Muhammed Ali

Muhammed Ali was larger than life.  I can think of no other athlete, no other celebrity, no other entertainer in my lifetime whose stature transcended sports, fame, or pop culture with the precise impact of Ali's rope-a-dope style and sheer, self-assured accomplishment.  Only Elvis could compare--but even the King couldn't quite match the Champ. Ali was just a boxer like Steinbeck was just a writer, like The Beatles were just a rock group, like Martin Luther King, Jr. was just a reverend.  Muhammed Ali was still flesh and blood, flawed like each of us, but also so much more; his bluster and bravado were given weight by the strength of his convictions, the solidity of his soul, the bedrock of his character, and--above all else--his courage and activism on behalf of a broader understanding of the cause he and his friend Superman always fought for:  truth, justice, and the American way.  Ali's notoriety, his fame, was substantive in ways a Kardashian will never comprehend, and which our current celebrity obsessions will never, ever equal.  Muhammed Ali was simply what he said he was:  Muhammed Ali was The Greatest.  He still is.