CTCS 464
James Toback
After graduating from Harvard, Toback worked as a journalist. An assignment from Esquire on football player Jim Brown led to him living in Brown's house for a period of a couple years, where both Toback and Brown claim to have engaged in orgies with several women.[7] It was after Toback grew tired of his hedonistic lifestyle in Brown's house that he came to the decision to make movies for a living.[8] Toback wrote a book about his experiences with Brown entitled Jim: The Author's Self-Centered Memoir of the Great Jim Brown (1972). In the early 1970s Toback taught creative writing at the City College of New York. He drew on this experience when he wrote the screenplay for The Gambler.[9] In 2004, Toback wrote and directed When Will I Be Loved and in 2008, Toback directed Tyson, a documentary about boxer Mike Tyson.
Emile Griffith & Benny Paret
Benny Paret vs. Emile Griffith III was the third meeting between Benny "Kid" Paret and Emile Griffith, for the Welterweight boxing championship, held at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York on Saturday, March 24, 1962. Paret came into the match as the reigning Welterweight champion; this would be the deciding rubber match. The match was broadcast live by ABC on its live weekly boxing sports program, Fight of the Week. The fight was both notable and controversial for the punishment Paret took in the ring at the hands of Griffith which led to his loss by knockout in round 12 of a scheduled 15 rounds. Paret died in the hospital of his injuries 10 days later. The match has been cited as one of the reasons for the decline of boxing as a mainstream televised sport, and led to political calls for bans on boxing bouts.[1]
Don King
Donald King (born August 20, 1931) is an American boxing promoter known for his involvement in historic boxing matchups. He has been a controversial figure, partly due to a manslaughter conviction (later pardoned), and civil cases against him. King's career highlights include, among multiple other enterprises, promoting "The Rumble in the Jungle" and the "Thrilla in Manila". King has promoted some of the most prominent names in boxing, including Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Larry Holmes, Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield, Julio César Chávez, Ricardo Mayorga, Andrew Golota, Bernard Hopkins, Félix Trinidad, Roy Jones Jr. and Marco Antonio Barrera. Some of these boxers sued him for allegedly defrauding them. Most of the lawsuits were settled out of court. King has been charged with killing two people in incidents 13 years apart. In 1954, King shot a man in the back after spotting him trying to rob one of King's gambling houses; this incident was ruled a justifiable homicide.[1] In 1967, King was convicted of nonnegligent manslaughter for stomping one of his employees to death.[1][2] For this, he served three years and eleven months in prison.[2] After being released, he was later pardoned in 1983 by Ohio Governor James A. Rhodes.[3]
Drew Bundini Brown
Drew Bundini Brown was an assistant trainer and cornerman of Muhammad Ali, as well as occasional film actor. He was portrayed by actors Bernie Mac and Jamie Foxx in the films Don King: Only in America, and Ali respectively. Brown joined Muhammad Ali's entourage as a cornerman in 1963[2] and remained with him throughout his career.[1] Later he also became a part of James "Quick" Tillis entourage as a cornerman.[3] Brown was also one of Ali's speech writers. He wrote certain poems, including that which coined Ali's famous and oft quoted: Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee, rumble young man rumble." Ali used the poem to taunt Sonny Liston at the press conference prior to his February 25, 1964 victory over the WBA and WBC champion to claim both titles.[1]
Ernie Terrell
Ernest "Ernie" Terrell was an American professional boxer who competed from 1957 to 1973. He held the WBA heavyweight title from 1965 to 1967, and was one of the taller heavyweights of his era, at a height of 6 feet 6 inches. Terrell was the older brother of The Supremes' early 1970s lead singer Jean Terrell. But he is best remembered for his fight with World Heavyweight Champion Muhammad Ali, on February 6, 1967—a bout in which he was badly beaten.
Evander Holyfield
Evander Holyfield (born October 19, 1962) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1984 to 2011. He reigned as the undisputed champion at cruiserweight in the late 1980s and at heavyweight in the early 1990s, and remains the only boxer in history to win the undisputed championship in two weight classes. Nicknamed "The Real Deal", Holyfield is the only four-time world heavyweight champion, having held the unified WBA, WBC, and IBF titles from 1990 to 1992; the WBA and IBF titles again from 1993 to 1994 and between 1996 and 1999; and the WBA title for a fourth time from 2000 to 2001. Holyfield was forced to retire in 1994 upon medical advice, only to return a year later with a clean bill of health. In 1996 he defeated Mike Tyson and reclaim the WBA title, in what was named by The Ring magazine as the Fight of the Year and Upset of the Year. This made Holyfield the first boxer since Muhammad Ali to win a world heavyweight title three times. Holyfield won a 1997 rematch against Tyson, which saw the latter disqualified in round three for biting Holyfield on his ears. During this reign as champion, he also avenged his loss to Michael Moorer and reclaimed the IBF title.
Hoosiers (1986)
Failed college coach Norman Dale (Gene Hackman) gets a chance at redemption when he is hired to direct the basketball program at a high school in a tiny Indiana town. After a teacher (Barbara Hershey) persuades star player Jimmy Chitwood to quit and focus on his long-neglected studies, Dale struggles to develop a winning team in the face of community criticism for his temper and his unconventional choice of assistant coach: Shooter (Dennis Hopper), a notorious alcoholic.
1971 Heavyweight Championship continued
In 1971, both Ali and Frazier had legitimate claims to the title of World Heavyweight Champion. An undefeated Ali had won the title from Sonny Liston in Miami Beach in 1964, and successfully defended his belt up until he had it stripped by boxing authorities for refusing induction into the armed forces in 1967. In Ali's absence, the undefeated Frazier garnered two championship belts through knockouts of Buster Mathis and Jimmy Ellis. He was recognized by boxing authorities as the World Champion. Unlike Mathis and Ellis, Frazier was plausibly Ali's superior, which created a tremendous amount of hype and anticipation for a match pitting the two undefeated fighters against one another to decide who was the true heavyweight champ.[6] Ringside seats were $150 (equivalent to $908 in 2017) and each man was guaranteed 2.5 million dollars. In addition to the millions who watched on closed-circuit broadcast screens around the world, the Garden was packed with a sellout crowd of 20,455 that provided a gate of $1.5 million.[7] Prior to his enforced layoff, Ali had displayed uncommon speed and dexterity for a man of his size. He had dominated most of his opponents to the point that he had often predicted the round in which he would knock them out. However, in the fight preceding the Frazier fight, Ali struggled at times during his 15th-round TKO of Oscar Bonavena, an unorthodox Argentinian fighter who was prepared by Hall of Fame trainer Gil Clancy.[8] Frazier had an outstanding left hook, and was a tenacious competitor who attacked the body of his opponent ferociously. Despite suffering from a serious bout of hypertension in the lead-up to the fight, he appeared to be in top form as the face-off between the two undefeated champions approached.[6] The fight held broader meaning for many Americans, as Ali had become a symbol of the left-wing anti-establishment movement during his government-imposed exile from the ring,[9] while Frazier had been adopted by the conservative, pro-war movement. According to the 2009 documentary Thriller in Manila, the match, which had been dubbed "The Fight", "gripped the nation.[10] "Just listen to the roar of this crowd!" thundered Burt Lancaster, the color man. "The tension, and the excitement here, is monumental!"[11]
Street Fighter
In relation to Mike Tyson being a street fighter.
