R.I.P. SPORTS RELATED 2023(Non Wrestlers) (*)

[jimsteel]

Greg Patrick, a former linebacker in the CFL, passed away at the age of 53.


No cause of death was released. Patrick went to the Ivy League school Brown and after graduation he was originally signed by the expansion CFL Baltimore club in 1994. He was then released in June 1994 before playing any games for them and signed with Hamilton in August 1994. Patrick was released by Hamilton in September 1995. After pro football he became a coach in high school and was recently an assistant coach in the USFL.

[jimsteel]

Ray Herbert, a former MLB pitcher, passed away at the age of 93.

Herbert signed with his hometown Tigers after attending Detroit Catholic Central High School. After prepping for the Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens in 1949–50, Herbert received his first MLB trial in August 1950. In his debut, he started against the Philadelphia Athletics at Shibe Park.

He worked into the eighth inning, and was holding a 3–2 lead when he surrendered a two-run home run to Sam Chapman. Herbert was tagged with the loss, although he registered an eight-inning complete game. In 1951, he went with the Tigers out of spring training and appeared in five early-season games, all in relief; he was the winning pitcher in four of those contests, and compiled a low 1.42 earned run average in 122⁄3 innings pitched. Herbert then joined the military for the Korean War service, missing the rest of 1951 and all of 1952.

Herbert returned to the Tigers in 1953–54. he got into 85 games, mostly in relief, winning seven of 19 decisions and posting a 5.55 ERA in 172 innings pitched. Then, on May 11, 1955, his contract was purchased by the Athletics during their first season in Kansas City. Herbert continued to struggle, however, winning one game and losing eight in 23 games split almost evenly between starting and relieving. He then spent two consecutive seasons, 1956–57, back in Triple-A. Finally, in 1958, at age 28, Herbert returned to the Major Leagues. He won 36 games while losing 40 (for a winning percentage of .474) before being traded to the first-division White Sox on June 10, 1961.

Herbert's 31⁄2 years with the ChiSox were his most successful. He went 48–32 (.600) in 109 games (all but two as a starter) and 710 2⁄3 innings pitched. In 1962, he had his best campaign, winning 20 games (losing nine) and making the American League All-Star Team. Appearing in the second All-Star Game held that summer, on July 30, 1962, at Wrigley Field, Herbert hurled three scoreless innings of relief and was credited with the victory when the AL broke a 1–1 deadlock and went on to a 9–4 triumph. It would be the Junior Circuit's last All-Star win since 1971. The following season, he led the 1963 American League in shutouts thrown, with seven. His workload was reduced in 1964, but went 6–7 with a 3.47 ERA in 19 starts.

He was traded to the National League Philadelphia Phillies that offseason, where he worked as a spot starter in 1965 (notching four complete games) and as a reliever in 1966, his last year in baseball. In 407 career big-league games, Herbert had a win–loss record of 104–107 with 68 complete games, 13 shutouts and 15 saves. In 1,8811⁄3 total innings pitched, he allowed an even 2,000 hits and 571 bases on balls; he struck out 864. A competent hitter, he batted .192 lifetime with 109 hits, 21 doubles, seven home runs and 51 runs batted in. Defensively, he recorded a .975 fielding percentage, which was 17 points higher than the league average at his position.

Herbert played for the following teams during his MLB career:

Detroit Tigers (1950–1951, 1953–1954)
Kansas City Athletics (1955, 1958–1961)
Chicago White Sox (1961–1964)
Philadelphia Phillies (1965–1966)

[jimsteel]

Billy Packer, a former college basketball analyst-broadcaster, passed away at the age of 82.

Packer first worked at the network level with NBC (1974–1981) and then CBS (1981–2008). He covered every NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship, including the Final Four, from 1975 to 2008. For many years he also covered ACC games for Raycom Sports. In 1986 he helped create the computer game Hoops. Packer won a Sports Emmy Award in 1993.

In 2005, Packer received the Marvin Francis Award for "notable achievement and service in coverage of the ACC," as reported by The Washington Post.

On July 15, 2008, CBS announced that Packer would be replaced by Clark Kellogg on the network's lead broadcast crew. This marked the end of 35 straight years of him covering the NCAA tournament as a TV analyst.

In March 2009, he returned to the studio with Bob Knight for Survive and Advance, an NCAA tournament preview show produced by Fox Sports Net.

Packer has also served as a color commentator for Putt-Putt Professional Putters Association television broadcasts.He called the historic 1982 PPA National Championship, which featured 4 future Hall of Fame players out of the 8 contestants.

