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Post by jimsteel on May 17, 2023 10:05:25 GMT -5
Marlene Hagge-Vossler, last surviving LPGA founder, dies at 89 Hagge-Vossler won 26 times on the LPGA Tour, including the 1952 LPGA Championship, and she was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2002. She was 15-year-old Marlene Bauer when she joined 12 other women -- including her older sister, Alice Bauer -- in signing incorporation papers in 1950 for the fledgling LPGA Tour. Upon her death, the LPGA is among the premier women's sports associations in the world, with players this year competing for $100 million in prize money.
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Post by jimsteel on May 18, 2023 23:24:38 GMT -5
Rodrigo Barnes, a former NFL linebacker, passed away at the age of 73. Barnes attended Carver High School, which was an all-black high school at the time. He received 3A second-team All-State honors in football, in addition to participating in track. He accepted a football scholarship from Rice University, where at the time he was one of only four African-American players. He was named the starter at middle linebacker as a sophomore, but failed one course and had two D's, which forced the school to make him ineligible to play for 1970 season. At one point, he considered transferring to the University of Southern California. As a junior, Barnes became the first African-American to be named to the All-SWC defensive team. In his senior year, he was limited with a knee injury and a bruised kidney he suffered against Louisiana State University. While at Rice, Barnes helped start the Black Student Union and was part of a movement to pressure the university to hire more African-American teachers and coaches. His protests were well-known on campus and garnered him a reputation for troublemaking. In 2011, he was inducted into the Rice Athletic Hall of Fame. He was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the seventh round (176th overall) of the 1973 NFL Draft after he dropped because teams were cautious of his civil rights activism. His athletic ability and production propelled him to become the second African-American linebacker to make the team in franchise history (Ralph Coleman was the first). Barnes could play all three linebacker positions, but he mainly competed for the middle linebacker position against Lee Roy Jordan and was a core special teams player. His best moments came in the 1973 preseason; against the Miami Dolphins, he helped stop Larry Csonka three times in a row, during a 2-yard goal-line stand and against the Kansas City Chiefs, he had 11 tackles (3 for loss) and hit backup quarterback Dean Carlson to the sidelines under the bench, which the referees thought Carlson was out of the playing field and flagged Barnes with a 15-yard personal foul penalty. In March 1974, he was selected by the Florida Blazers in the 13th round (145th overall) of the WFL Pro Draft. His relationship with the Cowboys also started to deteriorate, with his growing belief that racial reasons were the main cause of him remaining in a reserve role. In October, he left training camp in a disagreement over playing time and salary, while also informing the team that at the recommendation of his personal doctor he was going to have knee surgery for an injury suffered in the last game of 1973. He was eventually released on November 11. An article in the Dallas Morning News dated 10/23/2017 and written by Robert Wilonsky stated the following "Yes, I was an activist," he says now. "But I wasn't trying to change the Cowboys, just how you treat people." The man's name is Rodrigo Barnes. Today he is an assistant principal at the Garland Alternative Education Center. But 44 years ago, he played for the Dallas Cowboys for a single season as a middle linebacker. During his rookie season in 1973, the 23-year-old from Waco was a backup to a fading legend, Lee Roy Jordan, and was traded by October of 1974 before he vanished from pro football altogether just two years later. His official Rice University biography, penned upon his induction into that school's hall of fame in 2011, notes that his career was cut short by injuries. But that is not the whole truth. Rodrigo Barnes was, he has long believed, punished for being an outspoken black man in an industry controlled by white men. He was banished for being "a radical at a time when radicals weren't popular," beloved Cowboys wide receiver Drew Pearson once said." During his NFL career he played for the following Pro Football Teams: Dallas Cowboys (1973–1974) New England Patriots (1974–1975) Charlotte Hornets (1975). Miami Dolphins (1975) Oakland Raiders (1976)
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Post by jimsteel on May 19, 2023 0:04:06 GMT -5
World's sixth best young water-skier 'dies suddenly' aged just 18: Micky Geller competed for Canada and was studying at University of Louisiana-Lafayette when he passed away
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Post by on_the_edge on May 19, 2023 14:49:53 GMT -5