Billie Jean King & Bobby Riggs
In tennis, "Battle of the Sexes" is a term that has been used to describe various exhibition matches played between a man and a woman (or, in one case, a doubles match between two men and two women). Most famously, the term is used for a nationally televised match in 1973, held at the Houston Astrodome, between 55-year-old Bobby Riggs and 29-year-old Billie Jean King,[4] which King won in three sets.[2][5] The match attracted massive attention and was viewed by an estimated 90 million people around the world. King's win is considered a milestone in public acceptance of women's tennis.
Buster Douglas
James "Buster" Douglas (born April 7, 1960) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1981 to 1990, and 1996 to 1999. He is best known for his stunning upset of Mike Tyson on February 11, 1990, in Tokyo to win the undisputed heavyweight title. At the time Tyson was undefeated and considered to be the best boxer in the world, as well as one of the most feared heavyweight champions in history due to his domination of the division over the previous three years. The only casino to make odds for the fight (all others declining to do so as they considered the fight such a foregone conclusion) had Douglas as a 42-to-1 underdog for the fight, making his victory, in commentator Jim Lampley's words, "The biggest upset in the history of heavyweight championship fights." Douglas held the title for eight months and two weeks, losing on October 25, 1990, to Evander Holyfield via third-round knockout, in his only title defense.
1971 Heavyweight Championship
Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier, billed as The Fight of the Century[2] (also known as The Fight), was the boxing match between WBC/WBA heavyweight champion Joe Frazier (26-0, 23 KOs) and The Ring/lineal heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali (31-0, 25 KOs), held on Monday, March 8, 1971, at Madison Square Garden in New York City.[3][4][5] It was the first time that two undefeated boxers fought each other for the heavyweight title. Frazier won in 15 rounds via unanimous decision. It was the first of a trilogy, followed by the rematch fights Super Fight II (1974) and Thrilla in Manila (1975), both won by Ali.
The Fab Five
The Fab Five were the 1991 University of Michigan men's basketball team recruiting class that is considered by many to be "A great recruiting class."[1] The class consisted of Detroit natives Chris Webber (#1) and Jalen Rose (#5), Chicago native Juwan Howard (#3), and two recruits from Texas: Plano's Jimmy King (#9) and Austin's Ray Jackson (#84).[2] Four of the five were participants in the 1991 McDonald's All-American Game.[3] At first, only three of the freshmen started for the 1991-92 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team. Although they all played when the season opened on December 2, 1991 against the University of Detroit, they did not all play at the same time until December 7 against Eastern Michigan and did not start regularly until February 9, 1992. In that first game starting together as a regular unit, the five freshmen scored all the team's points against Notre Dame.[4][5] They started as a unit in all but one of the remaining games for the season.[6] They reached the 1992 and 1993 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship games as both freshmen and sophomores. However, most of their wins and both of their Final Four appearances were vacated due to Webber (and others) accepting money from Ed Martin, compromising their amateur status.
American Basketball Association
The original American Basketball Association (ABA) was a men's professional basketball league, from 1967 to 1976. The ABA ceased to exist with the American Basketball Association-National Basketball Association merger in 1976, leading several teams to join the National Basketball Association and the introduction of the 3-point shot in the NBA. The ABA distinguished itself from its older counterpart with a more wide-open, flashy style of offensive play, as well as differences in rules—a 30-second shot clock (as opposed to the NBA's 24-second clock, though the ABA did switch to the 24 second shot clock for the 1975-76 season) and use of a three-point field goal arc, pioneered in the earlier ABL. Also, the ABA used a colorful red, white and blue ball, instead of the NBA's traditional orange ball. The ABA also had several "regional" franchises, such as the Virginia Squires and Carolina Cougars, that played "home" games in several cities.
"Rope-a-dope"
The rope-a-dope is a boxing fighting style commonly associated with Muhammad Ali in his 1974 Rumble in the Jungle match against George Foreman. In many competitive situations, rope-a-dope is used to describe strategies in which one contender lets their opponent fatigue themself by drawing non-injuring offensive actions. This then gives the contender an advantage towards the end of the competition or before, as the opponent becomes tired, allowing the contender to execute devastating offensive maneuvers and thereby win.
"Louisville Lip"
Throughout his glittering boxing career he honed a talent for hilarious trash-talking, which often left opponents reeling before they stepped into the ring. "I'll beat him so bad, he'll need a shoehorn to put his hat on," he said before defeating Floyd Patterson in 1965. His greatest rivalry saw Ali, nicknamed the "Louisville Lip", go up against Smokin' Joe Frazier on three separate occasions "Joe Frazier is so ugly that when he cries, the tears turn around and go down the back of his head," he said when their rivalry was at its peak. George Foreman, 67, was also worn down by Ali's jibes ahead of their Rumble In The Jungle showdown in Zaire in 1974. "I've seen George Foreman shadow boxing," he told reporters. "The shadow won." His talents were not just restricted to one-liners, he also had a talent for poetry. "Float like a butterfly sting like a bee - his hands can't hit what his eyes can't see," he said before taking on Foreman for the heavyweight title.
Bill Laimbeer
William Laimbeer Jr. (born May 19, 1957) is an American former National Basketball Association (NBA) player who spent most of his career with the Detroit Pistons. Teaming with Hall of Fame backcourt guards Isiah Thomas, Joe Dumars and small forward Dennis Rodman, Laimbeer won back to back NBA Championships in both 1989 and 1990. He is the current head coach of the WNBA's Las Vegas Aces.[1] Playing at center, Laimbeer was a four-time NBA All-Star and integral part of the Pistons teams that won two championships. Initially raised in the Chicago, Illinois suburb of Clarendon Hills, Laimbeer attended Palos Verdes High School in Southern California and then the University of Notre Dame. After his playing career, Laimbeer served as the head coach and general manager of the Detroit Shock in the WNBA from 2002 to 2009, coaching the team to three league championships, and New York Liberty from 2013 to 2017.
Zina Garrison
Zina Lynna Garrison is a former professional tennis player from the United States. During her career, she was a women's singles runner-up at Wimbledon in 1990, a three-time Grand Slam mixed doubles champion, and a women's doubles gold medalist and singles bronze medalist at the 1988 Olympic Games. Zina Lynna Garrison (born November 16, 1963) is a former professional tennis player from the United States. During her career, she was a women's singles runner-up at Wimbledon in 1990, a three-time Grand Slam mixed doubles champion, and a women's doubles gold medalist and singles bronze medalist at the 1988 Olympic Games. She received the WTA Newcomer of the Year award in 1982.
