The rest of your life as a champion
Posted on
June 04, 2016 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
Today we’re a boxing site, and that’s all there is to it.
The world's most-read Scottish politics website
-
About
Wings Over Scotland is a (mainly) Scottish political media digest and monitor, which also offers its own commentary. (More)
-
Recent Posts
- 11-18
- 11-17
- 11-12
- 11-09
- 11-06
- 11-04
- 11-03
- 11-02
- 10-29
- 10-26
- 10-26
- 10-21
- 10-19
- 10-16
- 10-13
- 10-11
- 10-10
- 10-07
- 10-06
- 10-05
A tall tale
Wee Books
Video
Probably a robbery
Transphobia
The Greatest.
RIP Ali
I’ll remember him at his best on the Parkinson show , handsome , witty and impish.
He was the greatest and never afraid to show his politics and beliefs, unlike the genuflecting Team GB North Brits, grovelling for a Royal title amd draping themselves in a Butcher’s Apron.
Unlike the three brave black athletes who dared to give the defiant clenched fist salute on the Olympic podium and were made to suffer for it forever since, he was just too big to silence.
A man and a half
Respect and admiration.
That’s all.
A fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy
Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.
Respect big man!
Very sad. My father got me out of bed at 3 in the morning to watch the first Sonny Liston fight. Stood up for what he believed in and will never be forgotten.
On Vietnam
“”My conscience won’t let me go shoot my brother, or some darker people, or some poor hungry people in the mud for big powerful America. And shoot them for what? They never called me nigger, they never lynched me, they didn’t put no dogs on me, they didn’t rob me of my nationality, rape and kill my mother and father… Shoot them for what? How can I shoot them poor people? Just take me to jail.”
White America feared and hated the young Ali, even some in Black America wished he would shut up.
Today, all of America is in mourning – one man can make a difference.
We shall not see his likes again – The Greatest has gone.
A great athlete, a great person, a sad day
Funnier than your da….
Scarier than your ma….
Truly a man of his time,a man of the people,respected.
Excellent tribute to a world class athlete.
He was so beautiful. And, he was a Muslim…and no one cared.
RIP The Greatest Muhammad Ali.
“He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life”.
Andy Murray loves his boxing and if he knows of this he should channel the spirit of Ali when facing Djokovic tomorrow.
I’ve posted this already on another thread – bit previous – sorry.
“I’ve wrestled with alligators, I’ve tussled with a whale. Ive handcuffed lightning And threw thunder in jail. You know I’m bad. just last week, I murdered a rock, Injured a stone, Hospitalized a brick. I’m so mean, I make medicine sick.”
RIP Ali
Ali – The American sporting & Humanitarian Hero all the world could admire & respect.
R.I.P big man.
A beautiful man. I’ll miss him.
[…] Wings Over Scotland The rest of your life as a champion Today we’re a boxing site, and that’s all there is to […]
What a man.
Took on the American state and told them where to stick their war in Vietnam. His stance was instrumental in changing the mind of America.
He stood up for black rights and his stance was instrumental in changing the mind of America.
Latterly his campaigning to raise the profile of Parkinson’s disease changed the mind of the world.
Brave, brash and unbowed to the end. Respect.
What a man.
Most enduring memory was of him shaking his way up with the Olympic torch…sat there wie a lump in my throat praying for the guy that everything would be okay. And a tear in my eye when it was all over. The only time I think America has ever “got it right”. RIP Sir.
I’ve never been a boxing fan, but I would watch all his fights and admire his skill – and to be, also, so good at public speaking was truly unusual in boxing circles.
Unlikely to see his likes again. RIP.
?
Legend.
R.I.P.
??
“If you even dream of beating me you’d better wake up and apologize.”
A true legend. Human at core and a inspiration to all others.
fantastic.
loved him loved him loved him.
he was everything that was good about that era
he moved mountains.
completely.
R.I.P and thx for the memories .
Unbelievably sad to hear of his death.
