Crate Diggers: Arizona
Showing posts with label Arizona. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Arizona. Show all posts

Saturday, June 3, 2017

Anniversary of Muhammad Ali's Death

“Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee” - Muhammad Ali
(Muhammad Ali)
Muhammad Ali was born as Cassius Clay Jr. on January 17th, 1942 in Louisville, Kentucky, USA. In 1954 Ali made his made his amateur boxing debut.
(Clay in 1954)
He won six Kentucky Golden Gloves titles, two national Golden Gloves titles, an Amateur Athletic Union national title, and the Light Heavyweight gold medal in the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome.
(Clay (Middle) in 1960)
Clay's amateur record was 100 wins with 5 losses. Also in 1960 he made his professional debut. In 1962 Clay met Malcolm X.
(Clay (Left) and Malcolm X (Right))
The 1963 fight between Clay and Doug Jones was called the fight of the year. Clay vocally belittled his opponents and vaunted his abilities. In 1964 Clay faced Sonny Liston for the heavyweight championship. Clay won the fight and became the heavyweight champion. Clay became at age 22 the youngest boxer to take the title from a reigning heavyweight champion.
(Ali (Standing) and Sonny Liston (Laying down))
Clay then changed his name to “Cassius X” after joining the Nation of Islam. In 1965 X had a rematch with Liston where X won by KO. He then changed his name to “Muhammad Ali”. Also in 1965 Ali defended his title against former heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson. In 1966 Ali was drafted in the Army. He indicated that he would refuse to serve, commenting to the press, "I ain't got nothing against no Viet Cong; no Viet Cong never called me nigger.”
(Ali being arrested for not registering into the draft)
Ali traveled to Canada and Europe and won championship bouts. He then moved back to the US. In 1967 Ali fought Ernie Terrell. Terrell was billed as Ali's toughest opponent since Liston. Ali won the match while taunting Terrell over, Terrell’s refusal to call Ali by his new name. Ali then was stripped of his title due to refusal of entering the draft. His boxing license was also suspended by the state of New York. He was sentenced to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. He paid a bond and remained free while the verdict was being appealed. Ali could not fight from 1967 to 1970. His conviction was overturned in 1971. The 1st fight between Ali and Joe Frazier was named the fight of the century. Ali lost the fight making it his 1st professional defeat.
(Ali (Right) and Joe Frazier (Left))
In 1973 Ali got his jaw broken during a fight causing the 2nd loss of his career. In 1974 Ali had a rematch with Frazier. Ali won the fight. Ali then had a fight against Heavyweight champion George Foreman in Zaire called “Rumble in the Jungle”. Ali beat Foreman making Ali the Heavyweight champion again.
(Ali (Standing) and George Foreman (Laying down))
In 1975 Ali had another fight with Frazier called the “Thrilla in Manilla”. Ali won by TKO.
(Ali (Right) and Joe Frazier (Left))
In 1976 Ali fought Ken Norton at Yankee Stadium. Ali won the fight. Also in 1975 Ali converted to Sunni Islam. In 1978 Ali faced Leon Spinks.
(Ali (Right) Leon Spinks (Left))
In 1979 Ali announced his retirement but it was short lived. In 1980 Ali fought Larry Holmes and Ali lost the fight horribly to Holmes. In 1981 Ali had his final fight against Trevor Berbick and Ali lost.
(Ali (Right) and Trevor Berbick (Left))
Also in 1981 Ali talked a man out of committing suicide. In 1984 Ali was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Syndrome. In 1985 Ali was a guest referee at Wrestlemania I.
(Ali (Right) with Hulk Hogan (Left))
In 1983 Ali met with President Reagan. In 1991 Ali went to Iraq and spoke to Saddam Hussein to negotiate the release of US hostages.
(Ali (Left) and Saddam Hussein (Right))
In 1996 He lit the Summer Olympic flame.
(Ali in 1996)
In 2001 Will Smith portrayed Muhammad Ali in the movie Ali.
(Ali (Left) and Will Smith (Right))
In 2002 Ali went to Afghanistan as a UN messenger of peace. In 2012 Ali was a titular bearer of the Olympic Flag during the opening ceremonies of the 2012 Summer Olympics.
(Ali (Left) and his wife (Right) in 2012)
In 2014 Ali was hospitalized for Pneumonia. In 2015 he was hospitalized for a urinary tract infection. On June 3rd 2016 Muhammad Ali died due to septic shock in Scottsdale, Arizona, USA. He was 74 years old.
(Ali in 2016)
Today is the 1st anniversary of his death. Take time to remember this great boxer and activist today.     

