Its Hard to Be Humble

Across much of the last half of the 20th Century they were major players in American sports. Had they been practitioners of traditional humility, their extraordinary talents alone would have demanded that attention be paid. But there was nothing traditional about Ali and Cosell. A thimble would have contained their humility with room left over.

-- Dave Kindred, on the relationship between Muhammed Ali and Howard Cosell, in his new book, "Sound and Fury: Two Powerful Lives, One Fateful Friendship," quoted in a book review by Frederick Smock.