Packer's broadcast teammates included Curt Gowdy, Jim Thacker, Dick Enberg, Al McGuire, Gary Bender, Brent Musburger, and (from 1991–2008) Jim Nantz and Verne Lundquist (usually pre-Championship week when Nantz was covering the NFL and/or golf). During working games for Raycom Sports, Packer's on-air partner was Tim Brant. When Nantz covered the 1992 Winter Olympics for CBS, Packer's on-air partner was Mel Proctor. Packer also did play-by-play alongside Al McGuire for two games (a February 6, 1994 contest involving Purdue in Iowa and a February 27, 1994 contest involving Indiana at Minnesota) while Jim Nantz covered the 1994 Winter Olympics for CBS.

A broadcasting icon.

[TTX]

RIP Billy.

[on_the_edge]

A few passing way to young.

[jimsteel]

George Rose Jr., a former NFL defensive back, passed away at the age of 81.

The following is an excerpt from Mr. Rose's online obituary: "George attended Glynn Academy and was a standout athlete in many sports, but football was his game. He went on to play football at Auburn University and in the NFL. His accomplishments and accolades in the game of football are too many to list, but all those who knew him will remember. George had many lifelong friends who shared his love of football, golf, and getting together for lunch at Twin Oaks and the Brunswick Country Club."

The following is an article from the Brunswick News written by Buddy Hughes: " Rose was Auburn’s top recruiting priority that year. Russell, the legendary defensive coordinator at UGA and head coach at Georgia Southern, was an assistant at Auburn when Rose was recruited to play for Auburn.
Years later, one of Rose’s Glynn teammates, Jimmy Gash, would give Russell a ride when he came to town to speak to a group of Cub Scouts. Gash told Russell that he played with Rose, and Russell simply responded that “George Rose was the finest high school player I’ve ever seen.”
At Auburn, Rose would again pull double duty as a wingback and a defensive back. He was captain in his senior season and played in the Senior Bowl, where he was chosen as the game’s most outstanding defensive player.

He was drafted by both the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League and the Buffalo Bills of the American Football League. He signed with the Vikings, and Gash made the trip to Chicago to see him play during his rookie year.

Rose had six interceptions his rookie season. He retired from football following his 1969 season in San Francisco and returned to Glynn Academy to be its head coach for the 1970 season. He also coached at Auburn as an assistant.
Rose would go on to be elected into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in 2009. Hummel said that it took a while because someone on the board was determined to keep Rose out because he didn’t go to Georgia. Legendary Georgia offensive lineman Len Hauss put a stop to that."

During his NFL career, Rose played for the following teams and recorded 9 interceptions:
Minnesota Vikings (1964–1966)
New Orleans Saints (1967)

[jimsteel]

Amy Richardson dead at 49 – Bodybuilder passes away following health battle

[jimsteel]

Dave Albright, a former linebacker who played for the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League, passed away at the age of 63 due to a heart attack.

He played high school football for Marina High School and college football at Chabot College. He later transferred to San Jose State University and played for the Spartans. From 1986 to 1991, Albright recorded 377 tackles and 12 sacks with the Roughriders over 76 games.

In 1985, Albright played with the Memphis Showboats of the United States Football League (USFL) and helped them reach the semifinals. When the USFL folded the following year, the Saskatchewan Roughriders signed Albright. He played in eight regular-season games as a rookie in the CFL, but made no tackles. In 1987, Albright broke out with 118 tackles and two sacks, setting the record for most defensive tackles in a season. Albright continued to play a major role the following season with 92 tackles and five sacks.

Albright's 1989 season was hampered by injuries. In July, he pulled his leg muscles. He broke his left hand later in the season, but continued playing in a cast until he also broke his right arm. Albright's arm required surgery and he missed six games. While recovering, Albright also had knee surgery to remove damaged cartilage that had bothered him since the first game of the season. He returned in time for the playoffs and contributed to the Roughriders' championship run. In the West semifinal, Albright intercepted Calgary Stampeders quarterback Danny Barrett. He also recovered a fumble for a 62-yard touchdown in the West finals and was credited by Toronto Star reporter Paul Hunter with "turn[ing] the momentum" against the Edmonton Eskimos in the 32–21 upset. The Roughriders went on to win the 77th Grey Cup against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 43–40. Albright ended the regular season with 79 tackles.

In the 1990 season, Albright again missed substantial time due to injury after requiring foot surgery. He ended the season with 44 tackles after playing in eleven regular-season games. Albright made 44 tackles and one sack across nine games in 1991 before retiring.

[jimsteel]

BIG NAME IN HOCKEY



Bobby Hull, a former NHL hockey player who is regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, passed away at the age of 84..