Videos of Muhammad Ali

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Friday, March 31, 2017

Anniversary of Jesse Owens' Death

“We all have dreams. But in order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline, and effort” - Jesse Owens
(Jesse Owens)
Jesse Owens was born as James Owens on September 12th 1913 in Oakville, Alabama, USA. When he was 9 years old Owens and his family moved to Cleveland OH. Owens got the name Jesse when a school teacher misheard him and thought his name was Jesse. Owens started to run track while in middle school. In 1933 Owens matched the world record for 100 yard dash and the long jump. In 1935 Owens married Ruth Solomon and had 3 daughters together.
(Ruth Solomon and Jesse Owens)
Owens then attended Ohio State University.
(Owens in 1935)
Owens won a record eight individual NCAA championships, four each in 1935 and 1936. Also in 1935 Owens set three world records and tied a fourth. In 1936 Owens went to the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Germany to represent the US. Owens had to be escorted everywhere while in Berlin due to many fans trying to rush him. Owens won 4 gold medals while at the Olympics.
(Owens (Middle) in 1936)
When he returned to the US after the Olympics there was a parade in his honor and at the parade he received $10,000 in cash from a random person in a paper bag. Later at a reception honoring Owens couldn't enter through the front door of the Waldorf Astoria New York and instead forced to travel up to the event in a freight elevator to reach the reception honoring him due to segregation laws.
(Owens in 1936)
In 1936 Owens spoke at a Republican rally held in Baltimore, MD on October 9, 1936, Owens said "Some people say Hitler snubbed me. But I tell you, Hitler didn't snub me. I am not knocking the President. Remember, I am not a politician, but remember that the President did not send me a message of congratulations because people said, he was too busy.” Due to racial discrimination Owens was prohibited from amateur sporting appearances to bolster his profile. Owens then found out that the commercial offers had all disappeared. In 1946 Owens  joined Abe Saperstein in the formation of the West Coast Baseball Association (WCBA), a new Negro baseball league. Owens became the Vice-President and the owner of the Portland Rosebuds franchise.
(Owens (Left) running at a WCBA game)
The WCBA disbanded after only two months. Owens tried to make a living as a sports promoter he would give local sprinters a ten- or twenty-yard start and beat them in the 100-yd dash. He also challenged and defeated racehorses; as he revealed later, the trick was to race a high-strung thoroughbred that would be frightened by the starter's shotgun and give him a bad jump.
(Owens racing a horse)
Owens later ran a dry cleaning business and worked as a gas station attendant to earn a living, he eventually filed for bankruptcy. In 1966, he was successfully prosecuted for tax evasion. The government appointed him as a US goodwill ambassador. Owens traveled the world and spoke to companies such as the Ford Motor Company and stakeholders such as the United States Olympic Committee. After he retired, he owned racehorses. In 1968 Owens initially refused to support the black power salute by African American sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos at the 1968 Summer Olympics. He told them, “The black fist is a meaningless symbol. When you open it, you have nothing but fingers weak, empty fingers. The only time the black fist has significance is when there's money inside. There's where the power lies”. Four years later in his 1972 book I Have Changed, he changed his opinion, “I realized now that militancy in the best sense of the word was the only answer where the black man was concerned, that any black man who wasn't a militant in 1970 was either blind or a coward”. In December of 1979 Owens was hospitalized with an extremely aggressive and drug resistant type of lung cancer.
(Owens in 1979)
On March 31st, 1980 Jesse Owens died of lung cancer in Tucson, Arizona. He was 66 years old.
(Owens’ funeral)
Today is the 37th anniversary of his death. Take time to remember this great athlete today.

