The news of MUHAMMAD ALI's death marks what SportsREDEF and MusicREDEF's MATTY KARAS calls "the worst year in recorded history and still seven months left for it to get worse." Certainly a contender, given all the talent that has passed this year. My Dad left me some gifts: Street smarts, chutzpah, a lifetime on a psychiatrist's couch and MUHAMMAD ALI. I was born on March 26, 1971 and weeks before Ali fought JOE FRAZIER in "The Fight of the Century" at MADISON SQUARE GARDEN on March 8, 1971. A star-studded event. Mom and Dad were there and they bought souvenir boxing gloves that were placed in my room at birth. When I was old enough to read I knew how to spell what I could already say: MUHAMMAD ALI, the greatest of all time. GOAT. Growing up he and his make believe on-air foil HOWARD COSELL were favorites. Some of the most entertaining TV ever. And Ali, maybe the most famous man that ever lived. Larger than life. Superb athlete. Thinking man. Role model. Revolutionary. Handsome. Eloquent quote machine. Funny. Political. Superhero. Brash. And so much more. Something the world had never quite seen before. Both white and black AMERICA. And for all the divides that exist today, the chasms were bigger then. As he said: “I am America. I am the part you won't recognize. But get used to me. Black, confident, cocky; my name, not yours; my religion, not yours; my goals, my own; get used to me.” He was electrifying to watch and listen to. So much to say about him, I'm a bit flustered. More in the coming days. He was sport, and he was much more than sport. Remembrances, essays, vintage videos and news stories about one of the 20th century's towering cultural figures in our new REDEF SportsSET: Float Like a Butterfly, Sting Like a Bee: Remembering the Greatest, Muhammad Ali... I'd love to interview TRUMP. No shot he walks and talks over me... When you're more technically savvy than customer service... Happy Birthday to RON LOUIS MWANGAGUHUNGA and FRED GOLDRING.