Muhammad Ali turned 70 today ... and I'm not feeling so young myself

I've seen Muhammad Ali in person twice. Both times were in Atlanta, at sporting spectacles, neither of them boxing.

The first time was 1996. It was the Opening Ceremonies of the Summer Olympics. We didn't know who was going to light the cauldron. One famous athlete after another moved the torch forward. Janet Evans, the great distance swimmer, was the last person to run with the torch, carrying up a steep ramp. Then we saw Ali, and it was electrifying.

But even from my seat in the stadium, you could tell his arm was trembling from the effects of Parkinson's Syndrome. I know I wasn't the only person in the world in those moments who hoped he wouldn't drop the torch. He didn't, of course.

The second occasion was on Jan. 29, 2000, the day before the Super Bowl between Kurt Warner's St. Louis Rams and the Tennessee Titans. He dropped by the lounge of the Super Bowl's media center workroom because a special feed had been arranged to show Mike Tyson's fight with Julian Francis live from Manchester, England, hours before it was aired on tape by Showtime.

I read a story that said Ali shadowboxed during the first round, the only round he stayed to watch. That's not how I remember it, though it was 12 years ago. I recall Ali holding a glass or a glass bottle of something, and thought it was stupid someone gave him that when he trembled as much as he did. Ali only stayed for that first round, and Tyson knocked out Francis 63 seconds into in Round 2.

Ali knew.

Now he's 70. Man, I hate it when famous people get old.