Books by Jesse Owens
  • I Have Changed (1972)
Videos of Jesse Owens

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Tuesday, January 17, 2017

Happy Birthday Muhammad Ali

“Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee” - Muhammad Ali
(Muhammad Ali)
Muhammad Ali was born as Cassius Clay Jr. on January 17th, 1942 in Louisville, Kentucky, USA. In 1954 Ali made his made his amateur boxing debut.
(Clay in 1954)
He won six Kentucky Golden Gloves titles, two national Golden Gloves titles, an Amateur Athletic Union national title, and the Light Heavyweight gold medal in the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome.
(Clay (Middle) in 1960)
Clay's amateur record was 100 wins with 5 losses. Also in 1960 he made his professional debut. In 1962 Clay met Malcolm X.
(Clay (Left) and Malcolm X (Right))
The 1963 fight between Clay and Doug Jones was called the fight of the year. Clay vocally belittled his opponents and vaunted his abilities. In 1964 Clay faced Sonny Liston for the heavyweight championship. Clay won the fight and became the heavyweight champion. Clay became at age 22 the youngest boxer to take the title from a reigning heavyweight champion.
(Ali (Standing) and Sonny Liston (Laying down))
Clay then changed his name to “Cassius X” after joining the Nation of Islam. In 1965 X had a rematch with Liston where X won by KO. He then changed his name to “Muhammad Ali”. Also in 1965 Ali defended his title against former heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson. In 1966 Ali was drafted in the Army. He indicated that he would refuse to serve, commenting to the press, "I ain't got nothing against no Viet Cong; no Viet Cong never called me nigger.”
(Ali being arrested for not registering into the draft)
Ali traveled to Canada and Europe and won championship bouts. He then moved back to the US. In 1967 Ali fought Ernie Terrell. Terrell was billed as Ali's toughest opponent since Liston. Ali won the match while taunting Terrell over, Terrell’s refusal to call Ali by his new name. Ali then was stripped of his title due to refusal of entering the draft. His boxing license was also suspended by the state of New York. He was sentenced to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. He paid a bond and remained free while the verdict was being appealed. Ali could not fight from 1967 to 1970. His conviction was overturned in 1971. The 1st fight between Ali and Joe Frazier was named the fight of the century. Ali lost the fight making it his 1st professional defeat.
(Ali (Right) and Joe Frazier (Left))
In 1973 Ali got his jaw broken during a fight causing the 2nd loss of his career. In 1974 Ali had a rematch with Frazier. Ali won the fight. Ali then had a fight against Heavyweight champion George Foreman in Zaire called “Rumble in the Jungle”. Ali beat Foreman making Ali the Heavyweight champion again.
(Ali (Standing) and George Foreman (Laying down))
In 1975 Ali had another fight with Frazier called the “Thrilla in Manilla”. Ali won by TKO.
(Ali (Right) and Joe Frazier (Left))
In 1976 Ali fought Ken Norton at Yankee Stadium. Ali won the fight. Also in 1975 Ali converted to Sunni Islam. In 1978 Ali faced Leon Spinks.
(Ali (Right) Leon Spinks (Left))
In 1979 Ali announced his retirement but it was short lived. In 1980 Ali fought Larry Holmes and Ali lost the fight horribly to Holmes. In 1981 Ali had his final fight against Trevor Berbick and Ali lost.
(Ali (Right) and Trevor Berbick (Left))
Also in 1981 Ali talked a man out of committing suicide. In 1984 Ali was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Syndrome. In 1985 Ali was a guest referee at Wrestlemania I.
(Ali (Right) with Hulk Hogan (Left))
In 1983 Ali met with President Reagan. In 1991 Ali went to Iraq and spoke to Saddam Hussein to negotiate the release of US hostages.
(Ali (Left) and Saddam Hussein (Right))
In 1996 He lit the Summer Olympic flame.
(Ali in 1996)
In 2001 Will Smith portrayed Muhammad Ali in the movie Ali.
(Ali (Left) and Will Smith (Right))
In 2002 Ali went to Afghanistan as a UN messenger of peace. In 2012 Ali was a titular bearer of the Olympic Flag during the opening ceremonies of the 2012 Summer Olympics.
(Ali (Left) and his wife (Right) in 2012)
In 2014 Ali was hospitalized for Pneumonia. In 2015 he was hospitalized for a urinary tract infection. On June 3rd 2016 Muhammad Ali died due to septic shock in Scottsdale, Arizona, USA. He was 74 years old.
(Ali in 2016)
Today is his 75th birthday and we would all like to say happy birthday and rest in peace Muhammad Ali.


Videos of Muhammad Ali

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