The Sports Pages
The family of Muhammad Ali is refuting reports in the London Evening Standard and other papers that the 63-year-old former heavyweight champion has “just months to live.”
Ali, who suffers from Parkinson’s Disease, recently had surgery at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta to fuse two vertabrae in his neck that had been the source of chronic pain. This helped to fuel speculation, along with an article in the Los Angeles Times a week ago that quoted Ali's daughter, Laila, as saying her father's health was deteriorating.
The tabloid National Enquirer reported the rumor that the London paper picked up and which Ali’s wife Lonnie now calls "absurd and absolutely without foundation".
That newspapers would take a little bit of information and distort it beyond reality should surprise no one. Not the first time, won’t be the last.
As a member of the generation that grew up watching Muhammad Ali in his prime, he transcended the sport of boxing, serving as a living symbol of the hopes and dreams of Black America during the turbulent 1960’s and ‘70’s. When he fought and won, especially against the “Great White Hope” du jour, we all won. When he spoke out against the Vietnam War and refused to serve (costing him three years of his career), he was speaking for all of us who felt that was an unjust and unnecessary war. So many heroes from the Civil Rights era are leaving us, so news that he will be with us at least a little while longer is reassuring.
Former National Hockey League coach and general manager Jacques Demers demonstrated courage of a different sort this past week when he revealed for the first time publicly that he is illiterate, and that at age 61, has hidden his inability to read and write his entire life.
Twice named NHL coach of the year, he led teams in Montreal, Quebec City, Detroit, St. Louis and Tampa Bay and was the last head coach of a Stanley Cup winning Canadiens team, in 1993. But the entire time, Demers lacked the ability to even fill out a lineup card and had to resort to elaborate schemes to hide the fact.
When it was time to write up the roster, he'd delegate the job to trainers. When he was sent to coach in the United States, he offered the excuse that he was French Canadian so his English wasn't very good.Then he returned home to coach in Quebec, and said he'd been in the United States so long that he'd gotten rusty with his French.
He would say he forgot his glasses. He was too busy. When he was hired by Tampa Bay as general manager, he got the assistant GMs to read the contracts.
"I don't enjoy fooling people because I was only fooling myself," he said. "And the only reason I did it was to protect myself and to survive."
The product of a poor family in Montreal, Demers grew up with an abusive father who often physically beat his mother. He dropped out of school in the 8th grade and traces his problem to anxiety born of that upbringing. His willingness to speak openly about his situation is being praised by literacy groups in both Canada and the U.S. who say the coping skills he employed are typical of the lengths many illiterate adults use just to get by.
Finally, with the weather unseasonably mild Sunday, African runners continued to set the pace at the 2005 New York City Marathon. A Kenyan and a South African took first and second in the men’s race, while a Kenyan and an Ethiopian took second and third in the women’s.
Top Women 2005
1. Jelena Prokopcuka (LAT) 2:24:41
2. Susan Chepkemei (KEN) 2:24:55
3. Derartu Tulu (ETH) 2:25:21
Top Men 2005
1. Paul Tergat (KEN) 2:09:30
2. Hendrick Ramaala (RSA) 2:09:31
3. Meb Keflezighi (USA) 2:09:56
TrackBack
Muhammad Ali may be frail in body but not in spirit. Even now, he still has the heart of a champion.
Posted by: Lamar Cole at December 16, 2005 9:13 AM