As evidenced from several posts, 2016 has been a rough time of losing heroes. Unfortunately, we must now add the greatest boxer of all time and one of the most awesome human beings that ever lived and breathed, Muhammad Ali, to that list. When I got the ESPN notification on my phone on Saturday at 12:29 a.m., my immediate reaction was, "NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" I'm still in disbelief over the loss of Prince less than two months ago, so this just felt like emotional overkill. Granted, I grew up in the Mike Tyson era of heavyweight boxing when many in our naive generation swore up and down that nobody could touch Iron Mike...that is, until our parents and elders hipped us to Mr. "Float Like a Butterfly, Sting Like a Bee". Suddenly, Iron Mike didn't seem as cool as a three-time heavyweight champion of the world who was one of the most skillful, tough, charismatic and confident brothers to ever perform in any sport, the blueprint for the activist and man of faith simply moonlighting as an athlete and could even push rhymes like weight. So while the typical move for someone who is as into sports as I am would be to post my favorite five fights of his, y'all should know that I'm not that predictable. Hence, this special edition of the "Rave & Favorite Five" as well as an "11th Hour Post of the Week" will capture my five favorite Muhammad Ali moments that manifest how his level of strength, courage and wisdom included but was certainly not limited to the sport of boxing...