www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/37685864/all-great-running-back-jim-brown-dies-87Jim Brown, one of the greatest professional and college football players of all-time, has died at the age of 87. His wife, Monique, announced Brown's death in an Instagram post on Friday afternoon. She said Brown "passed peacefully" on Thursday night in their home in Los Angeles. "To the world he was an activist, actor, and football star," the post read. "To our gamily he was a loving and wonderful husband, father, and grandfather. Our hearts are broken..." In 2020, Brown was selected to the NFL 100 all-time team and also was ranked as the No. 1 all-time player on the College Football 150 list to celebrate those sports' anniversaries. He was named the greatest football player ever by the Sporting News in 2002. Brown, who was selected in the first round of the 1957 draft, played nine seasons for the Cleveland Browns (1957-65) and led the league in rushing eight of those years. He rushed for 12,312 yards and held a 5.2 yards per carry average over his career. He also was named a Pro Bowler every year he played. He led the Browns to the league championship three times, winning the title in 1964, and was named MVP three times. He ran for at least 100 yards in 58 of his 118 regular-season games, never missing a game. He rushed for more than 1,000 yards in seven seasons, including 1,527 yards in one 12-game season and 1,863 in a 14-game season. Brown retired at 30, at the top of his career. He was filming the movie "The Dirty Dozen" during the offseason in 1966, and production went long because of bad weather. Browns owner Art Modell threatened to suspend Brown's pay if he didn't report to training camp on time. Brown opted to retire, saying he wanted to focus on his movie career and social issues. Since his retirement, no Browns player has worn his No. 32, and a statue of him went up outside of FirstEnergy Stadium in 2016. "It's a great moment," Brown said when the statue was unveiled, "because I feel it throughout my body, particularly in my heart and mind." Brown lettered in four sports (football, lacrosse, basketball and track) during his college career at Syracuse, and he is also considered one of the greatest lacrosse players of all time, once scoring five goals in one half of a collegiate all-star game. At Syracuse, Brown also served as the place-kicker during one game against Colgate in 1956, scoring an NCAA single-game record with 43 points on six touchdowns and seven extra points. That same season, he led the nation in rushing touchdowns. In 1955, he led the nation in kickoff return average. Overall, he rushed for 2,091 yards and scored 26 TDs for the Orange. Brown worked to empower the African-American community during the civil rights movement. In 1988, he created the Amer-I-Can program, an effort to turn gang members from destructive to productive members of society. He also advocated for modern athletes to be more involved in the African-American community. Despite his involvement in the community, Brown had several run-ins with the law after his NFL career. He went on trial for assault and battery in 1965 after an 18-year-old accused him of giving her whiskey and forcing her to have sex. He was accused of throwing a model from a balcony in 1968, and acquitted of assaulting a man after a traffic accident in 1969. He was fined and spent a day in jail after beating up a golfing partner. He was charged with rape, sexual battery and assault in 1985 (the charges were later dropped). The next year he was arrested for allegedly beating his fiancée. In 1999, Brown was convicted of smashing the window of his wife's car. This is a big one.
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Post by jimsteel on May 19, 2023 14:55:41 GMT -5
Weldon Howard "Weldy" Olson, a former USA Olympic Gold Medalist in ice hockey, passed away at the age of 90 He won a silver medal at the 1956 Winter Olympics and a gold medal at the 1960 Winter Olympics. In his Olympic career, he played in 14 games and scored 7 goals. Olson played hockey for the Michigan State Spartans from 1951 to 1955. He was team MVP, co-captain, and leading scorer. He played in 71 games and scored 125 points. He never missed a game at MSU. Olson is a member of the MSU Hall of Fame, the U.P. Sports Hall of Fame, the Michigan Amateur Sports Hall of Fame, the Hancock County, Ohio, Sports Hall of Fame, Findlay Amateur Hockey Association Hall of Fame, the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame, the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame, and in 2002 he received the Lester Patrick Award from the NHL for outstanding service to hockey in the United States. The following is an excerpt from Olson's online obituary: "Weldy graduated from John D. Pierce High School in Marquette, Michigan and then attended Michigan State University (1951-1955) where he played every hockey game, was named MVP and Co-Captain, and held the school scoring record of 125 points. He went on to play on the 1956 Olympic Hockey team in Cortina, Italy, winning his Silver Medal. He then played on three national teams before winning his Gold Medal with the 1960 Olympic team in Squaw Valley, California, the first time the USA won a Gold Medal in hockey. Following his Olympic career, he served as an ice hockey coach, referee, official, board member and league administrator at various levels. He is in six Hall of Fames. His adopted hometown of Findlay celebrated Weldy Olson's night on November 2, 2018. When asked which hockey game was his favorite, he always answered, "the 1966 game in Pekin, Illinois," the only time he played on a team with his eight brothers and six of his nephews, beating the Pekin Stars 14-5 for a March of Dimes benefit game."
