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It's an honor and a privilege to be around the `Greatest' LOUISVILLE -- Some days, rarely, you get to spend magic moments around a magic person. I had that privilege on Tuesday, when I spent two hours with Muhammad Ali at a meeting of the board that's trying to honor him by building a museum and learning center in his hometown. I'm happy to report that the champ looked good. He's still mostly silent and quivering from the ravages of Parkinson's Syndrome. But he's alert. Every now and then, when somebody would say something that would catch his fancy, his eyes would light up as they did when he was a youngster and he would mumble a reply to his wife, Lonnie. I've been fascinated by him since he was a young fighter appearing on WAVE television's "Tomorrow's Champions" in the late 1950s. I've often wondered why. He was black, I'm white. He was bold, I was more meek. What in the world did we have in common? Maybe it was a mutual compassion for the underprivileged and the disenfranchised. Ali became their international spokesman, which is why the learning center part of the proposed project here is more important than the museum part. As for me, coming from a humble background, I simply believed, as the saying goes now, that no child should be left behind. There was the Vietnam War thing. He had the courage of his convictions. He said what a lot of us were thinking about the immorality of that struggle. I was lucky enough to get into Kentucky's 100th Division, U.S. Army Reserve, as a public-relations specialist for Gen. J.B. Faulconer. It's difficult to explain to a generation who has never faced a war or the draft, but we all were forced to make serious moral choices in the 1960s. Some left the country. Some were fortunate enough to get into the Reserves or the National Guard. Some escaped the draft by getting married and having children. But Ali was one of the few who stood up, on moral and religious grounds, and challenged what our government was doing. I suspect it's of little comfort to him that Robert McNamara, former Secretary of Defense, and others have admitted that they misled the public during that era. Whenever I'm around him, as I was a few days ago, I prefer to remember his prime as an athlete. My goodness, he was, indeed, the greatest. Such hand-eye coordination. Such a combination of grace and strength. And he combined that with a flair and personality and value system that resonates today. Unfortunately, he has spawned many imitators, athletes who want to dance and strut after making a mediocre play. But they're only Ali wannabes. They'll never come close to matching the real thing. Ali backed up his taunts and boasts with a level of social commitment that made him far more than a mere great athlete. The Ali Center is having trouble raising the $60 million necessary to get the project off the ground. I can't use this forum to raise funds because that's a conflict of interest. But it makes me wonder why more wealthy Americans aren't getting behind this project that's dedicated to promoting peace, understanding, love, education and diversity. After the meeting, the champ was signing autographs. I went up and simply patted him on the back. I'm sure he didn't even know I was there. But of all the great athletes and coaches that I've been privileged to cover, he's the one who always will have a special place in my heart. As I left the hotel, he was in the lobby, doing card tricks for some of the bellmen and waiters. He treats them with the same dignity and respect that he treats kings and presidents and celebrities. Everytime I'm around him, I'll consider it an honor and a privilege. ***************** Nobody asked me, but... * The fighter who most vexed Ali wasn't Joe Frazier. It was Ken Norton. His unorthodox, left-handed approach simply befuddled the champ. * Ali's mom, Odessa, simply was one of the nicest people I've ever met. * Ali was so big and so popular and important that he ruined boxing because the sport will never be able to replace him. Mike Tyson? Puh-leeze. * The Ali-Frazier bout in Manila may have been the most riveting sporting event of the last century. And Mark Kram's account of it in Sports Illustrated is as good as it gets when it comes to sports journalism. * Ali's wife, Lonnie, is simply the best thing that's happened to him since he became friends with Howard Bingham, the photographer who's destined to be remembered as Ali's Boswell. http://www.kentuckyconnect.com/heraldleader/news/013101/kcbreeddocs/31breed.htm ***************