Brits Booed at Beijing Closing Ceremony

Amusingly, the Internet is rife with chatter about how the British sucked it up at the Beijing closing ceremony. Nobody can compete with China now.

The Chinese outdid themselves during this Olympics and the boring and embarrassingly uncreative Brits have no hope of even coming close to what will no doubt go down as the most incredible Olympics of our lifetime.

The Brits put on a cardboard pseudo-Stomp performance that had audiences worldwide yawning and wondering what more than sheer gaul could have propelled the British to once take over the world. A poorly designed, unattractive and seemingly malfunctioning double decker bus was the centerpiece of a little show they put on to introduce the world to how much they will embarrass themselves in 2012 when London hosts the next summer Olympics.

London's new mayor, that twittering idiot Boris Johnson who symbolizes so well the authenticity of a true social-climbing Brit (is there any other kind?) was just the icing on the cake of a performance so laughable that Leona Lewis was matched with Jimmy Page in a feebly arranged song number that nobody could hear and that had no bearing whatsoever on any theme relevant to Olympics, sports, the world, humanity, sportsmanship or any number of other obvious themes.

Well done Britain! Doubtless, most of the world was happy to see you soil yourself on the international stage. Even the dancers in the number looked embarrassed to be there.

George W. Bushler -- Olympic Chimp

No, folks, this is not a chimp or a bonobo in the crowd -- it's the leader of the greatest superpower in the world...


It is the most global sporting event and every time the Olympics come around everybody talks about sportsmanship, not politics. But everything is politics, friends -- even sports.

Fortunately, the audience at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics had the decency to show their disrespect to George W. Bushler and his coked up wife (or whatever it is in her system that keeps her mouth shut and her hand from choking Georgey's neck).

But the good thing about George W. Bushler is that he's the gift that keeps on giving. Yes, he has no respect for humanity, Yes, he has no respect for international law, but best of all, he also has no respect for himself.

That explains why cameras focusing on the Bushler as he sat in the audience during the opening ceremony repeatedly caught him slouching wide-legged, grimacing like only a Bushler (or an ogre) can and taking regular obvious peeks at his watch (which, in all fairness, he can't really read since it's not digital).

In fact, the only two times he sat at attention -- beaming that "presidential" pose that has fooled many a million Americans -- was when the olympic team from Iraq feebled out onto the track -- waving what was left of their tattered nation's flag, and of course, the USA team -- for whom he troubled an ovation. Not that anyone cared.

C'mon Bushler! Don't strain yourself -- your legacy is irrelevant now, at least give yourself a break from the acting.

Enjoy the Olympics folks -- it's a welcome break from the hideousness of the Wart on Terror and its related horrors...

FIFA is a Thief-a: Suspends Iran

It is a hypocritical and farcical state of affairs in Europe wherein they will engage in all sorts and ranges of business relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran yet will freely castigate Iran via the statutes of major European-based international institutions, i.e. the UN and FIFA. If the Islamic Republic of Iran is so bad (which it is), then why is Europe willing to overlook that when it comes to profit? And why does Iran allow itself to be played the fool in such a way?

Beyond the comedy of the UN nuclear stand-off with Iran, today we have a new item on the checklist of European hypocrisy toward Iran: FIFA, the international soccer/football federation which is based in Europe has announced that Iran is officially suspended from the organization since it failed to meet a November 15th deadline to follow a prescribed course of rules which FIFA demands, including the return of Iranian soccer federation president Mohammad Dadkan.

Officially, FIFA says that it has suspended the Iranian team because of "government interference in football matters." And as usual, the completely powerless President Ahmadinejad who is nothing more than a mouthpiece for the regime, has been at the center of accusations. The same thing has happened recently to Greece and to Kenya for the same reasons. But as we all know, in all of the nations where soccer/football is one of the major national sports, government interference goes without saying. So what is this really all about?

Well, first off, it's about sheer contempt: FIFA has suspended Iran just one week after Iran successfully qualified for the Asian Cup 2007.

But mostly, this is about a power struggle: Iran doesn't like to be dictated to and FIFA doesn't like insubordination or even the suggestion of it: Iran has been very open about its interests in controlling as much as possible of the administration of Iran's team within FIFA and FIFA doesn't like the sound of that, especially since they are quite keen on Dadkan and the IRI is not.