The black man America should have had as their president.
An inspiration to all mankind.
RIP Big Man
Ali bomaye.. Ali bomaye
albaman:- A question mark with no words is a thoughtful ‘comment’, but to then follow up with a ‘two question mark’ pronouncement is deeply profound.
I will contemplate about this for a few hours!
Ali won all the internets before there were internets.
Legend.
So many memories of watching that man in action when I was a boy. In or out of the ring, respect.
Rest in peace
Muhammad Ali – He had the ‘courage of his convictions’ and cared for us ‘little people’. If only some more of our politicians had that quality, Scots would have a fairer society now! RIP Big Man!
” No Viet Cong ever called me nigger” Muhammed Ali RIP
Simply The Greatest………
Nothing else needs said.
RIP Mr Ali
No yellow man ever called me nigger. Quote before he started his prison sentence for refusing to enlist for the Vietnam war.
What’s my name, what’s my name?
Pure class.
A great man, a skilled sportsman, he put up great resistance to the Vietnam war. A fantastic human being.
Yet another portal to the 20th Century closes forever.
It’s been a sad year.
Possibly the only time ‘nigger’ is appropriate and totally in context:-
‘No Vietnamese ever called me nigger’.
Like King, Poitier, Belafonte, Baldwin, Jackson, and yes, Malcolm X, this man was instrumental into finally ending modern day slavery in the US.
What a century it will turn out to be.
RIP.
What is there to say. Supreme boxer. Human rights activist,.Brave, uncompromising, an inspiration regardless of colour or religion. This man had so many strings to his humanist bow. I will always remember his struggles against the system which tried to break him ,but could not.
I will remember his brave struggles against illness,which he fought with as much courage as he had in the ring.
Goodbye to an icon. Enjoy the delights of heaven.You have earned them.
Not a boxing fan, but who could resist this gorgeous man.
Really admired his stance on the war, and he absolutely knew it was a con, and called it out, standing against sheep.
RIP Ali
I don’t like boxing much but Ali was graceful, intelligent, and principled. He fought racists in a gun-toting country and an Establishment which would cheerfully have seen him erased. His courage was immense.
He will remain an inspiration for anyone fighting injustice.
“He was a man. Take him for all in all.
I shall not look upon his like again.”
Very sad news. A great man who lived a great life right to the end.
Anyone else spot this in that great video?
“The man who has no imagination has no Wings”
How right he was.
Gutted. Although we had some warning and he was increasingly frail. What he did for the civil rights community and boxing will never be forgotten. And he accepted, with grace, what boxing did to him.
A truly heroic man in and out the ring. To take the stance he did, at that time in the USA shows true courage.
I saw someone, somewhere, who said if we needed to present the most beautiful example of our species to an Alien race, it would be Muhammad Ali, at his peak. I concur.
Has Ruth the tank commander blamed his death on the SNP yet?
I’m not a boxing fan but feel sad about the loss of this really good human being.
Not a boxing fan, but always admired this great gentleman. A man with the courage of his own convictions and principle. Defied all that the US establishment could throw at him, and still stood tall.
So sad to see this colossus of a man deteriorate with Parkinsons.A terrible disease. I lost a friend to this illness four years ago now, so I can understand what he went through in all these years.
You will be greatly missed Mr Ali. R.I.P.
I know for a fact President Obama will say a few words of respect about him, as will most Americans. But will Donald Trump?
Stephen.
First line of poetry ever learned as a nipper – Float like a… Sure I’m not the only one.
A good looking bloke, went off my radar but when When We Were Kings came out.. By God, one of the best films I’ve ever seen, shiveringly beautiful.
What a guy. RIP Ali WHEE…!
Cheers Stu.
