Muhammad Ali, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and coming of age in 1970
It's May 8, 1970. The shootings at Kent State happened just four days earlier. On this night, Jimi Hendrix is playing a concert at the University of Oklahoma. It's a little too soon for me. I'm heading off to college there in August. Damn!
It's June 11, 1970. It's my 18th birthday. I've just graduated high school. I have close to three months before I head off to college. The Heavyweight boxing champion at the time was Joe Frazier. No one really bought into that. Most people still though of Muhammad Ali as the champ, even though he hadn't fought in about three years. That wasn't his fault. He lost his boxing license because he refused to be inducted into the Army. Although there was mixed opinions about his decision, it really broke down by generation. My generation still respected and loved Ali. He was still our champion.
It's August 4, 1970. I have about three weeks left before I head off to college. Summer has been pretty uneventful. Some work, some goofing off...just really killing time until heading off to school. That night I'm at Ravinia, which is a local music venue in my hometown of Highland Park. Playing that night is Janis Joplin. Everyone I know who was there that night still talks about it more than forty-five years later. The word is she was sloppy drunk that night, but I can't really remember.
It's August 11, 1970. The Atlanta Boxing Commission has granted Muhammad Ali a boxing license. Is Ali going to fight again? Are we going to see our hero in the ring again?
It's September 18, 1970. I've been in college for about a month. It's a Friday morning and instead of going to class I'm listening to music on the radio. The station breaks in with a news flash. Jimi Hendrix is dead. How could this happen? He was just on campus a few months ago.
It's October 4, 1970. Jimi has been dead for about two weeks. Another newsflash. Janis Joplin is dead. Heroin overdose. How could this happen? We saw Janis just two months ago and now she's gone. What's next?
It's October 26, 1970. Muhammad Ali is fighting tonight. Ali vs Jerry Quarry. It's his first fight since 1967. I was a freshman in high school then. Does Ali still have the magic? He beats Quarry in three rounds. Ali is back!
It's March 8, 1971. Joe Frazier is still the heavyweight champion of the world but tonight is the night that changes. Ali vs Frazier 1. The Fight of the Century. Our guy is going to get his title back. All will be well with the world again. I'm listening to the fight in a dorm room with a bunch of other guys. It wasn't a live broadcast but they would give updates after every round. It's a close fight. Ali wins the early rounds. Frazier dominates the middle rounds. Back and forth. It's the fifteenth round. One more until Ali gets his title back. Frazier knocks Ali down. Frazier wins by a unanimous decision. How could this happen? What's next?
It's April, 1971. Still my freshman year. Spring in Oklahoma. Beautiful weather. I'm heading back to my dorm after a college baseball game. There's a big crowd outside the building. I ask a guy I know what's going on? "Muhammad Ali is here." Are you kidding me? Ali at my dorm? During the time he wasn't boxing, he was giving speeches on college campuses and now he was at my school. It wasn't a real speech. He was just talking with the students. Making jokes, doing a magic trick. He was doing the Ali schtick. I also remember how big he seemed. I'm 6'1" and it seemed like he towered over me. Ali was larger than life in so many ways.
It's June 10, 2016. Today is Muhammad Ali's funeral. He died a week ago today. It was sad a moment but nowhere near as shocking as those deaths in the 1970. Tomorrow is my birthday. A lot has happened in the last forty-six years but the school year of 1970-1971 remains fresh in my mind.
It was the year of coming of age.
The exact date Ali spoke at my dorm is unclear. No one seems to know or remember. The picture is from that day and that's my dorm, Walker Tower, in the background. This is a post I wrote about Muhammad Ali more than two years ago.
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