THE FAME GAME: R.I.P., CASSIUS CLAY, a.k.a., MUHAMMED ALI
BY DAN VALENTI
PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY
(FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY, D-DAY+72, 2016) — THE PLANET began our career living “the life of the mind” in 1975. Over those 41 years in journalism, writing, broadcasting, and teaching, we have enjoyed exactly our share of success (we can’t say “more than our share” because we know, truthfully, that no one — no one — outworked us). One of the fringe benefits has been getting work with and meet many celebrities, famous people who weren’t “famous for being famous” (think, “Kardashian“) but had world renown because of their achievements. These included politicians, actors, musicians, authors, and the like.
Some of these celebs even became partners and friends. Examples include comedian Henny Youngman, for whom we wrote jokes and produced shows; Ken Coleman, Voice of the Boston Red Sox, with whom we wrote four books and partnered for nearly 20 years on various broadcasting ventures; Ted Williams, the greatest hitter in baseball history, who befriended us following an introduction by Coleman in the 1980s in Florida; actor R. Lee Ermey, a.k.a. The Gunny, star of Stanley Kubrick‘s Full Metal Jacket and various TV shows and films, with whom we worked on a movie script and novel; and Carmen Basilio, former world middleweight championship, who was athletic director at LeMoyne College while we were in the English Department there.
It is the latter friendship that comes to mind in light of the death of Muhammed Ali.
From the Cover of a Magazine
To tell this story properly, we return to Fall 1963. THE PLANET is in seventh grade. We had a copy of Ring Magazine, a brotherly hand-me-down. The cover depicted a young, light-brown boxer lacing his white boxing shoes. No heavyweight back then wore white shoes. This one did. The picture showed him with his mouth wide open, yakking. His name: Cassius Clay. Inside, the magazine ran a profile, with great action photos, including Clay demolishing British heavyweight Henry Cooper. Little Dan Valenti was hooked.
We began touting Clay to our 7th-grade friends, the first one to do it. Ask Jerry Packard, now Dr. Packard in the Linguistics Department at the University of Illinois. We loved Clay’s ability, style, and mouth. We loved “I am the greatest of all times.” We loved “Float like a butterly, sting like a bee. No one’s prettier than me, me, me.” On Feb. 25, 1964, we listened on radio as Clay, 23, defeated mean Sonny Liston, 31, to win the heavyweight title. Clay had shocked the world.
We followed Clay as he morphed into Muhammed Ali. Oddly enough, when he came back from a 3-year suspension for refusing military induction to fight Philly’s Joe Frazier on March 8, 1971, we were with Frazier, our new boxing love. We loved Frazier’s bulldog style — blunt, relentless, direct, boring in for more. No one took a punch or punched harder than Smokin’ Joe. We talked up this fight with our friends, especially chum Brian Sullivan, who would later go into sports journalism. When Frazier won The Fight of the Century (still the greatest fight we’ve ever seen), we were delighted. It’s hard to say why.
A Boxing Lesson, A Life Lesson
And it came to pass in 1977 and 78 at LeMoyne College. As a fight fan, it’s ironic that, when we accepted a post in the English Department, we had no idea the athletic director at the school was none other than the great Carmen Basilio, pound-for-pound in the conversation of Greatest Of All Time. As it turned out, when the school assigned us a gym locker, Basilio lockered in the next stall. Pure delight.
We worked out three times a week and every day ran into Basilio. Small talk led to conversation, conversation to mutual interest. We told Carmen of our interest in boxing. That led to private lessons and an invitation to Basilio’s gym on Syracuse’s west side. We watched Basilio’s stable work out, a group that included former welterweight champ Billy Backus, Basilio’s nephew, then on the comeback trail. We even got to spar a round with Backus and felt, first hand, a “heavy” punch, like getting hit in the rib cage with a cinder block.
One day, Basilio began talking about Ali.
“I could see he was a special talent, back in the Olympics (1960). He had a style that was so hard to solve. That’s what happened to Liston. Couldn’t figure out the movement, the low hands, the footwork, side-to-side, throwing the left lead, jabbing from all angles.” Basilio then talked about character, saying he had the greatest respect for Ali’s decisions about religion, service, and life. Out of the spotlight, in private, Ali was “a good man,” soft-spoken, kind, and compassionate, totally unlike the public figure. Today, we can so relate to that.
