THE MICHIGAN DAILY Page Five THE MC~iGA DAIY Fog___v PERSPECTIVE The mountain and Muhammad: A resurrection of a heavyweight By KRISTON SCHPARKZ IT'S THE same old story. They are after Muhammad All again. The word is that moe fight with Frazier was boring. Ali just didn't have a big punch. The judges got snowed by Ali's pre-ight self-aggrandizement. He may have beat Frazier, but ha could never handle bigger, bad- der George Foreman (or the var- iation: scared, he'll refuse to fight Foreman). And so on. Bullshit. All of it. But typical. We've heard it from the be- ginning. How mean 'ole Sonny Liston would silence Big Mouth Clay. And then after the Lewis- ton debacle, how Liston had tak- en a dive. As time went on, it came to re- semble a vendetta. The hoary old hacks of the boxing press, dependent on the hero/bum im- agery to pump interest into a die- ing sport, had cast Ali as the bad guy. Inscrutable, arrogant, and overbearing, he was the very opposite of the myth of the ath- lete as pure, humble and forever grateful; an ideal so many'Amer- icans had come to cherish. When Ali couldn't be silenced in the ring, when his record re- mained as unblemished as h i pretty face, the Boxing Commis- sion chose another route to get their man. Direct racism wasn't the order of the day, nor was religious per- secution. So although many peo- ple added color and religion to their list of prejudices against Ali, it wasn't until the War m Vietnam entered the scene that hatred could be directed into ac- tive persecution. WHEN ALI became a Musln, and refused to be drafted, the legitimacy of his religious be- liefs was denied. While Ali fought his battle in court, the boxing commission quietly fixed him: stripping him of his title, his best years and his basic right to make a living. They decreed that Ali was no longer the champion, as if it were in their power to do so. They decided in the comfort of their corporate boardroom to re- move a title Ali had won with his fists. And then - bar a con- trived series of "elirninat on" fights - they decided 'that Joe Frazier, not Ali, was the champ. By the time Ali finally w a s permited to meet Frazier, he was 30 years old. Nonetheless, h scoffed at serious preparation, convinced more than ever cf his own magic and invincibiliey. Against Frazier, Ali's disdain was both magnificent and tragic. He took every cruel left J o e could dish up, backing into a corner, droping his fists a n d laughing at blows which had ruth- lbssly demolished every previous Frazier opponent. Ali made it his highest prior- ity to prove to America that he could take the worst punishment that Frazier, allegedly the best puncher of them all, could dish out. In the process, he lost the fight. But it was Frazier, not Ali, who ended up for mysterious month,, in the hospital, and whose champ' ionship career, as the wuhsequent knockdown carnival with Fore- man would later prove, hR ' d been effectively terminated. He could have quit then. Those who had believed would cherish his memory and go on believing. Muhammad Ali BOOKS CONT. Tales of a schizoid romanic (Continued from Page 4) 4servations about a monogam- ous arrangement, it remains the situation she chooses. Each new lover is an antidote for the pre- ceding one. There is security in numbers larger than one. She equates the marriage ex- perience with her venture - into psychoanalysis where it is some- what exciting to discover how crazy she actually is. But the thrill disappears when a depend- ency develops where even the snallest decision must first await consulation with the shrink. Marriage is a similar Catch-22. Once it begins, its almost impos- sible to stop. Life without love (or one's concept of love) is drab. She can become her own shrink, but she cannot marry herself. To satisfy her desires, she be- lieves experience is the best teacher. She learns that it can also be thesharhest. To be happy one must suffer, to understand freedom one must experience en- slavement. Dues must be paid; the problem is discovering what price is equitable. Isadora faces her trepidations. head on: "My fear of flying lets me ride on planes as long as I agree to suffer through the whole flight in terror . . . terrified as I was, I didn't allow that fear to contr) l me." HER ADVENTURE w i t h Ad- rian turns into atrophy. He returns to his wife and children and Isadora learns that althougn freedom cannot be given, it can possibly be gained. Realizing that every freedom has its lim- itations, she returns to Bennett. Physically nothing has changed, her fears and desires have been temporarily appeased. She accepts the premise that the most effective marriages are second marriages. "Maybe mar- riages are best in middle a g e when all