George Foreman forever immortalized after defeating Joe Frazier in ‘73
:10—“Down goes Frazier! Down goes Frazier! Down goes Frazier!” Those were the words shouted out by the legendary sports broadcaster Howard Cosell and heard around the world as the now late, great, great George Foreman pummeled “Smokin’ Joe” Frazier and knocked him down for the sixth time in the first two rounds, ultimately winning the WBA and WBC Heavyweight boxing title! Back when men were men and fighting was vicious!
:09—OK, for those of you who are too young to remember that “Big George” Foreman was the most feared man on the planet long before he made over $500 million as a pitchman, here’s the proverbial walk down “Hell’s Kitchen” as you knew I would take you on. • Fought from 1967-1997 • Two-time heavyweight boxing champion • 1968 Olympic Gold Medalist • Boxing Hall of Fame • Most certainly the golden age of boxing with the likes of Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Ken Norton, Sonny Liston, Leon Spinks, and Larry Holmes, just to name a few • Considered one of the hardest punchers of his era or, for that matter, all-time • In 1994 at the age of 45, he became the oldest Heavyweight champion in history with a 10th-round knockout of then World Champion Michael Moorer • 68 of his 76 wins by knockout • Once fought five heavyweight fighters in one night in Canada in 1975, knocking out three of them • The father of twelve…“Big George” named all five boys George saying he did so “because he wanted them to know who their father was” • All of which paled in comparison to what he was most famous for, the historic 1974 “Rumble in the Jungle” fight against Muhammad Ali. At 6’4” and 260 pounds, Foreman was considered to be unbeatable and unstoppable…until the eighth round of the fight when the genius, stamina and greatness of Muhammad Ali converged with the now legendary “Rope-a-Dope” to wear Big George down and give Ali his title back in the greatest fight of all time. “RIP BIG GEORGE!”
:08—Onto the NCAA Tournament…If you think that #4 seed Maryland’s Derik Queen didn’t travel (aka, take 2 extra steps than allowed) when he knocked off #12 seed Colorado with a last-second buzzer beater on Sunday, March 23, then your FIRST NAME is “STEVIE” and YOUR LAST NAME IS “WONDER” — Yep, you’re blind, man!
:07—Here are the teams now set for the Sweet 16: Auburn, Duke, Houston, Florida, Tennessee, Alabama, Michigan State, Texas Tech, Kentucky, Purdue, Maryland, Arizona, Michigan, Brigham Young, Mississippi and Arkansas. There will be four games on March 27 and four games on March 28. The winners of those games will advance to the Elite 8, which will be played on Saturday, March 29 and Sunday, March 30. The winners of those four games advance to, of course, the Final Four.
:06—The women’s Sweet 16 lineup: UConn, Maryland, UCLA, Ole Miss, N.C. State, South Carolina, Duke, TCU, Notre Dame, Tennessee, Kansas State, Texas, Oklahoma, LSU, North Carolina, and Kansas State. They begin the Sweet 16 on March 28.
:05—Your Pittsburgh Steelers can put the ‘70s Steelers defense and the Chicago Bears’ 1985 defense on the field at the same time, but if they don’t get a real offensive coordinator and a quarterback for the future, they will be playing this same tune next year.
:04—OK, OK, here’s what you think. You think that because of Paul Skenes, your Pittsburgh Pirates will win the World Series Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha . . . WAKE UP MAN!!! Skenes will win 20 games and the Cy Young, the PNC Park concession stands will win and the Pirate bank account will win big! But the Pirates…sorry, Little Johnny, but as the great Levi Stubbs and the legendary Four Tops would say, “It’s the same ole song!”
:03—“Sid the Kid” Crosby is on fire and skating into Mario Lemieux’s and Wayne Gretzky’s greatest territory. Sorry, that’s all I got. (Oh, please shut up, I gave you a bunch of hockey stuff last week. You know my hockey knowledge is limited and I have to spread it out!)
:02—Here’s this…the great Lindsey Vonn at 40 years old takes second place in the final World Cup race of her comeback season! #1. Men, Google all things Lindsey Vonn. I MEAN ALL THINGS. #2. Ladies…Mind your business! “No disrespect.” #3. Tiger Woods, what were you thinking?
:01—Mark your calendar. First, shout out for any and everybody who played, coached, watched or just hung out at the nationally recognized Connie Hawkins Summer Basketball League at the Homewood YWCA, East Hills Park or Pennley Park, aka Champions Park. Get ready for “THE LAST SHOT” 50 YEAR Anniversary Celebration. Coming Saturday, June 7, 2025 at Dave & Buster’s Show Room 6:00-10:00 p.m. THIS WILL BE A FUNCTION AT THE JUNCTION . . . EVERYBODY’S GONNA BE THERE!!! More info to come.
:00—And yes, I did save the best for last. And if you know me, and you know basketball, you know I’m going to say it. What in the world was Coach Rick Pitino thinking? You have THE PLAYER OF THE YEAR IN THE BIG EAST on your team, on the bench! I know he was having a rough night, but I wouldn’t care if he was one for 99; he stays in the game till the bitter end. As a matter of fact, that’s when great players are most dangerous when their backs are against the wall. In those last several minutes that St John’s was still in the game on Saturday, March 22, against Arkansas, he could have gotten hot and saved the day! R.J. Luis got you as far as he did for a reason. Not only did he have a look on his face sitting on the bench that clearly said to me, if he had a gun in his hand somebody’s in trouble, but the rest of the team had to be wondering what’s going on here and why isn’t our leader on the floor? The shady excuse Pitino gave doesn’t pass the smell test. Something else went down.
GAME OVER.