What will be the end result? Iran will not have been dictated to. FIFA will have exerted its power. Then Iran will follow the rules. FIFA will accept. Iran will be back in the game. It's playground stuff folks, but as we all know, it ain't easy growin' up!

Updates: Borat, Darrell Hair, The Queen

There are some news items that never go away: criminal activities funnelled through government sluices, human rights violations in developing countries and underground human rights violations in "developed" countries... The list is endless and unfortunately it includes such terribly annoying elements as Borat, Darrell Hair and Frau Queen herself, the matriarch of English national thievery? Ah, blogging is so much fun.

Borat

First off, Borat... As the Saccharinist has reported in the past (here and here), the comedian behind Borat, a Mr Sacha Baron Cohen, has conveniently and cleverly fooled millions of people around the world into accepting the fact that in these times of religious prejudice against Muslims, there is nothing wrong with an Orthodox Jew openly mocking Muslims. Borat, and Ali G, if you recall (Baron Cohen's two biggest moneymakers) are indeed blithering caricatures of Muslim stereotypes. What's so hypocritical about Baron Cohen is that he portrays himself as fighting prejudice, but limits the fight to anti-semitism while at the same time propagating prejudice against Muslims. Doesn't really highlight his human rights credentials now, does it?

But enough with the bigotry, let's get on to more pressing issues along the lines of this blog -- is it any surprise to anyone that Mr Baron Cohen is in fact half-Iranian? Yes, indeed, as the UK Guardian (amongst thousands of other sources) published awhile ago, Baron Cohen's mother Daniella Weiser is in fact an Iranian Jew who was born in Israel. What a shame that she never got a chance to grow up in her own country where Iranian Jews are content to live as the largest population of Jews in the Middle East, outside of Israel itself. Guess she missed out big-time!

Darrell Hair

Speaking of Bigots...let's move right along to one Darrell Hair...As the Saccharinist reported in late August, Herr Hair is a professional cricket umpire who has been openly known for years for being racist against South Asian players. This Australian's hatred and prejudice has been so intense and so persistent that it was a well known fact. The question is, or should I say, was, why Herr Hair was allowed for so very long to exhibit his racism publicly in such an unsportsmanlike fashion? Very simply: why was the racist Darrell Hair allowed to continue in his job for so many years? There is no acceptable or honest explanation for that.

However, as karma has it, there are two kinds of bad people in this world: those who are diplomatic and those who are not. See, the (really underhanded) diplomatic ones have a posse of "friends" who protect them because there's no harm in it, the undiplomatic ones eventually run out of support. Mr Hair fits in the second category and finally this week he was relieved of his duty (i.e. the world was relieved of his dooty) and fired from his job umpiring international cricket. A small victory long-time coming is better than no victory at all, I suppose.

Frau Queen

And finally, to round off our update on international bigots, who better than the Queen herself? These days she's all over the English and Commonwealth press because it's Veteran's day (actually, the English call it Remembrance Day) tomorrow -- a day when she parades around town and tabloid attempting to show the world that she gives a toss that thousands, millions of soldiers lost their lives so she can hold on to a bounty of wealth, land, and power she neither earned, nor deserves, nor does anything positive with. She is, after all, a grand thief whose personal expenses alone (including her royal ass-wiper -- em, arse-wiper) could eliminate poverty in most African nations overnight.

Besides, as the Guardian newspaper (amongst others) has reported time and again, the "English royals" aren't even English, they're German. Fancy that! How sympathetic is a German whose family has proven Nazi connections, to soldiers most of whom died in the wars against Germany in the last century? Exactly.

Cricket for Racists

Pakistan cricket captain Inzamam ul Haq sums up the farce that was yesterday's historic and racist first-ever forfeiture in 129 years of the sport.

In these days, the boundaries between politics and everyday life have been so atrociously blurred that not only are civilians paying the price for racist and prejudiced political maneuvering such as the still unconfirmed so-called "airplane terror plot" in the UK, but institutions once intended as benign leisure have also entered the ring of fire.

After the way Zinedine Zidane was treated during the World Cup final, there have been other incidents of post-September-11th racism in the world of sport that have marred the entire concept of sportsmanship while undeniably demonstrating the leashless power of the West --its governing bodies and institutions of all sorts -- to insult, denigrate and disrespect the ethnicities, cultures and religions of the great majority of the world that does not include them.

