Why I Will Not Mourn the Death of Muhammed Ali

     While the rest of the world seems intent on mourning the death of and praising the life of Muhammed Ali, and insistent on portraying him as some sort of teddy bear with a wicked punch, we here at Bloody Nib Manor refuse to do so. Of course, we feel for his family. But not for him. And the reason is this:
     Muhammed Ali, more than any one person in sports and in popular culture, made "trash talking" in public acceptable and even accepted. For better or worse, previous to his arrival on the scene sportsmen pretended to be men of gentlemanly qualities in public. They may have slightly disparaged their opponents, but they did not denigrate them as if they were Greeks and Trojans meeting on the Illian plains aiming spears at one another. Ali started the coarsening of the sports world. He contributed to the coarsening of the culture of the society as a whole. The bragging, the posing the loud mouth antics have become a staple of contemporary life. And it's no damn good. It's a celebration of the lower instincts while, in fact, as hypocritical as it may sound, the sports world, the entertainment world and the wealthy world, should, for their own survival and well-being, and for society as a whole, promote civility instead of celebrating the lower class values and behaviour. Because the Barbarians are at the gates of civilization. Ali was their scout and termite. When it all collapses in a jumble of trash talk and bragging blame Ali.