Street Ball
an informal type of basketball played especially in urban areas such as parking lots, playgrounds
Textbook Basketball
old school basketball technique
Sugar Ray Leonard
Ray Charles Leonard (born May 17, 1956), best known as "Sugar" Ray Leonard, is an American former professional boxer, motivational speaker, and occasional actor. Often regarded as one of the greatest boxers of all time, he competed from 1977 to 1997, winning world titles in five weight divisions; the lineal championship in three weight divisions;[3] as well as the undisputed welterweight title.[4] Leonard was part of "The Fabulous Four",[5] a group of boxers who all fought each other throughout the 1980s, consisting of himself, Roberto Durán, Thomas Hearns and Marvin Hagler. "The Fabulous Four" created a wave of popularity in the lower weight classes that kept boxing relevant in the post-Muhammad Ali era, during which Leonard defeated future fellow International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees Hearns, Durán, Hagler, and Wilfred Benítez.[6][7] Leonard was also the first boxer to earn more than $100 million in purses, and was named "Boxer of the Decade" in the 1980s.[8] The Ring magazine named him Fighter of the Year in 1979 and 1981, while the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) named him Fighter of the Year in 1976, 1979, and 1981. In 2002, Leonard was voted by The Ring as the ninth greatest fighter of the last 80 years;[9] BoxRec ranks him as the 27th greatest boxer of all time, pound for pound.
Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini
Raymond Michael Mancini (born March 4, 1961), best known as Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini, is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1979 to 1992, and has since worked as an actor. He held the WBA lightweight title from 1982 to 1984.[1] Mancini inherited his distinctive nickname from his father, veteran boxer Lenny "Boom Boom" Mancini,[2] who laid the foundation for his son's career. In 2015, Ray was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.[3]
"Stick-up kid"
Referring to Mike Tyson robbing people as young one.
Richard Pryor
Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor was an American stand-up comedian, actor, and social critic. Pryor was known for uncompromising examinations of racism and topical contemporary issues, which employed vulgarities and profanity, as well as racial epithets.
Richard Williams
Richard Williams, Jr. (born February 16, 1942)[1] is an American tennis coach, and father of Venus and Serena Williams. Williams says that he wrote up a 78-page plan, and started giving lessons to Venus and Serena when they were four and a half, and began taking them to the public tennis courts.
Roberto Durán
Roberto Durán Samaniego (born June 16, 1951) is a Panamanian former professional boxer who competed from 1968 to 2001. He is a four-weight world champion, having held titles at lightweight, welterweight, light middleweight, and middleweight; as well as reigns as the undisputed and lineal lightweight champion, and the lineal welterweight champion.[1] He is also the second boxer to have competed over a span of five decades, the first being Jack Johnson. Durán was known as a versatile brawler and pressure fighter, which earned him the nickname of "Manos de Piedra" ("Hands of Stone") for his formidable punching power.[2]
Robin Givens
Robin Simone Givens (born November 27, 1964) is an American stage, television, film actress and model. . Her first marriage, to boxer Mike Tyson in 1988, drew considerable media attention as did their divorce the following year. He's talking about that video she did with Mike tyson and he seemed drugged
Rucker Park in Harlem
Rucker Park is a basketball court in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, at 155th Street and Frederick Douglass Boulevard across the street from the former Polo Grounds site; it is geographically at the base of a large cliff named Coogan's Bluff.[1] Many who played at the park in the Rucker Tournament achieved a level of fame for their abilities, and several have gone on to play in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The court is named after Holcombe Rucker, a local teacher and a playground director for the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. Rucker started a basketball tournament in 1950 in order to help less-fortunate kids stay off the streets and aim for college careers.[1][2] The players in the Rucker Tournament featured slam dunks, crossover dribbles, and bravado that excited the crowd, a playing style then foreign to the National Basketball Association (NBA).[3]
Tomjanovich
Rudolph Tomjanovich Jr. is an American retired basketball player and coach who coached the Houston Rockets to two consecutive NBA championships. He was an All-Star forward for the Rockets during his playing career.
Sugar Ray Robinson
Sugar Ray Robinson was an American professional boxer who competed from 1940 to 1965. Robinson's performances in the welterweight and middleweight divisions prompted sportswriters to create "pound for pound" rankings, where they compared fighters regardless of weight. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990.[1] He is widely regarded as one of the greatest boxers of all time and in 2002, Robinson was ranked number one on The Ring magazine's list of "80 Best Fighters of the Last 80 Years".[2] Robinson was 85-0 as an amateur with 69 of those victories coming by way of knockout, 40 in the first round. He turned professional in 1940 at the age of 19 and by 1951 had a professional record of 128-1-2 with 84 knockouts. From 1943 to 1951 Robinson went on a 91 fight unbeaten streak, the third longest in professional boxing history.[3][4] Robinson held the world welterweight title from 1946 to 1951, and won the world middleweight title in the latter year. He retired in 1952, only to come back two and a half years later and regain the middleweight title in 1955. He then became the first boxer in history to win a divisional world championship five times (a feat he accomplished by defeating Carmen Basilio in 1958 to regain the middleweight championship). Robinson was named "fighter of the year" twice: first for his performances in 1942, then nine years and over 90 fights later, for his efforts in 1951. Renowned for his flamboyant lifestyle outside the ring, Robinson is credited with being the originator of the modern sports "entourage". After his boxing career ended, Robinson attempted a career as an entertainer, but it was not successful. He struggled financially until his death in 1989. In 2006 he was featured on a commemorative stamp by the United States Postal Service.[5]
The Bad Boys
The 1988-89 NBA season was the Pistons' 41st season in the NBA and 32nd season in the Detroit metropolitan area. The Pistons moved from the Pontiac Silverdome to the brand-new Palace of Auburn Hills before the start of the season, which culminated in the Pistons' first NBA championship, sweeping the Lakers in four games in the NBA Finals a rematch from last year's NBA Finals and avenging their NBA Finals loss. Following the season, Rick Mahorn was picked up by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 1989 expansion draft and was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers soon after. The franchise's fortunes finally began to turn in 1981, when they drafted point guard Isiah Thomas from Indiana University.[20] In November 1981, the Pistons acquired Vinnie Johnson in a trade with the Seattle SuperSonics.[34] They would later acquire center Bill Laimbeer in a trade with the Cleveland Cavaliers in February 1982.[35] Another key move by the Pistons was the hiring of head coach Chuck Daly in 1983. Prior to the 1986-87 season, the Pistons acquired more key players: John Salley (drafted 11th overall), Dennis Rodman (drafted 27th) and Adrian Dantley (acquired in a trade with the Utah Jazz).[41][42] The team adopted a physical, defense-oriented style of play, which eventually earned them the nickname "Bad Boys".[43] In 1987, the team reached the Eastern Conference Finals against the Celtics. After pushing the defending champions to a 2-2 tie, the Pistons were on the verge of winning Game 5 at the Boston Garden with seconds remaining.[44][45] After a Celtics' turnover, Thomas attempted to quickly inbound the ball and missed Daly's timeout signal from the bench. Larry Bird stole the inbound pass and passed it to Dennis Johnson for the game-winning layup.[44][45] While the Pistons would win Game 6 in Detroit, they would lose the series in a tough Game 7 back in Boston.[44][45] A ticket for Game 1 of the 1988 NBA Finals at The Forum.
