Transcendence

As Ali turns 65 there are some great photos of his fights on si.com. Looking through them this morning I noticed the dates. The range from the 60's through the early 80's and in each one he looks like an entirely stunning athlete and champion. Back in the days, the heavyweight champion of the world meant something not only to boxing fans, but to the culture at large. In my lifetime Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan have had that affect on their sports. People care about the events that they are in, and it's far more than the fans of the sport. These figures transcend the particularly athletic skill they have and somehow become icons.
I'll take the argument that Jordan wouldn't be Jordan without Magic and Bird to pave the way right before. I'll even take the argument that Tiger Woods has not yet proven to be a better athlete than Jack Nicklaus, but somehow with three figures that doesn't seem to matter. It's not necessarily logically and you can't stack it up with stats sometimes, but at some level most people feel that it is true.