G'BYE to the GFOS...
...and thank you.
---------------------------------------
Watching 1996's "When We Were Kings" this evening (Boxing Day Eve for Canadians, Aussies, and Brits) we recalled hearing one of our favorite cousins tell a story about his Sports Car Club of America racing days a few years back.
M described screaming into a turn, running side by side with a competitor, trying to somehow gain an edge. In auto racing it's often the turns that decide winning and losing, since straightaways rely on horsepower, of which most cars posses roughly equal amounts. A better driver will make up ground and even pass lessers while navigating the dangerous yet inviting hairpin corners found on any oval racetrack. M told us that he vowed "not to brake first' because whoever hit their brakes first would be passed by the other, thus losing ground and precious quarter seconds.
We didn't ask M, but couldn't help but obsess about the thought that, "What if the other guy doesn't want to brake first, either? What if both drivers are willing to wait out the other?"
What then?
---------------------------------------------
An Apartment404 reminiscence over M's story, combined with the passing of legendary soul singer James Brown, led us to take another look at our "When We Were Kings" DVD, Leon Gast's spectacular 22 years in the making documentary of the famed "Rumble in the Jungle" bout between George Foreman and Muhammad Ali in Mobuto's Zaire, 1974.
"Down goes Frazier! Down goes Frazier" Foreman had intimidated the entire boxing world with his demolition of champ Joe Frazier prior to the matchup with Ali.
Ali was now 32, his prime years taken by the Vietnam War and his opposition of. He's noticeably slower of speech, though he would continue fighting for another seven long years.
The fight was, to put it mildly, a big deal. Seemingly every American cultural figure of significance had something to say about the meeting, scheduled to take place deep within the African continent in, originally, September. Gast's film features writers George Plimpton and Norman Mailer recalling their impressions of events leading up to the night of the fight, and of the bout itself.
James Brown is shown at Don King's side during a press conference, looking highly uncomfortable. Other cultural figures are shown attempting to bask in the fighters reflected glory.
Watching clips of the bout itself is both awe-inspiring and heartbreaking, given what we know about the great Ali and his future physical woes. The man, really both men, simply would not "brake first." Ali, as do all professional athletes involved in violent sports, knew that he might possibly die that night in striving to prove himself the better man.
And Ali left large pieces of himself in the soccer stadium in Kinshasa that night.
The "rope-a-dope" a strategy? A well planned way to beat the unbeatable slugger? Please. Ali was willing to die for a piece of the title, and did something he may not have even considered prior to the fight. Taking punches on the ropes for five rounds was a spur of the moment gamble by a man willing to do whatever it took to win.
Following the knockout, a massive early morning rain swept through the capital, as if to wipe away the fighters blood and sweat spilled that evening. But thanks to director Gast, there remains something permanent and telling of what might be the most significant boxing event of all.
---------------------------------------------
This may be piling on, but here's the "Pent's take on the two fighters involved.
Both great. Both historical champions:
Foreman <---- IQ ----- Ali
Foreman --- Heart ----> Ali
Foreman <--- '06 Net Worth --- Ali
Foreman --- Legend/Legacy ---> Ali
Foreman has a "grill."
Ali is the "GOAT."
---------------------------------------
Watching 1996's "When We Were Kings" this evening (Boxing Day Eve for Canadians, Aussies, and Brits) we recalled hearing one of our favorite cousins tell a story about his Sports Car Club of America racing days a few years back.
M described screaming into a turn, running side by side with a competitor, trying to somehow gain an edge. In auto racing it's often the turns that decide winning and losing, since straightaways rely on horsepower, of which most cars posses roughly equal amounts. A better driver will make up ground and even pass lessers while navigating the dangerous yet inviting hairpin corners found on any oval racetrack. M told us that he vowed "not to brake first' because whoever hit their brakes first would be passed by the other, thus losing ground and precious quarter seconds.
We didn't ask M, but couldn't help but obsess about the thought that, "What if the other guy doesn't want to brake first, either? What if both drivers are willing to wait out the other?"
What then?
---------------------------------------------
An Apartment404 reminiscence over M's story, combined with the passing of legendary soul singer James Brown, led us to take another look at our "When We Were Kings" DVD, Leon Gast's spectacular 22 years in the making documentary of the famed "Rumble in the Jungle" bout between George Foreman and Muhammad Ali in Mobuto's Zaire, 1974.
"Down goes Frazier! Down goes Frazier" Foreman had intimidated the entire boxing world with his demolition of champ Joe Frazier prior to the matchup with Ali.
Ali was now 32, his prime years taken by the Vietnam War and his opposition of. He's noticeably slower of speech, though he would continue fighting for another seven long years.
The fight was, to put it mildly, a big deal. Seemingly every American cultural figure of significance had something to say about the meeting, scheduled to take place deep within the African continent in, originally, September. Gast's film features writers George Plimpton and Norman Mailer recalling their impressions of events leading up to the night of the fight, and of the bout itself.
James Brown is shown at Don King's side during a press conference, looking highly uncomfortable. Other cultural figures are shown attempting to bask in the fighters reflected glory.
Watching clips of the bout itself is both awe-inspiring and heartbreaking, given what we know about the great Ali and his future physical woes. The man, really both men, simply would not "brake first." Ali, as do all professional athletes involved in violent sports, knew that he might possibly die that night in striving to prove himself the better man.
And Ali left large pieces of himself in the soccer stadium in Kinshasa that night.
The "rope-a-dope" a strategy? A well planned way to beat the unbeatable slugger? Please. Ali was willing to die for a piece of the title, and did something he may not have even considered prior to the fight. Taking punches on the ropes for five rounds was a spur of the moment gamble by a man willing to do whatever it took to win.
Following the knockout, a massive early morning rain swept through the capital, as if to wipe away the fighters blood and sweat spilled that evening. But thanks to director Gast, there remains something permanent and telling of what might be the most significant boxing event of all.
---------------------------------------------
This may be piling on, but here's the "Pent's take on the two fighters involved.
Both great. Both historical champions:
Foreman <---- IQ ----- Ali
Foreman --- Heart ----> Ali
Foreman <--- '06 Net Worth --- Ali
Foreman --- Legend/Legacy ---> Ali
Foreman has a "grill."
Ali is the "GOAT."
posted by joe sweeney at 9:25 PM
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