“It takes courage to get in the ring. Sometimes it takes even more courage for what you do outside of it.”
We never doubted it for a second.
Godspeed, Cassius Clay. R.I.P., Muhammed Ali.
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“When life gets tough, put on your boxing gloves.” — Sir Tiberius Fruitjuice
“OPEN THE WINDOW, AUNT MILLIE.”
LOVE TO ALL.
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Amuso gave you this budget 6 years ago giving Eberwien whatever he wanted.If she wants to cut this budget she must cot the school department budget she Okd 2 teacher contracts ago…Amuso also gave you all theSuperintendant titles Eberwien invented.Start there councilor Amuso you can undo the damaged you caused
Mayor Yon….would you please at least address why business dept needs a superintendent title a assistant with a 20 k raise….why does Mayor Behnke get to have a 30k raise……Tyer is intimidated and this wont change but she could resign .I thought she was up to this job and am very surprised and so so disappointed in her….Linda was the goal only to have the new pay structure…..120 k hope your proud of yourself….you made out
I dont think I will ever vote in a Pittsfield election again because of Mayor Tyer.As a senior citizen I will pay my taxes until I lose my home…..begging that someone comes forward to help…..would councilors please state there family income before the vote
Here’s a fellow needs his own blog.
They don’t care if senior citizens cant keep up with taxes going up all the time. They will go to the senior center come election and then after they get elected never pay attention to them again.
I go to the senior center every day. I remember Tyer speaking there several times and she promised the world to everyone. I met Mr. Gaetani when he spoke there and was very impressed. He laid out plans he planned to impliment if elected and i agree with everything he said. He talked about a much smaller school dept. No additional police but foot patrols throughout the city. A 7% reduction of the city budget every year for 4 consecutive years -no excuses and a much more democratic government– for the tax payer, where by they would be the bosses of the city and not just a handfull oF gobsigs as he called the establishment. I thought he would be elected in a landslide and was shocked how poorly he did in the election. The two mayoral debated were a sham. The debates should have been left up to the candidates to challenge each other in front of the public. All I can say is that Tyer was very lucky not to have to go one on one with Gaetani- as he would have made chopped liver of her. Does anyone know if he plans to run again? When i watch my SSC buying less and less every year because of high property taxes, I think of this man. If he were Mayor –today– we would have seen real change in this city for we the taxpayers. The next thing we have to do is find a way to get rid of Tyer. GIVE HER A COUPLE MORE YEARS AND WE WILL IMPLODE. MAYBE THIS IS WHAT IS NECCESSARY. Me- I am glad I am going because if I were coming- there would be nothing here for me and most others. This city is the play ground for the rich and most of us will never get to join these Goons. Actually that is a good thing. These political criminals have no shame and when you have no shame you will do whatever you want even if it hurts the person right at your side. A very very very sad state of affairs in this city.
I like it, a MMA cage match to the death for the corner office.
while I firmly believe your taxes could be lower. your actual tax bill includes more services and is less in absolute terms than any other community in Central Berkshire. I have looked in Richmond, Lenox, Lee, Lanseborough, Dalton, and Hinsdale. The rates are lower, but the assessments are higher (even beyond the asking rice in many cases) leading to higher tax bills on properties similar to the one I have in Pittsfield (2000 sf home on a half acre lot with a two car detached garage in southeast Pittsfield). For the most part the only place you could move and live cheaper if you are a retiree is South Carolina. No property taxes up to a certain amount and a huge income tax exemption on retirement earnings. but if you have health issues – good luck.
So while I want my tax bill lower because I am uncertain the money is being spent wisely or sometimes on things that are necessary – I know I could not live in any of those towns cheaper than living here. that in a nutshell is why I work to change and better THIS community. And what some of us question, others support. So even if I were elected – I would only win 15-20% of the battles I would engage in. Not every person who supports what I oppose is evil. Some are my friends and others are my family.
