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sUEST COMMENTARY By Collie J. Nicholson
®
thiete of the century, take your pick
Collie 1. Micholson
w AUGUSTA FOCUS
The most fabled athletes of the
century were Muhammad Al
Michacl Jordan, according to
PN, Sports lllustrated and USA
oday.
The TV sports network and the
ications have heralded them
properly so — as the athletes
ith the most influence on Ameni
life and American sports cul
re. Make no doubt about it, Ali
Jordan blazed trails that boggle
imagination
Jordan, perhaps the best basket
player toever hit the procourts,
the Chicago Bulls to six world
pionships and Al: was the
rst fighter to regain the heavy
eight title three times
Both Al and Jordan performed
ir feats with flair, distinction,
Izzazz and class. Probably noone
ever done it better and their
ts truly belong to the ages
But Joe Louis, a genuine hero of
e prize ring for the first-half of
century, was only hghtly re
rded in the major media polls
Id timers, including this writer,
Louis as a genuine Ameri
hero,
Louis, Jackie Robinson and Jesse
ens were surpassed by few peers
their accomplishments
The Joe Louis, Jesse Owens,
uhammad Ali story has an inter
ing Alabama-Ohio connection
at included Don King, himself a
leveland native
Lows and Owens were Alabama
atives who left the South during
eir youth. Louis grew up in De
oit, Mich. and later fought sev
ral times in Cleveland. Owens
ame a Cleveland track phenom
ofore developing into a legend at
dhio State
Muhammad Ali — always ready
odoagood deed — was approached
y Don King in the '6os to fight an
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A (Closer Look
exhibition in Cleveland to save the
Forest City Hospital, which was
going to be closed for a lack of
funds.
Ali agreed to stage the exhibi
tion. The rest is hustory He (Ali)
went on to become the “Athlete of
the Century,” and — over 400 plus
fights later — King emerged as the
“Promoter of the Century "
They made an indelible impact
on the athletic scene and no one
can deny them their true place in
the lore of American sports. While
their impact was probably great
est on Black America; there ils in
ternational implications to what
they did
Who can forget what Owens, the
Ohio State will-o-the-wisp, did in
the 1936 Olympics in Berlin?
Aside from winning four gold
medals in the 100 meter and 200
meter dash, the broad jump — now
called the longjump — and the 400
meter relay, Owens put to rest
Adolph Hitler's theory of Arvan
supremacy while settingthe track
and-field world on its ears
It was Owens who embarrassed
the world’s meanest dictator —
Hitler — on his own soil, before his
own people, and on the basis of his
own theory.
Owens was heralded around the
world as an ambassador of sorts
and as a sports hero secondly
Then there was the Brown
Bomber, Joe Louis, who used his
two-fisted thunder to reign over
the heavyweight division as cham
pion for 12 years
No other heavyweight, at any
other time in mistory, has ever
posted such a record. Further,
Lows, did irreparable damage to
Hitler’s Aryan theory of supremacy
when he knocked Max Schmeling
out in the first round of their 1937
return match.
Schmeling had knocked Joe
Louis out in the 12" round in a
1936 fight and their rematch car
ned with it tremendous national
and imternational interest on the
eve of World War [1
Then president of the United
States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt,
mvited Lows to the White House,
felt his muscles, wished him well
and told him that all American was
depending on hum to retain the
heavyweight title for the free world.
Louis made quick work of
Schmeling and national pride
swelled to the bursting point
It was Lows who gave black
American a tremendous amount of
racial pride and hope.
He was roundly regarded as a
status symbol and an idol of good.
Whenever Lows fought, blacks by
the thousands would gather around
their radios to listen, some out of
ear shot and eve sight of American
white racists.
When the Brown Bomber won,
blacks would spill into the streets
or onto the farm roads, wherever
they were, to shout the news and to
celebrate his win. When he lost,
which was rare, a pall of silence
and disbehef shrouded everything.
Louis empowered Black
America. He gave the race “Black
Power” long before racial activists
could coin the phrase
Many regard his career as the
“sport story” of the century.
Jackie Robinson’s breaking of the
color barrier in major league base
ball may have been the single most
important social milestone this
century, when Brooklyn Dodgers’
owner Branch Rickey picked
Robinson to integrate the sport
It was, at best, a social experi
ment that would have serious im
pact on American hife. Nothing, at
the time, could have been more
pivotal. Robinson, who came from
the Negro Major Leagues, was cho
sen because of his education, abil
ity and the belief that he. of all
people, could best mamntain his fi
ery temperament in order to make
the experiment work.