A man worthy of respect
Hell, he even managed a good stab at a classic song.
link to youtube.com
And he’d already ‘floored’ Trump.
link to archive.is
A Man amongst men….rip
I was never really into boxing that much growing up, but you still knew Ali was the greatest. I seem to remember his quip about Foreman (?) was it? “If you even dream about beating me, you better wake up and apologise”. It was kinda weird, tremendously disrespectful, but yet there was no hate or venom in it.
A man of extraordinary principle over Vietnam, and human rights, but for me, the moment It registered this fella with a big mouth was something remarkable was continuing to fight Ken Norton for 10 rounds in a world championship bout with a broken jaw and nowhere to run. He did what???
I broke my nose once, and the pain was something else. Took me going just to stand up. To get your jaw broken by a punch, stand up, clench your teeth together and fight a world champion heavyweight contender like Ken Norton who threw a punch that could break your jaw in the first place?… Well, that just isn’t any ordinary person. It wasn’t just a hairline fracture either, the sharp bits of the break poked into Ali’s mouth and made it bleed. It was the real thing and must have been absolute agony.
I believe the expression is true grit.
It’s not bragging if you can back it up.
Muhammad Ali
2016 sucks donkeys.
RIP Ali.
Was it Cooper that said my big mistake was making him angry.
The world cries a giant among men is gone 🙁
Ali had everything, physic, good looks, intelligence, skill and an unbending focus in right over wrong.
He would NOT bend the knee to the racist USA and ploughed his own furrow and eventually won over the racist America that had discriminated against him in particular and black people in general.
His skill as a boxer was a god given talent which he developed by using his intelligence to be a showman and promote the sport that he loved. I am 70 years old now and brought up listening to Ali on the radio at 3 in the morning.
Sad he is gone but maybe a blessing. A giant of a man and we will definately not see his likes again
He seemed like a superhero to me in 1963 when I was 8 years old. Stayed that way ever since.
For me, he is the greatest sportsperson and one the greatest people of all time.
Sad day. 🙁
One of the all time greats and an icon of the 20th century.
RIP Great Man.
A man of principle who stuck to what he believed.
A man who had one fight too many and unfortunately suffered the consequences.
To see ALI with Parkinsons in later life and comparing him to his early boxing years with health and vitality was one of the saddest things that I have ever seen.
A very brave man to hold the olympic torch. Many others would have turned this down.
A legend and a hero to many.
RIP ALI. We will never see you like again.
A beautiful athlete in every respect.
RIP Muhammad Ali. A brilliant and captivating individual. What a truly astonishing and remarkable life.
To avoid any misunderstanding, I tried to post two icons,
1st was a crown,
2nd was a handclapping symbol.
Should have realised that they were a no,no, on here, sorry!.
No Vietnamese ever called me ‘Jock’ or ‘sweaty fucking sock’… 🙂
He wrote his own epitaph when he stated, “I am the greatest!”
Very readable – and unhagiographic – 40th anniversary article about his exhibition match at the Paisley Ice Rink in 1965.
link to archive.is
What a wonderful life!
A truly beautiful human being with such humility, grace and strength of conviction in every battle he fought. A man worth grieving over, so sad his passing, a rare elemental force of nature returned to it’s source…you’ve left us with the sweetest of memories and a template of what true courage is.
RIP Muhammad Ali.
No Vietnamese ever called me Porridge Wog.
As a boy I remember listening to the rumble in the jungle on my wee transistor radio beside my bed in the early hours. Couldn’t believe the last round as he surprised the world and took down Foreman. Yet I wasn’t surprised… if you see what I mean… somehow I knew he would do it and justify my faith in him. Ali won over everybody. Truly the Greatest.
Ali’s anti-draft speech: link to wp.me
“Why I’m so fast when I switch off the light I’m in bed before it goes out.”
Mohamed Ali 🙂
RIP
Fighting for independence.
Round four, ding-ding.
One of the reasons that made Muhammad Ali a legend, we all knew he could fight in the ring, it’s his fight outside it is what made the man he is.
