My cuz just added a new shirt to his No Mas “The Greatest” Collection (the officially licensed Muhammad Ali line). Here’s the description from the No Mas NYC online store, where it is now available for purchase…
Ali Track Meet
One thing that never has been disputed about Muhammad Ali – the man was a seriously soft touch. In 1976, the sports promoter Harold Smith was sponsoring a young sprinter, Houston McTear, who could count world-class speed amongst his possessions, but very little else. McTear’s family lived in abject poverty in the Florida panhandle. When Smith managed to get an audience with Ali and showed him a picture of the McTear house, Ali wrote him a $30,000 check on the spot. “Go buy that family a house,” the Champ said.
That gesture of magnanimous philanthropy, one of many such moments in Ali’s life, lead to the organization of the Muhammad Ali Invitational Track Meet. Smith arranged for McTear to meet Ali, and after the two talked for a while Ali wanted to know if it was true, as he’d heard, that McTear was the fastest man in the world. McTear said that there were other sprinters nearly as fast, and that every time they raced a different one of them won. Well, Ali reasoned, why not get all of these guys together and find out who’s the best once and for all?
Smith said he would, and probably to Ali’s considerable surprise, he actually did it! The event he organized in Ali’s name became a staple of the indoor track circuit in the late 70’s and early 80’s and featured many world class athletes and record-breaking performances during its run. At the 1979 Ali (as it was called amongst track-heads back then) in Long Beach, CA, there was even a celebrity 800-meter race that featured high-jumper Dwight Stones, former WBA heavyweight champ (and former Ali sparring partner) Jimmy Ellis, jockey Angel Cordero, and U.S. Senator Alan Cranston. Ali was present in the arena that day, but for some reason elected not to run the celeb race himself. Maybe he just didn’t want to embarrass the field. After all, The Greatest™ liked to say about his speed – “I’m so fast that last night I turned off the light switch in my hotel room and I was in bed before the room was dark.”
If you missed the story in the NY Times Magazine about the No Mas and Muhammad Ali partnership, check it out HERE. And for all things No Mas related, including the online store (where they have other Muhammad Ali shirts for sale and of course lots of other dope threads), click the link below. Their site is mad thorough.
Westcheddar 