The late St. Louis icon Jack Buck hosted a short-lived NBS sports program in 1975 entitled GrandStand, which was designed to rival ABC’s Wide World of Sorts. Joining him on the show was a young, black man named Bryant Gumbel.
GrandStand didn’t last, but Gumbel did. From 1975 to 1982, he hosted a variety of major sporting events for NBC, including NFL, MLB and college basketball events.
In September 1982, he began a 15-year run as the principal anchor of Today. He now works for HBO Sports, and was a longtime friend of Muhammad Ali.
As he spoke to the world at Ali’s memorial service last Friday, June 10 in Louisville, Kentucky, his words touched me more than any other participant. Maybe it is because I am a black journalist, maybe it is because I always counted myself as one of his fans.
Here are his words of respect and praise for Ali. They say everything I have struggled to say since Ali passed.
“The great Maya Angelou, who was herself no stranger to fame, wrote that ultimately people forget what you said; and people forget what you did. But no one will ever forget how you made them feel. As applied to Muhammad Ali, the march of time may one day diminish his boasts and his poetry; maybe even his butterflies and bees. It may even one day dull the memories of the ‘Thrilla in Manilla and the ‘Rumble in the Jungle.’ But I doubt any of us will ever forget how Muhammad Ali made us feel. I’m not talking about how proud he made you feel with his exploits, or how special he made you feel when you were privileged enough to be in his company. I’m talking about how he gripped our hearts. our souls and our conscience and made our fights his fights for decades.
“People like me who were once young, semi-gifted and black will never forget what he freed within us. Some of us, like him, took pride in being black, bold and brash. And because we were so unapologetic, we were in the eyes of many way too uppity; we were way too arrogant. Yet we reveled in being like him. By stretching society’s boundaries, as he did, he gave us levels of strength and courage we didn’t even know we had.
“But Ali’s impact was not limited to those of a certain race or a certain religion or a certain mind set. The greatness of this man for the ages is that he was, in fact, a man for all ages.
“Has any man ever scripted a greater art to his life? What does it say of a man, any man, that he can go from being viewed as one of country’s most polarizing figures to arguably its most beloved – and to do so without changing his nature or for a second compromising his principles?
“Yeah, you know there were great causes, there were great national movements, there were huge divisions in our nation that afforded Ali unusual opportunities to symbolize our struggles. But Harry Truman had it right when he said ‘men make history, and not the other way around.’ Or as Lauryn Hill so nicely put it, ‘consequence is no coincidence.’
“Befitting his stature as The Greatest of All Times, Muhammad Ali never shied away from a fight. He fought not just the biggest and baddest men of his day inside the ropes, but outside the ring he went toe-to-toe with an array of critics, a seemingly endless succession of societal norms, the architects of a vile immoral war, the U.S. government; he even fought, ultimately to his detriment, the limitations of father time.
“Strictly speaking, fighting is what he did. But he broadened that definition by sharing his struggles with us and by viewing our struggles as his. And so it was that he accepted and led battles on behalf of his race, in support of his generation, and in defense of his religious beliefs and, ultimately, the fight of his disease.
“I happened to be overseas working in Norway this past week when my buddy (Today host) Matt Lauer called and he said that the champ had been taken to the hospital – and this time it was really serious. Right away I called Lonnie, who was as always a pillar of strength. As we discussed the medical details, the doctors’ views and ugly realities of mortality, Lonnie said ‘Bryan, the world still needs him.’
“And indeed it does. The world always needs a champion who always worked to bridge the economic and social divides that threaten a nation that he dearly loved. The world needs a champion that always symbolized the best of Islam to offset the hatred and the fear. And the world needs a champion that believed in fairness and inclusion for all. ‘Hating people because of their color is wrong,’ Ali said. ‘And it doesn’t matter what color the does the hating, it’s just plain wrong.’
“Yeah, we do need Muhammad Ali now. We need the strength, the hope, the compassion, the conviction that he always demonstrated. But this time our beloved champion is down. And for once he will not get up. Not this time. Not ever again.
“Let me close with personal story. Fifty years ago, Muhammad Ali defeated George Chuvalo in Toronto Canada. The very next day he showed up in my Hyde Park neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago. As Ali got out of a car at the home of Elijah Muhammad, I happened to be next door shooting hoops in a friend’s backyard. Of course, I quickly ran to the fence and for the first time in my life I shook the champ’s hand. I was 17. I was awestruck and, man, I thought he was the greatest. Now, half a century and a lifetime of experiences later I am still awestruck and I am convinced more than ever that Muhammad Ali is the greatest.
“To be standing here on a virtue of his and Lonnie’s request is mind numbing. The honor that Ali has done me today as he goes to his grave is one that I will take to mine. God Bless you, champ.”
Crystal clear
Actor Billy Crystal brought humor to the ceremony, as well as poignant memories of his relationship with Muhammad Ali. He first met the champ when Ali was being honored as Sport magazine’s man of the year. Crystal, then a struggling stand-up comedian, was only selected to entertain because the sought-after comic was not available.
He imitated Ali and the late Howard Cosell to the amusement of Ali and other guests. After the show, Ali came to him and said, “From now on, you my little brother.” Ali called Crystal “Little Brother” until his death.
He shared a tale of the two giggling during Cosell’s funeral service after Ali asked him “Do you think he’s wearing his hairpiece?” Crystal said, “I don’t think so.” Ali: “How will God recognize him?” Crystal: “Champ, as soon as he opens his mouth, He’ll know.”
The final words of Crystal’s remarks brought the family, dignitaries, crowd and media to their respective feet.
“He was a tremendous bolt of lightning created by Mother Nature out of thin air. A fantastic combination of power and beauty. We’ve seen still photographs of lightning bolts at the moment of impact; ferocious in its strength, magnificent in its elegance, and at the moment of impact it lights up everything around it. So you can see everything clearly.
“Muhammad Ali struck us in the middle of America’s darkest night, in the heart of its most threatening, gathering storm. His power toppled the mightiest of foes and his intense light shined on America, and we were able to see clearly injustice, inequality, poverty, pride, self-realization, courage, laughter, love, joy and religious freedom for all.
“Ali forced us to take a look at ourselves. This brash young man who thrilled us, angered us confused and challenged us ultimately became a silent messenger of peace who told us that life is best when you build bridges between people, not walls.
“My friends, only once in a thousand years or so do we get to hear a Mozart, see a Picasso, read a Shakespeare. Ali was one of them. And yet at his heart, he was still a kid from Louisville who ran with the gods, and walked with the cripples and smiled at the foolishness of it all. He is gone, but he will never die. He was my big brother.”
He was mine too, Billy.
Alvin A. Reid is a panelist on the Nine Network program, Donnybrook and appears on ABC’s The Allman Report and several sports radio shows. His Twitter handle is @aareid1.