“I ain’t draft dodging. I ain’t burning no flag. I ain’t running to Canada. I’m staying right here. You want to send me to jail? Fine, you go right ahead. I’ve been in jail for 400 years. I could be there for 4 or 5 more, but I ain’t going no 10,000 miles to help murder and kill other poor people. If I want to die, I’ll die right here, right now, fightin’ you, if I want to die. You my enemy, not no Chinese, no Vietcong, no Japanese. You my opposer when I want freedom. You my opposer when I want justice. You my opposer when I want equality. Want me to go somewhere and fight for you? You won’t even stand up for me right here in America, for my rights and my religious beliefs. You won’t even stand up for my rights here at home.”
Muhammad Ali
@ Craig.
Tears.
Watching wee lassies fight now.
And they’re not even oiled.
@ Craig says at 2:11 pm …. ”One of the reasons that made Muhammad Ali a legend, we all knew he could fight in the ring, it’s his fight outside it is what made the man he is.
“I ain’t draft dodging. I ain’t burning no flag. I ain’t running to Canada. I’m staying right here. You want to send me to jail? Fine, you go right ahead. I’ve been in jail for 400 years. I could be there for 4 or 5 more, but I ain’t going no 10,000 miles to help murder and kill other poor people. If I want to die, I’ll die right here, right now, fightin’ you, if I want to die. You my enemy, not no Chinese, no Vietcong, no Japanese. You my opposer when I want freedom. You my opposer when I want justice. You my opposer when I want equality. Want me to go somewhere and fight for you? You won’t even stand up for me right here in America, for my rights and my religious beliefs. You won’t even stand up for my rights here at home.”
Muhammad Ali”
Great post Craig and that just sums the man up. Not just the Greatest by brawn but by brains too.
And in reading that you wonder how many Scottish soldiers have thought like him? Can see what’s truly going on?
RIP Muhammad Ali
Loathe boxing but loved Muhammad Ali – a great example to all. RIP
I remember watching his first bout with Liston and being in awe – I was pretty young at the time. I don’t think I missed any since. A great boxer who revitalised and reinvented the Heavyweight division, was full of charm and wit and wisdom. I recall those ‘chats’ with Parkinson and that lovely one with Freddie Starr.
He will be missed. RIP Champ.
A class act. Rip.
I remember Cassius Clay from when I was a wee girl = )
And Muhammad Ali as I grew up witnessing the Black Americans fight for freedom and equality.
Could that have been only half a century ago?
He did it. So can we. I think Ali would like that = )
“George, this is the wrong place to get tired”
So pleased to have lived in this brave man’s lifetime. Just remember
what he faced against the might of racist white America. Let him
Be an inspiration to us in our fight. RIP
I am not a boxing fan and to put it mildly I hate the sport. He transcended boxing though.
He set an example to others but I wont go looking for any North Brits to transcend their sport in the way he did in far more challenging circumstances. I was fortunate enough or unfortunate depending on your view to travel through Americas deep south in the late 1970s on some of my travels. Change comes slow!
I wont be looking for many if any North Brits to transcend their sports in the way he did. They will forever be the good doff the forelock genuflecting Jocks until one of them says enough of this shit. Ali had it hard but our lot have it comparatively easy.
If Carlsberg made men
From the clip.
“The man that has no imagination,has no wings.”
He must’ve had John McTernan in mind.
Aw man when I heard the news this morning I was gutted. Been a fan of Ali all my life, boyhood hero, like Denis Law.
People who were masters of their craft, but had humility and understanding of their fans.
Ali was probably one of the first sportspeople who could use his humorous psychology to wind up opponents to great effect.
It took great courage to take on the might of the USA courts, at a time when coloured people had very little say in the way they were treated.
I will remember him fondly.
Reading everything about this great man today I realise that he will not be remembered for hitting people – but so much more importantly for his love and generosity.
He punched people for money.
“He punched people for money.”
So? They were doing the same. People do a lot worse to other people for money, and those other people didn’t willingly get in a ring.
