

And now, we've got my reading of my "Laverne and Shirley Movie" screenplay on YouTube.

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3 comments:

  1. Actually, Muhammad Ali did do at least one TV commercial.

    It was one of Chuck McCann's Right Guard spots - the ones at the medicine cabinet, where Chuck would greet the fellow on the other side with a cheery "Hi, guy!"

    Most of the time, the spots started with other Guy, but in this one we were on Chuck's side of the cabinet.

    Chuck opened the door and said "Hi, Guy!" -

    - and then we saw the face and heard the voice:

    "The name's not Guy - it's Muhammad Ali!
    And I've got some advice
    That I'll give you for free!"

    Ali then did a spiel in rhyme for Right Guard, finishing with "Right Guard - it's the greatest!"
    And he closed the cabinet door, and Chuck McCann did a major take.

    A pitch - but Ali was in full comic control the whole minute.
    Had he chosen to do so, he could have had major career in comedy, his way.
    Instead, he went his own way in all other areas.

    For most of the late '60s and early '70s, Ali was a full time resident of the South side of Chicago, deeply involved in local affairs.
    I'll have to check, but I'm fairly sure that he's got an honorary street named after him here.
    I wouldn't be surprised if they made it permanent soon.

    ReplyDelete
  2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4tJo0K2l1Q

    ReplyDelete
  3. Since this morning, I've learned (the hard way) that Muhammad Ali was quite a prolific commercial spokesman in his time.

    This takes nothing away from his legacy.

    In fact, it kind of adds to it.

    Considering all the bad press he got during the draft business, Ali's emergence as a trusted commercial presence shows something about how public opinion can be changed, given enough time.

    ... or something like that ...

    ReplyDelete

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Hi. I am, according to my Wikipedia entry,(which I did not create) a noted television writer, playwright, screenwriter, and occasional actor. You can Google me or go to the IMDB to get my credits, and you can come here to get my opinions on things, which I'll try to express eloquently. Hopefully I'll succeed. You can also e-mail me at macchus999@aol.com. Perhaps my biggest claim to fame is being responsible, for about six months in 1975, while Head Writer for the "Happy Days" TV series, for Americans saying to each other "Sit on it."