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I wish he would write about sports more:

Pro football players execute dogs, rain cash on strippers and overpopulate the drunk tanks of metro Cincinnati, but the NFL’s popularity remains totally unfazed. Meanwhile, the NBA continues to fret about whether it should use a different ball. link

The other day I read this strangely affecting column about Joe Frazier, the former undisputed heavyweight champion of the world and probably one of the 5-10 greatest boxers of all time. But to most casual sports fans of our generation, he is best known as the afterthought of the phrase ‘Ali vs. Frazier’. It’s an incredibly interesting and saddening look into the psyche of a man who, more than 30 years after fighting Muhammad Ali for the third and last time, still fumes with deep hatred towards his storied rival:

“Frazier was signing autographs along with a group of other top American Olympians selected by the United States Olympic Committee as among the best the country had ever produced. A woman and her young son approached and asked Frazier what medal he’d won. When he told her “boxing,” she asked if he’d ever fought Ali. That’s when the dark clouds began to brew.

“He said he had and she asked if he’d beaten him. He said he did but such is the depth of his feelings on the subject of Ali that he could not stop there. He suggested she look at the physically broken man Ali is today and understand who made him that way.”

History has seemed to forget, but Ali used to torment Frazier relentlessly… in the media. While their three fights were violent epics that are considered among the greatest in boxing history (Ali won two, Frazier won one), the promotion of each one consisted of Ali embarrassing Frazier with words so mean-spirited that we would cringe today.

Could you imagine any sports star of today constantly calling any opponent (much less a strong, proud black man such as Frazier) an ‘Uncle Tom’ or ‘The White Man’s Champion’? Or painting him as an ignorant animal? Or constantly calling him a gorilla? And sure, part of you wants to say, “Sticks and stones may break my bones…”, but what if Kobe Bryant said that about another player today? Or Alex Rodriguez? Or Terrell Owens? It’s shocking that there was so little backlash towards Ali for his words at that time (a product of the era?) and it’s just as shocking that history has almost forgotten the insults when we see a frail, broken Ali on television.

Why does sports history always forget the character flaws of its heroes? Why does no one seem to remember Ted Williams was a sour, angry man? Or that Michael Jordan was a gambling addict? Or that Magic and Wilt slept with hundreds (thousands?) of random women? But all of those flaws were private and we could always explain those away as ‘none of our business’. With Ali, his comments were all out in the open. It’s almost like we’ve all chosen to forget – all except for Joe.

When you think about Frazier and Ali in that light, you begin to understand Frazier’s hatred for a man who ridiculed him publicly, battled him toe-to-toe in three epic fights, and now is revered as one of the great sports icons. All of that while Frazier’s name has faded to recognition only be sports fans and older generations. When you think about all of that, you can almost see why Frazier still lashes out at Ali:

“I hated Ali,” Frazier told writer Thomas Hauser for his seminal biography, “Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times.” “God might not like me talking that way, but it’s in my heart. I hated that man … 20 years I been fighting Ali, and I still want to take him apart piece by piece and send him back to Jesus.”

Or after Ali lit the Olympic flame in 1996:

“I should have been picked. I wish Ali had fallen into [the flame]. If I had the chance, I’d have pushed him in.”

Or…:

“I don’t like him but I got to say, in the ring he was a man … He shook me in Manila; he won. But I sent him home worse than he came. Look at him now. He’s damaged goods. I know it; you know it. Everyone knows it … He was always making fun of me. I’m the dummy; I’m the one getting hit in the head. Tell me now; him or me; which one talks worse now?”

It’s incredibly sad and when you think about it all, you can almost understand it. Almost.

Even though I’ve written before that I’m tired of playing this card when we get trounced, it’s nice to be able to tout our actual scholar-athletes when we actually win games – LA Times: Stanford football players use their brains

Since 2004, when the Red Sox won the World Series and my hatred of “ultra-market AL East teams that buy championships” began to spread between two different teams, I’ve started hating the Yankees less and less. Yes, I know.

A byproduct of this change is that I now get to objectively appreciate the few quality personalities in the Yankees franchise.

One of these is Jeter, who you really can’t help but like (c’mon, admit it). He plays his ass off, he shuts his mouth, and he, in Peter Gammons’ words, doesn’t care about anything but winning:

[Jeter] was asked what he thought was his best year in the major leagues. “I’ve had four great years,” he said. “1996, ‘98, ‘99 and 2000.” [Note: those are all Yankees championship years] In Jeter’s mind, VORP and OPS and Runs Created cannot determine great from good and bad seasons, only rings.

I mean, be honest, have you ever heard a better answer to question like that? In a world where I often cringe at the inability of athletes to provide the most obvious of neutral cliche answers to questions, it’s refreshing to see a response that demonstrates real engagement to ‘just winning’. He’s the Tom Brady of baseball (or maybe Brady’s the Derek Jeter of football) – he plays on a team you hate, but you can’t help but wish he was on your team.

The other two guys from those Yankees teams that I can really no longer hate are Torre and Rivera. For that reason, it is actually fun to see Steinbrenner take it on the chin from one of the players most responsible for their past success, as Rivera sticks up for his manager.

Rivera’s contract also is expiring and he is eligible to become a free agent. He said whether Torre returns will help determine whether he remains with the Yankees.

“It might do a lot of it,” he said. “I mean, I’ve been with Joe for so many years, and the kind of person he has been for me and for my teammates. It’s been great. The thing is that I don’t see why they have to put him in this position.”

You don’t see this kind of thing in sports every day. The message? “You can get rid of Torre, but you’re going to have quite the PR nightmare as I tie myself to him.” My guess is Torre still goes and the team effectively is blown up.

The best part about that? Maybe all of these guys that I like will be on other teams next year and I can start hating the Yankees again.

… “The Children’s Hour: Facebook Apps Are for Toddlers (There, We Said It)”

Maybe someday there will be useful Facebook Apps that provide significant value to users, but that day is not today. To be frank, I’m not even sure that we can call most of the apps “applications”. I think everyone is ‘waiting’ for something useful (I mean, there are entire VC funds just to feed these apps), but has anyone wondered whether that something is actually coming?

Interesting article on nytimes.com today about rumors of an upcoming Google Phone. While I have no comment on the rumors, I love the one quote by the carrier in the article because it is so indicative of their arrogant mindset:

Most carriers declined to comment on Google’s plans. But Arun Sarin, the chief executive of Britain’s Vodafone Group, which offers the Google service on its phones, said it was not clear what compelling functions Google would offer that are not already available.

“What is it that is missing in life that they are going to fulfill?” Mr. Sarin said. “It is not a no-brainer. You can reach Google already through a number of devices. You don’t need a Google phone to do that.”

It’s the same mindset that AOL had years ago on the Internet and it’s a great point. How can I POSSIBLY have a better mobile experience than the stellar work Verizon is doing for me today? I mean, after 3 minutes and around 9 clicks, I can get to the mobile Google site. What could be better than that?! (end sarcasm)

I love seeing that arrogance and in-the-box thinking because it can only help Google/Apple/others. I’m excited for the coming tide of tremendous innovation in my mobile experience.

Remember when The Onion was just a tiny little online site?

Viewer Voices: Where We Respond To The Opinions Of Our Uninformed Viewers