Everyone in the game had picked Ali.

He was simply the most exciting athlete I've ever seen. I remember seeing Joe Louis on television when he was already an old man and I was just a kid. My dad always remarked how old he looked because he remembered Louis as a young man. That's the same way it was with me and Ali. It was so sad to see him as an old man, ravaged by the years in the ring and his Parkinson's.

Like probably most others here on the GBB I have a few signatures of some famous people. My most-prized one is Ali's. My brother-in-law and I had gone to the last boxing match in the old Madison Square Garden (March, 1967) and after the main event's decision was announced (the crowd didn't like the call) a riot started. Bottles came raining down from the cheap seats and everyone ran out of the Garden. As my brother-in-law and I crossed 8th Avenue I saw Ali, surrounded by six of the biggest, baddest looking bodyguards you'll ever see. Still, I was able to hand my newspaper to him and he signed the back page of the New York Post. I have that proudly framed on my den wall now.