My attention returns to Hal when he bangs his rear fender into a car in the parking space behind the one into which he has struggled to maneuver us. After he performs a perfunctory inspection for damage, we walk up the street and around the corner where there is a newspaper box that still has today’s paper in the window. The headline says "Thrilla in Manila." The first doorway we come to is George’s Place, which is a big, square room with tables all around. The ceiling is painted black and covered with a spongy material. Pipes that hang from the ceiling are at eye level when you enter because the floor of the room is below street level. Hal goes through the door ahead of me, down the stairs and then takes off toward an empty table, but a big guy with a Celtics hat stops me on the landing i