I also remember that unless I run, it is hard to seriously believe that those who are in office see any reason to change their ways, since they keep getting reelected. The school committee especially is full of incumbents. If just 6 or 8 posters to this blog ran for the SC, I daresay the tenor of the meetings would change quite a bit, as would the nature of the questioning.
It doesn’t make a difference what other Berkshire towns pay. we all know that Pittsfield wastes tons of tax dollars. I want Pittsfiels fixed. I don’t give a shit about any other town.
Great column today, Planet! Nice to take a break from the day to day and reminisce.
Never met Ali. Never met anyone who met Ali, and yet he had a profound impact on my thinking in my formative years. First, I still carry a conscientious objector’s card which I got after hearing Ali declare why he would not go to war and kill others with whom he had no beef. Second, his conversion to Islam, name change and subsequent conscientious objection brought all these issues plus the issue of race RIGHT into peoples’ homes. It was on WGY news at the breakfast table and everyone had an opinion….on all of it, including the stripping of his titles. While it was definitely messy, it was a seminal moment in “race relations” with most of my parents’ generation exposed, and most of my generation siding with Ali…at least among my friends. The rhetoric, on both sides, was pretty harsh…especially from Ali himself, but it was the first time I, and likely much of my generation, seriously broke with my parents…with Kevin McGraw even claiming he’d ” shoot off a toe” to not have to go to war and kill people.” While parents claimed he was a coward, we all knew it took a lot more courage to publicly object than to knuckle under for something that was against your principles.
Off topic but people seem to forget Ali’s remarks about Joe Frazier being an “Uncle Tom” and his being so ugly his face belongs in a wildlife museum.
Further off topic – did anyone see the caption under the Eagle’s front page picture of Wahconah graduates listening intently to the commencement speech. Three of the girls had their eyes closed and the fourth was playing with her tassel. Does anyone remember who spoke or what was said at any of their graduations?
Trash talk maybe. But their relationship also included Joe Frazier assisting Ali in getting his boxing license back. Relationships, like onions, are many layered. Trash talk is used to throw opponents off their game – and in a good world, are not how someone really thinks about the opponent.
In fact, I read that Cacius Clay was the name of a noted abolitionist. Maybe a one time slave owner as Ali asserted, but certainly not how he ended his life. But the name and religion change was one way Ali highlighted his desire to change the model that existed in America at the time he was being asked to serve and how that request was viewed from a black man’s perspective. I can’t say that I would have seen it differently if I were in his shoes.
Look at the Tuskegee Airmen. Their service and bravery despite being given the crappiest equipment and hardest jobs. They did more and still had to justify their rightful place at the table of heroes.
Race and slavery were (and are) complicated issues. While slavery and human bondage are wrong, the societies that existed at the time of the American colonies accepted it and so did the African tribesmen who sold their fellow man into bondage. The continuation of the institution based on the economics of southern life at the time just hardened people’s opinions and they dehumanized the slaves in order to justify their own immoral actions. Most southerners never owned a slave, but dehumanizing the black man put them one step up the ladder. The divisiveness of todays politics is similar in nature. Divide and conquer diverts our attention from the real issues of the day.
We may never completely erase the issues which divide us, but hopefully we will always work towards that ideal.
I have news for you pal….Pittsfield in large part grew in part due to slave raised cotton. Don’t try to hang it all on the south. All 13 colonies had slavery.
that’s part of the complexity of slavery. Think of the Chinese today. Effectively slaves so we get cheap socks and underwear.
the shackles and whips are gone, replaced with some other form of enslavement.
England and most of Europe benefitted as well. The complicity of us all is astounding.
I’m pretty sure cotton needs a longer summer season, kind of like tobacco and citrus.
Thomas Noticed that also…. last time an audience was that pre-occupied was the night the Amazing Kreskin was on the Tonight Show.
Enjoyed this piece, DV. Ali was the greatest.
Ali was one of the last who used his fame to try and achieve good. He stood up for what he believed in and pursued causes that advanced his beliefs. I doubt I 100% agree with every belief he espoused, but I do believe that he went through life as a force of change and light.
When you see an athlete getting shot in a club late one night, out with his posse, playing the part of thug – you yearn to see true role models return to sports. Folks who inspire kids to lift up and reach out to do better than they are on a trajectory to do.
