» Simmons Says – the usual collection of thoughts, shots and dots

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The greatest broadcast sounds in boxing history came just after George Foreman delivered a thundering right uppercut in 1973.

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“Down goes Frazier! Down goes Frazier,” shouted Howard Cosell in the  nasally voice that was clearly his calling card. It’s one of those iconic sporting calls that stands by itself. Then and forever.

Foreman became the heavyweight champion of the world that night, annihilating Joe Frazier at a time when being the heavyweight champion of the world truly mattered. He wanted to do the same to Muhammad Ali when they fought in what was then Zaire one year later.

Ali basically invented rope-a-dope against Foreman, in one of the great, confounding, emotional and dramatic fights in boxing history. Foreman was thought to be indestructible, huge, powerful — an Ivan Drago type before there was a fictional Ivan Drago.

After the Ali loss and some mediocre performances, Foreman left boxing, became a minister, somehow turned from nasty to funny — the real-life version of a heel turn — and he returned to the ring old and overweight but shockingly popular.

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By then, he had become the richest boxer in the world, not from winning fights, but from selling grills. The Foreman Grill sold more than 100 million units.

Foreman came back and essentially re-invented himself with the Foreman Nice Guy boxing tour. He won a lot of fights against a lot of nobodies, including Canadian champ Ken Lakusta. That fight took place in Edmonton.

In 1991, Foreman fought the legend Evander Holyfield for the heavyweight title and lost rather handily. Three years later, he got a title shot at the age of 45 against the unlikely champion Michael Moorer.

I was fortunate enough to be ringside for both the Holyfield and Moorer fights. You don’t forget nights like those. Foreman lost almost every round to Moorer before knocking him out in the 10th round with a quick combination. For that one wondrous moment, he still had that power, that prominence.

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Those were the last punches of significance Foreman ever threw. Instead, he went on to sell grills and celebrity. He made his real money outside of boxing.

He was an Olympic champion after Frazier won gold, and after Ali won gold, and was twice heavyweight champion of the world. Foreman would be on the very short list of boxers who have transcended the sport at a time when it included legends such as Ali, Frazier and Mike Tyson.

George Foreman passed away on Friday at the age of 76. His life, his career, his successes, will not be forgotten.

THIS AND THAT

Our old friend George Chuvalo fought Foreman, fought Ali twice, fought Frazier and fought another former champion, Floyd Patterson. Chuvalo is still alive, if not struggling at the age of 87. Ali died at 74; Frazier at 67; Foreman at 76; Patterson at 71. George has outlived all of the men who beat him in the ring … Alexander Ovechkin played his 1,480th NHL game on Saturday. Wayne Gretzky played 1,487 games in his entire career. Wouldn’t it be fun if Ovechkin gets hot and catches Gretzky in career goals before he passes him in games played? … Both have scored at .60 per game pace in their careers. That ranks behind Mike Bossy, Mario Lemieux and, yup, Auston Matthews … Can we please cool the talk of comparing Cale Makar to Bobby Orr? Yes, Makar is a special player, a generational player, as is Quinn Hughes. But when Orr dominated, there was no second best. The past four years, Makar has outscored Hughes 321-301. Each has won a Norris Trophy. In the same four-year period of his career, Orr outscored Pat Stapleton 440-190 among defencemen. He won eight Norris Trophies in a row and two NHL scoring titles. Makar has had 90-point and 86-point seasons in his best scoring years. That has been good enough for 16th and 20th in the league … If you listen to coaches, the No. 1 job of a defenceman in hockey: Don’t get scored on. Chris Tanev has been scored on 29 times at even-strength this season. That is exceptional. Jaccob Slavin, who many people believe is the best defensive defenceman in hockey, has been scored on 45 times. Hughes has been scored on 42 times, Makar 41. Norris candidate Zach Werenski has been scored on 50 times.

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HEAR AND THERE

The situations are similar yet so very different. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Mitch Marner — both with signed contracts for what could be their final seasons in Toronto. Both have produced somewhere between star and superstar level in their respective sport. The Guerrero contract is daily conversation, desperation almost that the Blue Jays sign him. It will be part of the story of this season about to begin. Marner’s contract runs out in just more than three months time. Unlike Guerrero, who is the best Blue Jay, he isn’t the best player on the Maple Leafs. Maybe second best, maybe third best depending on how you view things. So far, neither Marner nor Guerrero have had anything resembling playoff success for teams that have not had it, either. It’s pretty much assumed how much Marner will be worth in free agency. He’s the fourth-leading scorer among wingers in the NHL right now and the 12th-highest paid player. Is he better than Matthews, Nathan MacKinnon, Connor McDavid, the three highest-paid players in the league? No. Marner ranks seventh in the league in scoring, fourth among wingers behind Nikita Kucherov, Kyle Connor and David Pastrnak. Logically, he should be slotted somewhere between what Mikko Rantanen signed for in Dallas and below the top three centres. In Guerrero’s case, there is no salary cap in baseball. Free agency has been out of control in recent off-seasons with overpayments to Juan Soto and Shohei Ohtani. The Blue Jays bid actively on both, which upped Guerrero’s internal price by leaps and bounds, but it’s impossible to know right now what kind of season he is going to have and whether his production will help or hurt his case in free agency … The Guerrero contract will be the talk of the entire Jays season unless the Jays do what president Mark Shapiro says they will do — and that’s sign him. This is the same Shapiro who said he would build a farm system, a team capable of winning the World Series and find out what’s wrong with the Jays offence. How’s that part worked out so far for him? … The Jays did finish last in the American League East last year with Guerrero having a fine season. Who didn’t have a fine season? Bo Bichette. With Bichette and Guerrero playing like stars, the Jays should be able to compete now. If Bichette has another poor season, you can write off the team now. Oddly, the Guerrero contract situation is the talk of the day, every day. The Bichette circumstance — the same free agency time line, same last year of contract — gets almost no talk. Weird world we live in. Bichette plays to a younger version of John Tavares to Guerrero’s Mitch Marner.