1996 Summer Olympics
The 1996 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, commonly known as Atlanta 1996, and also referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games, were an international multi-sport event that was held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The Centennial Olympic Park bombing was a domestic terrorist pipe bombing attack on the Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, Georgia, on July 27 during the 1996 Summer Olympics. The blast directly killed 1 person and injured 111 others; another person later died of a heart attack. Muhammad Ali almost didn't light the 1996 Olympic torch. Muhammad Ali lighting the Olympic torch at the 1996 Atlanta Games is one of the more indelible moments in sports history.
Magic Johnson/Larry Bird Rivalry
The Celtics-Lakers rivalry was renewed in the 1980s, in large part due to the personal rivalry between Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. Magic said of the games against the Celtics, "when the new schedule would come out each year, I'd grab it and circle the Boston games. To me, it was The Two and the other 80." Similarly, Bird said that, "the first thing I would do every morning was look at the box scores to see what Magic did. I didn't care about anything else." The Showtime Lakers struck the first blow, winning the 1980 NBA Finals against the Philadelphia 76ers.[38] The following year, behind the "Big Three" of future Hall of Famers Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, and Robert Parish, the Celtics won the 1981 NBA Finals against the Houston Rockets.[39] The Celtics lost the 1982 Eastern Conference Finals to the 76ers, and along with it the possibility of a rematch with the Lakers. However, the final game of that series is memorable to the rivalry because Boston fans chanted for the 76ers, who were just about to eliminate their Celtics, to "Beat L.A.!"[40] Despite the encouragement, the 76ers lost the 1982 NBA Finals to the Lakers, who were led by new head coach Pat Riley.[41] However, the 76ers defeated the Lakers the following year in the 1983 NBA Finals.[42] The 1982-1983 season would also be the rookie year of Laker James Worthy, another Hall of Famer in the storied rivalry.[43] The Celtics would get a new head coach in K.C. Jones, who was also a former Celtics player, and two teams finally had their long-awaited rematch in the 1984 NBA Finals,[44] a grueling seven game series that had many memorable moments, including a 137-104 blowout in Game 3 that led Larry Bird to call his Celtic teammates "sissies", the Kevin McHale takedown of Laker forward Kurt Rambis which led to increased physical aggression by both teams, the sweltering heat of the infamously un-airconditioned Boston Garden in Game 5, and Cedric Maxwell's 24-point performance in Game 7.[44] The Celtics went on to win in seven games, increasing their record of Finals' series victories against the Lakers to 8-0.[45] The following year, the Lakers finally had their revenge, winning the 1985 NBA Finals by taking Game 6 in Boston Garden, becoming the only visiting team to win an NBA championship in that arena.[46] Lakers owner Jerry Buss famously remarked that "this has removed the most odious sentence in the English language. It can never again be said that 'the Lakers have never beaten the Celtics'". The Celtics rebounded the following year to win the 1986 NBA Finals against the Rockets.[47] In the 1987 NBA Finals, the two teams met for a tie-breaker of their 1980s Finals matches, and the Lakers once again emerged victorious in six games, with the iconic image of Magic Johnson's junior sky hook.[48] This series marked the end of an era for the Celtics.
Wimbledon
The Championships, Wimbledon, commonly known simply as Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world, and is widely regarded as the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London, since 1877 and is played on outdoor grass courts.
Althea Gibson
Althea Gibson (August 25, 1927 - September 28, 2003) was an American tennis player and professional golfer, and the first Black athlete to cross the color line of international tennis. In 1956, she became the first African American to win a Grand Slam title (the French Championships). The following year she won both Wimbledon and the US Nationals (precursor of the US Open), then won both again in 1958, and was voted Female Athlete of the Year by the Associated Press in both years. In all, she won 11 Grand Slam tournaments, including five singles titles, five doubles titles, and one mixed doubles title. Gibson was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame and the International Women's Sports Hall of Fame. "She is one of the greatest players who ever lived," said Bob Ryland, a tennis contemporary and former coach of Venus and Serena Williams. "Martina [Navratilova] couldn't touch her. I think she'd beat the Williams sisters."[3] In the early 1960s she also became the first Black player to compete on the women's professional golf tour. At a time when racism and prejudice were widespread in sports and in society, Gibson was often compared to Jackie Robinson. "Her road to success was a challenging one," said Billie Jean King, "but I never saw her back down."[4] "To anyone, she was an inspiration, because of what she was able to do at a time when it was enormously difficult to play tennis at all if you were Black," said former New York City Mayor David Dinkins.[5] "I am honored to have followed in such great footsteps," wrote Venus Williams. "Her accomplishments set the stage for my success, and through players like myself and Serena and many others to come, her legacy will live on."
Arthur Ashe
Arthur Robert Ashe Jr. (July 10, 1943 - February 6, 1993) was an American professional tennis player who won three Grand Slam titles. Ashe was the first black player selected to the United States Davis Cup team and the only black man ever to win the singles title at Wimbledon, the US Open, and the Australian Open. He retired in 1980. He was ranked World No. 1 by Harry Hopman in 1968 and by Lance Tingay of The Daily Telegraph and World Tennis Magazine in 1975.[2][4] In the ATP computer rankings, he peaked at No. 2 in May 1976.[5] In the early 1980s, Ashe is believed to have contracted HIV from a blood transfusion he received during heart bypass surgery. Ashe publicly announced his illness in April 1992 and began working to educate others about HIV and AIDS. He founded the Arthur Ashe Foundation for the Defeat of AIDS and the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health before his death from AIDS-related pneumonia at age 49 on February 6, 1993.
