Muhammad Ali: The Greatest of All Time

 kakisky via morguefile.com

Over this past weekend, we lost another legend. This time, this was a larger than life legend. I have written too much about death since this website started a little over a year ago, but this person deserves the spot light for all the important things he did in his 74 years. Yes, Daryl Dawkins, Moses Malone and Phife were all very important to me, and many others, but they are not nearly as important, influential and world renowned as the great Muhammad Ali.

I'm not going to sit here and mark off all the important fights he won, we all know about that. Hell, even people that don't really watch or know too terribly much about boxing know that Ali was a great champion. His fights were epic, and that is one of the reasons he is a hero of mine, but he was so much more than just his boxing career. Ali was a trailblazer. He was the antithesis of a yes man. He was the worlds best showman. He was the first person I ever heard of when people talked about athletes making their name their brand. He was a fighter, and that means so much more than just a boxer. He was groundbreaking. He was everything that everyone should strive to be. Sure, he ruffled some feathers, but not everyone will be universally liked, but damned if he wasn't universally respected.

Ali stood for so much more than just boxing. He changed religions right after he had just burst onto the scene as a prize fighter. Back then, that was a no no. People did not like change in the 60's, especially coming from a brash, African American boxer. But, Ali owned it and then some. He didn't care what anyone thought of him. He was who he was, and that's all that mattered. He was boisterous back in the 60's. No one had seen anyone that acted like that back then. Some athletes may have had bravado, but they kept it to themselves. Not Ali, he let it fly openly and often. If he were to come around today, he would be a "viral sensation", but he didn't need any stupid gimmicks like that. He was great no matter what. Also, to convert to Islam, that took balls. But, he didn't just do it to do it, he committed 100 percent. He preached and believed everything he read and said. I LOVE that about Ali. People now only look at Islam as a bad thing, but Islam is all about love and respect, not hate. That is what guys like Ali preached.

Now, back to his boisterous behavior. He didn't care the situation or the circumstance, he was going to say what was on his mind. No matter who took offense to it, Ali didn't care. Again, I LOVE that about him. He would talk a huge game, but he always backed it up. He also never backed away or down from the comments or speeches he made. He fully, 100 percent believed everything he said, and he was right about 99 percent of the time. There was no one better at spreading the word of Islam, prepping for a big fight, trash talking before a big fight or giving a very un-politically correct response whenever he would be questioned on political topics. Ali was a genius. Ali was well read and well spoken. Ali knew what he was going to say before he said it. He didn't speak out of turn or say ignorant things, everything was done with a purpose. That is what made him so great.

When Muhammad Ali's career ended, he didn't fade into oblivion, or make grills or tried to fight well after his prime, he became a spokesman for many, many things. He was the one that people came to to preach the word of Islam when the attacks of September 11th happened. He gave a heartfelt and moving speech on what Islam really means on ESPN at the height of his Parkinson's. He was violently shaking and could barely open his eyes, but the words he spoke were moving and poignant. Go back and watch that interview and I guarantee that you will respect him even more than you did before. He also lit the torch at the Olympics, also while his Parkinson's was very bad. He took that torch, ran the best that he could, and lit it to signify the start of the games. It was incredibly moving. I still get chills thinking about it today. That was such a huge moment in sports history that kind of gets overlooked now. Ali is the biggest and best athlete of all time, but no one talks about this huge moment at the Olympics. Well, it needs to be brought up more.

Life after boxing also included many run ins with many other famous athletes and people of note and they all came away saying pretty much the same thing. When they met Ali, they knew they were in the room with greatness. People like Kareem Abdul Jabaar, Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Prince, any of the Presidents, kings and queens from all countries, they all knew that they were sitting and talking with the greatest. They were all star struck. Ali was never star struck because he was the biggest star of them all. He was a pioneer. He brought boxing, Islam, selling your brand, being proud of who you are and where you came from to the masses. Without Ali, we may have not gotten these type of things, or even worse, it would have been some asshole that we attribute this all too. We are very lucky that we all got to witness his greatness.

I never got to see an Ali fight in real time, but I got to see him be a political hero and just an overall hero. I will greatly miss you Muhammed Ali. You are the best athlete that has ever graced the Earth. You are the best show man as well. And you were a great person. I hope that wherever you are right now, you are floating like a butterfly and stinging like a bee. RIP Champ.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Follow him on twitter @tykulik.