At the beginning of August, there was the almost comical, had it not been unabashed, incident of the Australian cricket commentator Dean Jones just days before the August 11 UK "terror-plot" incident pampered the Western media's desperate need to criminalize and antagonize a large number of people including, but not limited to: Muslims, Middle Easterners, South Asians, and Africans. In what Jones readily admits is not a personal fault but a shortcoming of the nature of broadcasting, after a Muslim South African cricket player, Hashim Amla (who happens to have a beard), made a play in a match against Sri Lanka Jones blurted out that "the terrorist has got another wicket." Jones, clearly despondent that his comment was made during a commercial break that unfortunately was broadcast in South Africa managed to apologize, though seemingly more for the technical difficulties than his clearly racist remark. "I...made a stupid, ridiculous off-the-wall comment that unfortunately was picked up in the background and, as television people always know, the microphone is always live," he said.

Jones was reprimanded and fired by the Dubai-based broadcasting company he was covering the match for (though the Australian radio station he usually commentates for has welcomed him back with open arms, naturally), but it seems likely he would have gotten away with it had he done it just a few days later, considering the fiasco that is now the Pakistan-England test match.

Yesterday, a well-known racist and cricket umpire with a history of false accusations against Muslim and South Asian cricket players, Darrell Hair, who also happens to be an Australian, halted play during the final match of a series between England and Pakistan to accuse the Pakistan team of tampering with the cricket ball. The series was 2-0 in favor of England and Pakistan was set to win the final match when the incident occurred. Hair, who has provided no evidence of tampering, has failed to accuse any single person of having tampered and who initiated and encouraged the series of events that caused Pakistan to forfeit the match, is thus far silent amidst the imbroglio he is undoubtedly relishing.

What does it take to be named and shamed as a racist? What does it take to be fired from a high profile or even a low profile position once you have been shamed as a racist? These are questions that have no answers in the West -- cricket umpires and commentators aside, an alarming number of Western political leaders have made statements, policies and comments that are clearly racist -- including, but not limited to Dickity Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, George W. Bush, Condoleezza Rice, Joe Lieberman, Tony Blair, Silvio Berlusconi, Nicolas Sarkozy, Angela Merkel, and John Reid, just to shame a few who are making headlines these days.

For the first time in a long time, Pakistan is taking a stand against the West to redeem its own dignity -- the Pakistan cricket team staged a protest shortly after the bogus call was made during yesterday's match -- a protest that led to the forfeiture of the match. They have now announced that they will no longer accept Hair as an umpire and it remains to be seen what final decision the International Cricket Board takes -- though so far they have sided with the hair-raising ploys of racism. Unsurprisingly, the Western-puppet president of Pakistan has taken this cricket fiasco as an opportunity to redeem himself to his people -- as if he had a choice: this is sport and not politics, after all -- and is siding with the team.

Zidance Tops Again

In our continuing effort to cheer up, the Saccharinist provides you with the latest in the Zinedine Zidane head-butt saga: a chart topping French pop song called Coup de Boule (meaning 'headbutt') from LaPlage Records devoted to the grand finale of World Cup 2006. The chorus says it all:

The guido, he was hurt
Zidane hit [him]
The Italian's not doing well
Zidane slapped [him]
The ref saw it on the TV
Zidane hit [him]
But we lost the World Cup
We had a good laugh anyways
Zidane, he hit [him], Zidane, he slapped [him] (Headbutt!) 4x

Click here to listen to the song. And click here to read the French lyrics and an English translation. It's actually a very catchy song with reggae undertones that seems to have been sung by African francophones because of the accent... Enjoy!

Zidane Head-Butt Game

I promise! This is the last Zidane head-butt post....Do check out this awesome game and let go some of that post-World Cup tension.

3 Strikes Motherazzi

And there you have it folks, Materazzi did indeed insult Zidane's mother, not to mention his sister, too. And, according to Zidane's interview on French TV about the incident, it happened more than once. He apologized for doing it but said he has no regrets and added that "the real culprit is the person who provoked it.

Rumors Head On...

The latest rumours as to why Zidane headbutted Materazzi include, according to the French website Nouvelobs.com:

--According to Brazil's TV Globo and its band of Brazilian lipreading specialists, Materazzi called Zidane's sister a prostitute and followed that with an unidentified insult against Zidane himself

--According to the British Independent newspaper, Materazzi insulted Zidane's Algerian origins and possibly also implicated him in a doping scandal from days in Italy at Juventus

--According to the British Guardian newspaper, Materazzi called Zidane a terrorist

--According to one of Zidane's cousins, he must have been called a terrorist in which case the cousin says "he had a right to react as he did"

--According to France's telejournalist Bernard Tapie, the insult must have been directed at Zidane's mother

Well, clearly the rumors abound and persist but it seems certain that Materazzi, not Zidane, will ultimately be the butt of reproach once we find out what was really said. Nonetheless, Materazzi for his part has denied any reference to Zidane being a terrorist stating only that "the whole world saw exactly what happened on television."

