I got to know Sugar Ray but I certainly would not say we were good friends.

My top three were Jim Brown, Wilt Chamberlain and Bo Jackson.

It's kind of ironic that the two sports with the greatest characters, boxing and horse racing, have both been on the decline. In both cases it's for the lack of a suitable hero.

If I got paid, it was no more than five dollars a column, and I still think I was overpaid.

I began learning the sportswriting business very early in life.

My writing improved the more I wrote - and the more I read good writing, from Shakespeare on down.

I was also in love with the English language.