2011-11-09

Paterno's Fall And Frazier's Death

Another remarkable sports week.

It blows my mind how a person can spend a lifetime becoming an iconic college football coach - creating one of the most successful brands in the sport with Penn St. in the process - can lose it all in an instant because of one disgusting, dispicable, evil man. And so it is with legendary coach Joe Paterno and Jerry Sandusky.

Should he have known? Is he ultimately responsible?

Anyway you dice it, it fits the old adage "it take a lifetime to build credibility but a moment to lose it."

***

Joe Frazier died. I agree he helped deepen the Ali legacy with their three iconic battles. The Ali-Foreman-Frazier pugilist triangle represents one of the great eras in heavyweight boxing history. Frazier and Ali each won unanimous decisions (Frazier pummelled Ali like no other boxer did up to that point) against one another culminating into the final epicl "Thrilla in Manilla" in which the bout was stopped due to the sheer ferocity of the combatants. Ali got the nod.

Leading up to the fight, Ali crossed, what many thought to believed, a line when he called Frazier 'Uncle Tom.' A perjorative Frazier never forgave until 2009.

Frazier was only 67 succumbing to liver cancer.

***

There'a a course in university dedicated to David Beckham. Out of all the soccer players to choose from!

Does that mean we should expect a Pele, Diego Maradona, Wayne Gretzky, Babe Ruth, Muhammad Ali and Michael Jordan equivalent?

Yikes.

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