France Loses Its Head

When Zinedine Zidane torro'ed his way into Marco Materazzi's chest last night I realized that only one of two things must have provoked it: Materazzi either insulted Zizou's mother or made a racist comment. The sleuths are out investigating and it is only a matter of time before we find out the truth. It soiled Italy's win and France's loss but I don't believe it will be a lasting image of Zidane's legacy -- it may be that he used his head (literally) because his right hand was bandaged and incapable of delivering the blow Materazzi undoubtedly warranted on himself. But this is not the first time Zizou has head-butted an opponent and been penalized for it. In 2000, while a player for Juventus he did the same to Hamburg's Jochen Kientz who, unlike Materazzi, was actually seriously injured: a concussion and a fractured cheek bone. In the end, the saddest part of it all was that Zidane was not allowed onto the pitch to receive the 2nd place medal along with his team --that's just cruel.

This extraordinary behavior is embarrassing and unbecoming of a world class athlete, which is what has most upset his fans. But Zidane is a remarkable symbol of racing past the odds of racism and poverty to reach the heights of one's field. This more than anything will be his legacy. And the Golden Ball award for the Best Player of the tournament is a testament to his character and ability on the pitch (fortunately, it was voted on before the whole bullfight incident).

As for the Italians, it was a well-deserved win and Camoranesi rightly announced at the end of the penalty shoot-out that this win was for Roberto Baggio -- the 1994 captain who famously missed the crucial penalty kick against Brazil in the finals and lost the game for Italy. Had it not been for the red card, the game would have been a sensation in World Cup finals history and nonetheless was the most exciting one I've ever watched. Bravo Italia!

Megafinale Weekend

The sports megaweekend began today with a boring-till-the-last-game Amelie Mauresmo win and a horrible game by Portugal in the 3rd place World Cup game.

Mauresmo is, despite appearances, actually a very sweet-sounding young lady who is charismatic with the press, if not on the court. (Besides, every single Wimbledon fan will adore her eternally for shutting off that gasket known as Maria Sharapova.) Henin-Hardenne is bland and colorless -- if you saw her on the street you'd think she's a check-out clerk -- and for reasons beyond my comprehension, wears a sports bra while playing. Overall, the match was mundane until Mauresmo fired up her will in the last game and forced her first-ever Wimbledon title.

Speaking of Wimbledon, I'm still debating whether Sue Barker, the BBC host of the games, wears a wig -- either that or she's got some very fake looking hair. I can't help thinking everytime I see her face how she looks so similar to Cliff Richard who she has famously shagged, as they say. The British and their sexcapades always evoke a chuckle and then a twinge -- like imagining Hyacinth Bucket even trying to kiss someone. Barker spends most of her time either stating or prompting her interviewees to state that Wimbledon is a "special place," every little tennis player's "dream come true." Gimme a break. We're talking about a center court with all its grass fading in all the wrong places, ridiculously long rain delays and an All England Club that can't even produce its own national champion. Wimbledon, like all things famously British is merely famous because it's been around so long, not at all because it offers any particular charm or wonder.

In fact, it doesn't even offer the champions an actual trophy. The overdone military affair known as the award ceremony (wherein the cavewomen in long outdated skirts who officiate the matches are paraded for our viewing unrest) involves carefully constructed photo opportunities of the champion with a huge gold plaque/trophy that s/he never even gets to take off court (merely getting a smaller silver replica). It is in short a farcical display of keeping up appearances not unlike many British "traditions."

Moving right along to a Portugal national football team that can get the ball past the midfield line only to brainlessly pass it back and forth in hopes that the opponent will (a) commit a foul in trying to obtain it or (b) simply obtain it. The Portughese, with rare exceptions, have very little idea how to get the ball closer to the goal, let alone get it in there. Germany won a well-deserved victory tonight against a team with amazing players (Figo, Valente, and Ronaldo, who despite his boyish coyishness is an extremely good player undeserving of the taunts and hisses the audience has gifted him in this World Cup) who simply can't convert.

