quote:
Originally posted by swingeasttowest
Headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, the city where Muhammad Ali's story began, the Muhammad Ali Center will serve as a place to celebrate the deeply rooted values and worldwide influence of Ali. Essentially, it will be a place that redeems and esteems the core values behind Ali himself - peace, social responsibility, respect and personal growth.
You can visit the Muhammad Ali Center's website at:
http://www.AliCenter.org
Another reason to visit Louie ville.
I had the pleasure to photograph Ali at his training camp in the Poconos a few times. I remember driving up in the dark and seeing run along the roads, heading to the mess hall (it was a scout camp) and eating a lot of eggs and pancakes waiting for him and being one of only a few journalists there. Today it would be mass overkill.
Ali was always the showman, even at 6am in the morning. My cameras are sitting on top of the table and I am shoving scramble eggs into my mouth when Ali floated over and while still in his sweat suit reached over and pulled a half dollar out of my ear. Seeing his big paw reaching over to my head made me flinch. His face lid up.
He started to do card tricks with everyone in the hall. After a few minutes, I’ll never forget this, he ranted, “I am the most recognized human in the world. I walk the streets in South American and I draw a crowd, in Asia, children follow me for blocks. In Africa I am mobbed and can’t walk. And here I AM doing card tricks for you at breakfast.”
Years later (after Atlanta Olympics) I ran into him in Philadelphia. He saw me and even with the Parkinson’s walked over to me and reached for my ear to pull a coin. He flinched his head off to the side and smiled at me. I sing his praise all the time. HE IS THE GREATEST
