My Heroes

I will expand on this and include more information about why these people are my heroes, but for now I will just list them with a bit of information.  I will avoid the cliche of listing my parents or other relatives and limit this to a more traditional meaning

Muhammad Ali - I hated Cassius Clay but when he became Muhammad Ali there was an event that changed my whole outlook.  That was when he fought Ernie Terrell.  Up until then, he was just a loud mouth braggart that did nothing for me. 

I was raised that you didn't brag and carry on about yourself.  Clay was the epitome of that fault.  Then after he beat Sonny Liston who I admired, he converted to become a Muslim and changed his name to Muhammad Ali.  Not long after that he signed to fight Ernie Terrell. 

Terrell was a huge fighter who fought in a peekaboo style.  In the pre fight buildup, Terrell talked bad about Ali in a different way, he attacked him for his religious views and would not call him by his new name.  Instead he called him Cassius Clay all the time and said things about Muslims being bad and in general just bad-mouthed Ali in a very personal way.  

Ali was not his usual boisterous self.  There was some of the braggadocio behavior but not near as much.  Much of the time he was rather quiet about what would happen in the fight and he often said Terrell should not be calling him Cassius.   That he should not disrespect his religion.  This was usually the gist of the interviews.  Very different from the loud pre fight antics of the past.  The silence was interesting but still didn't mean that much to me at the time.  It was obvious that there was a seriousness in Ali that I had not seen before.  He was quiet and serious about the disrespect.  

In the fight, along about the 6th round, Ali would get Terrell in a corner.  As usual, Terrell had his gloves up to his face in the peekaboo style.   Ali would put his hands down to his side and lean towards Terrell, almost pressing his face into his gloves and would yell something.  Howard Cosell was doing the broadcast of the fight and he was saying that Ali was yelling something to Terrell but he couldn't tell what he was saying.  Ali would yell and then he would smack Terrell upside the head.  Then he would put his hands down and yell again, then smack!  He kept doing that.  Cosell finally understood the words and told the television audience what Ali was saying.  Ali was saying "What's my name?!" and then would throw a fierce blow to Terrell's head.  He would put his hands down to his side, lean into Terrell again and yell "What's my name?!"  and hit him again.  This happened over and over for 12 rounds.

That was it for me.  There was no braggadocio behavior.  He was standing up for his beliefs.  No bragging, no grandstanding for the cameras, he was standing up for what he felt was right.  I admired that and I admire him.  From that moment on, he was my hero and still is.  Here I am a southern white man in his 50s and I say unabashedly Muhammad Ali is my hero. 

A side note.  When still in his prime, he went to a Master's Tournament.  A sportswriter saw him and asked who was the greatest golfer.  Ali said "I am." and the sportswriter said, "I didn't know you played golf."  Ali Answered, "I don't, but if I did, I would be the greatest."

The Big Four of Westerns: Roy Rogers, Hopalong Cassidy, Gene Autry, and the Lone Ranger.   More to follow as to why.

George Foreman: Again, more to follow.