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Muhammad Ali used to say he was the greatest of all time. Usain Bolt said Thursday that he is a legend. No one gets away with this kind of flamboyance. There is something about those two, though, maybe the feeling that we’re seeing something no one has ever seen before. Something to tell our grandkids about someday.
Your last chance to see Bolt in the London Olympics will be Saturday, when he wins gold on ... I mean competes on the Jamaican 4x100 relay team.
Tiger Woods had the same ability to excite, but did it with his mouth shut, trying not to say anything controversial or anger anyone in corporate America.
Ali said plenty, and his popularity only grew from it. When Ali was struggling, banned, whatever, it was Joe Frazier who took him in and helped him out. By the time Ali was great, he was calling Frazier the ugliest man on the planet and “a gorilla.’’
These are code words, but Ali didn’t suffer backlash from them. He had basically dumped on the guy who helped him. It didn’t damage Ali, though, because of who he is.
That brings me to Bolt’s attack Thursday night on Carl Lewis. It was out of the blue. No one had even asked Bolt about Lewis.
Lewis didn’t do anything wrong. No matter what an attention-seeker he always was, Lewis was important to the sport. He was important to Bolt. Lewis created the platform that Bolt is winning on, celebrating on.
Yet, from his spot firmly on Lewis’ shoulders, Bolt said: “Carl Lewis. I have no respect for him. He’s just looking for attention because nobody really talks about him. I’ve lost all respect for him. All respect.’’
He also said this: “It’s all about drugs. (Lewis) talking about drugs stuff. For athletes out of the sport saying that, that’s really upsetting for me. For him to jump up and say something like that, as far as I am concerned, he is just looking for attention.’’
It’s a little odd to hear Bolt make serious complaints about someone looking for attention. Also, the idea was that Lewis had accused Bolt of using steroids. “Jump up and say something?” Best I can tell, Lewis never did that. Several years ago, he said that in this sport, with its steroid past, it’s fair game to subject Bolt and the Jamaicans to scrutiny.
He is right. Yohan Blake, Bolt’s training partner, has served a suspension for banned substances. In London, Blake finished runner-up to Bolt for silver in both the 100 and 200.
read full @ http://msn.foxsports.com/olympics/tr...-listen-081012
Your last chance to see Bolt in the London Olympics will be Saturday, when he wins gold on ... I mean competes on the Jamaican 4x100 relay team.
Tiger Woods had the same ability to excite, but did it with his mouth shut, trying not to say anything controversial or anger anyone in corporate America.
Ali said plenty, and his popularity only grew from it. When Ali was struggling, banned, whatever, it was Joe Frazier who took him in and helped him out. By the time Ali was great, he was calling Frazier the ugliest man on the planet and “a gorilla.’’
These are code words, but Ali didn’t suffer backlash from them. He had basically dumped on the guy who helped him. It didn’t damage Ali, though, because of who he is.
That brings me to Bolt’s attack Thursday night on Carl Lewis. It was out of the blue. No one had even asked Bolt about Lewis.
Lewis didn’t do anything wrong. No matter what an attention-seeker he always was, Lewis was important to the sport. He was important to Bolt. Lewis created the platform that Bolt is winning on, celebrating on.
Yet, from his spot firmly on Lewis’ shoulders, Bolt said: “Carl Lewis. I have no respect for him. He’s just looking for attention because nobody really talks about him. I’ve lost all respect for him. All respect.’’
He also said this: “It’s all about drugs. (Lewis) talking about drugs stuff. For athletes out of the sport saying that, that’s really upsetting for me. For him to jump up and say something like that, as far as I am concerned, he is just looking for attention.’’
It’s a little odd to hear Bolt make serious complaints about someone looking for attention. Also, the idea was that Lewis had accused Bolt of using steroids. “Jump up and say something?” Best I can tell, Lewis never did that. Several years ago, he said that in this sport, with its steroid past, it’s fair game to subject Bolt and the Jamaicans to scrutiny.
He is right. Yohan Blake, Bolt’s training partner, has served a suspension for banned substances. In London, Blake finished runner-up to Bolt for silver in both the 100 and 200.
read full @ http://msn.foxsports.com/olympics/tr...-listen-081012
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