the nonsense- falls way and you realize you have to love one another because you're go- ing to die anyway." For an at- tractive, intelligent 30 year old woman Isadora may be too sol- emn in her interpretation of the wedding vow. She would rather reconstruct what already than throw it away and anew. exists begin Those who had refused to be- lieve were beyond reacn any- how. But the man was, after all, the champ. He would come back, from pride if nothing else. He would earn another chanc4. He was not the same fighter- slower, not as strong, juct plain older. A second-rater lik-, Ken Norton could shatter his jaw. But Ali overcame Norton, fin- aly, and while the othr heavy- weights rested on their laurels, he fought bout after bout. When it came time to fight Frazier again, Ali's goal had changed. Proving he could take punches meant nothing. T h i s time it was winning the fight. He trained hard in his spart in hideaway camp, and he prom- ised no clowning. There is no doubt about what happened Monday, night. It was as clear in the State Theatre as it was in Madison Square Garden. When Ali began to score, Ann Arbor fans jumped out of their seats, drowning out the an- n ouncer. nBoxing writers, like mfrs in the sporting press, are szow in adapting to change. And for mos: of them, the exhibition Ali gave Monday is one they just curt understand, much less apprec- iate. .Joe Frazier is easy, lie ducks ARTISTIC CREATIONS NEEDED National Giftware Manufacturer will purchase new and unique items or collections of items from artists to be sold and pro- moted in leading department storesrthroughout the U. S. A. Full credit to be given to artist. Items must be of limited edi- tions. Call art director, 9-1, 313 -449 -4448 for appoint- ment, for review of art objects. low, bores in, punches hard and has all the style of a bulldozer on a demolition site. Alj is the opposite. There were m a n y times in the early days ie spar- ed an opponent a knockout, pre- fering instead to demonstrate his all-around.mastery. Perhaps Alf did not have a knockout punch Monday nigh!. But who cares? One reason Ali created a resurgence of intlres in boxing is that he br ight to it an artist's sense of magic and and style. On Monday his per- formance was consumnaate. He kept Frazier at Say, dan::ed when he had to, flicked in flArries of jabs, and controlled the tempo of the fight nearly throuighout. It didn't take a knockout to prove his superiority (although Fraz- ier's grotesquely swolen face the day after the fight will do for those who look at such things). The critics won't cease :eir ravings. But worse, is the fear that Ali might lose sight of the one goal which has long meant the most to his fans: regained his stolen title. To hell w i r h fighting Quarry, or allowing Frayz- ier another chance. Take on Foreman, concentrate all the en- ergies and al the brilliance, and then retire. A LI HAS always lived off his recognition, and perhaps the cli- max of a Foreman fight seems too final now iii the afterglow of hismost recent victory. And yet the years go by. even for~ Ali. All we can do is hope that this man, whose greatness h a s always been turning lorgshot dreams into re'lity, won't let the ultimate one slip away. Khriston Schpark:.is an alias for a tea)m of Daily sports column- ATTENTI ON ADVERTISERS! For total campus saturation Call 763-3501 WRCN-AM 650 The Rock of Ann Arbor Got a yearning for the "Good ol' days"? Let Rockin' 650 WRCN help! Hear GOLDEN OLDIES from 7 a.m.-4 a.m. daily WRCN-~Where music from the past is present!" REQUEST LINE: 3-3535 SAVE A DOLLAR ! A 'HONEY OF A DEAL FROM ALBERT KATHERINE HEPBURN WEEKEND SYLVIA CRLETT "Katherine Hepburn dons trousers, dances gypsy-like on the English coun- t tryside and achieves a personal triumph," say the New York Times. This George Cukor film of 1935 is really about a ra:cal and his daughter who must face en travestie. Cary Grant co-stars. SHORT: PREHISTORIC POULTRY Tues. & Wed.-CITIZEN KANE TON ITE Architecture Aud. Cinema VuildU7 and 9:05 Adm. $y Erica Jong has written an im- pressive first novel. In Fear of Flying she combinespoetic in- sights with a ribald sense of hu- mor ("The History of the World Through Toilets" and an unsuc- cessful weight-watching prosti- tute who learns how to count every mouthful). If she occasion- ally lapses into a caterwauling bitch in heat, it is only to re- turn to a greater appreciation for the joy, of life. !V ILE HENRY Miller writes in sperm, Jong writes in menstrual blood. What they shhre is the positiveness of being alive. Don Kubit, a longtime con- tributor to the books page, works in Ann Arbor. DIAL 668-6416 1214 S. UNIVERSITY Sat, Sun., & Wed. 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