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SCENE AND HEARD

A comprehensive online breakdown of major-league starting pitchers had the Blue Jays with just one of the top 50 and that was Kevin Gausman. Somehow, Jose Berrios didn’t make the cut … We don’t talk enough about how great a player Marcel Dionne was. He somehow gets lost in the shuffle conversationally. Heading into his last NHL season, Dionne was second all-time in scoring behind only Gordie Howe. In his final season, Dionne got passed by Gretzky and is now sixth in career  NHL scoring. He’ll probably get passed by Sidney Crosby in the early 2026-27 season, which might be the Penguins captain’s last … If the Islanders don’t make the playoffs, who doesn’t come back? Lou Lamoriello or Patrick Roy? … Here’s the problem with Pontus Holmberg on the Leafs. He can’t play on your first two lines. He probably doesn’t fit on a third line with Max Domi, Scott Laughton and Nick Robertson. That means he may be a candidate for the fourth line, except the coach, Craig Berube, loves him. Holmberg is a challenge to pencil in. He doesn’t score much but he does draw penalties … Add former Raptor, Thad Young, to the idiot’s list of professional athletes who think clearing customs is a major hassle. Doyle Alexander was the first to go public with that in the mid-1980s when he played for the Jays. Some 40 years later with Nexus cards, charter flights and preferential treatment for pro athletes, it’s hardly difficult play in Canada. If athletes want to complain about Toronto traffic, the cost of living, higher than usual taxes, hate crimes, weather and too much curling on television, they’ll get no argument here. But customs? Get real kids … GM Doug Armstrong needs to pick six early Team Canada players by June for the Winter Olympics next February: Here are mine: McDavid, Crosby, MacKinnon, Makar, Jordan Binnington and Brayden Point … My American list would have Matthews, Quinn Hughes, Jack Eichel, Connor Hellebuyck and the Tkachuk brothers, Matthew and Brady … Should Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal all qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs, it will be the first time since 2017 that all three from the Atlantic Division got there … You can think whatever you want politically and believe what you want, but what you can’t do is deface a statue of any public figure just because you disagree with their politics. That’s just ignorant.

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AND ANOTHER THING

All-time Argos great Dave Raimey is rather consumed by basketball these days. His grandson, Aden Holloway, is playing in the NCAA tournament for Alabama. His granddaughter, Mila Holloway, is starting at guard for his alma mater, Michigan. Raimey is 84 years old … If you add one player of consequence — through draft, trade or free agency — to a Raptors lineup that already has Scottie Barnes, Immanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett, Gradey Dick, Brandon Ingram and Jakob Poeltl, they should be a playoff team next season. The Raptors have the bottom of a championship roster: A 4-5-6-7-8. What they need is a better 1-2-3 and better shooting … Add Magic Johnson’s name to the list of those disgusted by this NBA season and the number of players missing games. “Michael Jordan never wanted to miss a game,” said Magic … The beauty of the NCAA tournament: You don’t need to watch basketball. You don’t need to care about the tournament. All you need is a pool sheet to fill out. This may be the best self-contained event in sports … The truth behind Iga Swiatek’s recent on-court tantrum is she wasn’t aiming to hit the ball boy or had anything against him. Her intention was to smack the ball in the direction of her coaches, who were driving her crazy from their box … Kawhi Leonard is back playing his kind of basketball, averaging 26 points a game and seven rebounds his last five games, four of them wins for the Clippers. It’s possible the two Los Angeles teams will meet in the first round of the NBA playoffs … If Peter Laviolette isn’t coaching the New York Rangers next season — and I wouldn’t bring him back — who will coach what should be a Stanley Cup contender? … This is how dumb and distant new America has become: There was actual debate recently about Jackie Robinson’s importance in history … Time was, you were told not to ice the puck when the other team had pulled the goalie. That was a rule on most hockey teams. You waited until you crossed centre ice before shooting. Analytics apparently changed that thought process. The Leafs iced the puck three times in the final minutes against the Rangers and wound up with faceoffs in their own zone. Empty-net goals are great if you make the shot. The faceoff in your zone is not so great when you miss the net … The debate will start, if it hasn’t already, when Shai Gilgeous-Alexander wins the MVP Award in the NBA. Is he the best Canadian basketball player ever? That’s always been a foregone conclusion of a question with Steve Nash the answer. That conclusion isn’t foregone anymore … Happy birthday to Dave Keon (85), The Undertaker (60), Mark Buehrle (46), Ernie Clement (29), John Tonelli (68), Kyrie Irving (33), Jason Kidd (52), Marcus Camby (51), J.J. Watt (36), Dick Pound (83), Elvis Stojko (53), Glenallen Hill (60) and Bob Costas (73) … And hey, whatever became of David Legwand?

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