ESPN's terrific "Ali Rap" may overplay the champ's influence on hip-hop

Muhammad Ali is a paper saint now. Behind the mask of his Parkinson's syndrome the 64-year-old former heavyweight champion is a safe, nearly silent figure to be revered and admired, one of those icons on whom you can project whatever you want him to be, make him yours, the way you can with Abraham Lincoln or Martin Luther King Jr.

Fierce and rebellious, brave and stoic, profane, devout, traitorous, patriotic, old skool or new, athlete or activist, African-American icon or citizen of the world. Yes. You bet.

Saints have their hagiographies and Ali has had his share. The latest is"Ali Rap," an hourlong special airing on ESPN Saturday night. The show, also available on DVD, is a companion to a pretty Taschen art book filled with the champ's quotations and designed by George Lois, who created the legendary Esquire cover in 1968 that portrayed Ali as St. Sebastian, wearing boxing gear and shot with arrows.

The show, hosted by Chuck D, starts from the shaky premise that Ali was a sort of godfather of rap and ends up being just another of those straightforward chronological biographies TV does so many of, only told in sound bites.

It's wonderful.