“The Greatest” has passed. Muhammad Ali, one of the icons of the 20th century that transcended sports, died at the age of 74.
In his prime, Ali was an incredible fighter. He was also an entertainer with his original rhymes and hysterical antics with Howard Cosell, though there was also a dark side with his “gorilla” taunts of Joe Frazier.
He stood up to the US government at the height of his career when he refused to join the army and go to Vietnam War, sacrificing much of his boxing prime. Still, his most epic fights were still to come with the Thrilla in Manilla and the Rumble in the Jungle.
A couple of days ago we reached the 40th anniversary of one of the best calls in sports history. Joe Frazier was coming off a win over Muhammad Ali and then he ran into the beast that was George Forman. Howard Cosell had the call, as he repeated three times: “Down goes Frazier!” It’s one of the all-time great calls in sports.
As for Forman, he looked unbeatable after this fight, but then ran into Ali’s rope-a-dope in another stunning fight.
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Sports Illustrated put out this list of what it believes to be the Top 20 all-time sportscasters. Some of these guys are before my time, but unfortunately, most of them are not. Anyway, here is the list and a snappy comment or two, as well as who they missed and who I’m glad is not on here:
1. Jim McKay—The Bob Costas of his time. McKay hosted ABC’s “Wide World of Sports” as well as The Olympics. It’s hard to argue with putting him on top here, but it’s also easy to argue for a few of these others to be #1.
2. Vin Scully—If I hear ol’ Vin doing a game on TV, and with the MLB package it’s nice to still hear him doing Dodgers’ games, I don’t care who is playing….I stop and watch, and listen. It’s just comforting to hear the guy’s voice, which was made for broadcasting baseball.
