I twice saw Muhammad Ali perform in person. On both occasions he came across as a shattered man.

In the ring, in 1980, when Larry Holmes gave him a savage beating in Las Vegas.

And again at the Opening Ceremonies for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, when he was already firmly in the grip of Parkinson’s disease as he struggled to light the Olympic cauldron.

It does make a person wonder if he will be remembered primarily for his colorful, incandescent and controversial career as boxer and public figure … or for his long decline of 35-plus years, which ended with his death today at age 74.

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Despite reading a dozen stories on Game 1 of the NBA Finals, I am still not quite clear on why the Cleveland Cavaliers lost by 15 points — even while limiting Golden State stars Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson to 20 points. Combined.

I didn’t see the game because 1) it started at 3 a.m. here in France and 2) the guys at beIN Sports have the European rights to the Finals, and we are moving around too much to subscribe to that.

Anyway, has it occurred to anyone that Tyronn Lue, Cleveland’s unusually young (39) coach, might be a big part of the problem?

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It was more of a working vacation, in Southern California, clearing out an apartment for sale, which is always more work than a person anticipates.

Some visits with family, with whom we did a sort of relay of bedroom-crashing. Thanks to all of them for their wonderful hospitality.

Got a baseball game in, the Angels losing at home to the Astros 4-2. Boy, are the Angels a bad team — their regular lineup has about three big-league hitters in it, total: Trout, Pujols, Calhoun.

The plane ride back was the typical horror we have come to expect, even on transoceanic flights — economy class packed out in the now de rigueur 3-4-3 arrangement. Perfunctory service, 11 hours (counting the one spent on the ground) in the plane of listening to kids cry.

Change planes at CDG, another jammed ride, this one to Montpellier, but a ride of only 80 minutes, so survivable.

And then the reward: The rolling, vine-covered hills of the Languedoc.

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This falls under the heading of a particularly broad category of human events.

To wit:

What were they thinking?!?

Someone at a BMW dealership and someone at Al Ain FC, the most celebrated soccer club in the UAE, thought it would be a good idea to do a commercial spot.

So far so good.

However, the twist in the spot that appeared on UAE television in the past few days was this: The players are singing the national anthem … but dash off the pitch and out of the stadium when they hear the roar of a BMW engine. Omar Abdulrahman, the face of Al Ain club as well as the national team, is pictured just as the players quit singing and begin running for their cars.

In the middle of the national anthem, remember.

Remarkable stuff, and it created a strong backlash in the UAE.

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U.S. soccer fans have been wondering, for years now, whom the next great American-born attacking soccer player would be … someone to carry the torch Landon Donovan bore for more than a decade.

The Next Man may finally be here, and he more properly is a boy rather than a man.

That would be, of course, Christian Pulisic, who on May 28 set a U.S. national team record for youngest player to score an international goal, against Bolivia. Pulisic was all of 17-years-and-252-days old, at the time.

If anything, Pulisic is ahead of where Donovan was at a similar age, and if he can continue to develop he may even threaten Donovan’s record total of 57 national-team goals.

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We have been in Southern California for nearly two weeks now, and one sports concept is noticeable by its absence:

Any apparent enthusiasm for the return of the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams.

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This topic occurred to me tonight as I watched video of Draymond Green reciting, in selection order, the 34 players who were taken ahead of him in the 2012 NBA draft.

This is significant because the Golden State Warriors, who spent their second-round pick that summer on the Big Ten player of the year … were built through the draft.

They acquired their three best players through the draft, which pretty much is how it usually works, with championship teams.

Those three would be Stephen Curry, No. 7 in the 2009 draft; Klay Thompson, who saved the Warriors with 11 three-pointers tonight, the 11th pick in the 2011 draft; and Green, 35th in the 2012 draft.

Reflecting on that … it made me wonder what the hometown Los Angeles Lakers were up to while the Warriors were building a team that this season set an NBA regular-season record with 73 victories and is still in the running for a second consecutive NBA title.

Not much, as it turns out.

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My default setting when it comes to big-time sports in the U.S., both professionals and major colleges, is to apply my speck of psychic energy to the support of teams from the western United States.

Thus, I should be sending negative vibes (however that is done) at the Cleveland Cavaliers, who tonight clinched the Eastern Conference championship and next week will be playing in the NBA Finals.

However, I have decided … that I am OK with Cleveland (as opposed to the Cavaliers) winning the NBA title.

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Only a few weeks after forward-thinking baseball pundits pooh-poohed the likelihood — as well as the wisdom — of calling up “best pitching prospect in ball” Jose Urias … the Dodgers have done just that.

The left-hander from Mexico, still only 19, was working on a 27-inning scoreless streak in Triple-A when he got the call.

He will make his Major League debut tomorrow night against the Mets in New York.

And Dodgers fans who were listing toward despair over the state of the club’s pitching will be paying close attention.

It is only the first of what the Dodgers hope will be many appearances by Urias, but expectations are high.

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Perhaps this is unreasonable, but I expect an American who describes himself or herself as “a history teacher” to know the basic events of the past 100 years.

Prominent Western leaders. Scientific breakthroughs. Inventions. Cultural Milestones. Wars.

Which is why I was startled … disappointed … semi-appalled … when a history teacher could not pick the correct answer, on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? on a question that went something like this:

“In 1936, this nation’s plan to stage a People’s Olympiad as an alternative to the Berlin Olympics was cancelled, three weeks before it was to begin, by a civil war.

“A: Russia

“B: Spain

“C: Ireland

“D: Mexico”

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