Sonny Liston - "Orginal Gangster"
Charles L. "Sonny" Liston (unknown - December 30, 1970) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1953 to 1970. A dominant contender of his era, he became the world heavyweight champion in 1962 after knocking out Floyd Patterson in the first round, repeating the knockout the following year in defense of the title; in the latter fight he also became the inaugural WBC heavyweight champion. Liston was particularly known for his toughness, formidable punching power, long reach, and intimidating appearance. Although Liston was widely regarded as unbeatable, he lost the title in 1964 to Cassius Clay (later known as Muhammad Ali), who entered as a 7-1 underdog. Controversy followed with claims that Liston had been drinking heavily the night before the fight. In his 1965 rematch with Clay, Liston suffered an unexpected first-round knockout that led to unresolved suspicions of a fix. He was still a world-ranked boxer when he died under mysterious circumstances in 1970. Underworld connections and his unrecorded date of birth added to the enigma. The Ring magazine ranks Liston as the seventh greatest heavyweight of all time, while boxing writer Herb Goldman ranked him second.[4] In his book, The Gods of War, Springs Toledo argued that Liston, when at his peak in the late 1950s and early 1960s, could be favored to beat just about every heavyweight champion in the modern era with the possible exception of Muhammad Ali.[
Sonny Liston
Charles L. "Sonny" Liston (unknown - December 30, 1970) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1953 to 1970. A dominant contender of his era, he became the world heavyweight champion in 1962 after knocking out Floyd Patterson in the first round, repeating the knockout the following year in defense of the title; in the latter fight he also became the inaugural WBC heavyweight champion. Liston was particularly known for his toughness, formidable punching power, long reach, and intimidating appearance. Although Liston was widely regarded as unbeatable, he lost the title in 1964 to Cassius Clay (later known as Muhammad Ali), who entered as a 7-1 underdog. Controversy followed with claims that Liston had been drinking heavily the night before the fight. In his 1965 rematch with Clay, Liston suffered an unexpected first-round knockout that led to unresolved suspicions of a fix. He was still a world-ranked boxer when he died under mysterious circumstances in 1970. Underworld connections and his unrecorded date of birth added to the enigma. The Ring magazine ranks Liston as the seventh greatest heavyweight of all time, while boxing writer Herb Goldman ranked him second.[4] In his book, The Gods of War, Springs Toledo argued that Liston, when at his peak in the late 1950s and early 1960s, could be favored to beat just about every heavyweight champion in the modern era with the possible exception of Muhammad Ali.[5]
Dapper Dan
Daniel Day (born August 8, 1944), known as Dapper Dan, is an African-American fashion designer and haberdasher from Harlem, New York.[1] His influential store, Dapper Dan's Boutique, operated from 1982-92 and is most associated with introducing high fashion to the hip hop world, with his clients over the years including Eric B. & Rakim, Salt-N-Pepa, LL Cool J, and Jay-Z. In 2017, he launched a fashion line with Gucci, with which he opened a second store and atelier, Dapper Dan's of Harlem, in 2018.[2][3]
David Thompson
David O'Neil Thompson (born July 13, 1954) is an American retired professional basketball player. He played with the Denver Nuggets of both the American Basketball Association (ABA) and National Basketball Association (NBA), as well as the Seattle SuperSonics of the NBA. He was previously a star in college for North Carolina State, leading the Wolfpack to its first NCAA championship in 1974. Thompson is one of the six players to score 70 or more points in an NBA game.
Jack Johnson
First African American boxer to win the World Heavyweight title (1908), represented idea of the "New Negro" in early-1900s American culture. John Arthur Johnson (March 31, 1878 - June 10, 1946), nicknamed the Galveston Giant, was an American boxer who, at the height of the Jim Crow era, became the first African American world heavyweight boxing champion (1908-1915). Among the period's most dominant champions, Johnson remains a boxing legend, with his 1910 fight against James J. Jeffries dubbed the "fight of the century".[4] According to filmmaker Ken Burns, "for more than thirteen years, Jack Johnson was the most famous and the most notorious African-American on Earth".[5][6] Transcending boxing, he became part of the culture and the history of racism in America.[7] In 1912, Johnson opened a successful and luxurious "black and tan" (desegregated) restaurant and nightclub, which in part was run by his wife, a white woman. Major newspapers of the time soon claimed that Johnson was attacked by the government only after he became famous as a black man married to a white woman, and was linked to other white women.[8] Johnson was arrested on charges of violating the Mann Act—forbidding one to transport a woman across state lines for "immoral purposes"—a racially motivated charge that embroiled him in controversy for his relationships, including marriages, with white women.[9] There were also allegations of domestic violence. Sentenced to a year in prison, Johnson fled the country and fought boxing matches abroad for seven years until 1920 when he served his sentence at the federal penitentiary at Levenworth. Johnson was posthumously pardoned by President Donald Trump in May 2018, 105 years after his conviction.[7][10]
Floyd Patterson
Floyd Patterson (January 4, 1935 - May 11, 2006) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1952 to 1972, and twice reigned as the world heavyweight champion from 1956 to 1962. At the age of 21, he became the youngest boxer in history to win the title, and was also the first heavyweight to regain the title after losing it. As an amateur, he won a gold medal in the middleweight division at the 1952 Summer Olympics. In 1956 and 1960, Patterson was voted Fighter of the Year by The Ring magazine and the Boxing Writers Association of America. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1991.
George Foreman
George Edward Foreman (born January 10, 1949)[1][2] is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1969 to 1977, and from 1987 to 1997. Nicknamed "Big George", he is a two-time world heavyweight champion and an Olympic gold medalist. Outside the sport he is an ordained minister, author, and entrepreneur. After a troubled childhood Foreman took up amateur boxing and won a gold medal in the heavyweight division at the 1968 Summer Olympics. Having turned professional the next year, he won the world heavyweight title with a second-round knockout of then-undefeated Joe Frazier in 1973. Two successful title defenses were made before Foreman's first professional loss to Muhammad Ali in "The Rumble in the Jungle" in 1974.[3] Unable to secure another title opportunity, Foreman retired after a loss to Jimmy Young in 1977. Following what he referred to as a religious epiphany, Foreman became an ordained Christian minister. Ten years later he announced a comeback and, in 1994 at age 45, he regained a portion of the heavyweight championship by knocking out 27-year-old Michael Moorer to win the unified WBA, IBF, and lineal titles. Foreman remains the oldest world heavyweight champion in history, and the second oldest in any weight class after Bernard Hopkins (at light heavyweight). He retired in 1997 at the age of 48, with a final record of 76 wins (68 knockouts) and 5 losses.
George Lois
George Lois (born June 26, 1931) is an American art director, designer, and author. Lois is perhaps best known for over 92 covers he designed[1] for Esquire magazine from 1962 to 1972. In 2008, The Museum of Modern Art exhibited 32 of Lois's Esquire covers.[2] Muhammad Ali arrow photos.
"Knockout Artist"
He knocked people out in one punch
The "white crack head"
He's a really good person with good intentions that made a bad mistake unlike black crack heads
John McEnroe
John Patrick McEnroe Jr. (born February 16, 1959) is a retired American tennis player, often considered among the greatest in the history of the sport.[a] He was known for his shot-making artistry and volleying skills, as well as his confrontational on-court behavior that frequently landed him in trouble with umpires and tennis authorities. McEnroe attained the No. 1 ranking in both singles and doubles, finishing his career with 77 singles and 78 doubles titles; this remains the highest men's combined total of the Open Era. He won seven Grand Slam (also referred to as Majors) single titles, including four US Open titles and three Wimbledon titles, and added nine men's Grand Slam doubles titles. His singles match record of 82-3 in 1984 remains the best single season win rate of the Open Era. McEnroe also excelled at the year-end tournaments, winning eight singles and seven doubles titles, both of which are records. Three of his winning singles year-end championships were at the Masters Grand Prix (the ATP year-end event) and five were at the World Championship Tennis (WCT) Finals, an event which ended in 1989. Since 2000, there has been only one year-end men's singles event, the ATP Finals (the new name for the Masters Grand Prix). He was named the ATP Player of the Year and the ITF World Champion three times each: 1981, 1983 and 1984.
John Thompson
John Robert Thompson Jr. (born September 2, 1941) is a former American college basketball coach for the Georgetown Hoyas. He is now a professional radio and TV sports commentator. In 1984, he became the first African-American head coach to win a major collegiate championship, capturing the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship when Georgetown, led by Patrick Ewing, defeated the University of Houston 84-75.
