I thought about this after I got your text this morning. I still don't like him but seeing him on TV made me realize he would have never made it in the army or any other service. If he had somehow managed to he would have been shit a month into Nam and probably by one of his own men. He made the right choice.
If he would have allowed himself to be drafted, he would have spent two years putting on clinics/exhibitions. There was no way he was going to Nam.
Yeah most celebs never get into the shit when in the service. And im not trying to disrespect his legacy on the day of his death. Im just trying to wrap my head around everyone bowing to him like there was never another side. He was a much more controversial figure that is never even intimated which is odd to me.
While there was another side to Ali the good side far outweighed the bad. There has been a pretty much non-stop talk about him on sports radio and TV and some of the interviewees have alluded to the negative side none that I have heard have gone into any details.
I know Leon didn't come across as intelligent, but it wouldn't have been hard to beat Ali's IQ score of 78. He was originally rejected by the Army because his score was so low. At a later date they lowered their criteria and declared that he was eligible, and the rest is history. Ali basically won his appeal to the Supreme Court as a conscientious objector not on the merit of his case, but because a lower appellate court screwed up in their procedure, thus leaving the Supreme Court no choice, but to rule in his favor.
Kirk Douglas is still alive at 99. Turns the century mark in December. Amazing that he has survived 20 years since having a severe stroke at the age of 79. That is an extreme rarity.
Let me enlighten you on just a few of the negative details. Ali joined the Nation of Islam which was referred to as "The Black Muslims". Their theology, if you can call it that, was basically that the white race was evil. Ali was the mouthpiece used by this group as he proceeded to spew their racist views to the public. His trash talking was not just to build up boxing matches, but he insulted his black opponents by calling them Uncle Toms and the like. Most are aware that he called Joe Frazier a gorilla as an insult because he was darker skinned for example. He repeatedly stood over fallen opponents in self aggrandizement and taunted them. After each fight he gave glory to the "honorable Elijah Muhammad" the leader of his "religion". Ali was not a civil rights leader but a racist separatist, an adulterer, and a world class asshole. Later, he converted to Sunni Islam, a very common Muslim religion so presumably some of his views changed. .
they said that what is arguably the greatest fight of all time (the thrilla in manila) was the start of the punishment he took that caused his Parkinsons Dr. Pachecko advised Ali to quit the sport a couple of years later (in 1977) and for that he was banned from his entourage. Unfortunately all his entourage saw were dollar signs. Sad.