It is Such a Shame that "Southpaw" Wastes so Much Talent

Southpaw is not worth bothering the microwave

I'm predisposed to like movies about boxing. One of my all time favorite movies is "Raging Bull". That's the watermark for me and almost every other movie critic there is and ever will be. I also enjoy movies like "Ali", "The Great White Hope", "Million Dollar Baby", "Fighting" and even "Girlfight", that's a very good, very underrated boxing movie and, probably, Michelle Rodriguez's best acting performance to date and yes, I'm including her small, but recurring role as Anna Lucia Cortez on "Lost".

So, naturally, I was excited to see the movie "Southpaw" when it came out last year. I even mentioned it on one of our very early, possibly first, podcasts. I was expecting big things from this movie. It had Jake Gyllenhall, whom I really like, Rachael McAdams, who is an excellent actress and it was directed by Antoine Fuqua who directed "Training Day", another one of my all time favorites. It was also written by the guy that wrote "Sons of Anarchy". I never watched that show, but I heard only tremendous things about it.

I was on board. I didn't get to see it in the theaters, but I just recently watched it via my Netflix account and it may be the most melodramatic piece of overacting I've seen in quite some time. I was so underwhelmed and kind of mad that this movie I had such high hopes for, felt like a 2 hour waste of time. It starts out cool, with a bruised and battered Gyllenhall screaming into the camera and it pulls back to show him in the middle of a title bout, but, it was really downhill from there. It was almost like watching a soap opera. The story was a good idea. Prize fighter with a temper gets into a fight with his next opponent at a benefit and someone accidentally shoots his wife and kills her. Gyllenhall is now alone with their daughter and he's lost and drunk and high all the time. He loses custody , cleans his life up and gets his kid back.

Simple story, but the boxing is what had me intrigued. It was the direction and over acting and chewing of the scenery that lost me. Gylenhall is a wonderful actor, but there is only so many times I can watch him scream in agony over his deceased wife. Same goes for him getting drunk and stoned or threatening to hurt or kill other people. Rachel McAdams is only in the first 20 minutes of the movie, but her New York accent is dreadful and the way she interacts with Gyllenhall, there's absolutely no chemistry. Even her death scene was a bit too over the top. The little girl that played their daughter was the most generic "hard on her luck" kid they could find. Her direction and attitude was way to "woe is me" for a movie. Curtis Jackson, you may know him as 50 Cent, was a terrible villain. He tries to win you over at the beginning by seeming like he really cares about his fighter, but I think we all knew he was only in it for the money from the get go. It was way too obvious. The bad guy needs to have depth and almost a likability before we turn on them. Not in the case of 50 Cent's character. I knew almost immediately that he was a money grubbing bad guy. The only really decent acting in this movie came from Forrest Whittaker. He played Gyllenhall's new mentor, after his life fell apart, and even though he was paint by the colors character, Whittaker did a pretty good job. That's to be expected from an actor of his caliber though. I did enjoy most, definitely not all, but most of the scenes that he was involved with.

This brings me back to Gyllenhall. Not once did I believe his character. Sure, he got into great shape for this role, but aside from that, he was not very good. He was too moody in some scenes. Too angry and over the top in others. He didn't play the part of antihero very well at all. He's much more suited for a movie like "Nightcrawler" because he can really dig deep into that character. In "Southpaw", he was chewing all of the scenery. If McAdams accent was bad, Gyllenhall's was atrocious and I like Jake Gyllenhall, just not in this movie or this role.

That brings me to the director, Antoine Fuqua. He came out of the gate with guns blazing, directing the totally kick ass "Training Day". Then he tried to do a very similar project with "The Equalizer". That movie isn't very good. And "Olympus Has Fallen" was a train wreck. And now we have "Southpaw". I think he belongs in the same class as M Night Shyamalan and Neill Blomkamp. These guys started with a bang and now, they are going out with a whimper. It sucks too because I really like both Blomkamp and Fuqua, I could care less about Shyamalan.

I was very disappointed with "Southpaw". If they focused more on boxing and less on the melodramatics, I probably would've loved the movie. If you're thinking about watching this movie might I suggest you go watch "Raging Bull" instead. It's ten thousand times better and you already know you will enjoy it. "Southpaw" is not a good movie.

Don't waste your time.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He once thought about becoming a championship boxer, then he heard about all the hitting. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

Ty wonders when we will all get over MMA.

Scenes from the next great MMA match.

I've never understood the love for the "sport" of MMA.