His blonde hair, skating speed, end-to-end rushes, and ability to shoot the puck at very high velocity all earned him the name "The Golden Jet". His talents were such that one or two opposing players were often assigned just to shadow him.

In his 23 years in the National Hockey League (NHL) and World Hockey Association (WHA), Hull played for the Chicago Black Hawks, Winnipeg Jets, and Hartford Whalers. He won the Hart Memorial Trophy as the NHL's most valuable player twice and the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL's leading point scorer three times, while helping the Black Hawks win the Stanley Cup in 1961. He also led the WHA's Winnipeg Jets to Avco Cup championships in 1976 and 1978. He led the NHL in goals seven times, the second most of any player in history, and led the WHA in goals one additional time while being the WHA's most valuable player twice. He was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1983, the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in 1997, and received the Wayne Gretzky International Award in 2003. In 2017 Hull was named one of the '100 Greatest NHL Players' in history.

Hull had a solid debut year, finishing second in the Calder Memorial Trophy. Hull originally wore numbers 16 and 7 as a Black Hawk, but later switched to his famous number 9, a tribute to his childhood idol Gordie Howe. By his third season (1959–60), he led the league in goal- and point-scoring (the Art Ross Trophy), a double feat which he also achieved in 1961–62 and 1965–66. He led Chicago to the Stanley Cup in 1961—their third overall and first in 23 years. He finished second in point-scoring three further times.

On March 12, 1966, the "Golden Jet" became the first NHL player to score more than 50 goals in a season, surpassing Maurice Richard's, Bernie Geoffrion's and his own mark of 50 goals. His 51st goal, scored on Cesare Maniago of the New York Rangers, earned him a seven-minute standing ovation from the Chicago Stadium faithful. Hull eventually scored 54 goals that season, the highest single-season total of the Original Six era. That same year, Hull set the record for the most points in a season with 97, one more than the previous record set by Dickie Moore 7 years earlier. His point total was tied the next year by teammate Stan Mikita and their record was broken three years later by Phil Esposito. Hull led the league in goal-scoring seven times during 1960s. In 1968–69, despite Hull breaking his own goals in a season record by four goals in (netting 58) and setting a career NHL high of 107 points (second in the league that year), the Hawks missed the playoffs for the first time since their rookie season. By his final NHL season, he had scored 50 goals or more, a remarkable five times. This was only one time less than all the other players in NHL history combined up until that point in time.

In his 15 full NHL seasons, he was voted the first-team All-Star left winger ten times and the second-team All-Star left winger twice. His slapshot was once clocked at 118.3 mph (190.5 km/h) and he could skate 29.7 mph (47.8 km/h).[7] During his drive to be the first to eclipse the 50 goal mark, Hull's wrist shot was claimed to be harder than his slapshot

Long unhappy with his poor salary despite being one of hockey's preeminent superstars, Hull responded to overtures from the upstart World Hockey Association's Winnipeg Jets in 1972 by jesting that he would jump to them for a million dollars, a sum then considered absurd. Gathering the other league owners together to contribute to the unprecedented amount on the grounds that inking such a major star gave instant credibility to the new rival league that was competing directly against the entrenched NHL, Jets owner Ben Hatskin agreed to the sum, and signed Hull as a player/coach for a contract worth $1.75 million over 10 years plus a $1 million signing bonus. Although his debut with Winnipeg was held up in litigation by the NHL, Hull instantly became the WHA's greatest star winning the Gordie Howe Trophy as league MVP in 1972–73 and 1974–75. With Swedish linemates Anders Hedberg and Ulf Nilsson he formed one of the most formidable forward lines of the 1970s (known as "The Hot Line"), leading the Jets to two AVCO Cups during his time with the club. His best performance was during the 1974–75 season, when he scored 77 goals to set a new professional mark, while adding 65 assists for a total of 142 points, five behind the league leader, one of two times he finished second in the point-scoring race in the WHA. In the five WHA seasons in which he played more than half the schedule, he was voted a First-Team All-Star thrice and a Second-Team All-Star twice, while tallying 50 goals and 100 points four times each.

Because he joined the rival league, Hull was not allowed to represent Team Canada in the 1972 Summit Series, which pitted Canada's top NHL players against the USSR's national team. Two years later, a second Summit Series was held in which Hull and other top WHA stars (including Gordie Howe, who had been retired from the NHL at the time of the initial Summit Series) competed against the Soviet national team. The WHA lost the series four games to one (three ending in a tie), despite Hull's seven goals. He was a key member of the Canadian squad that won the 1976 Canada Cup, though, scoring five goals and three assists in seven games.

[TTX]

RIP Bobby Hull.