Remembering Muhammad Ali

It is with great sadness and respect to hear of Muhammad Ali's passing. I have had the pleasure of working with Ali many times with my sports memorabilia business and I would like to tell you a few stories.  Over the years I had Ali autograph thousands of items for my business. Two of the photos are of my sons with Ali, my eldest on a table with Ali telling him to go ahead and hit him, and the second of my wife in the background while Ali is kissing my youngest.

One very special project was the picture that shows him autographing the black ring bells. I had to dig deep to find the old bell manufacturer - a cow bell manufacturer that literally had to dig up any remaining parts in his barn to make me 225 bells. At this time it took Ali about 20 seconds to sign each autograph but if I rang a bell, with fun Ali would quickly go into the fighting stance. 

I would also make out his checks to GOAT. Back then this name was really not known as it is today, but my friend who represents him said they were sitting on the couch trying to think of a name for his business and suddenly Muhammad stood up and yelled out "We will call it GOAT!" and my friend say What? Yes, this is where the name GOAT started for the abbreviation of "Greatest Of All Time."

Ali also had a fun time teasing people. This story (with no disrespect to anyone) was one ONLY Muhammad Ali could pull off. I remember one time working with him in San Francisco, sitting next to him assisting Ali with autographs for people in line waiting for his signature. He would lean over to me and say (with just enough low volume so the first people in line could hear), as he is pointing to an unknown guy in line about 15 people back that "Robbie that guy called me the “N” word!" Naturally this did not happen but we would play it up, getting louder and repeating the statement and pointing the guy out in line. I would get up and approach him, confirming loudly with Ali that this is the guy - and this guy is shaking in his boots denying that he said anything. Everyone in line has a very concerned look on their face. Then we break the news telling him that we were just joking and everyone would laugh including the guy! What a great story this guy has to tell for the rest of his life!

These few quick stories are just a couple that reflect his qualities of being a very caring person, a funny person always wanting to make people laugh, a clever person and naturally a one of a kind boxer. One thing I can say that over the years I have worked with events where we would have many athletes at one event (say about 20 or more) and the public comes to see the athletes, BUT the athletes come to see Muhammad Ali! Simply stated he was "The Greatest of All Time!"  If you would like to see additional photos I invite you to visit the National Sports Distributors photo gallery at http://www.nationalsportsmemorabilia.com/photo-gallery-0