Joe Frazier
Joseph William Frazier (January 12, 1944 - November 7, 2011), nicknamed "Smokin' Joe", was an American professional boxer who competed from 1965 to 1981. He reigned as the undisputed heavyweight champion from 1970 to 1973, and as an amateur won a gold medal at the 1964 Summer Olympics. Frazier was known for his sheer strength, durability, formidable punching power, and relentless pressure fighting style. Frazier emerged as the top contender in the late 1960s, defeating opponents that included Jerry Quarry, Oscar Bonavena, Buster Mathis, Eddie Machen, Doug Jones, George Chuvalo, and Jimmy Ellis en route to becoming undisputed heavyweight champion in 1970, and followed up by defeating Muhammad Ali by unanimous decision in the highly anticipated Fight of the Century in 1971. Two years later, Frazier lost his title when he was defeated by George Foreman. He fought on, beating Joe Bugner, losing a rematch to Ali and beating Quarry and Ellis again. Frazier's last world title challenge came in 1975, but he was beaten by Ali in their brutal rubber match, the Thrilla in Manila. He retired in 1976 following a second loss to Foreman. He made a comeback in 1981, fighting just once before retiring. The International Boxing Research Organization rates Frazier among the ten greatest heavyweights of all time.[2] The Ring magazine named him Fighter of the Year in 1967, 1970 and 1971, while the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) named him Fighter of the Year in 1969, 1971 and 1975. In 1999, The Ring magazine ranked him the eighth greatest heavyweight.[3] BoxRec ranks him as the 18th greatest heavyweight of all time.[4] He is an inductee of both the International Boxing Hall of Fame and the World Boxing Hall of Fame. Frazier's style was often compared to that of Henry Armstrong and occasionally Rocky Marciano, dependent on bobbing, weaving and relentless pressure to wear down his opponents. His best known punch was a powerful left hook, which accounted for most of his knockouts. In his career he lost to only two fighters, both former Olympic and world heavyweight champions: twice to Muhammad Ali, and twice to George Foreman.
Julius Erving (Dr. J)
Julius Winfield Erving II (born February 22, 1950), commonly known by the nickname Dr. J, is an American retired basketball player who helped popularize a modern style of play that emphasizes leaping and playing above the rim. Erving helped legitimize the American Basketball Association (ABA) and was the best-known player in that league when it merged with the National Basketball Association (NBA) after the 1975-76 season. Many consider him one of the most talented players in the history of the NBA; he is widely acknowledged as one of the game's best dunkers. While Connie Hawkins, "Jumping" Johnny Green, Elgin Baylor, Jim Pollard and Gus Johnson performed spectacular dunks before Erving's time, "Dr. J" brought the practice into the mainstream.[1] His signature dunk was the "slam" dunk, since incorporated into the vernacular and basic skill set of the game in the same manner as the "crossover" dribble and the "no look" pass. Before Julius Erving, dunking was a practice most commonly used by the big men (usually standing close to the hoop) to show their brutal strength which was seen as style over substance, even unsportsmanlike, by many purists of the game.[2] However, the way Erving utilized the dunk more as a high-percentage shot made at the end of maneuvers generally starting well away from the basket and not necessarily a "show of force" helped to make the shot an acceptable strategy, especially in trying to avoid a blocked shot.[3] Although the slam dunk is still widely used as a show of power, a method of intimidation and a way to fire up a team (and spectators), Dr. J demonstrated that there can be great artistry and almost balletic style to slamming the ball into the hoop, particularly after a launch several feet from that target.
Lew Alcindor (Kareem Abdul Jabbar)-
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (born Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor Jr.; April 16, 1947) is an American retired professional basketball player who played 20 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Milwaukee Bucks and the Los Angeles Lakers. During his career as a center, Abdul-Jabbar was a record six-time NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP), a record 19-time NBA All-Star, a 15-time All-NBA selection, and an 11-time NBA All-Defensive Team member. A member of six NBA championship teams as a player and two more as an assistant coach, Abdul-Jabbar twice was voted NBA Finals MVP. In 1996, he was honored as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History. NBA coach Pat Riley and players Isiah Thomas and Julius Erving have called him the greatest basketball player of all time.[1][2][3][4][5] After winning 71 consecutive basketball games on his high school team in New York City, Alcindor was recruited by Jerry Norman, the assistant coach of UCLA,[6] where he played for coach John Wooden on three consecutive national championship teams and was a record three-time MVP of the NCAA Tournament. Drafted with the first overall pick by the one-season-old Bucks franchise in the 1969 NBA draft, Alcindor spent six seasons in Milwaukee. After leading the Bucks to its first NBA championship at age 24 in 1971, he took the Muslim name Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Using his trademark "skyhook" shot, he established himself as one of the league's top scorers. In 1975, he was traded to the Lakers, with whom he played the last 14 seasons of his career and won five additional NBA championships. Abdul-Jabbar's contributions were a key component in the "Showtime" era of Lakers basketball. Over his 20-year NBA career, his team succeeded in making the playoffs 18 times and past the first round in 14 of them; his team reached the NBA Finals 10 times.
Sarah Baartman
Sara Baartman (Dutch: [ˈsɑːrɐ ˈbɑːrtman]; also spelled Sarah, sometimes in the diminutive form Saartje ([ˈsɑːrki]), or Saartjie and Bartman, Bartmann; 1770s - 29 December 1815)[1]:184 was the most well known of at least two[2] South African Khoikhoi women who, due to their large buttocks, were exhibited as freak show attractions in 19th-century Europe under the name Hottentot Venus—"Hottentot" was the name for the Khoi people, now considered an offensive term,[3] and "Venus" referred to the Roman goddess of love.
Kermit Washington & Rudy
Kermit Alan Washington (born September 17, 1951) is an American former professional basketball player. Washington is best remembered for punching opposing player Rudy Tomjanovich during an on-court fight in 1977.[1] His punch nearly killed Tomjanovich, and resulted in severe medical problems that ultimately ended Tomjanovich's playing career. Washington was not a highly coveted player coming out of high school and barely got into college on an athletic scholarship. He averaged a mere four points per game (ppg) during his senior season of high school. He improved rapidly once at American University, and became one of only seven players in NCAA history to average 20 points and 20 rebounds throughout the course of their career. A big defensive forward, Washington was known for his ability to gather rebounds. He averaged 9.2 points and 8.3 rebounds per game in ten National Basketball Association (NBA) seasons and played in the All-Star Game once. Washington was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers with the fifth overall pick in the 1973 NBA draft. He played sparingly his first three seasons, and sought the help of retired basketball coach Pete Newell before his fourth season. Under Newell's tutelage, Washington's game rapidly improved and he became a starter for several teams. He played for the Lakers, Boston Celtics, San Diego Clippers, Portland Trail Blazers and Golden State Warriors.
Bruce Lee
Lee Jun-fan, known professionally as Bruce Lee, was a Hong Kong and American actor, film director, martial artist, martial arts instructor, philosopher, and founder of the martial art Jeet Kune Do, one of the wushu or kung fu styles. Lee was the son of Cantonese opera star Lee Hoi-chuen.