@sandy – Aw FFS tell me Denis isnae deid!!
Boxing as a sport never interested me – it was always the social and political Ali that mattered.
And maybe this was his finest moment of personal courage.
link to youtube.com
@ croomp — Nah Croomp yer awright.
It’s just the age I’m at now most o my idols are in their 70s and you just never know who will be next.
Elvis and Keith Moon already gone so theres no mony left.
@ mike
You’re right there mike. My wife hates boxing but she liked Ali and even she cried when he held that torch.
An iconic moment.
True respect.
The world is poorer, one great man that stood against an almighty war machine. Humanity has lost a great hero.
That that we would be worthy to free the Scots from this evil empire. We can but hope.
Craig,
“One of the reasons that made Muhammad Ali a legend, we all knew he could fight in the ring, it’s his fight outside it is what made the man he is.”
Respect for his fight outside the ring.
Boxing is a brutal sport and I am totally against it.
@ Rock if it goes on like this we are going to be friends xx
Muhammad Ali was a brave man both in and out of the ring.
His rejection of the draft and opposition to the Vietnam war no doubt influenced the opinion of the American public.
In time his opinion became mainstream American opinion that brought an end to that war. I do admire the man that can take a blow from an opponent whether that was in the ring or from a government and media that in his day was undoubtedly racist.
As for Boxing, well that was his passion, it’s what made him famous and why we are talking of him now at his death.
I think it is a great sport, both fighters know exactly what they are doing when they step in the ring. At the end of any fight the boxers will embrace, it is respect for each other, winner or loser.
I will respect the memory of Muhammad Ali fighting both in and out of the ring.
‘Tolerance and understanding won’t ‘trickle-down’ in our society anymore than wealth does’ Muhammad Ali.
From a nice tribute by Neil Scott, here:
link to plotsplot.blogspot.co.uk
This just appeared via WOS Twitter – what it says on the tin…
link to you.38degrees.org.uk
Going through the archives, old interviews etc. with Mohammed Ali,was struck by comments in McIlvanney’s interview after the Foreman fight,in the wee small hours,when it was quiet.
It might not have seemed like it, to people watching,but I was in control,like a pilot flying through the eye of a storm,my inbuilt radar,keeping me away from the dangers.
Not,as projected by biased media/sports writers,a terrified passenger,just hanging on…….this has always been my approach to life….pilot or passenger.
A very wise man,that’s a keeper.
According to Wikipedia Ali’s IQ was 78.
Ali registered for the draft on his eighteenth birthday and was listed as 1-A in 1962. In 1964, he was reclassified as 1-Y (fit for service only in times of national emergency) after two mental tests found his IQ was 78.
Bollocks!
@ Thepnr
IQ tests measure ability to do IQ tests. Anyone with an interest in obtaining a low score can do so if they are familiar with the tests – and smart enough.
Is that a reverse catch-22?
Thanks crazycat, guess that explains it. I’d purposely get the answer wrong too if I had to.
@Thepnr, crazycat et al (whoever he is…) –
Don’t know about youse, but what a strange vibe right now…
This by far the quietest it’s been here (and over on O/T) for a long time. Kind of ‘quiet before the storm’ feel about it all, but the whole Eurostushie surely doesn’t qualify as anything so dramatic…or does it?
Could it be release of the Chilcott Report? That’s still another month away.
I can’t think what else it might be – just a feeling that something big’s in the offing.
It,s because there are negatives as well as positives and it,s
not the time to express them.
Simpathies to his family and friends.
Ian Honey – we’re all being respectful, normal service resumes in 25 minutes.
@Ian Brotherhood
I didn’t want to post on this article either which is about someones death. That’s something no one really wants to talk about, though I did eventually.
Being as this is a site focused on Scotlands Independence and politics I’m not that surprised that there are fewer comments than we could normally expect.
Whatever, I’m looking forward to the EU referendum no matter the result, I’m looking forward to the Chilcott report and the council elections in 2017.
