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Ali shook up the sports media world when he arrived back home in the United States. The first sports media person he called for an exclusive one on one interview was a little known sports talk show host in Washington, DC, Harold Bell. The rest is sports media history. Ali made him “THE CHOSEN ONE.”
Every radio and television sports talk show you hear and see is similar to the Original Inside Sports. The NFL-NBA-MLB-NHL have copied his community reach-back programs. They are now promoting in every community in America where there is a pro franchise.
When I read that Sports Illustrated Magazine had named Lebron James “SPORTSPERSON of the Year” ‘The Activist Athlete’ an editor asked NBA Hall of Fame player Kareen Abdul-Jabbar to write the column on James receiving the Muhammad Ali Legacy Award. Jabbar said, “The editor suggested I mention something about LeBron’s picking up the social justice torch that Ali and I had carried. I would like to believe I’m still carrying it.” Kareem is thinking real high of himself if he is comparing himself to Muhammad Ali. He is better off comparing himself with LeBron James whom he outshines in the civil and human rights–not Ali.
Harold Bell is the Godfather of Sports Talk radio and television in Washington, DC. Throughout the mid-sixties, seventies and eighties, Harold embarked upon a relatively new medium–-sports talk radio with classic interviews with sports celebrities, politicians and news makers of the day. The show and format became wildly popular. Harold has been an active force fighting for the rights of children for almost 50 years with the help of his wife Hattie through their charity Kids In Trouble, Inc. To learn more about Harold Bell visit his official web site.
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