Last week many were commemorating Muhammad Ali's 65th birthday with zeal reminiscent of Roman pagans cheering a triumphant Caesar. As I ponder this, I'm reminded of how people are as quick to forget as they are to condemn.

Don't get me wrong - I like Ali. Although he knocked the veneer of invincibility off Sonny Liston before I was even a twinkle in my father's eye, I'm a great fan of history and have watched more boxing retrospectives than I care to mention. I've probably seen all of Ali's notable bouts and, although I'm no Burt Sugar (you know, the guy with the hat and cigar), I'm sure I know as much about the sport as anyone else who was a pugilist for only one day in camp when he was seven-years-old.

Apropos to the topic, it's time for a rhyme, so enough about me and back to Ali. I do think he was the greatest boxer of all time, and I also believe he was intelligent (not well educated, of course), warm-hearted, and obviously witty. It's also true that Ali is deeply devoted to his religion at this point in his life, as evidenced by his words, deeds, and frequent prayer. This is to be expected. Someone with such a cross to bear (Parkinson's) could find solace only in the more ethereal pursuits.

While all this is true, so is something else: The Ali image has been whitewashed by a media mouth that picked up where the "Louisville Lip" left off. For sure, Ali is portrayed, not just as a legendary sports figure and not even merely as "The Greatest." Rather, he is cast as a larger-than-life hero for the ages (anyone who loosely tosses around the word "hero" should be boiled in oil). Why, I even heard someone on TV liken him to Einstein in terms of greatness. Einstein! Well, anyone who would draw that comparison is, I dare say, no Einstein.

When dealing with such a colorful, controversial, and often polarizing figure, it's easy to descend into hyperbole. If I were to hew to human nature — which means being numb to nuance, slapping either a white or black hat on an individual — I suppose I could blind myself to Ali's humanity and make this piece both more cruel and concise, but I won't demonize him even as the media canonize him. I'll simply say, exercising a smidgeon of rhetorical license, that as a young man he was quite flawed and, well, a dumb jock.