Great Rivals In A Better Place?

Alas, did you note the March 8th date, as then it marked 41 years since two other great sports rivals, Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali met for the heavyweight boxing crown. 

Joe Frazier won that night and Ali would win the last two of their 3 epic bouts.

I would like to think with now, all 4 of these greats gone from this, they are enjoying each other’s company in a better place, enriched with the knowledge their great rivalries made them and us, to a large degree, better.

Maybe Ali and Frazier are again driving from Philadelphia to New York, Ali talking incessantly with Joe actually enjoying/enduring it from behind the wheel.

Wilt and “Russ” might be playing with Bill’s great electric trains. That reminds me of Moses, no not the great denied the “promised land” “despite,” man, but Malone.

See last night (cue Marilyn McCoo and the Fifth Dimension) as “I could not sleep,” and a recording cited Russell’s praise of Malone’s greatness in ’83, as “here comes that train again.”

The Moses Malone train was on time, leading his 76ers to their lone crown in the 55 seasons (Wilt once had 55 rebounds in a game!!) since Wilt led a great ’67 team to the title, the one time in 8 playoff series any of his teams (the Warriors, Sixers or Lakers) won vs Bill Russell’s Celtics.