Tomorrow will, no doubt, be far far more exciting with the Federer v Nadal final and the Italy v France. It is at these times that we witness how huge a gap truly exists between the finals players and the runners up. Let the games begin!

What a Game...

......................"Grosso Goal" -- Fabio Grosso's 119th minute goal that shattered German's World Cup hope


Though Germany held its ground, Italy was clearly the better team last night and in one of those magical movie moments in sports, with just a minute remaining Italy dramatically altered the course of the game with not one but two unstoppable goals. Germany had very obviously wound down its game with about 5 minutes left in the second overtime, no doubt anxious for a glorious penalty shoot-out -- a Russian roulette in football rules that Germany usually wins. Teaching us all a life lesson, Germany witnessed firsthand how letting your guard down even at the very end of the game is not a wise choice.

Viva Italia! The Final is certainly going to be unbelieveably exciting...

Grumps and Sports

The Saccharinist is back from holiday and ready to analyze this week's amazing sporting ventures. Let's start with Wimbledon...Now, I'm not one to be fickle -- I've been a great fan of Roger Federer since he beat out that bushy-browed wimp Pete Sampras in the 2001 Wimbledon. However,I have become quite keen on this younger-than-he-looks Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis, for several reasons. First of all, he's damn good. Second, his name is very curious -- I have no doubt his ancestors are from that sacred valley between the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers, the name says it all. And Third, I do enjoy a cheery chap on the grass -- not like that grump Andy Murphy who never even breaks a smile.

Which reminds me, what about that Maria Sharapova? Today a happy streaker cartwheeled his way into her quarterfinal match against Elena Dementieva (yes, it sounds like she's demented, not a great name in a superficial world where names can have such a huge impact on anything and everything, just ask Michael Dukakis) and she didn't bat an eye! At least Elena held back a smile -- what less could a person do, I ask, when head to, errm, head with such a scenario? Besides, just when we could lean back and watch tennis without Monica Seles's horrificly screeching grunts, Sharapova has brought them back with a vengeance, especially noticeable when her mood (and game) is down.

Nope, nobody likes a grump, unless he's the sort like Irakli Labadze of Georgia or that all-time great John McEnroe who throw rackets and rake up fines for swearing and being amusingly disruptive. Now that's a real champion: someone who wins and entertains.

Speaking of boring old grumps, the Germans are set to play the Italians in the World Cup semifinal which, according to that hero of yore Juergen Klinsmann will be a surefire win. It's strange to admit that for so long I used to be a fan of German football (in the Berlin wall days, of course). Now, I could care less. They're personality just doesn't win me over like their underdog status used to so many years ago. And I, along with the rest of the seeing world, could do without another barrage of Angela "I-like-my-wiener" Merkel on my tv set. Klinsmann and his team may win, but only to the detriment of an already weak worldwide opinion of the Germans.

In short, this week will be an international fiesta of sport...may the best (ie. the ones I'm supporting) players win...

Offside Rule Explained

Welcome to Offside Anonymous, a secret support group for avid football fans who, despite years of service to watching the game, still aren't exactly sure what that weirdo checkered flag man did everytime your team was about to score. The following is a guide to understanding the offside rule...

Here's the easy part. An offensive player cannot be ahead of any defensive player on the pitch, as so:

The hard part, though is that the offensive player can indeed be ahead of any defensive player if, once the ball is kicked, he rushes ahead of the defense and receives the ball:

The key is: watch the ball!

The ball determines the offside line.

No offensive player can ever be ahead of the ball.

Whirl Cup Science

You know how you kept shouting at Croatia yesterday to convert a goal, but they kept coming close and missing the box? As the world has done for several generations now, you can blame the Germans. See, what the Croatians, Iranians and other disappointed World Cup teams may not know is that this year's fancy football design (with those infinity-symbol panels in black and white) is actually much more than a pretty face: according to scientists, the new design is having an impact on the ball's performance in the air.

Adidas's Teamgeist football, as it is called, has 14 panels, instead of the traditional 26 or 32, thereby causing the ball to bounce about unpredictably if there isn't much spin on it -- which, thankfully, only happens rarely. Still, it does happen and can best be observed in slo-mo replays where the goalie is clearly confused about the direction the ball is taking and the kicker is astounded at how far he was from his target. Isn't it great to have someone to blame?