Making it in major league base
ball was not easy for Jack Roosevelt
Robinson. Some teammates did
not want to play with him or share
the same locker room; opponents
would put black cats on the field
and would use the “N” word indis
criminately; they would pick fights
with him.
Fans would make catcalls and
other marks of dension.
Jackie Robinson stood tall. He
did not break. He could not let his
race and Mr. Rickey down.
In 1947 after signing with the
Dodgers, Robinson won the Rookie
of-the-Year award. Later, he was
the league’s Most Valuable Plaver.
After that he became a perennial
All-Star and a permanent fixture
on the American baseball scene,
setting the path for those who
would follow after him
At theend ofhis career, Robinson
was voted to Baseball's Hall of
Fame, the highest honor that can
be awarded to a former player.
The thing about Robinson, Louis,
Owens and King 1s that each man
was a trailblazer. They set the
scene and the tone and paved the
way for other men of color to suc
ceed in the same arenas as they
had.
Further, their lead caused Amen
cans, especally black and the down
trodden, to see a new day and to
know that in their hives lay great
promise.
Americans should see these “pio
neers” in the true social context in
which they operated, but even more
as being truly great competitors
who used their accomplishments
for more than sheer cheers from
the crowd.
Their success, against over
whelming odds, marked the begin
ning of a new day when race as no
longer an automatic barrier
“Man of the Century”
Muhammad Al, Joe Louis, Jesse
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_AUGUSTA FOCUS
From page 8A
special interest establishment
and the policymaking process it
undemocratically controls
So, move over, Tom Hayden,
Jane Fonda and Eugene
McCarthy The independents are
onthe move. And Pat Buchanan's
the anti-war candidate in Cam
paign 2000
LETTERS
Cyber Porn and kids
Cyber porn has reached per
verted levels beyond all imagina
tion. Worse than Sodom and
Gomorrah could ever have been.
Children can see tons of free
samples by just answering ves to
“Are you 187" on the screen
It's like putting beer machines
on every street corner. No one to
check I.D 's. Noone to enforce the
law. Just a sign that says you
must be 18 to buy. It's crazy.
Internet providers are guilty of
gross neghgence. At the very least
they are violating anti-display
laws. Parents should try to sue
the providers under the Victims
of Pornography act passed by
Congress a few years ago. It was
law suits that brought the tobacco
industry to its knees. Football
games can be blacked out in dif
ferent cities. Why couldn't the
Internet be blocked out so not to
transgress the different commu
nity standards of porn?
Owens, Jackie Robinson, or
Michael Jordan? Take your pick.
They are all truly great men of
color who left their mark for others
to follow.
Don King knew each man dur
ing his prime, promoted some of
Ali's biggest fights, and warmly
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Vitil awr onlome regrsiry @! wow kpplft (om 19 )C Peaney Compary bae
JANUARY 6 2000
Lenora B. Fulani twice ran for
President of the U S as an inde
pendent, making history in 1988
when she became the first woman
and African American to get on
the ballot in all 50 states. Dr.
Fulani is currently a leading ac
tivist in the Reform Party and
chairs the Committee for a Uni
fied
Independent Party. She can be
reached at 800-288.3201 or at
http:/ lwww Fulaniorg. To be
added to the email distribution
list, contact editor@cuip.org.
The issue is not individual
rights. But it is the rights of the
communities to prevent the breed
ing of Ted Bundy’s that will walk
their streets and stalk innocent
victims and pollute their tranquil
environment.
We have the drug and alcohol
agency. Why can't we have a com
munications decency agency” The
states could create an elected of
fice of Obscenity Judge Being
elected his mandate would be the
community standards of porn for
that State. He could be given to
issue orders, levy fines, etc .
Should Congress re-write the
first amendment in simple 3™
grade English so that even a Su
preme Court Judge could inter
pret it?
Pull out of the stock market
decent folks. America is due for a
wake up call.
C. Gregory Dukes
regarded each individual as a su
perb athlete in his profession and a
true personal friend.
Fax your news to Augusta
Focus at (706) 724-8432.
9A