"Thug"
Maybe talking about mike tyson
Mike Tyson
Michael Gerard Tyson (born June 30, 1966) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1985 to 2005. He reigned as the undisputed world heavyweight champion and holds the record as the youngest boxer to win a heavyweight title at 20 years, four months and 22 days old.[5] Tyson won his first 19 professional fights by knockout or stoppage, 12 of them in the first round. He won the WBC title in 1986 after stopping Trevor Berbick in the second round, and added the WBA and IBF titles after defeating James Smith and Tony Tucker in 1987. This made Tyson the first heavyweight boxer to simultaneously hold the WBA, WBC and IBF titles, and the only heavyweight to successively unify them. Tyson became the lineal champion in 1988 when he knocked out Michael Spinks in 91 seconds of the first round.[6] He successfully defended his titles nine times, which included victories over Larry Holmes and Frank Bruno. In 1990, Tyson lost the titles to underdog Buster Douglas, who knocked him out in the tenth round. Attempting to regain the titles, Tyson defeated Donovan Ruddock twice in 1991, but pulled out of a fight with then-undisputed heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield (who had defeated Douglas later in 1990) due to a rib injury. In 1992, Tyson was convicted of rape and sentenced to six years in prison, but was released on parole after serving three years. After his release in 1995, he engaged in a series of comeback fights. He won the WBC and WBA titles in 1996, after stopping Frank Bruno and Bruce Seldon. With his defeat of Bruno, Tyson joined Floyd Patterson, Muhammad Ali, Tim Witherspoon, Evander Holyfield, and George Foreman as the only men in boxing history to have regained a heavyweight championship after having lost it. After being stripped of the WBC title in the same year, Tyson lost the WBA title to Evander Holyfield by an eleventh round stoppage. Their 1997 rematch ended when Tyson was disqualified for biting Holyfield's ears. In 2002, Tyson fought for the world heavyweight title again at the age of 35, losing by knockout to Lennox Lewis. Tyson retired from professional boxing in 2006, after being knocked out in consecutive matches against Danny Williams and Kevin McBride. Tyson declared bankruptcy in 2003, despite having received over $30 million for several of his fights and $300 million during his career. At the time the media reported that he had approximately $23 million of debt.[7] Tyson was well known for his ferocious and intimidating boxing style as well as his controversial behavior inside and outside the ring. Nicknamed "Iron"[8] and "Kid Dynamite" in his early career, and later known as "The Baddest Man on the Planet,"[9] Tyson is considered one of the best heavyweights of all time.[10] Tyson holds the third longest unified championship reign in heavyweight history at eight consecutive defenses. He currently ranks #15 in BoxRec's ranking of the greatest heavyweight boxers in history.[11] He was ranked No. 16 on The Ring's list of 100 greatest punchers of all time,[12] and No. 1 in the ESPN.com list of "The Hardest Hitters in Heavyweight History."[13] Sky Sports described him as "perhaps the most ferocious fighter to step into a professional ring."[14] He has been inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame and the World Boxing Hall of Fame.
Michael Jordan
Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials, MJ,[5] is an American former professional basketball player. He played 15 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards. His biography on the official NBA website states: "By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time."[6] Jordan was one of the most effectively marketed athletes of his generation and was considered instrumental in popularizing the NBA around the world in the 1980s and 1990s.[7] He is currently the principal owner and chairman of the NBA's Charlotte Hornets. Jordan's individual accolades and accomplishments include six NBA Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) Awards, ten scoring titles (both all-time records), five MVP Awards, ten All-NBA First Team designations, nine All-Defensive First Team honors, fourteen NBA All-Star Game selections, three All-Star Game MVP Awards, three steals titles, and the 1988 NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award. He holds the NBA records for highest career regular season scoring average (30.12 points per game) and highest career playoff scoring average (33.45 points per game). In 1999, he was named the greatest North American athlete of the 20th century by ESPN, and was second to Babe Ruth on the Associated Press' list of athletes of the century. Jordan is a two-time inductee into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, having been enshrined in 2009 for his individual career, and again in 2010 as part of the group induction of the 1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team ("The Dream Team"). He became a member of the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2015. Jordan is also known for his product endorsements. He fueled the success of Nike's Air Jordan sneakers, which were introduced in 1984 and remain popular today.
Spinks Brothers
Michael Spinks (born July 13, 1956)[a] is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1977 to 1988. He is a two-weight world champion, having held the undisputed light heavyweight title from 1983 to 1985, and the lineal heavyweight title from 1985 to 1988. As an amateur he won a gold medal in the middleweight division at the 1976 Summer Olympics. Nicknamed "Jinx", which spawned the nickname of his right hand, "The Spinks Jinx",[5][6] Spinks is the brother of former world heavyweight champion Leon Spinks, and uncle of Cory Spinks, a former welterweight and light middleweight champion. After a successful amateur career, which culminated in his Olympic gold medal win, Spinks went undefeated in his first 31 professional fights. Leon Spinks (born July 11, 1953) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1977 to 1995. In only his eighth professional fight, he won the undisputed heavyweight championship in 1978 after defeating Muhammad Ali in a split decision, in what was considered one of the biggest upsets in boxing history. Spinks was later stripped of the WBC title for facing Ali in an unapproved rematch seven months later, which he lost by unanimous decision.
Gangster Rap & the Geto Boys
Mike Tyson listened to the geto boys
Cassius Clay
Muhammad Ali was an American professional boxer, activist, and philanthropist. Nicknamed "The Greatest", he is widely regarded as one of the most significant and celebrated sports figures of the 20th century and one of the greatest boxers of all time. He was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, and began training as an amateur boxer when he was 12 years old. At age 18, he won a gold medal in the light heavyweight division at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, then turned professional later that year, before converting to Islam after 1961. At age 22, in 1964, he won the world heavyweight championship from Sonny Liston in a major upset. He then changed his name from Cassius Clay, which he called his "slave name", to Muhammad Ali. He set an example of racial pride for African Americans and resistance to white domination during the Civil Rights Movement. In 1966, two years after winning the heavyweight title, Ali further antagonized the white establishment by refusing to be drafted into the U.S. military, citing his religious beliefs, and opposition to American involvement in the Vietnam War.[6][8] He was eventually arrested, found guilty of draft evasion charges, and stripped of his boxing titles. He successfully appealed the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court, which overturned his conviction in 1971, by which time he had not fought for nearly four years and thereby lost a period of peak performance as an athlete. Ali's actions as a conscientious objector to the war made him an icon for the larger counterculture generation.
"Mother's Day Massacre"
On Sept. 20 of that year, Billie Jean King convincingly beat Bobby Riggs in the famed "Battle of the Sexes," a tennis challenge match at Houston's Astrodome. The match, with an estimated 90 million people watching, riveted a country that was being roiled by women's increasing calls for equality. This has to do with Riggs beating Court.
