They Reminisce Over You

I had taped the documentary Facing Ali (2009) when Spike TV showed it a couple of weeks ago.  This past Saturday, I finally got around to watching it.  I've seen plenty of news stories and other documentaries about Muhammad Ali, but this was the most heartfelt of the ones I've seen.  Ten boxers who faced Ali in the ring -- Joe Frazier, Henry Cooper, Ron Lyle, Earnie Shavers, George Foreman, Ernie Terrell, Leon Spinks, George Chuvalo, Ken Norton and Larry Holmes -- talk about the experience of fighting the man known as "the greatest of all time".


They also talk about how they feel about him.  Some did not agree with Ali's alliance with the Nation of Islam, and some were not cool with his anti-Vietnam War stance.  Terrell and Frazier, in particular, talk about how they didn't appreciate Ali insulting them before, during, and after their fights.  As time has gone by, a lot of the old grudges have faded, however.  Some of the boxers -- especially Chuvalo and Norton -- had some hard times after their fighting days were over.  But the boxers have ongoing respect and affection for Ali.  Frazier, in reference to Ali's current state of health, tears up when he expresses a wish that Ali "gets to live like we all live. . .he's earned it." 

This is a great documentary, that tells another side of Ali's story, from the perspective of his opponents.  

A Little Training and Some Fish

Janay came in just as sparring had begun between Ed and Jamil.  I showed her how to do hooks.  We also reviewed the left jab and right cross, which Alan had taught her the week before. 

My own workout took a little time to get into.  It felt like I hadn't done anything in awhile, even though I exercised six days out of the previous week.  I gained ten pounds back over the holidays, and those pounds
-- plus a lot more -- have to come off. 

There's a ten-pound medicine ball in my apartment which I haven't used since I brought it a few years ago.  If I remember on Wednesday, I'll donate it to the gym.  I was going to give away some of my old dumbbells, too.  While exercising to a walking DVD on Saturday, I made use of them, so I decided that it's worth keeping them. 

Fish kept popping into my mind while I was at the gym last night.  There is a bag of fish sticks in my freezer, and I thought they would go well with the Ceasar salad I brought.  When I opened the refrigerator upon returning home, I saw a catfish fillet, so on the ol' George Foreman grill it went.  I truly don't like to cook, and I'm not good at it.  But it's easy making food on that grill, especially where fish is concerned.  Catfish was a huge staple of my diet last year, but then it became too expensive to buy all the time.  Beef is a favorite of mine, but fish does need to be a bigger part of my diet, along with veggies.  Unlike fish, I have to force myself to eat vegetables.