George Foreman is 54 years old. He says he wants to try to win the heavyweight title again.
Maybe it's a publicity stunt. Hopefully, the closest he gets to a ring is his gig as an HBO commentator.
Foreman is one of the great sports phenomenons. Few have defied the skeptics so resoundingly or reinvented themselves so masterfully.
He was 38, weighed more than 300 pounds and had been out of boxing for 10 years when he launched his first comeback in 1987. Everyone ridiculed him but the joke was on us. He demonstrated the power, desire and skill, if not the Adonis physique. He even briefly held the title after knocking out Michael Moorer in 1994. He shocked the world, or at least those who follow boxing.
Even more remarkable was Foreman's personality makeover, from surly to sunshine. He smiled, he gabbed, he poked fun at his training regimen. He cultivated photo ops with plates of cheeseburgers and then made a fortune on George Foreman grills.
He personified Don King's "Only in America" adage. Somehow, he pulled it off. Not just the unbelievable comeback or stupefying image transformation, but the rarest of all boxing feats: He stopped fighting with his faculties intact and bank account bloated.
Let's keep it that way. Fifty-four-year-olds don't belong in the ring, unless they're the referee.
Talent of foreign players only makes NBA stronger
The scene: ESPN7's coverage of the 2031 NBA draft:
Gov. Charles Barkley: "I know the Gladiators are looking at the 8-foot kid from Madagascar."
Marv Albert Jr.: "Well, let's send it back to the podium, where David Stern III has the next pick."
Stern: "With the third selection of the first round, the Mexico City Mudcats choose Abdul Mohammed from the Baghdad Bagpipes of the Arab League."
Sound ridiculous? Then check out Thursday's draft. This is not your father's NBA. It's not even your big brother's.
The NBA's foreign invasion is escalating unabated, from a trickle in the 1980s - remember when Detlef Schrempf was a novelty? - to a tidal wave. Last season, three of the top seven picks hailed from the far-flung locales of Brazil, Georgia and China.
What nook of the Earth isn't producing basketball talent? New Zealand did better than the United States at the World Championships last summer. New Zealand. San Antonio won the NBA title with a French point guard. Dallas has a German, Canadian and Mexican in key roles. ESPN.com projects 11 foreigners, from such outposts as Senegal and Poland, among the 29 first-round picks Thursday.
It's no longer the NBA, it's the IBA - International Basketball Association. The globalization of the sport is making the league stronger than ever.