Why do people like this? What is so appealing of watching people kick the shit out of each other? I used to love boxing. I was a big fan. My favorites were the heavy weights. You may read that sentence and say, if you like boxing, you should like MMA. It's the same thing, right? No. Boxing takes skill. There's a science to boxing. You have to wait and watch and prepare for what your opponent is doing. You counter punch and attack based on when your opponent is tired. It's not the same with MMA. These "fighters" go into an octagon and just try to destroy each other. There's no science or skill to this. In MMA your allowed to kick, punch, wrestle, etc. You can basically do everything except kick the person in the crotch. It's glorified back yard brawling. People pay just as much on Pay Per View for an MMA fight as you do for a title boxing match. At least in boxing, most fights go, at the least, 5 rounds. In MMA, your lucky if the main event lasts one minute. That's insane. You get a thirty second fight that you paid ninety dollars for. What a ripoff.

All the love that's being given to these MMA "stars" is dumb. It reminds me a lot of the poker craze that happened about a decade ago. Tell me one "famous" poker star today. The same will be said for MMA. I don't see any of these "fighters" becoming stars. You may say to me, look at Ronda Rousey, she's a star. She didn't become a house hold name until she started acting. Acting made her a star and she just happens to be an MMA fighter. I remember people I knew telling me about a new MMA fighter named Kimbo Slice. He was going to be the next big thing. He was some back yard brawler that was becoming an MMA fighter. I swear to you, within a week of him starting in MMA, I had already forgotten about him. Apparently he wasn't much of a fighter either. I guess he lost his first couple of matches. People told me, he'd be a better fit for boxing. MMA was too tough for him they said. Bull shit. If he tried to box, he'd get destroyed. Boxers would crush him and crush his spirit, way worse than any MMA fighter could do.

I see this "sport" losing steam within the next five to six years. It just doesn't have lasting power. I think people will become bored with it and it will morph into some kind of wrestling clone. Better yet, a wrestling wannabe. MMA will NEVER be on the same level as boxing.

Never.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and co-host of The X Millennial Man Podcast. The only octagon that he is afraid of is the stop sign he just rolled through. Follow him on twitter @tykulik.

The immortality and immorality of event sports

Saturday May 2nd, 2015 was like any other day in sports.  That is it was like any other day in sports prior to the rise of cable television in the early 1980's.  I am old enough to barely remember those days, but I do remember boxing and horse racing being a very big deal.  The idea of event sports, things like horse racing, boxing, the Olympics, kept people around their television when not much else is on.  These were also the days where This Week In Baseball, and ABC's Wide World of Sports were being shown alongside Gabe Kaplan's exploits on Battle of the Network Stars.  Today our event sports seem to be on the decline in favor of the sports who follow a regular season and have timed stories that the increasingly lazy sports media can regurgitate.

Yesterday was different.  Everyone seemed to be interested in the latest super horse at the Kentucky Derby and the latest boxing fight of the century.  There was little talk of a boring and played out NFL draft, an epic NBA playoffs game seven, or the tired Yankees-Red Sox rivalry series.  Most people were talking about if American Pharaoh can win the triple crown and if "good guy" Manny Pacquiao can beat the villian that is Floyd Mayweather.  Buried below these discussions on who would win there was another discussion about how these sports are archaic and have real moral issues.  Horse racing has always been plagued by animal  abuse, drug allegations (surprising for the horses and the jockeys), and people having to watch horses being euthanized on the track (never forget Hillary Clinton's favorite in the 2008 Kentucky Derby http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eight_Belles.   As for the discussions about the latest fight of the century, I am going to post the comments from Ty Kulik when we were discussing the fight yesterday afternoon:

Tonight marks the six years in the making boxing match between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao. Mayweather has ducked this fight for years(he was/is afraid of Pacquiao in my opinion) and now sees this as a fitting time since Manny Pacquiao may be past his prime. I see this fight being very boring, as Mayweather will do his patent defense, defense, defense attack approach that will wear Pacquiao out, as he will be on the attack the whole fight. I predict a unanimous decision to go Mayweather's way, unfortunately. What really bothers me about this, besides the fact that it's almost a decade to late, is Floyd Mayweather's attitude towards this fight. He's a money grubbing, wife and girlfriend beating, crybaby that won't allow press that has written or said anything bad about him to be part of the coverage. He's the epitome of a joke in my book and for a sport that, for all intents and purposes is dead, this fight is only about the gambling. I will be rooting very hard for a Pacquiao win, but I just don't see it in the cards.

Horse racing and boxing events will never be dead.  The interest due to how infrequent the big event happens will always capture the minds, and wallets, of the public.  Their issues will continue to haunt us.  It is up to us that we remember in our enjoyment, we are the ones with the power to create conversation about the issues.  Our conversation will be the catalyst for the positive change we need.

I was never able to find any evidence of these issues with Gabe Kaplan, so I left Battle of the Network Stars out of our discussion on immorality in event sports.

RD Kulik

Head Editor