We are all flawed, as were these role models. But they had the good sense to keep their failings from becoming the story and recognized what they were to others.
That era of athlete may never return.
Conscientious objectors can still serve. I knew a few and 3 of them were medics and one worked in Rec services. If we as individuals decide which conflict we choose to serve in then we become weaker as a country.
The all volunteer force has weakened us the most. It allows us to defer service to those who want to serve. In fact, mandatory service – military or otherwise, binds us to the country and gives us all a common interest to change and improve.
The draft was imperfect because of deferments. The poor and minority men served at a disproportionately higher rate. And with less education, died that way too.
If Vietnam was such a smart idea that truly advanced our interests, why did we not fight to win (that was the folks on top, not those sent to actually fight). Vietnam was the war that highlighted the inequities of our society. If everyone had to go, no exceptions, we would have been out years sooner. the result would have been the same.
You’re all wet. There are no statistics to support you.
Were they allowed to eat in a restaurant.
Southwest, thank you! Very insightful post. In high school I knew who was going to serve and who would legally avoid the draft. The draft was the only lottery I ever won.
Interestingly, two people who legally avoided the draft and profited greatly from the war were Dick Cheney and Jack Welch.
Thomas More you are correct and there is a long list of others to go along with the profiteering, many of them in Hollywood. They were cowards during the war and then became Hollywood heroes.
I like how sports can take someone from poverty or a working class family and make them multimillionaires who stand for social justice. When I watched game 2 of the NBA Finals last night, the announcers said LeBron James is worth over 1/2-billion dollars. LeBron James helps a lot of people, too. There are good people who are wealthy and famous.
Nobody said there wasn’t. Warren Buffett is an example of someone trying to make the world a better place. There are many others as well.
Trump benefited also.
How would it look if a zillionaire famous athlete didn’t give back. Not saying the athletes aren’t sincere but don’t make them out to be Mother Theresa, it’s something they do for the Community they play in, and promote good will. Again, not saying they’re not sincere but laying your life on the line for Country and donating sneakers, is worlds apart.
Plus their tax accountants tell them they need tax write offs. Who do they think they ate fooling? Just like the Hollywood phonies who adopt children from other countries when we have plenty of children in the US that need homes.
http://elitedaily.com/sports/the-professional-athletes-who-have-the-most-children-with-different-women/
I am sure these guys are all billionaires from the tax write offs.
Once agine, nobody said they were Shakes, however they do benefit quite a bit from tax write offs. That is just reality.
Not as much as the super wealthy that only needs pay a base rate of 15% capital gains.
Ignore shakes he is wrong about the wealthy
Campaign like a butterfly tax like a bee
Surprised The Mayor didn’t enlist.
The mayor is female and had no such obligation.
She came of age after the draft anyway. She could have enlisted. but in fact – we leave the volunteer force to a small group who pretty much drink the same kool aid.
A military with people who question the mission are not bad, in fact they keep the civilian (political) leaders on their toes to keep focused as to whether or not the use of military force is appropriate or needed.
Before the draft ended, this country debated most entanglements. while some were misadventures, many led to much of what made this nation great. We have yet to debate what end the forces we deploy in the middle east and elsewhere in the world will bring. it is almost like the military is now a job program for contractors, and soldiers are the currency we pay with.
Major , Dan spends most days blogging pittsfields fall and failures hoping to fuel some comments….the trick in this town is to hope people.dont respond like yourself or forget……I will repond and wont forget …I know how they work and they dont give two sh___ about anybody just reading the blog
School Committee, some debates are larger than Pittsfield. Reflecting on the life of a man who used his fame to try and elevate the discourse about the inequities around him can sometime keep us focused that indeed, there is a larger picture.
Dan finds a lot of what is wrong with Pittsfield, but I surmise that he blogs because he sees that there is enough good in this community that by creating an informed citizenry, there is something worth saving here. After all, most of us can’t just move. its better to fix the imperfect town we have rather than abandon it and try starting over, isn’t it?
As for some folks like the Wiz and others who see conspiracy at every turn, I feel sorry for them. it must be tiring to believe you are always under siege. but most of them probably created their own hell log before any of the issues on this blog surfaced.
What a pompous ass