Muhammad Ali: He Really *Was* The Greatest

It's really hard to describe how prevalent Muhammad Ali was in the prevailing culture of my youth: he was a well-known boxer, star of his own Saturday morning cartoon, and a person bordering on omnipresent.

What I didn't learn until much later was that he was remarkable in another way.

During the Vietnam War, Muhammad Ali - having changed his name from "Cassius Clay" after converting to Islam - publicly declared that he would not serve in Vietnam.

My memory is hazy on the details (learning about this incident from a documentary), but Ali took a highly controversial - and very defiant - stance by refusing to serve.

So although many others will (rightfully) mourn his loss because of his boxing and athletic prowess....I'll miss a man who demonstrated great courage during a turbulent time.

Jay Smooth Talks About the Olympics Better Than I Can

One of my favorite video bloggers, Jay Smooth, talks about the Olympics, and says many things that I can agree with (although, admittedly, I'm not a big sports fan, so I don't care about the Olympics, but insert any pop culture obsession, and it comes close):

"Sweetness" & Light In Chicago

I've said it to others and I'll say it here - when Walter Payton passed away ten years ago, I pretty much gave up enjoying pro football.

For me (and presumably, many men my age) Payton was a role model - in fact, so much so that when Mom called me "Sweetness" over the phone a coworker asked her if she knew Walter Payton. (She didn't, but her then-boss knew several Chicago Bulls). But when Payton ran....it was something to see. Everyone (including myself) had a t-shirt or jersey with the number 34, claiming it as a badge or honor or rite of passage.

It's in that spirit that every once in awhile, I grab a copy of Never Die Easy (Payton's autobiography) and read it. It doesn't read like a typical sports biography...in fact, it seems more like a casual conversation. In an age where athletes often depend on ego and overpowering charisma to see them through, it's Payton's quiet strength that comes through the prose. It's not always an easy read, but it's one of the better sports biographies.

Reading it makes me nostalgic for being a Bears fan in the late 70s/early 80s. It's hard to believe that Payton is gone, and this book is a powerful reminder that we'll never see his like again.

Definitely a must-read.

The Sweet Smell That They Adore, I Think I'd Rather Smother

What I am about to write will...well, make me a marked man in Chicago.

I simply do not get this city's obsession with sports, particularly baseball.

It's not simply hometown pride in one's team - after all, I lived in St. Louis, and one of the key signs of summer is a sea of red-shirted suburbanites riding the Metrolink downtown.

But maybe (as I have suggested to others) it's better to have one truly OK baseball team than two astoundingly mediocre teams.

Yes, I know both teams are in the playoffs (and the Cubs - let's face it - choked last night), but this whole south side/north side rivalry? Overplayed. (Of course, it does have its roots in classism - the more "professional" north siders being pit against the "blue collar" south siders). The eternal optimism...well, in high school, I had that kind of optimism. The kind that said that a very "special girl" would see me not as a nice guy, but as the love of her life.

Then I turned 18, and actually *gasp* started dating, and realized...I wasn't rejected becase of their expectations, but my own. When I realized the reality of the situation, I was able to see things more clearly, and had more realistic goals in terms of relationships. The Cubs and Sox are that high school sweetheart, that classic "lost love", which is great for memories and nostalgia...but in the harsh cold light of reality, never measures up.

(Me, bitter and cynical? Nah).

It's rare when a Chicago team actually makes it - the Bears back in 1987, or the Bulls classic 90's run with Michael Jordan...but you would think that after those two key events, people might just give up over baseball. Accept that Chicago doesn't quite have it together in that regard. That for one year, instead of worrying about which team is going to make it - just sit back, relax, and enjoy the game.

It's ok for the City of Big Shoulders to shrug once in awhile.