Game of Death (1978)
The Game of Death is an incomplete 1972 Hong Kong martial arts film directed, written, produced by and starring Bruce Lee, in his final film attempt. Lee died during the making of the film. Over 100 minutes of footage was shot prior to his death, some of which was later misplaced in the Golden Harvest archives.[citation needed] The remaining footage has been released with Lee's original Cantonese and English dialogue, with John Little dubbing Lee's Hai Tien character as part of the documentary entitled Bruce Lee: A Warrior's Journey. Most of the footage that was shot is from what was to be the centerpiece of the film. During filming, Lee received an offer to star in Enter the Dragon, the first kung fu film to be produced by a Hollywood studio (Warner Bros.), and with a budget unprecedented for the genre ($850,000). Lee died of cerebral edema before the film's release. At the time of his death, he had already made plans to resume the filming of The Game of Death. After Lee's death, Enter the Dragon director Robert Clouse was enlisted to finish the film using two stand-ins; it was released in 1978, five years after Lee's death, by Golden Harvest. He defeats Filipino Eskrima master Dan Inosanto, Korean Hapkido master Ji Han-jae, and finally Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who fights with a free and fluid style mirroring Lee's Jeet Kune Do. Because Abdul-Jabbar's character has great size and strength in addition to a fighting style as potent as Lee's, he can only be defeated once Hai recognises that an unusually high sensitivity to light is his greatest weakness.[1]
Indian Wells
The Indian Wells Masters, also known as BNP Paribas Open and the WTA Indian Wells Open, is an annual tennis tournament held in March at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California, United States. This about serena williams and the racist remarks.
"The Dunk"
The NBA Slam Dunk Contest (officially known as the Verizon Slam Dunk for sponsorship reasons) is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) competition held during the NBA All-Star Weekend. The contest was inaugurated by the American Basketball Association (ABA) at its All-Star Game in 1976 in Denver, the same year the slam dunk was legalized in the NCAA. As a result of the ABA-NBA merger later that year there would not be another slam dunk contest at the professional level until 1984. The contest has adopted several formats over the years, including, until 2014, the use of fan voting, via text-messaging, to determine the winner of the final round. The very first slam dunk contest was won by Larry Nance Sr. of the Suns at the 1984 NBA All-Star Game. The current champion of the NBA Dunk Contest is Donovan Mitchell of the Utah Jazz. Artis Gilmore went first followed by George Gervin, Larry Kenon, David Thompson and finally Julius Erving. George Gervin and David Thompson both missed a dunk during their routines which counted as a zero (scores were not announced to the audience). David Thompson did a 360 degree dunk to finish his routine. All competitors had to perform a dunk from 10 feet, but Julius Erving started marking his steps from the free throw line (15 feet away). He then completed a dunk from the free throw line.
Nation of Islam
The Nation of Islam, abbreviated as NOI, is an African American political and religious movement, founded in Detroit, Michigan, United States, by Wallace D. Fard Muhammad on July 4, 1930. Its stated goals are to improve the spiritual, mental, social, and economic condition of African Americans in the United States and all of humanity.[3] Critics have described the organization as being black supremacist[4] and antisemitic.[5][6][7] The Southern Poverty Law Center tracks the NOI as a hate group.[8][9] Its official newspaper is The Final Call. In 2007, the core membership was estimated to be between 20,000 and 50,000. After Fard disappeared in June 1934, the Nation of Islam was led by Elijah Muhammad, who established places of worship (called temples or mosques), a school named Muhammad University of Islam, farms, and real estate holdings in the United States and abroad.[10] The Nation has long been a strong advocate of African-American businesses. There were a number of splits and splinter groups during Elijah Muhammad's leadership, most notably the departure of senior leader Malcolm X to become a Sunni Muslim. After Elijah Muhammad's death in 1975, his son, Warith Deen Mohammed, changed the name of the organization to "World Community of Islam in the West" (and twice more after that), and attempted to convert it to a mainstream Sunni Muslim ideology.
Rumble in the Jungle
The Rumble in the Jungle was a historic boxing event in Kinshasa, Zaire (now Democratic Republic of the Congo) on October 30, 1974 (at 4:00 am). Held at the 20th of May Stadium (now the Stade Tata Raphaël), it pitted the undefeated world heavyweight champion George Foreman against challenger Muhammad Ali, a former heavyweight champion; the attendance was 60,000. Ali won by knockout, putting Foreman down just before the end of the eighth round. It has been called "arguably the greatest sporting event of the 20th century".[3][4] It was a major upset victory,[5] with Ali coming in as a 4-1 underdog against the unbeaten, heavy-hitting Foreman.[6] The fight is famous for Ali's introduction of the rope-a-dope tactic.[7] The fight was watched by a record estimated television audience of 1 billion viewers worldwide,[8][9] becoming the world's most-watched live television broadcast at the time.[10] This included a record estimated 50 million viewers watching the fight pay-per-view on closed-circuit theatre TV.[5] The fight grossed an estimated $100 million (inflation-adjusted $500 million) in worldwide revenue.
Sweet Science of Pugilism
The Sweet Science may refer to: The sport of boxing.
Thrilla in Manila
The Thrilla in Manila was the third and final boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. It was contested in 1975 for the heavyweight championship of the world at the Philippine Coliseum in Cubao, Quezon City, Philippines, on Wednesday, October 1. The venue was renamed from Araneta Coliseum, specifically for the match.[2] Ali won by technical knockout (TKO) after Frazier's chief second, Eddie Futch, conceded the fight prior to the 15th round.[1][3][4] The contest's name is derived from Ali's rhyming boast that the fight would be " a killa and a thrilla and a chilla, when I get that gorilla in Manila." The bout is consistently ranked as one of the best in the sport's history and was the culmination of a three-bout rivalry between the two fighters that Ali won, 2-1.[5][6][7] The fight was watched by a record global television audience of 1 billion viewers,[8] including 100 million viewers watching the fight pay-per-view on closed-circuit theatre television[9] and 500,000 pay-per-view buys on HBO home cable television.
Title 9 Ruling
Title IX, clause of the 1972 Federal Education Amendments, signed into law on June 23, 1972, which stated that "no person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance." Although Title IX applies to a variety of programs, it has received the most attention for its impact on athletics, especially at the collegiate level. An amendment introduced in 1974 to exclude income-generating sports from Title IX coverage was rejected, and it was followed by like-minded amendments in 1975 and 1977, both of which also failed. In 1975 provisions that specifically prohibited sex discrimination in athletics and provided educational institutions with three years to fulfill the requirements of Title IX were signed into law. Attempts to curtail Title IX enforcement continued into 1978, but the following year the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) issued a final interpretation of Title IX's effect on intercollegiate athletics, in which HEW mandated that educational institutions provide equal opportunity to men and women in athletic programs. Upon its establishment in 1980, the Department of Education was given the responsibility of overseeing compliance with Title IX through its Office for Civil Rights.
Trevor Berbick
Trevor Berbick (August 1, 1954 - October 28, 2006) was a Jamaican Canadian professional boxer who competed from 1976 to 2000. He won the WBC heavyweight title in 1986 by defeating Pinklon Thomas, but lost it in his first defense later that year to Mike Tyson, who was then undefeated at 20 years old. Berbick was also the last boxer to fight Muhammad Ali, defeating him in 1981. As an amateur, Berbick won a bronze medal in the heavyweight division at the 1975 Pan American Games. In both his early and late professional career he held the Canadian heavyweight title twice, from 1979 to 1986 and 1999 to 2001.
