DOWN GOES FRAZIER

Joe Frazier died of cancer yesterday. I liked Joe Frazier. I liked his character. He was born to South Carolina sharecroppers in a time when opportunities for guys like him were, how shall I say, extremely limited. But he had talent and perseverance, and he worked his way to the top.

As a highschool kid I well remember the first Ali/Frazier fight at the Garden in '71. I recall the press hounding Frazier, the way people like Bryant Gumbel portrayed him as a shuffling, jive-ass house negro while Ali was glorified as authentically "black", an anti-establishment "take it to the man" heroic demigod. To this day I am sickened by the way Joe Frazier was treated... by his own people.

Smokin' Joe was a good champion, and he refused to be bitter. But in my opinion, it is not too late for those people who unjustly and maliciously slandered and vilified this humble, penitent, God fearing man, to come forward with a simple apology for the pain they inflicted.

R.I.P Joe Frazier.