Iran vs. Mexico

Some say the better team won today. The rest of us say football is unpredictable and Iran just got unlucky. But there is still hope because despite the fact that Iran's coach (who is resigning after the World Cup) has seen his day (his inadequate management skills were on display today when, after 2 early subs by Mexico in the second half totally turned the game around he still failed to sub till close to the end of the second half when it was too late) the team has some strong key players (one of which, Zandi, didn't even play today because of an injury) and truly has a chance for a win, if not a second-round advancement.

Besides, as Javad Nekounam demonstrates, there's always something to look forward to when Iran plays....

World Cup Politics

Football, like all sports, is the ultimate in political chivalry: it's all in good fun, let's be good sportsmen, everybody says, but winning is everything. Just remember the 1998 World Cup game when Iran beat the USA...Nobody, not even good ol' home grown farmland Americans could overlook the fact that losing on the football pitch hurt just as bad as at the diplomatic table -- maybe even worse because your voting citizenry actually watch the whole sad event unfold.

So it goes with yet another World Cup -- this time in Germany where, I'm sad to report, the Germans (who I once supported long long ago when they were West Germans and not the shadow sixth member of the UN Security Council headed by an overgrown freckled wart) have already won a match against Costa Rica -- thanks to their methodical playing which makes you want to open up a football handbook and check off one by one the tactics they employ. England's game today was also a no-glow event where Paraguay scored an own goal in the 5th minute and England spent the rest of the game making sure they held onto that 1-0 lead.

Yes, sportmanship is that sweet term politicians use to explain away a pathetic loss to a nation they feel is beneath them. But it's also the epitome of humanity where an embattled and beaten football player extends a hand of help to a fallen member of the opposing team. Too bad politicians aren't sportsmen, too.

Island Fantasy

In the last few years, the English have not hesitated to remind us that they haven't won the World Cup since 1966 (and only then in a very controversial 4-2 win over this year's hosts: the Germans -- chances are slim they'll let it happen again and on their turf) and when the star of that tournament, George Best, passed on this year, the uproar about a new era in English football kicked new life into fans.

Still, few knew quite how desperate the situation was until today -- yes, in a harbinger of coverage to come, BBC Television reached a new low today by broadcasting the entirety of the departure and arrival of the English football team for the World Cup tournament. Yes, folks that's over one hour of live television coverage of a passenger plane being boarded, taking off, landing and being alighted. The departure was, as expected, in an Eastward direction:


The following is photographic evidence of the landing:

For those of you who did not know how international football teams travel, how planes depart and land or what exactly the color of a British Airways airjet might be, decades, perhaps a lifetime of curiousity have finally FINALLY been satiated. May the games commence...

Chessboxing: The Ultimate in Multitasking!

I'm sure the Ancient Persians had just this in mind when they invented chess! I, too, was unaware that experts in Chess and Boxing could bring their talents together in one sport: yes, it's Chessboxing and it really exists. This mighty smart sport even has its very own champion -- the Bulgarian Tihomir 'Tiger' Titschko is Europe's first-ever Heavyweight Chessboxing Champion. Chessboxers go through interchanging four-minute-rounds of chess and two-minute boxing rounds, thus "demand[ing] the most of its competitors - both mentally and physically," according to the World Chess Boxing Organization. Of course, the drawbacks of the sport are immediately obvious -- I mean, you can't stay at the top of an intelligence game when every 2 minutes your brain cells are being knocked out!

Champion, Not Hero

Just watched the Will Smith film ALI for the second time. Same reactions as before, really... Muhammad Ali was an arrogant man whose loyalties lay only with his needs -- those things that satisfied him. For example, his typically cold break from Malcolm X (respectably portrayed by none other than Mario Van Peebles who has, amazingly, come a long way from his young Sweetback days) had nothing to do with religion, but with his inability to accept that the Nation of Islam had questionable practices -- his mentality based on never doubting his own choice to be a member of that group. He later experienced, first-hand, that he was very wrong, but by then Malcolm had long passed. His misogynistic attitudes toward women were successfully portrayed in this film, as well. Nona Gaye (Marvin's wonderfully talented and classically beautiful daughter) truly brought to life Ali's weakest character traits in this respect.

Ali was certainly a man of great contradictions, some of which, like his stance against the U.S. Army draft and his great ability to believe in himself, are worthy of respect. There is no doubt that he was able to stand up for himself. Sadly for him, however, heroes are people who stand up for others.

Muhammad Ali was no hero.