the saddest thing ?

[anneasquith]

the saddest thing i saw at the opening ceremony last night was. mohamad ali being prompted ( unsuccessfully ) to " wave at the crowd " this once great sportsman looked so frail and unrecognisable, i do believe he should not have been exploited in this way. :(

[sandyRoe]

I agree. I saw a picture of him with Beckham in the paper earlier in the week and he looked very frail.

[maggiebee]

Must admit I had a tear in my eye anne, Parkinsons is such a cruel affliction. Luckily we can remember the young, handsome man with a bounce in his step and a twinkle in his eye.

[pastafreak]

I posted about it last night...mixed comments. He is-in spite of his frailty,involved in other appearances and engagements. I'm sure he is still quite alert mentally.

http://www.theanswerb.../Question1155942.html

[anneasquith]

sorry pasta, didnt see your post :(

[Mick-Talbot]

Why have people got tears in their eyes over Ali ?

You don't know him and he was not particularly a nice person.

[sir.prize]

Mick-Talbot - sometimes your comments are so .. .well . . .ermmm

Oh never mind, you wouldn't understand anyway.

[sandyRoe]

ask not for whom the bell tolls

[pastafreak]

I don't think doing bad or making bad judgements when younger means a person should be bashed forevermore.

and people change...looks like he's done some good-

http://www.ali.com/le..._man_humanitarian.php

[lankeela]

Still nice to have him there as a tribute to his achievements. And as a tribute to all those who suffer from it. You can't take away what he did.

[Mick-Talbot]

sir.prize

Mick-Talbot - sometimes your comments are so .. .well . . .ermmm

Oh never mind, you wouldn't understand anyway.





Well I don't understand that drivel.

[Mick-Talbot]

It's a bit like Wacko, pastafreak.......people blank out the dark side of some iconic figures.

[sir.prize]

And equally I do not understand your stance when you say

Why have people got tears in their eyes over Ali ?

You don't know him and he was not particularly a nice person.

How do you know he was not a nice person? He was very much a humanitarian; but you wouldn't understand that M-T.

[Mick-Talbot]

Under the influence of Elijah Mohammad - who preached that blacks should
refuse to integrate with "white devils" - Ali made a point of dating
only black women and lashed out at men and women who engaged in
interracial sex. In an interview with Playboy, he declared: "A black man
should be killed if he's messing with a white woman." When the
interviewer asked about black women crossing the colour barrier, Ali
responded: "Then she dies. Kill her, too."





Nice.

[pastafreak]

Well-I know Ali evaded the draft,and spoke out about Vietnam...when a lot of us were...was that bad?
He converted to Islam....maybe that made him bad to some?

I'm trying to figure out just what defines him as 'not nice'...

[Mick-Talbot]

You probably would struggle to understand why some people would not let MJ look after their young children too, pasta.

[pastafreak]

I still do not understand your comparison with Michael Jackson. Ali converted to an extreme branch of Islam-true. But as a young Black in a country that was still evading the rights of Blacks,looking at it in the context of what was happening in the US at that time,I don't see it as all that surprising.

[ladybirder]

Anne, do you think Ali was forced to come here against his will then?

[Mick-Talbot]

So you agree that if a black has sex with a white they should be killed ?

[Khandro]

I'm sorry he's got Parkinson's, but he was never a great sportsman, - he was a loud-mouth show-off, completely lacking of dignity.

[maggiebee]

This post is getting silly. There's no getting away from the fact that Ali was a great boxer. He stood up or his principals in the face of great opposition whether you agree with these or not. Nobody will ever convince me that the BNP don't have very strong opinions about mixed race marriage.
He was a joy to watch and listen to on the Parkinson Show. Sadly he appears very frail but he no doubt still makes his own choices about what he wants to do.