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LOS ANGELES -- Howard Bingham, longtime personal photographer, confidant and perhaps the closest friend of boxing great Muhammad Ali, has died at age 77.Harlan Werner, Binghams agent and longtime friend, told The Associated Press the photographer died Thursday.No cause of death was given, but another friend, sportswriter Mohammed Mubarak, said Bingham had been in failing health in recent months after undergoing two surgeries.During a friendship that spanned more than half a century, Bingham took literally hundreds of thousands of photos of Ali that ranged from the three-time world heavyweight champions many ring triumphs to quiet day-to-day moments with his family.He captured the young, handsome champion preparing for his first heavyweight championship fight against Sonny Liston in 1964 and, years later, the aging Ali, hands shaking from Parkinsons disease, preparing to light the flame opening the 1996 Olympic Games.He photographed Ali greeting everyone from former President Bill Clinton to South African President Nelson Mandela to black Muslim leader Malcolm X. And he was there with his camera when throngs of awe-struck fans surrounded the champ on the street.Although known largely as Alis photographer, Bingham also had a distinguished career as a freelancer.He photographed the 1967 race riots in Detroit and was at Chicagos Democratic National Convention in 1968 when violence exploded between protesters and police.In the 1960s he developed enough trust with the fledgling Black Panther Party that its members gave him free reign to photograph them -- and their weapons stash -- for a feature Life magazine had planned.After the story was not published -- They got scared, he later told the Los Angeles Times -- he included the photos in his 2009 book, Howard L. Binghams Black Panthers 1968.He was one of the greatest storytellers of our time, said Werner. You look at the history in his photos. And the photos themselves, theyre just amazing.The public has never seen some of the best of Ali, Werner added, because the unfailingly modest Bingham never wanted people to think he was cashing in on their friendship. But he did publish a book including some of them in the acclaimed 1993 photo memoir, Muhammad Ali: A Thirty-Year Journey.Bingham started off his career in 1962 as a fledgling photographer for the small African-American Los Angeles Sentinel newspaper, and was assigned to cover a fight by an up-and-coming young boxer then known as Cassius Clay.He would tell Ali years later he had no idea who he had been sent to photograph, but when he saw him and his brother wandering around downtown after the fight he offered to show them around. Later, he invited them to his mothers house for dinner.It was the beginning of a friendship that would endure until Alis death in June.The eldest of seven siblings, Bingham was born in Mississippi on May 29, 1939, and moved to Los Angeles as a child.He eventually enrolled in Compton Community College, where he failed a photography class. He blamed it on spending too much time having fun and not enough studying.But he applied to be a photographer at the Sentinel a few years later and, after repeated inquiries, he was finally hired.I went off on jobs, came back with underexposed film, blurred film, no film -- and I always had an excuse for what went wrong, he told the Times.Eventually he learned enough about photography on the job to land the Ali assignment.Bingham is survived by his wife, Carolyn, and son, Dustin. Another son, Damon, preceded him in death. Cheap College Football Jerseys . It was the kind of score that might make everyone else wonder which course he was playing. Except that Graeme McDowell saw the whole thing. Crouched behind the 10th green at Sheshan International, McDowell looked over at the powerful American and said, "Ive probably seen 18 of the best drives Ive seen all year in the last two days. Cheap College Jerseys Wholesale .ca looks back at the stories and moments that made the year memorable. http://www.cheapncaajerseysbywholesale.com/ . - Oakland Raiders running back Rashad Jennings was speaking to a group of local high school students earlier this week when the conversation turned to the importance of being prepared when opportunities in life arise. Cheap NCAA Jerseys China . Its the second straight game Bell has scored in extra time for Kelowna, which beat the Brandon Wheat Kings 6-5 on Friday, and he now has four game-winning goals on the season. Wholesale College Jerseys . According the Toronto Star, a knee injury will keep Sundin out of the lineup, which includes former teammates Gary Roberts, Darcy Tucker, Tie Domi and Curtis Joseph. Nikki Izzo-Brown is the only womens soccer coach West Virginia has ever hired. After 21 seasons, shes guiding the Mountaineers to the womens College Cup for the first time.Led by a group of Canadians, including a pair of Olympians and a freshman goalkeeper with a penchant for shutouts, West Virginia (22-1-2) takes a 16-game unbeaten streak into Fridays semifinals against North Carolina (17-3-4) in San Jose, California. Southern Cal (17-4-2) meets Georgetown (20-2-3) in the other semifinal.Izzo-Brown was hired for West Virginias varsity debut in 1996 and has taken the Mountaineers to the NCAA tournament in 17 straight seasons. The schools best previous showing was making it twice to the quarterfinals, including last season.West Virginia was ranked No. 1 by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America over the final five weeks of the regular season.Until were No. 1 at the end of the year do I even reflect on the numbers, Izzo-Brown said.So far, theyve been strong.The Mountaineers have 17 shutouts and allowed just nine goals all season, including two in one game.Freshman goalkeeper Rylee Foster, just back from the FIFA Under-20 Womens World Cup where she competed for Canada in Papau, New Guinea, earned a 1-0 win over Duke in the quarterfinals last week to improve to 13-1-1.Foster is among seven Canadians on West Virginias roster.That includes senior defender Kadeisha Buchanan and midfielder Ashley Lawrence. The duo who first became teammates at age 9 earned bronze medals at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics. Buchanan is a four-time Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year.Canada makes sense, Izzo-Brown said. Its five-and-a-half hoours away.dddddddddddd Theres great soccer, and I had a friend up there that I knew was developing the kids the right way. Once you get one and theyre extremely happy, its pretty incredible how many more you get and how word travels fast. So Ive been very fortunate that the kids Ive got from Canada just absolutely love West Virginia and everything about it.The presence of Buchanan and Lawrence prompted Foster to come, too, although it took some coaxing from her father. She initially wanted to play for her home countrys national team.Finally my dad was like, `youre pushing off a powerhouse team, you cant do this, Foster said. I think you should call the coach.Her first phone conversation with Izzo-Brown put any hesitation to rest.Foster and Buchanan said Izzo-Brown is like a second mother to them. But her tenacity over the years to elevate the program is what stands out. The school has overhauled its soccer complex, replaced the grass field and built a separate womens soccer training field and practice facility.You got to understand one thing, as a coach you always want more, Izzo-Brown said. So, Im always fighting for more, if Florida State has something or UCLA has something. Thats just been something that probably every coach will tell you. They want to have better facilities. They want to have better opportunities. Nothing was ever handed to me. So if Im not fundraising, you know, Im fighting.---Associated Press freelancer Matthew Thornsbury in Morgantown, W.Va., contributed to this report. 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