I’ve never been so positive. Lot’s to look forward to IMO.
It’s interesting that Ali moved from Nation of Islam, an anti-white exclusive sect, to Sufi Islam, a religion of mystical communion with Allah, the Merciful and Compassionate, and universal love for all humanity. I’m not sure if he continued to say “I’m the greatest”, because, for Muslims, Allah is the Greatest. Allahu Akbar!
As a Christian, I sense a commonality in this. I confess that God in Jesus Christ, is the Greatest, and by faith in Jesus Christ, I share in His greatness. More than that, in Christ, all humanity is the greatest (small g).
???? ????? ???? ?? ?????? ?? ????? ?? ?????? ??????? ????? ?? ????
God is the Greatest, God in Christ is the Greatest, In Christ all humanity is the greatest.
Ali if he was a Scot would have voted Yes. He knew about oppression.
When we were kids you could sit and watch the Black and White Minstrel show on a Saturday night and wish they’d get their disgusting shite off of our tv. Then Michael Parkinson would interview this black man, one of the greatest athletes the world has ever seen… explain to us the horror that is racism and why white men are demonic?
Its still with us though. The Williams sisters are the greatest women tennis players in the world but still, racists explain its because they’re bigger than white players.
Ali was opposed to the Vietnam war. As someone once said:
“It’s about white people sending black people to fight yellow people to save the land we stole from red people.”
There’s a good documentary of the last days of America in Saigon on the iPlayer. Lots of helicopters. Storyville.
link to bbc.co.uk
Any man who has worn a kilt and a bunnet and gets his photo taken in a daft pose has the right to say he is Scottish lol
Should build a memorial statue near the fight in Scotland so the weans dont forget him.
What an extraordinary, incredible collection of photographs, Rev, thanks for posting that, hadn’t seen the majority of them before. I’d love to see them in real life, what an exhibition that would be.
“He who has no imagination has no wings.” What wisdom!
Big enough and famous enough to star in a comic book, boxing with Superman.
RIP Muhammad Ali.
link to fapalone.com.br
O/T
Just read the BBC’s text News. The Scottish Conservatives are to use their Holyrood debating time to call for the scrapping of the Named-Person’s policy before it comes into force in August.
They claim it is, “an intrusion into family life”. What an absolutely idiotic thing to claim. Where do these people draw their line in the sand?
Are they really attempting to say we should not, “interfere”, when parents physically and sexually abuse their children?
Is family privacy to prevent the authorities interfering to prevent family members sexually abusing their children? Is family privacy more important than preventing infanticide?
Statistics show that most murders, assaults and sexual abuse cases are propagated by members of the
link to tinyurl.com
This is your life!
Brilliant man!
It has been a privilege to have lived at the same time he did.
Now will the bastard that stole his bike give it back.
He was the greatest.
Thepnr,
“I think it is a great sport, both fighters know exactly what they are doing when they step in the ring. At the end of any fight the boxers will embrace, it is respect for each other, winner or loser.”
Yes, the brain damage only comes from activities outside the ring.
Good call. Big man.
‘He punched people for money,’ But, when the chips were down. He refused to shoot them.
Why celebrate someone who has been reported as anti-semitic, violent against women, homophobic and a draft-dodging coward who was happy to use violence for personal profit and impulses (and ignored even his religious peers disapproval of it to continue to profit) but hide behind the blood and dead bodies of others when it suits him again?
Oh but he made a lot of money and hit people real good so he’s the best human ever! Whoopee. If someone here did any of this now or was revealed as such a creature on Twitter or elsewhere online they’d be having strips torn off them every day on twitter by these same two-faced numpties here and elsewhere online who (not wrongly) exclude people for any of the above. I defy you to point out an anti-semetic, homophobic, wife-beater you’d welcome into the Yes movement or worship in the UK or Scotland. I think not.
I wouldn’t shed a tear for someone like that. Pitiful.