Fanscape

Sporting News, The, May 12, 2003 by Stuart Miller

Ali in any format: The Greatest

The footage is old, the faces familiar; the phrases have echoed around the world for 30 years. Seeing Cassius Clay boastfully declare, "I am the greatest!" before toppling Sonny Liston is nothing new. Yet the riveting first hour of Muhammad Ali: The Greatest still has the sting of something fresh, like seeing the whole picture after years of wearing blinders.

Frederick Klein's rarely shown documentary from the 1970s . is getting both a DVD and a limited theatrical release. Ali is less about the fights--shown only in snapshots--than the world they inhabited. Klein's knack was for the indelible image or quote. The 1964-65 black-and-white segment features quick cuts and innovative angles that invigorate scenes showing both the fighter's astonishing physique as he trains and his tireless charm as he clowns with the Beatles. Klein captures Clay's white "syndicate" of backers talking about their fighter in terms that today sound uncomfortably proprietary. Later, Malcolm X articulately explains how Ali's exuberant confidence inspires black people and therefore is dangerous for white people. There are also the musings of forgotten voices such as New York writer and disc jockey Joe Bostic and writer Finley Campbell, who calls Ali "an independent hipster, the jazzman turned boxer."

The second act (in color), Ali's Rumble in the Jungle with George Foreman, has its moments but lacks the dramatic momentum of the inspired 1996 film When We Were Kings (also just out on DVD). still, given the choice between today's increasingly irrelevant boxing world and this movie's mix of fisticuffs, human drama and theatrics, there's no question: Ali remains the greatest.

How to ... Play poker with the big boys

Don't deny it. You're tempted. Everywhere you look there is an article about Positively Fifth Street, the story of James McManus going to cover the World Series of Poker for a magazine and playing instead, finishing fifth and winning $247,000 against the world's top pros. You think: "I could do that."

Before you hop that plane to Vegas, you better be ready. Be like Mac--read plenty of poker primers by pros David Sklansky and TJ Cloutier and practice on computer programs for countless hours. Then, when you're going head-tohead with these pros, be ready to face intimidation. The pros will push you to bet over your head or overplay your cards. Don't do it. "If the pros see you as a conservative rock who only plays pots with strong cards, they'll give you more respect than you often get in a friendly home game," McManus says. Then, when you raise them, they'll actually fold.

And don't forget poker requires lots of luck. McManus brought a half-dozen

lucky hats and kept pictures of his wife and kids in his shirt pocket or on the table. It worked for him.

From the lab to the net--French connection

If springtime in Paris sets you daydreaming about Roland Garros instead of romance, make a date with Babolat. U.S. tennis pro Andy Roddick loves Babolat's Pure Drive racket. So, when the French company came out with the VS NCT Drive (unstrung $209) and VS NCT Control ($199) aimed at us normal folks, Fanscape checked it out.

NCT stands for Nano Carbon Technology--the rackets were built with carbon tubes using nanotechnology, which is the spaceage manipulation of materials on an atomic level. Though it's strange--actually incomprehensible--that NASA scientists spend time moving molecules to improve Fanscape's forehand, the racket certainly works wonders, especially when combined with the old-fashioned natural gut strings that made Babolat famous.

With these light but well-balanced rackets, the ball stays on the strings longer, giving extra control and more spin, yet it still jumps off with zing. Getting the power of a stiff racket without the awkward can't-feel-the-ball effect apparently comes not just from nanotubes but also from Babolat's Dual Woofer shock absorbing system. Sometimes it's better not to ask.

Sultan of swap: rare Bambino jersey up for bids

There are only six known Babe Ruth Yankees uniforms, and Lelands.com is auctioning off a flannel, pinstriped one with "G.H. Ruth" stitched beneath the collar. Bids are being accepted online and by telephone until May 30; Lelands.com president Michael Heffner says the winner may have to shell out $500,000. You can get a genuine, live major league rookie for less than that.

E-mail comments or suggestions to fanscape@sportingnews.com.