On many occasions, I have had the honor of listening to Bone Daddy, the original Sportsphile, talk about the many inspiring moments he has seen in his many years of watching sporting events….be it live at the ballpark….or live on television…..which include stories like the Miracle On Ice, when the young amateurs from the USA took down the mighty Russians on Olympic ice…..or cancer ridden Canadian Terry Fox, who ran across Canada on one leg and a prosthetic leg…..or the story of one-armed MLB pitcher Jim Abbott….or the story of Erik Weihenmayer, the blind man to climb Mt. Everest….and so many others….but the one seen on this video herewith stands out in his mind….cuz the viewer can see how legendary singer Ray Charles transfigures boxer Sugar Ray Leonard’s entire mindset for approaching his eminent fight to regain his title from the “street bully” Roberto Duran….who had so roughly snatched his title away from him in their first fight…..and if you watch Ray Charles’s rendition of America The Beautiful over and over….and you pay attention to Leonard’s face while the song is being sung….and then you see Sugar Ray’s demeanor when Charles comes over to talk in his ear….and that is when the true inspiration came for Leonard to literally destroy the psyche of Manos de Piedra (Hands of Stone). You know what!?!….Bone Daddy was right….this rendition of America the Beautiful is truly inspirational….as broadcaster of the fight, Howard Cosell, said….If that didn’t send a chill down your spine, I guess nothing ever will.”