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Post by WTIC on May 19, 2023 15:19:59 GMT -5
Jim Brown was arguably the greatest running back in NFL history, what a true icon!
R.I.P., Mr Brown!
Todd C WTIC
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Post by TTX on May 19, 2023 15:24:13 GMT -5
RIP Jim Brown.
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Post by jimsteel on May 19, 2023 15:57:45 GMT -5
Craig Puki, a former NFL linebacker, passed away as announced by the 49ers at the age of 66. Puki played two seasons in the National Football League with the San Francisco 49ers and St. Louis Cardinals. He was drafted by the 49ers in the third round of the 1980 NFL Draft and played college football at the University of Tennessee. He was a member of the San Francisco 49ers team that won Super Bowl XVI.
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Post by jimsteel on May 22, 2023 12:59:41 GMT -5
Rick Hummel, an American author and sports columnist best known for his work for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch passed away at the age of 77. Hummel was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, in 2007 when he was honored with the J. G. Taylor Spink Award for baseball writing. Known throughout baseball by his nickname "The Commish," he is a former president of the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Following graduation from the University of Missouri in 1968, Rick Hummel served three years in the U.S. Army. While stationed in Colorado, he also worked as a part-time employee for two years on the Colorado Springs Free Press-Sun. After his discharge from the Army in 1971, Hummel was hired by fellow Mizzou alum Bob Broeg to work for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Broeg, who himself would earn the Spink award and be inducted into Cooperstown in 1979, first assigned Hummel to cover secondary and St. Louis regional teams for the newspaper. Hummel "made his bones" as a beat writer for the St. Louis Stars professional soccer team, the American Basketball Association's Spirits of St. Louis, and St. Louis University hockey, among others. An avid amateur athlete in his younger years, Hummel earned his nickname "The Commish" or "The Commissioner" for his exhaustive knowledge of the rules involved in the softball, football, and bowling leagues he and Post-Dispatch teammates participated in. The first of Rick Hummel's big breaks at the Post-Dispatch came in 1973 when he covered around eight St. Louis Cardinals home games for the newspaper, his first being a 1-0 rain-shortened victory over the Montreal Expos. Another milestone came in 1978 when long-time Cardinals beat writer Neal Russo was unable to make the trip to Cincinnati, Ohio. Hummel was sent in his place and ended up covering a historic game as Hall of Famer Tom Seaver pitched his only career no-hitter in a 4–0 victory for the Reds. Hummel continued to work as a game-day beat reporter until 2002 when he transitioned to the primary role as a weekly baseball columnist, while still covering the occasional Cardinals game. In activities away from the Post-Dispatch, in 1994 his peers elected Hummel President of the Baseball Writers' Association of America. He has also served on the Baseball Hall of Fame Overview Committee, reviewing the careers of potential inductees with the Veterans Committee. In addition to his print media career, Rick Hummel is often called upon for his baseball expertise and opinions by St. Louis radio and television stations, as well as being a frequent on-camera contributor to Fox Sports Midwest's St. Louis Cardinals pre-game and post-game broadcasts. His commentary has also been featured on various ESPN shows and documentaries.
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Post by jimsteel on May 22, 2023 18:55:08 GMT -5
Terry McDermott, an Olympic Gold Medalist speed skater, passed away at the age of 82. McDermott was nicknamed "The Essexville Rocket." due to his gold medal and Silver medal wins at the 1964 and 1968 Olympics. McDermott was a surprise winner in the 500 m at the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck when he beat the favorite in that distance, reigning Olympic champion Yevgeny Grishin, by half a second. His coach at the time was Leo Freisinger, the 500 m bronze medal winner of the 1936 Winter Olympics. McDermott's international career consisted exclusively of the 500 m at the Olympic Winter Games of 1960, 1964 and 1968. In 1968 he skated in unfavorable conditions, late in the day when the sun melted the ice. Yet he finished only 0.2 seconds behind the winner. McDermott was inducted into the National Speedskating Hall of Fame on June 4, 1977. At the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, McDermott took the Olympic Oath representing the judges. McDermott worked as a barber from 1963 to 1967, and after that as a manufacturer's representative in the Detroit area. In parallel, he served as a speed skating official. On February 9, 1964, he was a guest on The Ed Sullivan Show, an appearance that was overshadowed by the first U.S. performance of The Beatles.
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